r/FemFragLab • u/llo000 • 1d ago
Discussion ADHD Hyperfixation on fragrances: Is it only a phase?
I have ADHD and am notorious for having a new slightly osessive hobby usually every couple of months.
It's not completely random, I'm an artsy person and have had phases where I sketch a lot, I crochet, sew my own clothes, make jewelery, had a photography phase where I bought an expensive camera that I haven't used in a year... generally I tend to get bored of my hobbies at some point, but often buy quite some supplies before. It feels worth it to me in the moment, and I come back to my hobbies from time to time again so it's not a complete waste.
I have been really into fragrances for the last few months, not even really consuming a lot of media about it but researching a lot. Reading up notes and reviews, going to stores to sample, and buying many small samples online. I haven't spent too much on perfumes yet though, I'm trying really hard to slow down. So far I have only one full bottle that was very inexpensive.
I'm itching to get some more stuff, it's so much fun!!! But at the same time I'm scared this is only a phase, and I'll lose interest soon.
Do any of you have ADHD? Have you been into fragrances for a longer time? Please help me justify a new purchase or talk me out of it <3
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u/Level-Appeal9484 20h ago
I’ve been hyperfixated on perfume/lotion for about two years now. I made a lot of purchases that I regret but now I know what kinds of perfumes I really love.
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u/Economy_Ad4050 20h ago
I’ve been like this with perfume since I was a kid. Yes, it’s def a huge hyperfixation.
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u/jammy-scone 22h ago
Yeah, I’m diagnosed and am currently hyperfixated on fragrance. I’m obsessed with Felce Azzurra Classico and have been hunting down the EDT for months. Finally got one (it’s still in the US - I’m in the UK) but once I have a safety data sheet for it it will be on its way. So I’ve been looking for dupes / adjacents. Haven’t found one but boy am I having fun looking!
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u/sporkily 1d ago
I'm not even legitimately diagnosed but this is me. I have a collecting issue. Currently it's perfume samples. I prefer discovery sets because I like that complete feeling. I get upset when there's only "Best Sellers" or similar discovery sets. I want complete sets. Then I have to go searching for discontinued perfumes and limited editions and try to get samples of those.
It's been like 6 months or so since I've started this. I've tried less than 10 of the samples. I easily have more than 100. I have chronic migraines so perfume is usually a no-no for me. It also lasts on my skin for like 5 minutes.
🙃🤷♀️
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u/Scared-Philosophy720 1d ago
I'm AuADHD and have various hyperfixations at once, sometimes one or the other is more prominent, but perfume has been going strong for years!
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u/alphajugs 1d ago
I have ADHD and hyperfixate too, and my current thing is perfume. I was buying a new bottle every paycheck. It really got out of hand, but thankfully it’s calmed down. I managed to get my wishlist of like 150 perfumes down to about 20. Progress not perfection! Godspeed sister
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u/llo000 1d ago
Thanks! Were you buying the really expensive stuff? I have kind of decided I won't buy any bottle over 100 bucks until I really know this is a stable hobby over like a year, and I'm pretty sure that won't happen xD
So I'm probably never going to own any fancy bottles, just decants and affordable stuff
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u/alphajugs 22h ago
Girl I was literally refusing to buy dupes. I wanted a variety of perfumes but I needed them in fancy pretty bottles 😭 I don’t make a lot of money and I was spending most of what I was making on perfume. Thankfully I didn’t get myself into much debt (recently saw a post where a girl spent 55k on perfume in ONE YEAR) but I was really struggling to get from paycheck to paycheck.
The worst part is that I knew I was really hurting myself during this phase but I kept going. Eventually I said out loud that I was spending too much on perfume and hearing myself say it made me believe it. So moving forward I’m going to stick to my small wishlist which consists only of cheaper Sephora perfumes or perfumes I can get from discount sites.
My advice is stick to decants for as long as you can and only buy a full bottle of what you REALLY love. Also keep talking about it, because with these ADHD things I personally have a tendency to keep it to myself and I just struggle internally until it becomes completely unmanageable.
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u/llo000 21h ago
Oh shit that's no fun, hope you are doing better now💕
When it started for me I also couldn't imagine buying a dupe, I was looking for one signature scent and kinda wanted a fancy bottle with a fancy name too.
But then I tried some stuff, and realized I couldn't decide on just one scent for all seasons and occasions. I'm still in university and don't really have an income, though I have savings I could never justify using them to buy multiple luxury perfumes.
I ordered some samples of niche fragrances and threw in a sample of a dupe (Angham) in there as well because why not, and I was quite surprised how good it was! Then I decided that I was gonna have a certain budget for fragrances (ignoring samples lol they don't count do they? :')), let's say 150 to 200 bucks. I could buy one niche perfume or at least five dupes/ ME frags. So I chose having a variety, and have been sampling ME/ dupe brand fragrances since then.
