Cologne: How Many Applications From One Bottle?

[2sweet]

Newbie question alert: I was shopping for colognes today and the saleslady advised that I get the smallest bottle possible, since a small bottle will last a very long time, she said. Assuming you apply an "average" amount from a spray bottle and use cologne once daily, how long will it take to use up a typical 1.7 (50mL) bottle?

PS: I did a search and did not find an answer to this particular question

 

[Joel_Cairo]

This varies widely because of the different atomizing mechanisms used in the sprayers. I can tell you that a 10 ml decant (so one fifth of the 1.7oz. you are looking at) usually takes 90 to 110 sprays to fill, so you can go from there.

You could probably find more info on this at http://community.basenotes.net , which is where frag-heads cluster.

 

[atroopan]

She's right in a sense that if you're like most people - u like to experiment with new stuff all the time, so why bother getting the COSTCO sized bottles of cologne when you will be bored of it after a couple months use anyway?

I usually get the small sized bottles - 50ml or ask for free samples up the ying yang of their collections.

I'm cheap with the tiny amount of cologne I may use on a daily basis though so...

troop

 

[Ivan Kipling]

Oh, that size bottle can last for quite some time. More than a year. I always buy the largest size available; it's a bargain. Moreover, I prefer scents after they have 'turned,' or aged. I store mine in a cool basement, inside a cabinet. The longer I keep them, the better I like them. A 'turned' fragrance will smell deeper and less fresh. Like me.

 

[edmorel]

I don't understand people who change scents all the time, pick a classic and stick with it. For every awesome new scent you might discover, there are a million Drakkar Noir's. I use Acqua Di Parma, the small bottle lasts easily 9-12 months for me, but I do not use it in the summer as I perspire a lot and I do not like the scent that arises from my sweat mixed with the cologne. I find it gets too strong by the end of the day. I use the ADP talcum powder instead on my chest and unmentionables and it keeps me dry and smelling great. I would recommend getting the talcum powder for whatever scent you like and using it on the very hot days.

 

[Joel_Cairo]

Originally Posted by edmorel

I don't understand people who change recipes all the time, pick a classic and stick with it.

I don't understand people who change TV channels all the time, pick a classic and stick with it.

I don't understand people who change sexual positions all the time, pick a classic and stick with it.

I don't understand people who change shoes all the time, pick a classic and stick with it.

 

[Ivan Kipling]

About the use of various scents, I wore Eau Sauvage, for 22 years. I can't smell it anymore. So I switched to Signoricci, which I can smell. Still, I find that one fragrance isn't quite enough, particularly since where I live, the weather changes minute by minute. I like a couple for winter, and a couple more for spring and summer. I do think a signature scent is a great idea, for those who want one. My mother wore Bal a Versailles, for decades. I have only to pick up one of her scarves, to know she's there.

Some fragrances, like L'Heure Bleu for example, do not smell the way they used to. I don't care what Guerlain says, LB has been 'modernized,' or something. So while one may want to continue wearing the same fragrance, it's possible that this particular fragrance has been thinned out, or modernized, and is no longer what it was. Madame Rochas was a fantastic fragrance, for women. I can't recognize it, these days. Rive Gauche has been thinned out. Oscar de la Renta smells watery to me. L'Air du Temps is not what it was.

I haven't noticed quite so much tampering, with the men's classics.

 

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by Ivan Kipling

I haven't noticed quite so much tampering, with the men's classics.

Don't get me started with Antaeus.

But, some days I don't feel like Antaeus. So I wear something else. I doubt I've finished a bottle of anything lately, but I apply lightly anyway.

 

[Ivan Kipling]

No kidding. I've never worn Antaeus. I do think Chanel Pour Monsieur smells different from before. Probably impossible to maintain the original recipes of some of these fragrances, without hiking the prices way up. Some ingredients too, have become depleted with time, I'm sure.

 

[crazyquik]

I don't like spray bottles, I like the "dropper" bottles (surely there is a better term) where you simply put your finger over the mouth of the bottle, turn it over and then back again, and rub the cologne on.

I think my bottle is infinite. I use one drop everyday for work, two for social or church. At that rate it takes years to use a bottle.

 

[Ivan Kipling]

I don't like spray bottles, I like the "dropper" bottles (surely there is a better term) where you simply put your finger over the mouth of the bottle, turn it over and then back again, and rub the cologne on.
************************
Many scent lovers prefer a splash bottle. My mother did. She used a cotton ball, saturated it with fragrance, then applied it to her skin. Others insist that only by atomizing a fragrance, will its kaleidoscope of notes and layers be revealed.
My old bottles of Eau Sauvage had a rubber stopper, which allowed for convenient splashing on the skin.

 

[Zubberah]

I have about 18 fragrances that I rotate. Some are over 20 years old and still as fresh as ever (yes, compared to fresh samples). But I only buy 100ml (if avlb), only EDT (preferably EDP if avlb) and only sprays to minimise oxidation. I usuallu spray 3x. I recently bought Antaeus - love it. Not sure how it was, but certainly like this incarnation. So do the chicks! And it lasts all day. Unlike Zegna or D&G Pour Homme or Armani Aqua di Gio which are all gone in 2 hours even if you spray half the bottle!

PS - has anyone noticed how completely different some EDP are to the the same brand's EDT? YSL Opium PH is one such case.

 

[Joel_Cairo]

Originally Posted by Zubberah

YSL Opium PH is one such case.

YSL calls this "Range", where each different concentration is a different "variation upon a theme". In fact, if you try some of the peripheral products (body wash, deo sticks, etc) you'll find that they too have subtle differences. Chanel does this even more than YSL, to the point where the women's Allure series is really a collection of totally different frags, which bear only a slight familial resemblance.

 

[ghulkhan]

Originally Posted by edmorel

I don't understand people who change scents all the time, pick a classic and stick with it. For every awesome new scent you might discover, there are a million Drakkar Noir's. I use Acqua Di Parma, the small bottle lasts easily 9-12 months for me, but I do not use it in the summer as I perspire a lot and I do not like the scent that arises from my sweat mixed with the cologne. I find it gets too strong by the end of the day. I use the ADP talcum powder instead on my chest and unmentionables and it keeps me dry and smelling great. I would recommend getting the talcum powder for whatever scent you like and using it on the very hot days.

I totally agree with it. I think one should pick a fragrance and just stick with it for years.

 

[Zubberah]

Sticking with the same fragarance is, for me, akin to sleeping with the same woman everyday, eating the same food, wearing the same clothes, drinking the same stuff, going to see thew same movie/band/theatre/concert, going to the same destination for holidays. How dull, uninspiring and boring.