Being able to purchase the bottles you want, in the quantity you want, at the price you want is an ongoing issue for anyone involved in creating perfume on a modest scale. As a minimum you need two kinds of bottles, ones for the distribution of your fragrances (perfume bottles) and ones for the production of your scents (utility bottles). If you make fragrances for both women and for men you might want to give them different bottles. This means you'll need three different types of bottles and you'll want to keep at least a small supply of each of them on hand.
About a month ago as I was finishing up my revised version of Rough Day I stopped to review the inventory I had on hand. I wanted to check my supply of 16 ounce and 32 ounce amber Boston rounds that I use when producing fragrances. I was shocked, yes shocked to discover the vendor I had used for years was out of stock of both sizes and could not say when more would be available.
When I publish books on perfume development I highlight materials and services I've used but rather than list them on an appendix page, I direct readers to the "Vendors" pages of my Perfume Projects website. Why? Because the books, once printed, can't be changed, but they continue to be sold, traded, and used as a resource long after some of these vendors have gone out of business or have stopped supplying the product or service that would have gotten them a listing. On a web page, in a minute or two, I can add or delete vendors as their circumstances change. In the case of amber Boston round bottles I have added several new vendors that, at this time, appear to be well stocked.
When I checked my bottle supply I found I did have on hand those utility bottles I needed so I haven't yet tried one of the new vendors. And I have received an email from the vendor I used for many years reporting that some new bottles are on their way. As to perfume bottles for both men's and women's fragrances, I have large stocks on hand of the styles I use most frequently. Once I have used a particular bottle for a particular fragrance I want continuity for that bottle design. All of this is a warning.
Once you have developed a fragrance that pleases you, you want to show it around and see what others think. This means you need to have bottles on hand, perhaps just a dozen; perhaps more. The bottles you use when you are first sharing your fragrance don't have to be the same bottles you might use if you were going ahead with your project and producing 1,000 or even 10,000 bottles. I like to keep on hand at least a few dozen simple bottles with screw on sprays for womens fragrances and a similar quantity of sprinkler neck bottles (no spray) for mens fragrances. This way, when I have a fragrance I want to test on a friends and others, I have the bottles on hand. I don't have to worry about whether a vendor will have them in stock at the time I need them and I don't have to worry about shipping times and shipping delays.
When a scent is good, I want to bottles it... now!