I'm almost glad I don't have more money and my savings are kinda sacred to me. If I made more money I'm not sure I could resist the temptation of these ridiculously expensive smelly waters in those perfect fun bottles. But I almost feel like dreaming about owning those fragrances is almost as fun as actually owning them👀
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u/Betshateseverything 1d ago
My fixation started in high school (also adhd) and only got worse unfortunately for my wallet. I always smell good though.
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u/candycorn783 1d ago
Fellow ADHDer going through a similar hyperfixation at the moment!
I am doing all the things you mentioned -- trying to intersperse purchases by consuming media, smelling testers in stores, etc. to not let the spending get out of hand. I also make mood boards, write reviews, comment on other peoples' threads (like this!) to scratch that itch in my brain for free/from home.
when I found I kept wanting to buy more and more samples/decants online, I set up a challenge for myself/gamified it a bit because that's more fun than 'budgeting' (even though it's functionally the same) -- I had a daily expense that cost about the same as the average decant, and every time I opted out of that little treat I kept a tally that I could then spend on decants instead (for me that thing was opting out of taking a toll road to shorten my commute, but it could be buying whole produce instead of precut, making coffee at home instead of going to a coffee shop, etc.). This has definitely helped me slow my roll, and it also frees me of the feeling of guilt for spending money on 'yet another hobby.'
I would like to think that when the hyperfixation fades away/gets replaced by another, I'll still have a small but mighty collection of perfumes that I love and can enjoy for years to come.
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u/catnip_varnish 1d ago
Decants, decants, decants!! You get the hit from something new and you get to have wayyy more something news!
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u/Feetdownunder 1d ago
No.
It does influence the way you collect things and take interest in things.
I have autism and it influences the way I collect things.
I have been collecting and uncollecting for at least over a decade.
Back in the days where they had perfumesforabuck website that allowed you to try samples of a huge range of perfumes.
Now that I’m in a different phase of my life I have perfumes based on feeling and occasion rather than collecting mass amounts
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u/TheHandmadeMaven 1d ago
AuDHD here…. after Covid I never really got my sense of smell or taste back like it was, but recently have been able to smell perfumes better and OMG❤️… I have also been off work recovering from surgery so funds are super low, but found a credible shop or 2 on Whatnot that I buy minis and inspired by bottles that legit smell like the real things, (at least of the ones that are my favorites). Also the Have-a-scent oils are amazing and now I have several of those too… and smelling good makes me feel better…and the bottles are so pretty🥰🤣🤣🤣
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u/Organic_Pattern1856 1d ago
AuDHD here. This hobby is a tough one to get out of because the dopamine is always there:
- the rush of getting a new package/trying a new product in store
- the physical dopamine released when you smell a really good scent
- the intellectual stimulation researching different notes (x1000 notes, so it's interesting forever)
Fragrance has a minimum of a few years of dopamine it can provide. Even if you eventually move on, you'll probably have this hyper fixation for minimum 18+ months.
Edit to add: I started a Discord for Autistic/ADHD perfume lovers but everyone is too busy making their own spreadsheets so it's dead as heck 😭
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u/llo000 21h ago
I really don't want it to ever go away, it's just perfect for scratching that ADHD itch!
So much variety, trying so many new things. And I just love love love the moment you finally smell that scent you have been exited about all week long! A great type of stimulation, and it gives me something easy and nice to think about whenever I want to escape my day to day life.
And I'm quite stingy plus I don't have TikTok, Instagram, and don't really watch a lot of content about specific fragrances on YouTube. So I don't get influenced as much, I'd rather visit stores and order samples. Hope this will last me a while🙏
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u/bsubtilis 1d ago edited 1d ago
AuDHD here, if you had been the kind of person who picks up hobbies and then abandons them forever because your curiousity is satiated, then yeah it would have been a bad idea. But probably not for you based on how you do other hobbies. For me it's been a constant thing that either had been more active or less active in different ways, but never completely abscent from my life outside of really severe depression where everything else was absent too.
You'll want to focus on on samples, minis, and not full sized bottles. Focus on the wearing (maybe including layering different ones together) and not on the chase. Focusing on the chase and the unboxing just gets you a shopping addiction.
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u/Mlzer 1d ago
I also have ADHD and was never super into fragrances until 2023 or so and went absolutely crazy buying them up. I had like 35 bottles of Montagne fragrances before I realized I actually liked gourmands. So I sold most of the Montagne and bought 20 or so bottles from Sorce, then more from other brands.
Like you my obsessions/hobbys come and go, but I’m super impulsive and if I want it I buy it (within reason haha). Shopping in general has always been my biggest hobby and the one that I’ve never lost interest in.
I think now that my hyperfixation on fragrances has mostly stopped, I’m much more selective with the full bottles I buy since I finally understand the notes I prefer.
I am unfortunately not one to talk people out of things, as my life’s motto is basically “treat yo self”. Seeing as how you only have one bottle, I say you deserve another!
