Indie Friday: How I store my perfume samples | Hello Pretty Bird! - A beauty and not-so-glamorous lifestyle blog

15 August, 2014

Indie Friday: How I store my perfume samples

Bought It

Happy Friday, everybody! This post is for all the perfume sample hoarders out there. I don't know about you, but I feel like it's hard to come up with a perfect way to store perfume sample vials. I saw this post on Lipstick & Libraries a while back about keeping samples in a 38/357 Cal ammo case, which is an AWESOME idea—if you're storing mainly standard-sized sample vials. But of course I seem to enjoy sellers who enjoy oddly-sized vials (like Darling Clandestine), so a lot of my treasures won't fit in a box of that size. I'm also sort of cheap frugal, so I decided to repurpose some storage boxes I already had into The Perfume Zone instead.


Want to see what I did? Keep reading ....

OK, so the box you see above is from a cosmetics storage line produced by Lock n Lock called InPlus. I bought these two or three years ago so I don't think they're available anymore, but the important things to note about them are (a) that they stack and (b) some of them have a plastic divider in the middle. One could probably find similar boxes elsewhere. At least I hope one could.

I choose to keep my perfume samples in an opaque box like this because I think the oils stay "fresher" longer if they're kept away from direct light. Correct me if I'm wrong. It's also important to me to keep them upright, because I've found that if you just toss them in a pile on their sides the vials can leak. No bueno. So here's what I do:


Organize all the vials into little baggies by brand. Some brands get more than one baggie.


Stack all the baggies upright against each other in this box with the divider in the middle. That's it! It works surprisingly well. As you can see I also have a few mainstream perfume samples and their cards stacked in this box, so if you're mainly a department store sample hoarder then this technique should work for you too. Even if you can't find boxes with dividers in the middle, small boxes like this should still be suitable (assuming you have enough baggies to stack against each other and keep upright. Only true sample hoarders need apply.)

A bunch of baggies stacked in an opaque box is not the best for "browsing", so I also keep a Google document of what's in the boxes so I don't forget what's in there. Super high-tech.


So that's my way of storing perfume samples—how do you do it? If somebody else has a better method I'm willing to change. Maybe.



PS I'm going to try and start doing Indie Fridays on a weekly basis again, but maybe do more posts like these on weeks where I don't have time to do a swatch-a-thon or sniff-a-thon. Sound fun? Interesting? Boring as hell? In any case I'll be back next Friday with swatches of some very pretty eyeshadows!

7 comments:

  1. I really don't like wearing 'perfume' perfume (you know, so generic it could be used to describe all perfume?) so I throw the vials into ziploc bags and into my drawers. Every time I open them, everything smells lovely!

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  2. Well, this method definitely beats mine. I just toss all the vials into a giant bowl. :P

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  3. There was a strong (but pleasant) smell when I opened this box to take the photo, so I can image!

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  4. Well hey, if it works for you! I used to toss them all in a big basket but then one leaked and everything around it was all oily and gross. Do not want.

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  5. You are so frikkin organized Rebecca, it's astonishing/inspiring

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  6. Eh, I'm not so sure about that. If you were to zoom out and see the rest of the room the perfume boxes are kept in I think you'd be astonished by the non-perfume clutter.

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  7. Wow you are soo organized! My samples are in a pile in a drawer mixed in with other things.

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