New spray options for desktop perfume creators

I've been working on a book about creating perfume in small batches both as a regular commercial project and as a tool for test marketing a perfume, to see what might fly on a larger scale. Since the number of bottles this project calls for is small -- well under 100 bottles -- the problem of finding bottles arises. This is one of the biggest headaches for the desktop perfume creator.

Bottles are generally sold by the case and distributors have minimums which can make it difficult to buy just one case of bottles -- and one case might hold 200 bottles or more, depending on the capacity of the bottles. What happens when you only want a few dozen bottles?

To buy just a few dozen bottles you have to find a vendor who will break cases and sell by the single bottle or by the dozen. The number of vendors who will do this is small.

But that's just the beginning of your problem. You need not only the bottle but a sprayer than will mate with the bottle. This leaves you even more limited in your choices when selecting bottles.

Until recently the only option you had was a threaded neck bottle with a screw-on spray pump of the same "finish". ("Finish" is a term describing the configuration of the neck of a bottle.) Your options were either gold or silver screw-on pumps and silver pumps could be hard to find.

While there is nothing wrong with this combination, screw-on pumps have a high profile. Some customers won't care but most are accustomed to the lower profile of a crimp-on pump. But to attach a crimp-on pump to a perfume bottle a machine is needed. Herein lies the problem. Typically a manual crimper can cost well over $1,000, and manual crimpers have a reputation for breaking bottles, deforming pumps, and making a leaky connection.

Some changes in the marketplace

Recently I've seen bottles with screw-on pumps sold as sets by Scentsational Shoppe and these sets use black pumps. A nice touch. Then Perfumer's Apprentice has begun selling sets of bottles with crimp-on pumps and, to make this practical, they also offer a hand held crimper at a modest price.

Another fine mist spray pump possibility is opening up. These are the snap-on (also called "press-on" or "crimpless") spray pumps. They have a very low profile and can give your perfume bottle a very nice look. Like the crimp-on sprays, a machine is needed to attach these pumps to bottles and even the least costly manual press was expensive. Snap-on pumps may look like you might find a way to mount then on bottles without a press but in practice alternative techniques have proven themselves a disaster.

Now Plush Folly in the U.K., which had been selling snap-on pumps for a while, has a connection for a press that is said to be effective and yet is quite reasonably priced. I've already put in my order for one.

Possibilities for the desktop perfume creator are opening up. You still have to hunt to find a bottle and pump that suits you but your current options are far less limited than what was available even a few months ago. Hopefully this positive trend will continue.