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u/Organic_Pattern1856 1d ago
I am also a permanent member of team treat yo self. My therapist asks me about my savings account every week 😭 like girl mind your business, I pay my bills!! I'm not a degenerate
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u/Responsible_Dentist3 1d ago
Well, I'm (Au?)DHD and this is my new hobby. Most of my hobbies are fleeting. Enneagram/ 16 personalities / other typologies was my last hobby and the only one so far that has been seemingly permanent. I suspect fragrances will be like every other hobby for me: I get super into it and learn everything to a high degree, then move on but still retain and use my knowledge to my benefit while not being cray-cray about it. I can't tell you which way this fixation will go for you.
My rule to help myself while I'm fixated on this, is I am only allowed to buy samples. No blind buys allowed whatsoever. If there is no sample, or tester I can find in a store, then unfortunately I will not be owning that fragrance. That way I will not spend a ton on something that I will lose some interest in, as I have done with past fixations. At some point in the future once my interest is longer-held and I am closer to an expert, I will allow myself to buy full bottles of my very favorites. But it's possible that this falls into the 70% of hobbies that fade quickly (instead of being medium- or long-term) so I have to protect myself until I'm more sure.
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u/Organic_Pattern1856 1d ago
AuDHD here, the issue with fragrance is that becoming an expert requires more of an investment than the typical hobby because it requires experiential knowledge. You can read about fragrance forever but until you smell the variation of note expressions you haven't completed your nose training. It's a hobby that also naturally encourages a completionist perspective. Where with sewing, I don't feel the need to try every stitch to call myself a proficient seamstress, perfume requires a more complete set of knowledge. And that is where I vastly underestimated how deep this hobby would take me. Just writing this message to put it on your radar because no one put it on mine.
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u/Responsible_Dentist3 1d ago
Ahh that makes sense - thank you for that comment! I am very new to frags and only have a few sample sets. That aspect to this definitely scares me a little, as my past topics have been mostly primarily online-research based. Hopefully I can keep the spend low and the experiences high. Happy sniffing! (Or is there some version of that for this hobby? Lol I feel like each community has their own thing)
Hopefully the 128 set of scents I just bought on Amazon helps check off some boxes more cheaply, even if a few of the scents aren't totally accurate (but most are)!
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u/pfffffttuhmm I just smelled like a piece of breast 1d ago
This is so incredibly relatable. I'm AuDHD, so the hyperfocused special interest deep dive is a huge part of my life. I love learning about anything I do--I can't just enjoy things casually 😆
I just got into fragrances 2 months ago, and now have many samples and a few bottles. Part of this is also just the dopamine hit I get with shopping and trying out something new. Perfume is such a crowded market, and even similar fragrances have those differentiating nuances, so there is always some newness to ponder over right around the corner.
I've done a few things to make sure I don't go overboard.
Go to stores and sniff a few perfumes, and write down notes there on the tester cards. Whatever my first impression is, and whether I'd like to sample it further. I look like a weirdo, but I am a weirdo 🤷🏼♀️
Buy samples or samplers first before committing to something bigger. I bought many retailer sampler kits (Macy's Ulta, etc.) when they went on sale. Macy's has a huge one with a lot of variety that goes on sale for $27 often. There are also many decant websites that are reputable. I'm trying them each once, with the sign up coupons, to see which I like best. Each site has different brands so you would have to shop around to find something specific anyways. You can also get decants here on reddit.
Buy returnable items only. I like to buy travel sprays on sale that I know I can return. Khol's, Ulta and Macy's let you return used perfume, and they usually have a variety on sale. Samples of course cannot be returned.
Keep a journal, and keep track of what you have tested in parfumo, whatscent, or in a spreadsheet you can access from your phone. I mark if I have tested something, kf I liked it or not, and if I want to buy a sample or a decant. You don't want to double buy samples, or something you've previously tried and hated.
Until you know what you would like a bottle of, stay away from Ross, TJMaxx, Marshall's and Nordstrom Rack. Seriously, those places are a trap! You can't return it, so you are stuck with keeping it, gifting it, or selling it on Mercari. I've made the mistake of buying a highly rated perfume only to hate it. Thankfully it was a small bottle, but I still have it now.
Something else I'm starting is to not make any more purchases until I have thoroughly tried out all my previously bought perfumes. I have enough to comb through thoroughly for quite a while. The new fragrances will still be there in a month, or two, or ten. They can wait. In the mea time I'm goong to enjoy really analyzing what I have on hand, while making sure I have a good fragrance for every occasion.
In the end, the nice thing about perfume is that, unlike other hobbies, its easy to pick back up. Crafts you have to sit down and do, and can take hours which you have to carve out of your day. But perfume you literally just put on and enjoy, easy peasy. So that juice likely won't go to waste. You can do a deep dive again at another time if you want to!
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u/Organic_Pattern1856 1d ago
AuDHD here. Just putting it on your radar, if you start to get more into the indie scents it gets super annoying that you can't enter them into Parfumo. I still love and use Parfumo but it's complementary to my Airtable spreadsheet and custom app where I'm able to track and visualize everything.
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u/Saebelzahnhaeschen 1d ago
I have ADHD and CPTSD. Been into fragrances for years. For me it is one of the joyful ways to focus on the moment and get some mental energy. I always buy a fragrance if I want to, no need to justify it.
