Signature Collection

I missed a couple of days on LinkedIn because the first shipment of the season arrived on Friday and I was busy unpacking boxes and restocking shelves.

With this initial shipment, Christmas has officially begun at Signature Collection.

There are 6 new fragrances from Parfums de Marly and Initio Parfums Prives which are in our Christmas collection.

Continuing from where I left off last week about the person who incorrectly tested a perfume, thought she loved it, bought a full bottle for over US $400.00 and now that she owns it, she is realizing that it is not giving her the longevity she wants and this makes her sad.

Absolutely no Signature Collection will have such buyers remorse because they all know that the golden rule is to “date before you marry because divorce is expensive and bitter.”

Last week I emphasized why a perfume store is not a neutral environment to test scents.

Today we will further explore why you need to give the perfume a full wearing in heat as well as an air conditioned environment because that is all that we have to work with in the Caribbean. We don’t have 4 seasons.

Even though don’t have four seasons, perfumes demarcated as winter scents can perform perfectly in air conditioned environments and summer scents can work year round in the tropics.

Every person’s body chemistry is different and so even siblings and parents and children can smell differently when wearing the same perfume because their DNA is unique even though they share similarities. The ultimate proof of the perfume remains in the wearing because the only person who would know what scent you love and which perfume gives you the longevity, Sillage and projection that you want is you.

Your perfume is your most potent but unseen accessory and something so integral to our success and the way people view us should be given a lot of consideration before this investment is made.

It is not sufficient to spritz a perfume on your hand and give it an hour’s time to determine whether you love it and it loves you back.

Unrequited love doesn’t only exist between people but it also exists in the relationship you want to have with particular perfumes.

In order to get the best bang for buck from your perfumes you need to give the potential perfumes a full wearing in heat as well as air conditioning because you want to determine where you would get best bang for buck.

My customers know that as beautiful as my shelves begin to look for the holiday season, we will be doing a lot of “dating” between now and December to ascertain what goes on our Christmas wish lists and what’s on our naughty list.

If you have ever bought a perfume you initially loved and then had major regrets about it, then definitely send me a message and let me help you to discover a whole new world of possibilities with your perfumes

Yesterday I gave a synopsis of a person incorrectly testing a very popular perfume, thinking they also loved it, buys a full bottle for over US $400.00 and now that they own the perfume it is not giving her the longevity she wants.

The reality is that had that person just listened to my priceless advice on perfumes she would not have had to spend over US $400.00 to now discover that the perfume she thought she loved isn’t perfect for her.

The truth is that people can be very difficult to assist because they have notions about how to test perfumes that are rooted in old wives tales and which have been practised since time immemorial and me trying to explain common sense, logic and a little bit of science to them isn’t always appreciated (this is especially common amongst women and I am stating my experiences so don’t come for me in the comment section). I can actually write an entire book about this topic but for another time.

Let’s delve into something that’s maybe impossible to believe but it is 100% accurate. Perfume shops are not neutral environments to test perfumes. Read this again and if you only understand this concept you would quickly understand why you trying to smell perfumes on paper strips, on every part of your anatomy, sniffing coffee beans etc make absolutely no sense to you the purchaser but the only people benefiting from you doing these silly things that have no scientific merit are the perfume companies and resellers.

Mankind has been conditioned to practice traits that are globally accepted but they are giving consumers skewed or inaccurate findings. Physical slavery might no longer widely exist but mental slavery is rearing its ugly head daily.

The true proof of the perfume is in the wearing. This means that in order for you to make the best perfume purchase decision you should invest in sample sizes of perfumes that will allow you to wear your potential perfume in different settings to determine where you are getting best bang for buck. The only person who will know which perfume is giving you the longevity, Sillage, projection and smell that you want is you.

I am based in Trinidad and Trinis can behave like the most entitled people in the world at times with no respect for a person’s training and skills set as well as the products that we offer for sale to the consumer. I get nothing for Free yet new potential customers who are accustomed to doing the wrong practices, do not want to listen to my rationale and when they can’t get their own way they resort to trying to bully me. I don’t care how many University degrees you have, or how many places you have travelled to because reality is that you can be the best in your field and I am in mine.

So unless you have had my training or experiences with beloved customers as well as difficult, unhappy people, trust me when I tell you that in the perfume business I am like a parachute when you have to jump off a plane.

On Saturday one of my customers shared a story with me that broke my heart because I repeatedly warn customers about falling into this trap of testing perfumes in-store especially on blotter strips and making the decision to buy a full bottle of that perfume which smells good on paper inside a perfume store.

The son of the person in question travelled abroad and spent over US $400.00 to purchase a full bottle of his mom’s desired perfume and now that she has the full bottle of perfume she doesn’t find it’s lasting long on her😢.

I asked my customer where did the friend’s son buy the perfume but she does not know. Let me categorically emphasize to you that don’t think only Trinidad has fake fragrances being sold but lots of kiosks in reputable malls in the US also carry tons of fake fragrances that make you feel you are saving anywhere from US $40.00 to $75.00 per bottle when in fact only the bottle appears to be “real” but the juice is as fake as it gets. I am just adding this information for your understanding and not saying that the son bought his mother a fake perfume. It makes the situation even worse if the person spent over US $400.00 on an authentic perfume whose performance is now trash.

My mantra when it comes to perfume is “date before you marry because divorce is expensive and bitter.” Most people who come to my store without following my advice on social media or who don’t want to listen to rationale always get upset when I tell them that I am not randomly spritzing my expensive Niche market fragrances for them to incorrectly test and judge. You do have the option to invest in 2 ml decants which would allow you to wear the perfume at least three times before you commit or not commit to a full bottle.

There is a Caribbean adage that says when people don’t listen they would feel. So despite my customer’s advice to her friend, she went to a pharmacy that sells perfumes and beauty products in the west, tested the perfume on paper, in a non neutral environment which is a perfume store and decided that she loves it so much that she wants a full bottle. She didn’t even decide to give the people who facilitated her request to “test” the perfume the sale and then ended up with an US $400.00 perfume she doesn’t even like.

Over the next couple of days I would delve into greater detail on how you can prevent yourself from buying an US $400.00 perfume to then discover its longevity isn’t what you want it to be.

Also if this person had come to my store she would have had to spend TT $300.00 to get three different Niche 2 ml decants to “date” to determine which perfumes give her the desired longevity, Sillage, projection and scent profile she is looking for.

I know a lot of Trinis especially if they travel frequently always have some hang up about abroad always being better than Trinidad and they especially do this when they can’t get their own way even if their way has no scientific merit.