Week 2: The Problem with Owning Too Many Fragrances Hey guys, Joe A. here with another one for ya’! Welcome back to “SHELF CONTROL”, where one man attempts to bring order to a fragrance collection that clearly stopped respecting boundaries, triggered mild family concern, and may or may not have been one blind buy away from a full-blown intervention! Last week, I introduced the idea behind this mini-series: building the Joe Average Fragrance Library and gathering my bottles from around the house into one central location. This week, I want to first identify and address “The Problem…” And no, the problem is not that I own too many fragrances. Ha, let’s not get crazy here!! The problem is that when bottles are scattered everywhere, I’ve stopped having a collection and started managing a very confused, full-blown (ha, see what I did there) glass-based ecosystem. Part of the joy of collecting is having options. I want to wake up and decide, “Today feels like tobacco and vanilla,” or “This heat is disrespectful, bring me citrus immediately.” But when the collection is spread out, I don’t always choose from what I own. I choose from what I can find! And that’s a problem. A hidden bottle is almost the same as not owning it. If I can’t see it, reach it, compare it, or remember it exists, then what exactly is it doing for me besides quietly depreciating in a box like a tiny, scented stock portfolio? Then, there are the “duplicates…” When bottles are scattered, it becomes very easy to convince yourself, “I don’t have anything like this.” Then later realize, I absolutely do have something like this. In fact, I have six somethings like this! Collectors know this game. We don’t always buy the same fragrance twice. Sometimes we buy the same idea twelve different ways and call it... "research!"...yeah... That’s where Shelf Control comes in. This project is not about making the collection look perfect for pictures (although that’ll be a big bonus!) It’s about making the collection useful again. I want to see what I own. Wear what I love. Rediscover what I forgot. And maybe confront a few patterns I’ve been politely ignoring. So before the shelves go up, before the construction begins, before the Great Bottle Migration officially starts, I need to admit what this project is really trying to fix…

I have been really enjoying this fragrance lately. The opening of this fragrance is a semi-sweet fruity scent coming from the Pear and Mandarin Orange. At 15 Min - Some of the sweetness has settled and I am picking up some of the Ginger note. At 30 Min - I am still picking up some of the subtle fruitiness, but also getting some of the Orange Blossom note. 60 Min into the wear, I am still picking up the sweetness from the Orange Blossom but also getting some Musk and Woodiness. The dry down of this fragrance is a musky and woody scent with hints of semi-sweet florals. Performance: Projection is OK with the fragrance creating a scent bubble of about 2 feet for about 2 hours. The sillage is also OK with a scent trail of about 2.5 feet for about 2 hours. Longevity is fair with the fragrance lasting on my skin about 6 to 7 hours, but becoming a skin scent at about 3 hours.