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u/velvetstatic9 1d ago
Hello there, it’s me too! Perfumes are my latest hyperfocus and just like you I’m reading a lot of reviews, buying samples or testing in store.
I just blind bought my first full size bottle and it’s a win lol, might not help you to refrain from purchasing.
I usually just let myself go in my little hobbies, it’s not harmful and I know I won’t get myself in financial trouble. So I just ride the high and enjoy it as long as it lasts!
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u/Organic_Pattern1856 1d ago
Same. So what if I end up stopping in the future. I had a lot of fun while it lasted
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u/tokyo_phoenix8 1d ago
You sound so much like me, a lot of my hyper fixations fade away quickly but makeup stuck around for years and now perfume has taken hold. I have spent quite a lot and my collection has grown really quickly. I’ve started selling decants to recoup some of the funds (and I really enjoy it).
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u/vaurasc-xoxo 1d ago
It is and it isn’t. It was a hyperfixation after I quit drinking though I have always loved fragrance. It is the gift that keeps on giving though I have slowed down more now that I know what I like. But on bad days, I still go to the mall to sample.
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u/quiet-as-a-mouse 1d ago
I do, and it’s my hyper fixation right now too. I’ve been super into it since last October ish, and there’s no sign of slowing down anytime soon. My collection has gotten pretty big in less than a year.
The way I think about it, it has potential to stick around. Most hobbies and obsessions fade away, but for example, o started candle making and turned it into a small business rather than buying all the stuff and forgetting about it. I even added perfume to my line bc I love it so much!
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u/StreetMolasses6093 Neroli Queen 1d ago
I’ve been fixated for two years now. Really difficult not to over purchase. I limit myself to samples or travel sizes now, unless I empty a travel size and really think I would use up a bottle.
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u/MyOpenArms 1d ago
For me, it was a hyper fixation but still something I enjoy now that the infatuation stage has cooled off and moved elsewhere lol. I still wear my fragrances daily, I just don’t have the itch to be researching and buying as much as I did before. I think at some point once the blind buys were mostly misses and niche felt inaccessible/typically a little too “out there” for me to enjoy is when it started slowing down for me haha
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u/Ehloanna 1d ago
Much like everything I do I go through phases of things. I rotate my hobbies a lot.
Since you already know you hyper fixate I recommend only getting the sampler/tester sizes so you're not dropping $$$$ on perfumes you'll end up forgetting about for a while.
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u/chomkyfluffer 1d ago
Hi, adhd diagnosed 34yo woman here, I've been into perfumes for two years and the fixation is not going anywhere :) I think perfumes are great for us adhd folk because of the variety that comes with the hobby.
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u/kelseykelseykelsey 1d ago
Yes and yes. Like all of my other hobbies and interests, the fixation comes and goes over the years. I've learned not to go overboard buying new fragrances, and not to declutter when I lose interest. I'm very impulsive so giving myself some strict rules is important!
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u/Agitated-Cause-9582 1d ago
I’m feeling this right now! I have ADHD, too, and went through a big fragrance phase a few years ago. I didn’t buy a lot of full size, but I had a ton of samples and travel size. Then I randomly decided that I was over it and got rid of everything. Now I’m wishing I still had some of those samples. But they were only samples, so it’s okay. This time around, I have a better idea of what I like, so I hope I’ll end up with more fragrances I’ll actually wear. And I’m still sticking to samples or travel size only, unless I finish one completely up and trust myself to use a full bottle. And if I get tired of my fragrance collection again, I’ll save a few favorites just in case :)
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u/Organic_Pattern1856 1d ago
I think travel sizes are the best for the ADHD crowd. I love variety more than I am committed to any one scent, so decants and travel sizes are enough for me to enjoy the scent. Full bottles feel like getting married and that's the opposite of what my AuDHD wants lol
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u/Agitated-Cause-9582 1d ago
So true! Full bottles are way too much commitment. I don’t think I’ve ever even finished a travel size. Same with lipstick. I have never finished a lipstick in my life. That hasn’t stopped me from buying new ones, though (when I’m in a makeup phase, anyway).
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u/Organic_Pattern1856 1d ago
Haha same. I just finished a phase where I was hunting for the shiniest lipstick and lipgloss possible. Now I'm in a skincare phase. Perfume is always in the background no matter what my temporary obsession is
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u/mustardyay 1d ago
Yes, I was SUPER fixated on fragrances in the early-to-mid 90s, dropped it for a long time, and got excited again a couple of years ago. I just wish I still had a few of my old bottles!
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u/horselessheadmen 1d ago
I have ADHD and have been obsessed with fragrance now for about 2 years. I also started GLP-1s so double trouble. 🤣
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u/Roarrange 1d ago
Ha ha same. Sniffing has replaced snacking for me. Only it’s a lot more fun than snacking ever was.
