(Credible seller disclaimer)

Hi there,

My name is Nathan.

I Am a seasoned Private Investigator in the dept. of Revenue Protection for my city of Milwaukee for over a decade with with a college degree in Design/ Sales. 

I Am a life-long fragrance hobbyist/collector, & a passionate seller. I am your 1 and only seller at guardianofthefragrances. I will answer all your questions without having to reach out to ‘the factory’. If you know these type of sellers – then you know.

I am confident in my abilities to provide to you what many fragrance sellers cannot. (Which is standing fully behind my products, and KNOWING what I am selling).

I do the deep investigative, and hands on back-office work so you don’t have to. This is why in the actual name of my business I sell myself! (The guardian of the Fragrances) as a standing commitment to integrity. A symbol of protection and guardianship before I even introduce the listings themselves. 

Like the field of legal representation, I feel selling myself and providing lifelong trust is the ultimate selling point for lasting success.

This is especially true in a niche business like vintage fragrances where fraud detection and studying/collecting fragrances is necessary. I have very high standards for what I post in my vintage fragrance shop. In fact, that was my vision when I launched my store; to offer reliable selections for collectors & enthusiasts.

Everything I list has an expectation as if it were to be added to my own personal collection. (And in most cases - that's where I pull my listings directly from).

Essentially, when you come to my shop, You are purchasing formulas already inspected by a revenue protection expert, and collected by a highly selective, and critical collector. You virtually can’t get any better than that if you want a vintage formulation of a cherished fragrance.

 Despite everything in my listings being my own personal research, experiences, and in my own words…I’ve seen many other sellers on eBay copy my entire listing title, & large portions of my listing description verbatim. This tells me I am on my way to being to being the pioneer and self-starter of vintage perfumery sales. 

Belief is the enemy of knowing. 

I Don’t simply believe – in what I’m selling – I know what I’m selling.

(Buyer satisfaction disclaimer)

Additional to my stellar expertise and reputation,

ALL my vintage fragrance listings are tested, authentic, properly stored, well preserved, & suited to personal taste/ memory.

My listings are in quirky vintage ‘as-is’ conditions with antique charms of possible bottle blemishes, misc. cosmetic ‘flaws’ and with various fill lines. Some with original packaging, some without. 

All these vintage quirks are carefully described for each individual listing, and I leave no room for surprises. Not in the listing images, nor their descriptions. 

Because of the type of products I sell & the need for thorough fragrance testing, NEVER will you find a fragrance unsprayed/untested & completely sealed in cellophane.

For you to be confident about your purchase,

It is highly suggested that you:

Research reviews on the vintage formulas.

(My own seller feedback, Fragrantica, Basenotes forums, YouTube, Facebook groups, etc.).

Obtain travel sizes first of vintage formulas first 

(Elsewhere such as Esty).

Make yourself aware of vintage re-formulations *within* vintage eras.

(See: ‘Vintage eras within vintage eras’ below).

Understand the historical use of ‘Polarizing/daring’ ingredient choices made by perfumers for men of past generations.

(The 80’s was a dramatic movement in outlandish masculinity).

Remember that silage scent clouds were up against secondhand smoke in clubs.

(Colognes were made for their scent cloud during these eras, not to necessarily to smell perfect up close).

OR

SIMPLY Blind buy ‘Open mindedly’ with the expectation you may not be satisfied with the DNA.

(& also understand since its authentic and well preserved that I am not at fault of a letdown).

(Personal conclusions on 'Blind buying' disclaimer)

As mentioned above,

‘Close minded blind buyers’ are known for putting expectations and fantasies upon what a fragrance 'may' smell like - to be pleasantly surprised.

 OR

The complete opposite; emotionally distressed, confused, disappointed, defensive, and invested into putting the blame somewhere other than toward themselves becoming a ‘test and return’ buyer and tarnishing the seller record with negative feedback.

When choosing to 'blind buy' vintage fragrances from my shop, It is helpful if you have some sort of olfactory memory of these DNAS for the many reasons I mentioned above and will mention below in separated sections.

