I don't wear perfume, remember? But I've racked up a ton of bottles in the past year and my no-girly-frills self has reluctantly begun to appreciate the prettiness of a menagerie full of the artfully-designed bottles sitting together on the top of a piece of furniture. Next thing you know I'll be hanging an Audrey Hepburn poster above my bed and monogramming my pillowcases, lest I confuse them with all the other pillowcases I come across in my everyday life.
It's a shame, really. I know years of passionate science go into these scents (And apparently delayed feedback and last-minute requests for major changes from pot-smoking female pop stars lounging on their private island--but you didn't hear that here. No criticism, FOR IT 'TIS THE DIVA WAY.), so I feel guilty keeping them unused, trapped atop my dresser. Sure, I could give them away to friends but my friends suck and when have they ever done anything for me?
I was sent a diffuser from a brand that also makes perfumes when it hit me: why not make my own diffuser scented with these sad little puppy-eyed perfumes? I did some research (Googled: DIY room diffuser), and, although initially convinced it wouldn't work, my room has been filled with the pleasant scent of Estée Lauder's Modern Muse for the past week.
You'll need reed diffuser sticks, a light carrier oil (I used sweet almond, but safflower oil is commonly recommended for this as well), a glass, and your fragrance of choice. Most tutorials recommend using essential oils and a splash of alcohol like vodka to help the scent travel up the sticks, but I'm pretty sure that using a perfume kills these two birds with one stone, no? Worked for me anyway.
Pour 4-8 ounces of the carrier oil into your glass, add about a teaspoon or two of your fragrance, and stir it up with the reeds. My solution didn't fully blend, I could tell that there was still some separation, you know with the oil and water hating each other and what not. Regardless, the scent was able to travel up the reeds and permeate through my room within about 24 hours. Way cool.
Or just buy a Yankee Candle, it's whatever.