Perfume Project Pan
Warning: boring
Preamble:
I currently have more fragrances than I want to have, and I also do not use them as often as I would like. Project Pan is a concept that has been around forever but periodically becomes trendy: Stop buying new stuff, use up what you have. The name specifically comes from "panning" makeup palettes; meaning you've used up the makeup and revealed the metal pan inside the case that previously held said makeup.
I'm not super into perfume; but I think by just being "into beauty stuff" and being a curious person I've ended up with both a lot of gifts and things purchased on my own. (Makeup also kind of falls into that category but One; I don't have THAT much, just more than I want. Two; this blog post is about perfumes, they can wait their turn.) Anyway here's a list of all the fragrances I currently own, the link to their fragrantica page if possible, rambling because I ramble, and the size of the bottle I have. All of mine are varying levels of used, but I have no idea how to guess how much is left in any one given bottle.
The List
Brazilian Crush by Sol de Janeiro
240ml. Better known as Cheirosa '62. My bottle is so old, it's the old branding! This was a gift, but I was curious about it prior. I love it conceptually, but never reach for it for some reason.
Cleopatra by Tocca
.5ml? (so small I can't read it ๐ข) Got it as a sample with a gift from a friend. I like it, but its a touch too musky/alcoholic for me to reach for most days. I can't recall but it may sit on my skin weird also.
Coco Cabana by Sol de Janeiro
30ml. Got a Coco Cabana jet set as a gift some time ago. The coco cabana bottle (both mine and the fragrantica listing) subtitle it as Cheirosa '39, I can't recall if they're truly different or it was just a weird in-between time for their branding. I miss Coco Cabana cream so much :( Unsurprisingly, I love the body spray. I used to use it a lot but the last couple years of stomach issues turned me off to more gourmand smells. The lid annoys me, it presses the sprayer down if you close it all the way!
Curious by Britney Spears
30ml. It was a gift that I asked for. I won't say this scent is amazing, but I love it. It's also the one I'm currently trying to use up. I'll guess I have about 7ml left? Half of halfway it looks.
Hello Kitty eau de toilette by Air-Val International
100ml. I either bought it or asked for it for Christmas. This was described to me as sickeningly artificial sweet, but in a good way. I concur LOL. My bottle is completely different visually (flatter, large oval with a 2010's "new" HK in a dress on the front, with a fake jewel cap.) and I remember being very unsure of the amazon listing back then, but I like what I got. To the point I avoided using it because I was 'saving it' ...for god knows what. (Also I have a bad habit of talking myself out of wearing sweeter smelling stuff because I'm convinced bees will come for me for some reason.)
Love 2 Love orange whatever by someoneidk
11ml. This perfume gets ascribed to Coty fairly often for whatever reason. Also this wasn't even mine, it ended up with me after my grandmother died. I remember she didn't really like it, I don't either, and now there's weird chunks floating around in it.
Lucky Number 6 by Liz Claiborne
30ml. I got this because my aunt worked in the beauty department and she didn't want it. I like it! It was kind of 'old' for me when I first got it but now I'm old lol. I can't recall what stops me from usually reaching for this. I like the notes at a glance, maybe it sits really heavy on me? Also the bottle's cute.
Night Iris by KKW Fragrance
30ml. My friend gave this to me because she didn't like how it reacted on her skin. I love this so much more than I expected omg. I guess I'll just know that it is empty when it stops spraying, but it's the only bottle I can't see through and it annoys me lol.
Raspberry Fantasy by ???
NOT Raspberry by Body Fantasies. It's foul but I (want to) love it. It was my sisters for eons and then she gave it to me instead of throwing it out, more eons ago. I keep holding onto the bottle (its shaped like a bunch of leaves and raspberries!) because idk why. Its way too strong and smells somewhere between bad liqueur and fabuloso. Okay I'll throw it out ๐.
Soul Beautiful by Hot Topic
30-50ml (not labeled). It's not the most amazing thing ever, but I liked it so much more than I expected for a media-themed Hot Topic perfume. If you're curious: Someone on worth point claims its "vaguely similar to B&BW's vanilla rum fragrance". I'm unfamiliar with that scent, but I used to have a bottle of Killer Queen by Katy Perry (also from my aunt in the beauty department) and Soul Beautiful is basically a better, simpler, more harmonious version of that IMO. I did not like KQ, for what it's worth.