This is especially the case if you are a curious blind buyer with high-expectations, and an emotional outcome.

Just to clarify though, If you are an ‘open-minded blind buyer’ (Huge difference). Then you have come to the right place.

(The SOCIOLOGY of 'daring' ingredients disclaimer)

Statements the fragrance community is not new to hearing:

X "It's spoiled, putrid, something is off, it's gone bad."

My response:

"VERY UNLIKELY."

You are simply confused about what you are smelling.

To be clear:

80's, and 90's fragrances amplified notes like sweaty cumin, pissy animalics (In some - hi Kouros!), and over all had a more unapologetic masculine, and a purposely somewhat 'offensive' character in an artistic manner in low quantities - not only to distinguish a bigger barrier between female and male perfumes but to also combat environmental stressors like indoor smoking. 

I can steady sell 30+ bottles of vintage Le Male, or countless vintage Acqua Di Gio PH's, and still have that one blind buyer who comes back and says, "It smells off/ spoiled." 

Fragrances used to smell sweaty in comparison to today’s formulas.

These aren't your modern regulated ambroxan/ sugary bakery bombs. 

Case in point:

‘CK one’ was the first Designer unisex not launched until mid-90's,

At one point all male fragrances were a little daring – CK one was basically saying – here’s the first ‘safe’ male/unisex fragrance.

 Friendly polite male colognes are a NEWER concept if you really look at perfumery history.

Not to mention:

After years of distributer gaslighting on how reformulations ‘never happen’, the POA symbol (period after opening symbol) being used on fragrances. (yet having no scientific validity – a mix of 10% naturals and 10% synthetic aroma chemicals expiring in a concentration of 80% alcohol? Yeah OK), as well as YouTube influencers pushing a ‘notes gone sour’ narrative, Gives a very delusional mass conclusion and lack of understanding on how fragrances age in the fragrance community. Retail chains want you paranoid ‘everything has gone bad’ so you rush to the counters and buy their ‘fresh fragrances’.

REMINDER:

SMOKING AND ‘FRAGRANTING’ INDOORS WAS ALLOWED!

🚬

Young or old,

It’s still easy to remember that INDOOR smoking use to be allowed at all restaurants & nightclubs. 

With secondhand smoking being everywhere - fragrances HAD TO BE DARING and contain competitive base notes to make a statement. This was especially easier to do in a pre-IFRA regulation era.

Not only were macho masculine notes a must in decades past, nor were IFRA regulations an issue - but they had to up the stakes so to speak for cloudy smoking stink fog that marinated in public spaces of the past. 

My take is it seems fragrances were originally meant to be smelled in a scent trail/ silage cloud –

not as much up close. 

Total opposite to today’s perfumery.

(Vintage eras WITHIN vintage eras disclaimer)

ALSO please make note of vintage eras *within* vintage eras that occurred for reasons other than IFRA regulations.

(Distributer changes, ingredient sourcing, general improvements, tweaking notes to stay current with trends, ect).

For example, there are stark differences between vintage Obsession for men 80's (Darker) vs. 90's (Sparklier), Drakkar Noir 80's (More patchouli) vs. 90's (More lemon), Le Male 90's (More sweaty cumin & vanilla), vs. 00's (More herbal and fresher), Polo Green 70's (Sweeter pine, Darker base) vs 80's/90's (Ashy-er, more aromatic). 

(The list goes on and on for deep vintage fragrances).

I cannot stress enough how important it is to know the formula you are buying when investing into a vintage fragrance. One moment you are confident in your purchase, and then you get a different 'era' in the mail, only to become another unsatisfied blind buyer that remembers slightly different characteristics.

('Uniquely aging' disclaimer)

This section is a bit fluid – and on the New Age ‘Wu Wu’ side - not really backed by science.

But something I notice here and there in perfumery.

 Fragrances MAY smell slightly different in character when comparing one vintage bottle not due to mishandling but depending on how it was ‘Natured’ & ‘Nurtured’.

