What Is a Decant?
Decanting is a method of transferring the contents of a larger container into a smaller one.  A fragrance is decanted from its original manufacturer’s bottle into either a small glass sample vial or atomizer bottles of various sizes by one of several methods: either by transferring with a sterile pipette, or by pouring the perfume through a small metal funnel, or often by directly spraying the contents into the smaller container. Each fragrance is freshly decanted just prior to shipping or delivery.

Why Decant?
The reasons are many: it allows perfume aficionados to sample scents that aren't available in their area, or to "test drive" a fragrance and prolong the purchase of a full bottle until they know whether it clicks with them.  Decanting allows a person to buy a small quantity of a pricey perfume that is otherwise unaffordable – and it’s great for the person who only wants, say, a quarter-ounce of a fragrance rather than a huge amount.  For the truly scent-obsessed, decants make it affordable to have an entire perfume wardrobe and to enjoy sniffing a little bit of everything!

 

 

Photo of Serge Lutens Chergui by Suzanne Keller
Original mfg bottle on left; decant in gift pouch on right.

Currently available scents in my collection:

(Click here for descriptions/sizes/prices)

Amouage Gold (women's)
Amouage Jubilation 25 (women's)
Amouage Lyric Woman **Just added to collection!**
Bond No. 9 New Haarlem
Caron Parfum Sacre
Caron Yatagan
Chanel Chance
Chanel Coromandel
Chanel No. 22
Coty Ambre Antique (Vintage 1940s)
Coty Chypre (Vintage 1970s)
Creed Fleurs De Bulgarie
Donna Karan Black Cashmere
Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentree
Frederic Malle Carnal Flower
Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel
Guerlain Jicky
Hermes 24, Faubourg **Just added to collection!**
Hermes Eau Des Merveilles                                                            1 ml sample; 1.5 ml spray sample; 8 ml glass spray;
Hermes Hiris                                                                                  5 ml silver chrome purse flask; 10 ml glass spray. 
Ines De La Fressange                                                                    (Not pictured: 5 ml glass spray.)
Jean Desprez Bal A Versailles
Jean Patou 1000
Jil Sander No. 4
Kenzo Jungle l'Elephant
L'Artisan Parfumeur Tea for Two
Molinard Habanita
Mona Di Orio Nuit Noire
Montale Black Aoud
Parfums de Nicolai Sacrebleu
Parfums Delrae Amoureuse
Pascal Morabito Or Black
Robert Piquet Fracas
Serge Lutens Chene
Serge Lutens Chergui
Serge Lutens Un Lys
Tauer Perfumes Lonestar Memories
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Read the latest essays & perfume reviews in Suzanne's Perfume Journal

COMME DES GARCONS LUXE CHAMPACA

 

Anyone familiar with my perfume journal knows I am a lover of white floral perfumes, and especially the heavy-hitting white florals that come at one with a womanly thump. Most of the white florals in my collection are willful Maggie the Cat-like creatures that purr most seductively while, at the same time, making me aware that, presented with a hot tin roof, they will use any means at their disposal to pounce, scratch and claw their way across it.

 

And because I have come to expect that of my white florals, I was rather dismissive when I first smelled Comme des Garcons LUXE Champaca eau de parfum. It smelled pretty, very pretty, certainly, but in a slim-hipped, waifish kind of way that just didn’t interest me. I promptly threw it back into the samples pile and forgot about it for several months. But lately my mind has been wrapped around all things Asian, and Comme des Garcons being a Japanese company (an avant-garde Japanese fashion house, to be exact, known for its anti-fashion fashions, its austere and deconstructed clothing collections), I felt compelled to fish the sample back out again and reexamine it with a more enlightened mindset. Click here to read the rest...