The functional no-nos of perfume bottles

The Gucci eau de parfum bottle is so beautiful--I love it! I'm glad that you brought that perfume up. I have not worn it in a while and did not realize that it was signed by Daniela Andrier!

I'm with Olga and Silverfire on this one. I feel as though I get a much better result from spraying than splashing or dabbing. The only time I decant is if I receive a sample in a plain vial. It goes right into an atomizer. I simply can't get an overall sense of a fragrance unless I spray. Oh no, we've finally found the great divide on Parfumo: Sprayers and dabbers!

It's my signature, I love it more than anything and am stocking up on it. .
And now I have to go google Daniela Andrier

I started in on dabbing vs. spraying and completely forgot this thread started out about bottles.

-Certainly bottle design doesn't determine whether or not I buy a perfume. But I do like that companies still care enough about the aesthetic of their product -whether for artistic or marketing reasons- to think creatively about the packaging. Besides the whole idea of perfume in an ornate vessel is part of the long history of the art, science and alchemy of fragrance. Whether it's a Greek amphora from the 3rd cent BC, an 18th cent. French flacon or Bulgari Black's "hockey puck"; I don't mind a little more art and whimsy in my life.
There are limits however and marrying functionality and ergonomics with artful design is another matter. As others have mentioned something as simple as the color of the atomizer hole can make all the difference in the world when it comes to ease of use. Terre d"Hermes has the neat, self contained spin closing cap. But that design also means the atomizer spins so easily that I frequently misfire when applying.
The one bottle design that brings company image, functionality and ergonomics together in one package is by Tommy Bahama. Image-wise their bottles are all about pitching their seaside merchandise: The bottle shape is that of a wave or sail and the cap looks like driftwood or a polished beach stone. In terms of ergonomics, that sail shaped (concave/convex) bottle fits perfectly in the hand and directs the spray perfectly every time. Too bad I don't actually wear Tommy Bahama!

I have often been tempted by those bottles! There are so many flankerized perfumes in the Tommy Bahama line-up that I cannot imagine that they are any good--especially since I regularly spot them at TJMAXX reduced to $10 or $12. But I should at least test the originals, rather than continuing on in my state of ignorance....

That may not always be true Sherapop, I heard from a manager at TJ Maxx that they get discontinued fragrances because of the new reformulated ones. That may be true but I would doubt if that refers to all TJ's frags. I do know I bought my Estee PC Tuberose Gardenia severasl years ago reduced to a affordable price for me. I had heard it was reformulated after TJ received it.

So true, Cincy, I myself benefited from one of those house business decisions back in around 2004 when LVMH was dumping its newly acquired Guerlains. I picked up a bunch of the Aqua Allegoria bottles for $9.95, unbelievably enough!

My skepticism about Tommy Bahama, in particular, probably arises from other sources as well...

The reason I'm so familiar with the Tommy Bahama bottle design is that last year I took the leap and purchased Very Cool at Marshall's. I bought it on the basis of other reviews that were generally positive and do you know what? While it's not my thing, it's a well crafted fragrance: it holds up well and is really quite pleasant. Now, the thing to keep in mind is that Tommy Bahama's products are aimed at -and this is not a judgement statement or stereotype- a consumer who, in terms of taste and style, tends to be more conventional/conservative than those of us on Parfumo. Hey, I can say all that because, age-wise, I'm right in the sweet spot of Tommy Bahama's core demographic.
By the way, if you want to test their fragrances Tommy Bahama stores are very nice about giving out carded, spray vial samples. Been there, done that!

I do not believe that I have ever seen a Tommy Bahama store. In fact, I hate to admit my abject ignorance, but before reading your message above earlier today, I had no idea what business they were in!

You know, Sherapop, there's something admirable about that!

Yes, The Lolita Spray is really annoying! And, I hate the sprayer on Alien. Will go to youtube and look that up). Don't drop The One bottle! I nearly broke my damn foot on that one!

What concerns me most are bottles which are hard to handle for one hand. I am always worried I might drop the bottle - god forbid and thank goodness this has not yet happened to me so far.

Another thing that I do not like on some bottles are leaking nozzles...I mean if I spray then perfume runs down and into my hand Is it just me using the bottle wrongly or is that a manufacture failure ?

Otherwise the bottle is hardly a factor for me to decide for a perfume as I am not a flacon collector but buy to use the juice.

A bottle like Nicki Minaj's is in any case just plain ugly.
But I had a laugh this morning when I saw that the scent now officially leads the Parfumo flop chart of women's fragrances

After reading the crux of this thread, I realized I had mentioned a decanting product and was asked to share the details. Until now, I forgot. Here is the info:

It's called "Frago". It is a 5ml spray decanting bottle with a unique filling system. Remove the spray nozzle on the main perfume bottle from which you wish to decant, then remove the spray nozzle on the 5ml decant bottle. Invert the decant bottle and fit the tube over the main bottle, then press. The main bottle's spray is captured and directed into the decant bottle. There's also a fill-window on the decant bottle so you can see exactly how much liquid is being dispensed. Replace nozzles, and you're good to go. Hope that makes sense?

I Googled "Frago" and found several listings. However, please be sure to check eBay for better prices. That's where I found mine, in a wide variety of colors.

McQuuen Kingdom

Kenzo Jungle Elephant

Guerlain Insolence

All PITA to decant from

Oh this is such a perplexing problem. Some of my bottles are very, very difficult to hold in my hand. I wind up balancing them on my knee, my hand fully supporting the back, wrist against the bottom, finger on the sprayer, and certainly hoping the nozzle doesn't twist another way and hoping it does goes in the direction I want it to spray. I make sure my pets are out of the way so they don't get sprayed by accident, either.
And that's just spraying it on my arm. If I want any to go on my body, I wind up transferring it from my arm usually.
The bottles may look pretty, but they're a huge pain in the *ss.
I think the most aggravating problem I've had is the sprayer that doesn't mist but shoots a straight line of perfume like a water gun. And it doesn't do it all the time, so you can't say the sprayer is defective, either. Haven't figured that one out.
I've read about the syringes for extraction and considered doing that instead of spraying into my own little vials, too. I've sprayed some perfumes thru funnels into vials and that hasn't been too bad.
What we go through. I guess it's kind of funny, when you think about it.

upsets me:
- bad sprayers for any reason,
- cant hold the bottle ("good life" is huge square I just cant get my hand around it)
- caps that do not come off easily

pet peeves:
- doesnt stand on it's own so cap / sprayer is not on top
- top heavy or easily falls over for other reasons
- space hogs
- dangles, lace or other junk getting in the way of holding
- huge toppers (pulse, lola, betty Johnson)

Decanting from YSL "Nu (2001)" is a pain! At the time, the bottle was quite groundbreaking, though.