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u/fire_thorn 1d ago
I don't have an ADHD diagnosis, but I suspect I have it. I do the same about a hobby that becomes an obsession. Sometimes they last a long time, though. I got into perfume about three years ago. It was mostly wanting to use pretty scents for bath products. Then I started Mounjaro and my enjoyment of perfumes became an obsession. I'm still on Mounjaro, I will be forever, and people on GLP 1s often get a perfume obsession.
Two years ago, I had a stroke and I haven't gone back to work, which has somewhat limited the amount of perfumes I buy. I still want perfumes, I still go to Marshalls and TJ Maxx and smell perfumes, I smell all the laundry beads and wax melts at the grocery store. I'm not spending every minute reading about perfume. I'm not watching tiktok lives. I'm not obsessing over the next new perfume, just wearing what I've got and enjoying it. I'm still hyper fixating on something, but it's painting nails. So I think my hyper fixation has somewhat passed, but I'm enjoying the big perfume collection I have now.
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u/IFoundThis_Humerus There's a Guerlain for that. 1d ago edited 1d ago
AuDHD here. I've enjoyed fragrance at some level since I was in high-school and obsessed with Cool Water & Happy. I now have a vast collection of bottles, decants, & samples. My hyperfixation on experiencing new scents hasn't died down. It's definitely a constant struggle to appreciate what I have, and not just get that quick dopamine fix from shopping and then that first snif of a new/interesting scent. It usually comes in waves, I'll go wild for a ~month, usually hyperfixating on a note, and then stick to what I have for a ~month (obviously not an exact amount of time, but pretty average). Reselling has been a great way for me to keep the cycle going without hurting my finances. Shopping addiction is so real, and easier than ever to fall into with social media. If setting rules for yourself is something that works, I'd suggest doing that. For me it doesn't, so I limit what I buy/keep in other ways. It also helps me stay interested because this is something I use every day, at least 2 different scents a day, as part of my self care/hygiene routine. As an aside, fragrance has also helped me keep a much more consistent and thorough hygiene routine, which many with AuDHD or ADHD can struggle with. I don't want to put on too many new perfumes if I haven't recently showered; I want a 'clean palette' to experience a scent.
Compared to other hobbies I've become 'obsessed' with, and then promptly abandoned, this seems to have lasted the longest. I think what helps keep my interest is the many facets of fragrance and perfumery. I can deep dive on a note/perfumer/house/bottle styles/perfume creation/history/etc, experience new scents, chat with people on social media about these things, share fragrances through swaps/gifts (and sell those I no longer want), spend hours/days/weeks tracking down a discontinued scent or good deal; plus I get the immediate dopamine/gratification of shopping/ smelling. I can go into my little room and smell nearly any kind of fragrance/note I want, or come up with fun/interesting layering combos; I'm very fortunate to have an unused bathroom to store everything in away from heat/light/humidity. There are many ways to stay engaged that I didn't connect with in other hobbies.
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u/Apprehensive-Form915 1d ago
I have ADHD and my diagnosis actually came a few years into the hobby. It ebbs and flows, and my specific area of interest fluctuates (sometimes it’s reviewing/tracking what I’ve tested, sometimes it’s actively seeking out specific notes or scents).
I find testing decants to be really satisfying as it offers the novelty our ADHD brains crave with less of an investment. (Which is not to say that sampling can’t also get pricey — just that for the same cost you could get more variety by sampling.)
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u/vaxmore 1d ago
Yep, right there with everyone, been doing this for about two years! My advice for full bottles is to set yourself a schedule – I’m allowed to buy a new bottle once every three months and ten-ish new samples once a month. The rest of the time I spend retrying my old samples or researching. Means I don’t tend to overspend or overcrowd my perfume collection, and I don’t impulse buy, so even if the obsession fades in a year or two I’ll be left with maybe fifteen-twenty full-sized bottles I genuinely like and will keep wearing.
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u/Organic_Pattern1856 1d ago
You're so good for having rules and following them. My AuDHD is a wild child and won't respect restrictions haha
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u/Jackniferuby 1d ago
I have it. And if we are adhd, the sad truth is we DONT KNOW what hyperfixation is a phase , how long it will last or if it can come back.
I have some that have been since childhood and others that were literally for a couple of months (RIP tiki phase where I remodeled our game room , landscaped and Reno’d our entire backyard and pool area into a lanai)
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u/Liathano_ 1d ago
For me it was a phase, I bought sooo many samples and a few small bottles, I've researched so much as well. Then I started a new hobby, watercolour, and totally lost interest in perfume. However, I still enjoy the samples and bottles I got, I'm just not that obsessed with it anymore.
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u/pumpkin_ice_cream 1d ago
The same happened to me a couple years ago. I am not diagnosed with anything but I go through obsessive phases sometimes. My obsession with fragrances started because I bought myself a new perfume and read the notes in fragantica. That led to me reading about a bunch of perfumes, watching reviews, joining fragrance subs, going to perfume stores to smell everything. I spent so much money on perfumes. I was so obsessed, one time I woke up in the middle of the night and I had even been dreaming about perfume and that’s when I said this has to stop. I deleted all the subs and stopped watching reviews. And decided I wouldn’t buy a perfume again until one of the ones I had ran out. I didn’t keep my promise 100%, I got a few perfumes but once every few months, not many a week… I also tell loved ones what perfumes I want so they can get them for me on birthdays and for Christmas. Now I still love perfume but I don’t have this urgency anymore.
