Keep it cheap!

If these two bottles cost the same, and your formula requires the same amount of either one or the other, and either choice will give you essentially the same result (these shown would not!), which bottle do you think would give you a marketing advantage?

    Don't get me wrong. I love beautiful -- high quality -- fragrances. I would never ask my wife to use some cheap junk garbage perfume. But if you want to make perfume yourself, unless you are independently wealthy or have a wealthy patron, you'll find yourself giving consideration to what aroma materials cost.

    I have several fragrances in my own "line" that employ relatively costly ingredients. I enjoy them and those who have purchased them enjoy them. But mostly they were made as small scale experiments -- tests to explore my own interest in these materials. I cringe at what I would have to go through to produce them on anything like a commercial scale.

    Lately I've had the not unreasonable desire to put my fragrances in the hands of more people. That means being prepared to scale up production, and that means having to put up more money.

    I think back at the time when Honda first invaded the American market. It was with a ... MOTOR SCOOTER! In fact they had a group SING about it and the song got substantial air time, drilling into our heads the brand name and the notion that it was cool.

    Worming their way in with motor scooters, Honda progressed to small automobiles. But today, in addition to their "Honda" cars and industrial equipment, they also have a line of LUXURY cars, the Acura.

    When you're developing your formulas, give thought not only to where you want to be but also to how you might get there. Starting small can be smart. And starting small can force you to think harder about your formulas and put greater effort into producing great perfumes while keeping your formulas ... cheap!