The Pleasure and Pain of Curation
Fragrance collectors all have the same question: "What should I buy next?" The first spark to a series of other questions involving brands, notes, budget, and how a collection fits together.
I have the same questions and concerns, but it's different... For me, I'm not just collector. My collection is the backbone of a family business that serves all kinds of customers and their broad range of tastes. Our patrons are smart and discerning looking to spend their free time and hard earned money at our boutique. So it's vital to offer the right fragrances right to make them happy.
On the other hand, our email, direct messages, and phone buzz every day with brands large and small marketing their fragrances parallel to a flow of new perfumes from our favorite brands currently at our perfumery. Curating the fragrances we carry from this ocean of new perfumes affects the experience our customers enjoy.
Two of the most vital questions at the beginning of any consultation are, "What do you like to wear?" and "What are you interested in trying?" Listening to the answers tells us more than just the customer's taste, it also gives us an idea of what is popular on the market and what brands are on people's horizons. These conversations led to expanding 4160Tuesdays and more recently adding brands like Kajal and Xerjoff.
The Art and Olfaction awards play a role in my decisions every year. Zoologist Perfumes first inspired me the year that the original Bat won the Independent Category. Victor Wong sent me the sample set, totally resetting my worldview on perfume. My spark was lit to find what was subjectively the best perfumes I could after that. This year, we gratefully carry seven Art and Olfaction Award finalists.
Expert opinions on blogs like CaFleureBon and Fragrantica, and vlogs like Redolessence play an important role educating us about how perfumes wear on other people (*I watch and read a lot more, this list is intentionally short and is in no way comprehensive). Usually this results in falling into an internet hole exploring perfumers, notes, brand creative directors, and all their stories. There's always more to learn in this industry, just like there's always more perfume to smell.
Finally, we trust our own noses. We take the time to wear every single fragrance in the perfumery to make sure we know how each performs for ourselves. They all must be tried on the skin a few times before we discuss them with our customers. Many perfumes on the market are mediocre, when we only want the extraordinary.
Our fragrances require tremendous devotion from us and collectors alike. If you wore each perfume available at Perfumology today one at a time, you would have enough to last more than a year without overlapping a single perfume. So like our customers, we have to be smart curating the perfect brands and fragrances to represent at our perfumery.