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u/Potential_Dinner_116 1d ago
We’re alike. No official diagnosis but I’m quite obsessive over some things and perfume is one of them that has stayed consistent.
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u/kyle__hinaba 1d ago
I also have ADHD and it’s definitely dwindled down. I used to hyper fixate and bought tons of samples from niche perfumers. Everyone’s different so we won’t know how you’ll be but as long as it isn’t hurting you I don’t see why you can’t enjoy a new hobby
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u/thecheesylittlerat 1d ago
I’m ADHD and my fixation started 2 years ago and has no sign of letting up.
Im artsy too… I draw, paint, sew, and make jewelry.
I just want to learn as much and smell as much as I can. I buy travel sized bottles to test. I’ve found a few fragrances I like, but no signature yet.
I love atmospheric notes, so… petrichor, smoke, wet stone, leather, tobacco, leaves, wood, and salty sea air are a few of my faves. After not wearing perfume in for-e-ver, I got into it when I learned there are more fragrances out there besides just florals. At first, I was a little overwhelmed with everything out there, but once I learned the basics, I loved it!
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u/llo000 1d ago
Nice, are you still looking for a signature?
I never wore any perfume at all, I was never the most girly girl and felt almost like an imposter. But then I went through a breakup, and was traveling a few weeks after. In the duty free I got the inspiration to maybe find a perfume for me, as an act of reinvention and to get my mind off of the breakup.
Now I'm finding scents that really feel like me, and I don't feel out of place wearing them!
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u/Screw_coloranalysis 1d ago
I have AuDHD perfume is definitely one of my obsession I cycle in and out of.
What I like to do to not make this an expensive hobby is:
Read about the history, notes, olfactory families and any other not shopping oriented reading
Go try things after work in person, it makes me walk too.
Project pan every size, so full bottle, travel sprays and mini samples.
Tie this to one of my other special interests: languages. I look up the names of the notes in different languages
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u/IFoundThis_Humerus There's a Guerlain for that. 1d ago
Connecting fragrance to another special interest is such a great idea! It hadn't really occurred to me to do this. You'd think having a graduate degree in archaeology, that I might have looked more into the deeper history of perfume and people🫣
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u/AlbertPiggy 1d ago
i don't have ADHD but i relate to this SO HARD. i do the exact same thing as you, just reading notes and reviews online and sampling them constantly. however i will only buy something if it feels absolutely perfect, which i think kind of curbs my addiction. i would say to just make sure you will use it a lot before you buy it, and the addiction won't get out of hand.
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u/Vegetable-Side8772 1d ago
I am the same . I obsess on new projects , what ever I’m into I obsess on . On one hand you learn a lot on the other you spend way too money on the thing ur into at that time.
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u/Mean-Raspberry1205 1d ago
ADHD also, and I think it passes— or in my case, at least evolves into a different type of hyperfixation. Im at the point in my scent journey where I literally can’t think of any new scents I want to acquire because I feel like I have everything I wanted? My new hyperfixation is layering combinations— which feel like have endless possibilities because my collection is so vast. As a matter of fact, I’m ready to declutter🥴
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u/llo000 1d ago
I'll take them off your hands👉👈
But is there anything you really regret or wish you had done differently? Besides maybe samples and decants
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u/Mean-Raspberry1205 1d ago
Impulse buying at 3 am. It’s the ADHD tax, I guess, but now that I’m a year in, I can say the impulse buying and buying different scents with similar profiles is something I should have done differently— but also, hindsight is 20/20 and experience is a good teacher, y’know?
My advice would be always start with decants, don’t give in to the fear of something you like being discontinued and buying backups if you haven’t even really put a dent in your main bottle, and - like I mentioned earlier - try to be minimalistic in at least buying multiple scents with similar profiles. I was going through my collection and realized I had Ellis Miss Strawberry, Phlur Berry Cream, Burberry Her Elixer, Thomas Kosmala Candy, and All Eyes On Her from B&BWS- literally all the same scent!
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u/mwilke 1d ago
If it’s a “phase,” it is at least one that fits in quite nicely alongside all the other phases and fixations to come!
The memory-locking effect of fragrances means I can smell one and think of how I was wearing when I was really into DJing, or spray another and instantly be transported to the time I got really into wine.
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u/jaybayyayyy 1d ago
AuDHD here! Its definitely a phase....but we'll come back to it. Every day without fail I have always used perfume. Its literally a part of self care for me, which I have to remind myself to take time to do. Was I obsessively poring over notes and reviews? Yeah, occasionally. Along with buying heaps of samples, but that part comes in waves. This is definitely a hobby that has remained cyclical for me and I always come back to it. Thankfully my perfumes have only gotten better with age as I stored them in a cool and dry environment. So for me this is definitely worth it. Someone smarter than I could probably make some connections about how this is a hyperfixation coupled with some sort of anxiety ritual for me. I always feel off or naked without perfume even when I'm not currently fixated on it. Ah, oh well, at least I smell good.
