I'm going to kill this whole post. It got taken over by the metaphor used in it.

Just shows how powerful the attraction of lightweight stuff is. One of the big problems on a user voted news site is to keep out the kind of frivolous crap that would otherwise float to the top because it's easy to upvote and everyone has an opinion about it. An actual post about dating would be offtopic for precisely this reason. But as the comments on this thread show, people's interest in fluff is so great that even if you're merely using a fluff point to explain something more solid, the fluff aspect of it will tend to take over.

Or better yet: don't give gifts at all, until you're in a long-term relationship.

(Yes, seriously.)

of course, most adult women probably have more than one bottle of perfume, and they probably wouldn't wear it every single time they would be with the person in question, unless they really liked the scent. I think I have around five I use frequently and even more stashed, sometimes I'll just stick with one and other times I'll layer a couple of perfumes. Depends on the mood I'm in that day, as well as the weather and occasion.

the better advice, if you can get away with it: be truthful. some people are open to open relationships and maybe even polyamory. having been in a position where I was the "other girl" (love makes one do funny things), the whole being secretive and sneaking around thing, as well as the ensuing fights, was painful..and the other woman doesn't even know the whole story still.

- sniff sniff Is that Elizabeth Dior No. 5 on your shirt?

- Yes, I love it when you wear that perfume I gave you.

- I know. So I ran out of it a month ago.

- Uhhh, I havn't had time to do my laundry lately.