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

CURRENT SCENTS IN MY COLLECTION

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Amouage Epic Woman

Amouage Gold (ladies)

Amouage Jubilation 25

Amouage Lyric Woman

Amouage Ubar

Byredo Green

Caron Parfum Sacre

Caron Tabac Blond

Caron Yatagan

Cartier IV: L'Heure Fougueuse

Chanel Chance

Chanel Coromandel

Chanel Egoiste

Chanel No. 22

Coty Chypre
  (Vintage 1970s)

Creed Fleurs De Bulgarie

Deneuve

Donna Karan Black Cashmere

Estee Lauder Private Collection

Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentree

Frederic Malle Carnal Flower

Frederic Malle Geranium Pour Monsieur

Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel

Gucci L'Arte di Gucci

Hermes 24, Faubourg

Hermes Eau Des Merveilles

Hermes Hiris 

Jean Desprez Bal A Versailles

Jean Patou 1000

Jil Sander No. 4

L'Artisan Parfumeur Nuit de Tubereuse

L'Artisan Parfumeur Tea for Two

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Absolue Pour le Soir

Molinard Habanita

Mona Di Orio Nuit Noire

Montale Black Aoud

Montale Boise Vanille

Odin 04 Petrana

Parfums de Nicolai Sacrebleu

Parfums Delrae Amoureuse

Pascal Morabito Or Black

Profumum Roma Acqua Viva

Profumum Roma D'Ambrosia

Robert Piguet Fracas

Robert Piguet Visa

Serge Lutens Arabie

Serge Lutens Chene

Serge Lutens Chergui

Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan

Serge Lutens Un Lys

Tauer Perfumes Lonestar Memories

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb

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: 5-ml glass spray decant bottle (left side of photo) along with 1.5 ml spray sample vials (foreground and left) and packaging materials, including gift bag. Original manufacturer's bottles are in the background (these are the bottles I decant from). Photo by Suzanne Keller.

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Read the latest in Suzanne’s Perfume Journal 

Amouage Opus I: Hearts in Motion (Its and Mine)

I will admit I’m the kind of person who uses, and perhaps overuses, the word love. It probably seems like I toss it around rather casually: “Ooh, I love this! Wow, I love that, too!” The truth of the matter is that I really am the type of person who enjoys being besotted, and being of that state of mind, it’s easy to fall in love with a mad assortment of people, places and things—and to do so sincerely. That said, there is still much weighing, measuring and deciding going on in my mind, because I am that type of person, too—the analytic type—and as such, when I wax rhapsodic about someone or something, it’s truly a considered assessment. However free and breezy my love proclamations might seem, I’m actually quite selective, and the objects of my desire are those that have met well with my quiet and often times prolonged observation. No more so has this been the case than with the perfume I’m finally writing about today: Amouage Opus I. It’s a perfume I started to fall in love with in late 2010, and considering that for much of the year I didn’t have so much as a drop of this perfume on hand (I used up my spray sample sometime last spring), I don’t know how it stayed on my mind so strongly, but it did. When over the summer a friend sent me a sample of Mary Greenwell Plum—a fragrance similar to Opus I in profile and in spirit (which is to say they share certain similarities but don’t smell alike)—all it did was fuel my thinking about Opus I. I told myself I would order another sample or decant, but kept delaying for various reasons: for one, I received an amazing number of perfume packages from friends last year and found it difficult to justify ordering more stuff when I had so many things on hand. But after going back to sniff and re-sniff the residue of my empty vial, last week I finally ordered a new sample to see if this was the real deal—and it is. I’m in love with Opus I, and though at this moment I can’t afford a bottle, as soon as I finish writing this review, I’m ordering the biggest decant of it I can get. There will be no more waiting; I’m in love!  »Click here to read article in its entirety