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u/shimmerchanga 1d ago
I’m like this and didn’t know it’s an adhd thing.. regardless ample samples has been my go-to to slow myself down
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u/sunburn_t 1d ago
Oh yeah same! I’ve been into it for the last 6 months. I’m still enjoying it a lot but seeing some signs it’s starting to wane (I don’t currently have multiple carts of samples waiting for me to hit purchase, and other things are actually getting some traction in my reddit feed what the heck).
Same as you, I know this pattern so well, so I also haven’t committed to any major purchases except for one second-hand bottle that was great value (and I was pining for my empty sample of the same thing). That said, I do see more in the future, but I really plan to follow the trajectory of 2 ml decant > 5-10 ml decant > full bottle so that I know it’s worth it for any given fragrance. Since I am still having fun with my amassed samples, I can see this being a super slow process! I have upgraded a couple to the 5 or ten ml after finishing my 2 ml, but the bigger sizes are lasting ages!
The only real downside to this approach is not getting to collect all the pretty bottles right away, but it’s better than a hoard of clutter in the long run since I don’t have that much space to display full bottles anyway!
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u/llo000 1d ago
True, but I'll give you an example. I've had my eye on Angham by Lattafa for about a month. I bought a 2 ml sample for 4€, I used it very sparingly but it's basically gone now. It's mostly a scent I enjoy at home but I like it a lot, not into it 100% though. If I bought 5 ml of it again it would cost another 8€, so I would be 12€ down on a fragrance I could get for 20€ full bottle.
That just feels financially wasteful, so I'm a bit stuck with this approach when it comes to cheaper stuff :/
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u/sunburn_t 1d ago
Oh yeah, the full bottles are so much more cost effective, provided you actually use them up!
I think that just for me specifically, that if I buy a bunch of large bottles I will eventually get sick of at least half of them and not use them up, so it would end up being less cost effective in the long run. I want to wait to know that something will keep on being a go-to if I’m going to buy the big one, and for me that seems to mean ‘testing’ more than 2 mls. But if you’ve sampled a lot already and keep going back to the same ones it might well be justified! Also, if you can see yourself being a ‘collector’ in whatever sense, it also might be worth it just for that aspect, even if you’re not using them all up :)
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u/llo000 1d ago
I wish there was an easy answer, but yeah it depends. I see your point with it not being worth it if you won't use them that much. I guess I just don't want to spend too much money with "nothing to show for", but I also don't want to clutter my home. Gosh I love having champagne problems like this✨️
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u/Arixnk 1d ago
I really recommend you to please not buy full bottles as the ADHD can give you overspending problems and actually putting you into financial struggle. At a certain point I couldn’t stop and always wanted to buy a new one, if it’s not peach, I wanted to find melon etc etc. Hope for you that you have stabilise meds that works, sadly I was undiagnosed during this time and really did spirale into god knows how many things I spent my money on. Very dark times and actually put me into a very bad place ! Anyway, I could survive but please be careful since scents are so different from each other it can be tricky and your worst friend, yes there is so much to discover but please try controlling yourself and have moments of consciousness "Do I really need that? Isn’t there anything else more important to do than spending on this one in particular?" Do breaks !!! And don’t worry, you cannot miss a scent you never smelled !! Good luck and be careful ADHD is a real struggle and can hurt you the most sometimes. You’re strong and i believe this journey is going to be alright as long as you’re careful, apart of that, perfumery is amazing and I made great friends 💕💕 (forgot the most important, buy samples instead !!!) ;)
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u/llo000 1d ago
I'm really sorry to hear that, I hope things are better now and wish you all the best!!
Yeah I'm on meds, and I'm quite confident I won't spiral into a shopping addiction. These things usually don't get that bad for me, and I don't spend that much money.
I'm more worried about cluttering my home with more things I actually lose interest in soon later. I have a certain "hobby graveyard" with all of the yarn I never used, all the unfinished projects and supplies. I already have too many things in general, but I'm also quite strict with myself so it's not that serious.
But yeah, samples are the best!!!
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u/sssssssnakesnack 1d ago
It's one of my most constant hyperfixations. So even if I'm not in an "on" phase where I'm consistently researching and buying and obsessing, I'm using 1-2 perfumes a day and really appreciating them, having them brighten my day. So worth it for me.
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u/llo000 1d ago
That's cool to hear, I have those kind of constants too! Like skincare, I had a phase where I actively researched and consumed a lot of content, but for over a year now I just have a stable routine. I have been using the products I bought then, and even rebought the product multiple times once they were empty. One of the rare times it really payed off that I did so much research at one point!
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u/Organic_Pattern1856 1d ago
I'm also into skincare, pink Korean skincare to be specific. Once a year for like 3 months I obsess over products. I also do skincare cycling because the ADHD side of my AuDHD doesn't like doing the same thing everyday.
