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Hello Fellow Perfume Aficionados,

If you're wondering what this blog is about, please scroll down and read the two previous entries. After you've read them, come back and read this one.

Now that I've explained what lead to the creation of Collection Redux, it's time for me to give you my mission statement:

You are invited to accompany me on a fragrant journey of rebirth. Before losing my vast collection of fragrances, I was always on the prowl for the next great scent; I attended fragrance events; cased department, and other stores for things that tickled my nose; I traveled to places near and far, and always managed to ferret out interesting things to smell; I bought full bottles - not decants or samples - full bottles; I never spoke about my fragrant adventures to anyone in my "real" life; I talked about the things I smelled with people on the Internet, and wrote about them on a well-known fragrance blog. Then, I lost everything: my marriage, my home, my life as I knew it. Those bottles I wrote about earlier, somewhere between 100 and 150, had a retail value of over $18,000. I know this because the woman (I can no longer refer to her as "my aunt" without goose bumps the size of baseballs forming on my body) who gave them away for a tax credit had her secretary research each and every bottle online to determine their worth. My collection consisted of bottles from Bond No. 9, Tom Ford, L'Artisan Parfumeur, and other names we are all familiar with. There were precious vials of oils, and niche fragrances that were available only at one or two very specific locations. Then, there was my collection of 30 Serge Lutens fragrances, some hand-carried back from Paris by me, and others obtained through back-channels and other places. Those bottles were my prized possessions.

It has taken me a long time to get over this loss; some might compare it to the destruction of a great wine cellar, or a financial loss akin to that of being ripped off by the likes of a Ponzi schemer. Granted, $18,000 is not a lot of money in the big picture, but it was never about the monetary value of the bottles; it was about what they meant to me. Before that woman put a dollar amount on them, I never once thought about how much I'd spent or what their resale value might be. I've realized, someone who appreciates perfume cannot be a black-and-white thinker. A person who appreciates the art of fragrance must be able to think in the abstract, and realize that not everything in life is comprised of only two colors. Life is made up of many beautiful colors, scents, and visual magnificence. If you happen to be someone who can't literally stop and smell the roses, then you're missing out on one of life's greater pleasures. That is what this woman is like. For her, it was all about striking back for perceived harms she believed I caused her. She knew how much those bottles meant to me; the act of taking them from me was, in her mind, a triumph.

It has taken me a long time to get over losing my collection. At first, I was in some serious denial. I told myself over, and over that my fragrances were just material possessions. Then, I finally gave in and allowed myself to mourn their loss. That might seem superficial to some people, but for those of us who understand what I'm talking about, you know my grieving process was long, and I am finally now emerging on the other side of it.

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to visit this page periodically, to join me on my journey. I will be writing about the bottles I have recently acquired, the bottles I want to acquire (I will make every attempt to include some samples and decants this time around), and the bottles I used to own. The catharsis I thought I previously achieved was a false one; now it is time for the real thing. I'm hoping to have some wonderful company along the way.

With love, and fragrant wishes,

Nava