Do You Collect Perfumes? Adriane Johnson Has You Beat

(Photo credit)

I know the shelf life of many perfumes is two years, but some people would not stop at two years, they collect their favorite fragrance, they might love the bottles too much to let them go. I recall my mother never throwing away any of her emptied out perfume bottlers--she collects them and leaves them in glass cabinet by her dresser. I know she isn't the only woman or the first one to do that. But Adriane Johnson is the first in her passion for perfumes. 

It turns out she loves to wear different scents, which she chooses based on her mood or her plans for the day. Sounds pretty normal so far. Not many of us are able to collect more than 200 different bottles and topping that by serving on the board of an international perfume organization. This is what commitment looks like. 

Johnson said her interest in perfume bottles began when she was a child.

“My grandmother and my aunt always had a dressing table with doilies and perfume bottles,” she said. 

She began collecting special bottles after she received a bottle of Giorgio perfume.

She had added just a few bottles to her collection when she came across a yard sale where she could have landed a box of 50 bottles. Yet the owner, would not let them go away, instead she invited Johnson to choose a single bottle, which she gave her for free. This was Ms. Johnson's 6th bottle. And with that the lady from the yard sale helped anchor Ms. Johnson’s own collection. 

“I don’t just collect to be collecting. I’m very particular,” said Johnson, who hopes to write a book about her passion. It will include a chapter about the Evanston resident who influenced her so many years ago. “I want to meet her one day. I think she really influenced my collection. I don’t want hundreds of bottles. I want to buy what I like,” Johnson said.

Johnson said she is especially fond of bottles from the art deco era or modern ones designed in the art deco style. She’s also a fan of hand-painted bottles. Among her favorites is a limited-edition bottle painted by Sophie Matisse. The great-granddaughter of artist Henri Matisse collaborated with Kilian Hennessy to produce only 50 painted bottles for his By Kilian fragrance line in 2008. Johnson’s bottle is number 18.

“Every time I get a perfume bottle, I like to conduct research. I like to know the history of it and the origin,” Johnson said. Sounds like something I would do.

The collectors' club

It was while researching the origin of a particular bottle that Johnson stumbled upon the International Perfume Bottle Association. She joined the association in 2005.

The International Perfume Bottle Association was established in 1988. Its mission is to provide information about perfume bottles, promote collecting and offer fellowship opportunities for its members. Johnson is among more than 1,000 members from 20 countries.

The International Perfume Bottle Association hosts an annual convention that features perfume bottle auctions, vendors, speakers, experts who provide information about specific bottles, seminars and trips to antique shops.

“Perfume bottle collectors love, love, love going to antique shops,” said Johnson, who will travel to Las Vegas in May for this year’s convention. The auctions held during the annual convention get competitive among members who have their eyes on particular perfume bottles. Johnson said she saw a 1929 perfume bottle with its original box sell for $63,000.

Values are based on a number of factors, such as a bottle’s rarity, condition, whether it has its original packaging and whether perfume — known by collectors as “juice” — remains inside.

“If the original juice is in the bottle, no matter how it looks or smells, the value is higher,” Johnson explained.

“I started off (collecting) because I love the bottles, the art. But now that I’m getting older and wiser, I see it as an investment, too.”

Johnson looks for bottles at estate sales and garage sales, and also purchases new commercial bottles when she likes the design or the fragrance. Her collection includes bottles made from blown glass and colored glass; bottles with modern spray mechanisms, atomizers and stoppers; and bottles with many kinds of embellishments. That's one good tip to get some good deals on rare items. The auction site, ebay could have done that, if it was not for the too many counterfeit sales from around the globe.  

See you are not that weird after all...there are plenty of people who like perfume bottles as well. This is the history one can smell.