(Stick with me - trying not to make this weird LOL).

This could be due to glass color, weather patterns, temperature, the ‘energy’ of the home from which the bottle came after years of being in the space, in combination with and/or fill the line of the vintage bottle. 

(MACERATION: The more air a fragrance gets as it's used- the richer it becomes!).

For this reason - POSSIBLY expect unique and subtle minor differences in character when comparing them to other identical formulas in your collection from the same timeline. 

For example:

I sold a 15% full Le Male years ago that was uniquely different somehow than my newer bottles in a way I couldn't explain.

The way it 'lived' its life sort of gave it a unique personality. Despite it still smelling like good ‘ol Le Male.

I sort of wish I held onto it.

Additional to that:

We all have different noses, memories, observations, moods, and things to compare an item to.

Don't like the aroma today?

Get a good night’s rest,

‘netipot’ your sinuses,

Boost/improve/ Re-grow your olfactory nerves after a cold,

(Sense of smell needs to re-wire if damaged and smells can seem off).

wear the fragrance appropriate to its purpose and season it was meant for, 

and try again tomorrow!

You feel me?

(Buyer abuse disclaimer)

Buyer abuse NOT tolerated in my shop:

-'Drive-by' negative reviews without personal contact.

(Let’s talk about why you are dissatisfied with what you are smelling – I likely have a lengthy sociological/ scientific explanation that you likely need to hear after years of distributer lies, reformulations, misinformed mass hysteria, and past poor buyer experiences – I’M NOT THE ENEMY!)

-Blind buy 'Test & return' escalations.

(I'm not your test shop).

(We as a vintage fragrance seller community are providing you a service, EVEN if that entails you confirming you don't like a DNA if you make the decision to blind buy it.)

-Buy & immediate cancel events.

(I’m charged a fee for your buyers remorse non-committed purchases).

(Negative feedback disclaimer)

When considering leaving negative feedback at the end of your experience, with

Guardianofthefragrances;

Ask YOURSELF these questions:

"1. Was I open minded from the beginning and willing to take a risk and 'blind smell' time capsules from the past?"

"2. Did I make this error and buy the wrong vintage formula my brain remembers?"

(ALL of my listings have a precise year of production - did you date your memories prior to purchase?)

"3. Did I reach out to the seller before leaving negative feedback to try to understand what happened or did a leave a blind-sighted negative review?"

"4. Am I about to review the product by mistake on the seller’s feedback page?"

(I am not your personal 'Fragrantica' or eBay product reviews page to rant if you don't like the DNA. Visit the correct outlet to tell the world how this fragrance isn't your thing.) 

"5. Is my seller really to blame with this outcome or is he just a target of my dissatisfaction?"

 By purchasing a listing from guardianofthefragrances,

You agree you have taken a considerable amount of personal time within yourself before you make your purchasing decisions and / or negatively reviewing my service.

 And by possibly blind purchasing from me, 

you also agree that my service to you is to provide authentic well preserved vintage fragrances in a friendly manner in a timely shipping speed. Not to be a target if you possibly don't enjoy the DNA and/ or vintage era it came from.

(Buyer satisfaction conclusion disclaimer)

 Vintage fragrances are AN EXPERIENCE guys, I’m not saying vintage colognes are scary, they’re really not.

But if you are heavily indoctrinated to modern perfumery - you must be open minded and give yourself time to understand older fragrance nuances.

Vintage fragrances aren't for everyone - and I'm ok with that - And you should be too.

 Unfortunately, 

 I CANNOT tell you if you will like what I sell, or if it will perfectly match the memory imprinted in your hippocampus.

That is THE fragrance journey. But I am happy to provide a service to help you on that journey. Because I am on that journey as well.

I hope by viewing my detailed listings, and knowing the formula you are buying, You own a beloved discontinued fragrance for years to come.

Please email me if you have any further questions.

-Nathan

Your Fragrance Guardian