Q3 2025 Perfume Confessional: How Much Damage Did You Do?

If you’re feeling guilty about your fragrance haul from July to September, you’re in good company. Our unofficial patron saint of perfume excess, Donatella, is collecting confessions again, and the timing is delicious. She’s ignoring the debut of Dario Vitale at Versace, seen orbiting with Anna Wintour instead, while she’s set to be honored with the CFDA Positive Change Award next month. The tea is hot, the shopping carts are hotter.

Let’s keep it real. No poll this time, just an open confession booth. Tell me how much damage you did in Q3 2025. Be brave. No corporate fluff, no “olfactory journeys,” just what matters:

• Number of full bottles you bought in July, August, September
• Any backups you panic-bought
• Travel sprays, decants, or samples that snuck in
• Blind buys that thrilled you, and the ones that did you dirty
• The one scent that never left your skin

My confession: I kept the bottle count at 2, plus one travel spray and a handful of decants that multiplied like gremlins at midnight. I skipped the splashy stuff and sat on my hands waiting to see what the Dario Vitale era at Versace really smells like. There’s a time to sprint and a time to hover. This quarter, I hovered.

What I want to hear from you:

• Did you stick to a budget, or did the heatwave do the talking
• Are you stockpiling signatures or playing the field
• Did any limited release force you into a reckless click
• Are you holding out for whatever Donatella blesses next, or is your shelf already full of penance

Leave the number, leave the names if you want, or just whisper “I lost count” and we’ll nod in solidarity. Q3 is over, the receipts are real, and the nose wants what it wants. Your move.

P.S. If you’re waiting to see how Versace shifts under Dario Vitale, same. If the award spotlight on Donatella signals a reset, I’m listening. But until then, it’s just us and our bottle math. Confess below.