Fancy a splash of very Old Spice?

Millions of men are hanging on to bottles of aftershave bought a decade ago as they 'scents' a way to save their pennies during the credit crunch, with around a quarter of all Brits surveyed (23 per cent) spending less now on all fragrances than they were six months ago, new research shows.

As times get even tougher, 72 per cent of those polled are intending to spend less than usual in the next six months on fragrances - so it's hardly surprising that women are also hoarding their old fragrances, according to research by Sheilas' Wheels home insurance.

Men are just as bad when it comes to collecting bottles of fragrance - whether it is an old bottle of Brut or the latest celebrity perfume by Beckham, around one in six men (17 per cent) still have an aftershave that is at least ten years or older.

The survey of 1,000 adults found women spend an average of £2,835 on perfume over their lifetime and spend a further £900 on buying scents for their other halves.

Men spend less on themselves, around £1,638 over a lifetime, but more - almost £2,000 - on fragrances for their girlfriends, wives or partners, according to the poll.

Women tend to keep six bottles at any one time - though a staggering 23 per cent admit they currently own ten or more.

Men keep just two or three - of which one is likely to be ancient - with even blasts from the past like Denim and Brut cropping up in the occasional bathroom cabinet across the UK.

Around one in eight women (13 per cent) estimate their current perfume collection is worth more than £200 and a further 22 per cent say it is worth between £100 and £200.

For men, only eight per cent reckon their current collection of scents is worth more than £200.

The survey also found that 16 per cent of both men and women have spent £50 or more on a particular scent for themselves.

And far from simply splashing it on all over, many choose a different brand for different reasons with 48 per cent claiming it makes them more confident and 28 per cent more sexy.

Brits surveyed also listed several different occasions when they may choose to wear a whiff of something exotic - including four per cent who say that, like Marilyn Monroe, it's all they wear in bed!

More than six in ten (61 per cent) of adults polled dab a bit on every morning:

66 per cent of women and 54 per cent of men.

Fragrances are most popular among the 30-44 age group where 65 per cent wear a scent daily.

Regionally, the best smelling Brits are in the South East where 70 per cent wear fragrance daily but it's least popular in East Anglia where just 47 per cent put it on daily.


The explosion of celebrity branded scents, from stars as varied as Britney Spears to Victoria Beckham and Jade Goody to Katie Price, means they are more attractive than ever before. More than a third of women (35 per cent) - but only 17 per cent of men - have tried a celebrity scent, according to the survey.

Jacky Brown at Sheilas' Wheels home insurance, commented: "We seem to be a nation of hoarders and big spenders when it comes to our perfumes and aftershaves. Men hoard their old aftershaves, possibly out of forgetfulness, but also because the smell of some brands is nostalgic - it reminds them of the past and different eras.

"Women are a lot more practical and don't hang on to perfumes for years - but they do tend to keep a bigger collection to have a variety of fragrances at hand to fit the right occasion or mood.

"Fragrances are expensive, luxury items and their combined value should not be under-estimated when it comes to arranging contents insurance. They are small items but their price tags certainly aren't - so don't overlook perfumes and cosmetics, when thinking about the value of what's in our wardrobes."

Regionally, the South West are the biggest spenders with ten per cent splashing out £100 or more a year on perfumes, after shaves and other fragrances compared to just three per cent who do so in the West Midlands.

Those in Yorkshire are most likely to hang on to old brands - 12 per cent have bottles over ten years old - while no one in Wales admits to the same.

Almost one in six - 17 per cent - in London have collections worth £200 or more and 22 per cent in the region have spent over £50 on a single bottle, the highest proportion of any region.