![as well as simply being too many. as well as simply being too many.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/47/5c/1a/475c1a34d01c4017002a0097989c0d9e.jpg)
Here's the answer - I'm moving half-way across the world next spring and have decided that because the costs of shipping my collection could basically feed a starving child for a year I'll have to slim it down. At least I'm not hurting anyone - although with all these recent reports about toxic chemicals in fragrance perhaps I need to re-think this last one.
![as well as simply being too many. as well as simply being too many.](https://i0.wp.com/empoweringmeditations.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/James-Cole-Signature-Logo.png)
![as well as simply being too many. as well as simply being too many.](https://www.simplyandnaturally.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/gingertea.jpg)
I don't spend more than the GNP of New Zealand. I'm not running up unmanageable credit card bills. I have 3 packages I have to mail out today for pending swaps and am expecting 2 packages within the next couple of days and that's just here in Japan - my father has emailed me twice this week to let me know that he received 2 packages at his home in Florida! So now that I've asked the question, do I really want an answer? Let's look at my recent shopping habits: I have 5 items being "watched" in MyEbay, 2 items I'm personally watching in Basenotes Marketplace, and 2 other items I purchased from Parfum1 before writing this column. This obsession (pardon the pun, to those in the know), while seemingly harmless, has pretty much taken over my life which leads me to ask "When is it simply too much?" The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I do before sleeping is to troll the internet looking for fragrance discounts, news of fragrance launches, and to check the boards at Basenotes all while an Illume cucumber candle gently glows by my bedside. What I'm trying to say is that scent is a huge part of my life - it finds its way into my home and every aspect of my day. I then light some incense (don't even get me started) and move on with my day. My current favorite is white peach, and a tube of pumpkin pie is waiting for the fall. After the shower I will brush my teeth - a ritual that is no longer relegated to mere call of duty: Imagine my excitement when I found a line of flavored toothpaste whose variety is something akin to the Demeter display at Sephora. Upon stepping out of the shower I like to keep things simple - unscented deodorant and unscented talc.
![as well as simply being too many. as well as simply being too many.](https://www.gottabemobile.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/M9-remote.jpg)
The entire cleansing process will also have a staggering impact upon my later choice of fragrance because everyone knows you can't pair Lush's coconut soap with Chanel #19. Of course, if I do, I know I'm pretty much bound to that scent for at least 3-6 hours unless I decide to shower - did I mention the second fragrance collection in the bathroom? - and then it's a decision of which bar of soap or which shower gel to use, and the most important question, "Will the scent of my facial scrub clash with my choice of body cleanser?" From my bed I can wake up to images of brightly colored bottles of Rectoverso and Castelbajac and sometimes I awake with the urge to run over - well, I don't actually have to run - and spray something on. Now I can view La Collection by just a simple turn of the head. The rooms were separated by sliding wooden doors until recently when I removed the doors to make two rooms into one. I keep my fragrance collection in a wire shelving system, well, two actually, oh, and then there is the plastic storage box of decants (and the two huge glass bowls of samples) in the guest room next to my bedroom.