Photo of decant vials & bottles.  Click here to view larger version.

What Is A Decant? 
Decanting is a method of transferring the contents of a larger container into a smaller one.  A fragrance is decanted from its original manufacturer’s bottle into either a small glass sample vial or atomizer bottles of various sizes by one of several methods: either by transferring with a sterile pipette, or by pouring the perfume through a small metal funnel, or often by directly spraying the contents into the smaller container. Each fragrance is freshly decanted just prior to shipping or delivery.

Why Decant? 
The reasons are many: it allows perfume aficionados to sample scents that aren't available in their area, or to "test drive" a fragrance and prolong the purchase of a full bottle until they know whether it clicks with them.  Decanting allows a person to buy a small quantity of a pricey perfume that is otherwise unaffordable – and it’s great for the person who only wants, say, a quarter-ounce of a fragrance rather than a huge amount.  For the truly scent-obsessed, decants make it affordable to have an entire perfume wardrobe and to enjoy sniffing a little bit of everything!

Image: photo of Serge Lutens Chergui by Suzanne Keller.  Original mfg bottle on left; decant in gift pouch on right.

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Read the latest in Suzanne’s Perfume Journal 

Byredo Green: The Scent of Self-Assurance, Impeccably Groomed

Back in the nineties, when I was working for the development (professional speak for “fundraising”) arm of Penn State University, I had a boss who confessed to me on a couple of occasions, “I just love it when you wear your blue power-suit.” This suit was very blue indeed: an electric blue, made out of incredibly fine wool, its intense hue demanding I keep everything else low key. (For suavity’s sake, I paired it with a sleek black turtleneck and black high-heels.) Hearing it referred to as my “power-suit” was quite funny, because nothing about my persona suggested I had any real clout, nor did my actual job: I had landed a position a few notches above my previous one of staff assistant—just high enough that it required me to attend some officious monthly meetings where I was expected to rub elbows with my fellow development officers across the university and basically rah-rah (without too much gusto, but in that cool academic way) as a microphone was passed ’round the ballroom and we announced the progress of our multi-million-dollar goals towards the capital campaign.