What To Do If You Don't Like Your Perfume

If you are an avid perfume collector, there bound to be a few scents that you regret buying. Or perhaps, it's a gift but you are too embarrassed to return the present. Here are some tips on what you can do with the fragrances that you don't like.

Let me know what are the perfumes that you dislike in the comment below.

#1 - Give it time

Perfumes tend to change their scent after a while. This is because the alcohol content thins out and also the air gap in the bottle may temper with the smell. Put your perfume aside for a few months and give it a try again. You might find the scent change.

Perhaps, our senses change too. We might find our taste change and there are hundreds of reasons why that happened. Have you ever find yourself liking certain food that you hated when you were a kid. It's the same concept. 

If I find a scent that I don't like, I will deliberately leave the bottle cap open for a long time to let the alcohol content escape. This will fasten the change of the scent. I don't recommend this as it might destroy the original smell of the perfume, but it is an option you can explore. 

#2 - Mix and match with other perfume

I frequently mix up my perfume with other scents to create a new perfume. This might require a lot of trial and error before you find the right combination that you love. 

What you have to do is to find out what is perfume notes that you don't like, and mix it with another perfume that has heavier notes. 

Typically, sandalwood, agarwood, and vanilla are hard to cover because the scents are "heavy". But oud notes may be able to save the day. 

#3 - Use it on something else other than your body

If you find it really hard to accept the perfume smell, maybe you can try to scent it on different things other than your body, such as curtains, bathrooms, handbags, wardrobes, etc. 

Sometimes, our body odor that causing the perfume scent to smell a certain way. For example, I really hated the smell of Chanel No.5 but I really like how it smells on my vanity.  

#4 - Use as decoration

If the bottle of the perfume is aesthetically pleasing, you could use it as a decoration. It is not uncommon for people to use perfume bottles as decor. 

I tend to gravitate towards Penhaligon's collection with the animal cap as decoration around the house. 

#5 - Give it away

On the last resort, you could give it away to your friends or relatives that like the scent. After all, we should not waste the perfume if there are other people who appreciates it.