Dear B,

Your perfume spending habit is getting out of control. In the last 7 days, you have bought no less than three full bottles of perfume (and that's not counting three big bottles of fragranced coconut oils you bought as well!). And you would have bought two bottles of L'artisan today if it weren't for the fact that you couldn't properly smell one of them and the other (Vanilla) smelt 'off'. The Roger & Gallet ginger cologne purchased from DJ at 50% off didn't turn out to be as big of a bargain as you hoped (damn stupid Australian retail markups!) and I know that right now, you are thinking of returning to David Jones after exams (Tuesday!) to purchase that bottle of Yardley April Violets edt (and possibly have another stab at the odd L'artisan).

So here is the damage for this week,

• YSL Paris Jardin Romantiques - unsniffed purchase! naughty naughty naughty. Sure you're one of the first and few people in Australia to own this but can you withstand that 'fresh mown grass' note?
• Roger & Gallet Ginger water cologne - you had a sample, gave it away and it has haunted you ever since
• Serge Lutens Fleurs de Orangeur - your very first serge lutens purchase! It was serendipity that you happened to search ebay today because FdO almost NEVER get listed on ebay. It's that good

It's very bad that this is sale time and you're saving up for an overseas trip. We won't delve into the cosmetics you splurged online this week. You're turning into one of those people who own hundreds of pairs of shoes or handbags. Forever seeking shallow, instant gratification. If you can't look beautiful, at least you can smell beautiful. Perfumes don't discriminate (this is debatable though!) But this is a real life case of diminishing marginal returns. Despite having draws full of perfume bottles and cosmetics, you hardly ever wear them. I think your reasons for not wearing them everyday is quite valid but I'm just pointing out that you will never finish these 100ml bottles you keep buying.

Oh, congrads on finally liking L'heur bleu. A parfum bottle of that is going onto your future purchase list. I knew that one day you would grow into it. Next thing on that vintage Guerlain list is Apres Londee. That, as we well know, is going wait until UK.

love,

your olfactorily rational self