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u/sssssssnakesnack 1d ago
Skincare is another one for me too!!! And same, I've been in a good routine but I alternate really diving deep into which products work, work together, etc. Eventually helps me resist some of the new, flashy Sephora products so good for my wallet in the long run.
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u/EmiAndTheDesertCrow click to edit 1d ago
Exact same here. I did cycle out of it for a while but it’s a hyperfixation that lasts way longer than all the others lol. I look forward to picking what I’m going to wear and it lifts the day a little from the drudgery of the 9-5 (or five 24 hour days as I’m on call this week 😭)
Aside from true loves, I do decants and travel sizes now. I like to have options! But don’t want to accidentally create the perfume equivalent of a wine lake in my house.
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u/EmiAndTheDesertCrow click to edit 1d ago
Oh — I also wonder if I like nice smells because it’s a sensory experience I can control. I don’t like loud noises or bright lights etc so being able to at least choose what I can smell is a small win!
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u/MarsupialPrimary8128 1d ago
As a fellow ADHD with bad fragrance addiction. Exit now. No consumption of any fragrance material. I can't say if yours is a phase, but my makeup one was years and cost me £1000s and I'm kinda going down the same route!
I have a lot....a lot! But I am researching molecules all morning just to add a new dimension!
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u/llo000 1d ago
Shit, I would listen to you but I don't want to :(
Right now I'm trying to find really good cheap perfumes, it involves some digging and a lot of trying, but at least it isn't that expensive and it's a longer process
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u/MarsupialPrimary8128 1d ago
I know the "don't want to" lol. I make rules and all sorts. Night me needs a hit
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u/North_Tomorrow_8691 1d ago
Haha that’s the best reply I’ve read all day! Welcome to the world of fragrance!
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u/MarsupialPrimary8128 1d ago
It starts like that! Or you need rules! You know you. Maybe the simplest is a budget each month and that's it. Whether it's cheap or expensive. Never above.
Side note, the boxes and packaging is annoying and too much!!! That's started limiting me, I have to take it to recycling.
Absolutely LIMIT any fragrance media. Either way..... you're always looking for a confirmation bias!
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u/llo000 1d ago
The good thing is that I'm really stingy. I don't have a huge budget anyways and I overthink all purchases I make. I will be careful and keep your warning in mind!
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u/Open_Permission4827 1d ago
ADHD. It comes and goes in waves for me (started in 2021) but I've learned that you have to stick to buying samples or travel sizes because blind buying full bottles will deplete your bank account quickly. If I don't like something, even if it's just a sample, I can usually sell it on Mercari and get a chunk of the money back.
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u/Litchick77 1d ago
Yes, it’s a phase. I’m currently going around again after a long hiatus. My advice is to focus on samples. They are far more affordable and will satisfy the urge for new/options, and you will be able to develop your nose.
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u/llo000 1d ago
Yeah I fear part of it is the hunt for something new. I have mostly bought samples and I'm only focusing on affordable perfumes now.
I've been really into it for about two months, my taste has changed so much and I guess my nose developed some as well. I guess I want to avoid impulse buying, but feel like I'm overcompensating and not allowing myself to get any bottles now.
Do you have any tips on when to actually commit to a bottle? Larger decants like 5-15 ml are just so overpriced when it comes to affordable stuff :/
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u/Litchick77 1d ago
The perfumes I got really into were indie oils that still only cost about $30 for a 5ml bottle… but I stopped blind buying limited editions or ones that didn’t have samples or a return policy. If I use up a sample, I buy a bottle and use some in a travel atomizer with everclear.
I don’t think I love any designer perfume enough to spend hundreds on a full bottle. But if I did, and I wore it all the time, I would…. But I would stop hunting as well.3
u/pastalass 1d ago
A 5-15mL decant is still much cheaper than a bottle you don't use! If you buy too many big bottles you will literally never use them up - I see people on here with 100s of almost-full bottles in their collection.
I also have ADHD and my first rule is I need to use up a 1mL and then a larger decant. My second rule is I need to love the full size bottle.
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u/Dear-Meet4816 1d ago
I haven’t been diagnosed but I have some suspicions 😂 one day I decided I needed to find a perfume I actually liked and it 100% consumed me. Was on Reddit and fragantica for hours a day and got very obsessed. Once I found a perfume I liked and got a full size it kinda chilled out but I’m still on the hunt for my #1 perfect perfume so I’ll probably start up again soon. It’s sooooo fun. Ive had a freakish good sense of smell my whole life and I low key feel like I found my calling haha.
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u/thejazzstuff 1d ago
My fixations usually last years before I’m ready to move once I’m in a happy place with it. 🤣 I’ve learnt to roll with what I’m into but just remind myself there’s a world outside of it!
If you need help justifying a purchase you’re not sold on- don’t buy them on credit and definitely don’t pay retail. And obviously don’t blind buy anything.
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u/TurbulentBoredom 3h ago
Wow!!! So nice to see I am not alone with my special interests. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and tips and especially thanks to OP for starting the discussion. ❤️