Sun-Ripened Raspberry by Bath and Body Works
236ml. Dude that's so much!!! it's so 2000s but I actually got it as a random gift within the last few years from an extended family member. I like it conceptually but it's sets off headaches/sinus irritation a lot in me (this is common of B&BW anything for me, tbh.) I have no idea how I'm going to use this up.
Tease by Victoria's Secret
7ml. My friend got it as a freebie with something she bought, but she wasn't crazy about it and gave it to me. I love this scent so much more than I expected to at first. It's the perfect blend of fresh and warm. I really smell the chocolate, which may or may not be to others' liking.
Vanilla Musk by Coty
30ml. This also wasn't really mine, this was my grandmother's scent. I'm shocked this only came out in the 90s, because I'm certain she smelled something like this for much much longer than that. I wasn't there... but its a feeling I have LOL. Its way too strong for my liking. Old; musty; heavy. In a neutral way, though.
Winnie the Pooh by ???
50ml. I've never owned a fragrance from Demeter but I'm going to assume this is on Demeter levels of "its whats on the tin." This is childrens' alcohol-free perfume and it smells like honey and beeswax. That's it. I love it.
Pan Plan:
Use up, give away, and throw away as wanted/needed. I don't use Reddit but I've been reading the MakeupRehab and ProjectPan pages off and on for the last couple months. I don't even know if its a flat out "I want less stuff" or "I need more space". All my perfume fits nicely in half of a tall drawer in my vanity, that would otherwise be empty. I think I just want to focus more on having things that I really, really love.
Some googling, it seems general estimates are that one "spray" is about 0.1ml (or, 10 sprays = 1ml.) My smallest bottle is a rollerball, but the next smallest one is 7ml. Which means 70 sprays, which means at around 2 spritzes a day it would take about a month to get through. Meanwhile, the Sun-Ripened Raspberry would take a little over 2 years with 3 sprays a day. (Brazilian Crush is larger, but I've used much more already.)
I'm hesitant to do more math because it's so case-by-case. Some I could spray once and be set for the next 24 hours. Some would start at 5 sprays in the morning, more later if needed. I'll just assume I have over 5 years worth of stank here ๐ฌ.
What I've been doing for the last month or so:
- Using washi tape to mark "start" dates or other milestones. It helps me see how fast I'm going through it a bit better, plus it makes the 70-30% idk-it-all-feels-the-same hell period feel a bit less fruitless.
- I just leave the bottle out where I'll see it. Fragrance bottles are cute. Yes that means exposure to sunlight but as you can read above I have no fine collector/valuable goods and am literally trying to use them up. If Curious suddenly spoils after 10 years from being on my vanity top, oh well.
- I'm not really making myself focus on one bottle at a time, but I'm trying to do a least a week straight every time I switch; that way I very quickly and thoroughly learn any gripes/reasons I want to just toss it.
- I'm in a phase of life where I'm just more honest with myself and what I want. I'm much less likely to hold on to stuff I don't like anymore. I'm typically a pretty firm believer of "objects exist to be used." and I know these have limited lifespans. Alternatively, I'm getting rid of stuff because I actively want to; not because I'm being yelled at to by a third party. That helps a lot in the motivation lol.
So what I'm actually doing:
I'm going to throw away the Love 2 Love and Raspberry Fantasy bottles tonight, for starters. I don't want to use the Vanilla Musk; but I'm still a bit nostalgically attached. That leaves me with 11 perfumes to be used. In contrast to my one point above; I'll try to use a new one each day all in a row (at least just the once) to remind myself of what I have. And any rapid-fire decisions like "oh that went bad" "this gives me a headache", etc.
In the future (maybe a month or two?) I'll give an update. Maybe even with pictures. I'll try to write down what I like/dislike of my remaining collection. Again, note, I'm not into fragrances. I'm not in the world, I'm not a collector, I have nothing intelligent to add to any perfuming conversations. I'm just a random shmuck with some stuff that I've acquired over the years. Also I now have a headache just from sitting all of these bottles on my desk and periodically huffing them while typing this ๐