I keep a decorative cardboard box on my bedside table, full of perfume samples — tiny glass vials with small, stubborn plastic caps. These minuscule vessels full of to-be-discovered fragrance are routinely doled out by people in the perfume biz, a generous little redolent gift, or more often a gesture when we make a purchase in their establishment. Most people, I suspect, pay little attention to these samples, dropping them into a pocketbook, where they keep company with bobby pins, cough drops and paperclips, or tossing them into a drawer. But for parfumistas (parfumista: someone who is obsessed with perfume and fragrance), these vials are precious and coveted. Each one offers the possibility of new olfactory wonders, or a reminder of aromatic marvels of the past.
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