I loved this post! I’ve visited both Ministry of Scent and The Scent Room (LA) as I’m based in the Bay Area, and it really helped me discover what notes I liked in a friendly environment, plus I got decants to take home! My current scent is Commodity’s Milk+ that I fell in love with on my own at Sephora, but I always recommend a trip to a fancier perfume store for the best picks/expert advice!!
I try not to pay retail for fragrances, so I wait until I can get a deal on something from a discounter like Fragrancenet.com or Jomashop. Fragrancenet also sells decanted travel sprays of many scents. I'll also occasionally buy from eBay or Mercari, if the price is right and the seller seems reputable. (I so miss all the fabulous trades I made on Makeup Alley!)
Also, if you buy something niche or expensive and decide it's not for you, hold on to it anyway (keep the packaging!). It's bound to be discontinued in a couple years, then you can sell it on eBay for $$$.
Also, if you make friends (locally or otherwise) who enjoy the hobby, you can be 'scent pen pals' and send samples back and forth to try additional things. A big part of any hobby is community, and this is a good way to start! Swapping 10-20 samples with a friend when you both only have to pay for shipping is really economical!
In the same vein, could also go in half on a large bottle with a friend and decant -- someone could pay 60% to keep the bottle or something. Of course, this requires having friends with similar taste but it's an option.
To the bottle size note: I wish more brands would do 30ml bottles. Travel size is great but the bottles are a little annoying to store/display. 30ml is a very happy medium of not too big to never possibly use it all, while still having fun bottles to display.
I feel like they’d sell more volume with smaller bottle options though. There’s plenty of things I’d love to have a bottle of but skip because there’s nothing but 100ml.
The huge bottles are popular with the decanters since they can squeeze more profit out, but brands could be extracting those sales more directly if they offered smaller options. (Is my elevator pitch good enough? 😆)
Christina, thank you so much for the post parts one and two! I laughed and thought “she gets it” on your comment about being stirred up to buy EVERY discovery kit right NOW because of amazing reviews like yours.
$$$ later I finally jumped off that treadmill…really can get get triggered try and buy everything NOW when the writing is good!
Question for you - do you know of a link on how to decant with recommended tools? I’ve been doing a search, especially for taking the perfume out of those Dabbers (looking at you Lucky Scent) and putting them into mini atomizers so I can get the best sense of scent by spraying rather than dabbing. For me as a newbie -this has worked out better for me being able to correctly assess whether or not the perfume works.
If you don’t know of a
link, perhaps you could consider writing a short article?
Perfume is precious to waste a drop and with all this talk about decants I can’t find a resource that gives tried and true methods of decanting versus hacks that may or may not work.
Oh that’s a great idea for a post! I can do a video of how I decant too. I buy travel bottles and they come with the funnel and stuff to decant. And for those lucky scent samples I dump them in 5ml atomizer bottles and it’s way better! I buy both on Amazon.
Such a great breakdown and I love my Crumb Couture! That buttery note is really good. Also, their secret menu is always such a fun little adventure to browse through.
I highly recommend Sorce! I own Matcha Made in Heaven—it’s the perfect long-lasting scent that isn’t overpowering or headache-inducing, and a little goes a long way. I suggest starting with one of their discovery sets to explore a range of scents before committing to a full size.
I have spent quite a bit on samples and decants since last year! Currently sniffing my way through 12 samples from Lucky Scent that just arrived yesterday! I agree about the travel sizes. There are a few scents I would love to have but would never use an entire full size bottle (looking at you Serviette).
Thank you so much for parts 1 and 2 of this guide! I love Crumb Couture from Snif and want to explore more of the main lineup. I’m also interested in trying the brands Vyrao and Heretic as they are more on the indie side and have more scent profiles that lean towards my preferences.
I loved this post! I’ve visited both Ministry of Scent and The Scent Room (LA) as I’m based in the Bay Area, and it really helped me discover what notes I liked in a friendly environment, plus I got decants to take home! My current scent is Commodity’s Milk+ that I fell in love with on my own at Sephora, but I always recommend a trip to a fancier perfume store for the best picks/expert advice!!
Sephora is great for discovering fragrance too! And some of it is well priced.
I try not to pay retail for fragrances, so I wait until I can get a deal on something from a discounter like Fragrancenet.com or Jomashop. Fragrancenet also sells decanted travel sprays of many scents. I'll also occasionally buy from eBay or Mercari, if the price is right and the seller seems reputable. (I so miss all the fabulous trades I made on Makeup Alley!)
Also, if you buy something niche or expensive and decide it's not for you, hold on to it anyway (keep the packaging!). It's bound to be discontinued in a couple years, then you can sell it on eBay for $$$.
All good tips!!
Also, if you make friends (locally or otherwise) who enjoy the hobby, you can be 'scent pen pals' and send samples back and forth to try additional things. A big part of any hobby is community, and this is a good way to start! Swapping 10-20 samples with a friend when you both only have to pay for shipping is really economical!
In the same vein, could also go in half on a large bottle with a friend and decant -- someone could pay 60% to keep the bottle or something. Of course, this requires having friends with similar taste but it's an option.
To the bottle size note: I wish more brands would do 30ml bottles. Travel size is great but the bottles are a little annoying to store/display. 30ml is a very happy medium of not too big to never possibly use it all, while still having fun bottles to display.
Agree with all of this! Greta suggestions. I also like a 30ml bottle. I wish brands just offered more options I’m sure it’s not cheap though.
I feel like they’d sell more volume with smaller bottle options though. There’s plenty of things I’d love to have a bottle of but skip because there’s nothing but 100ml.
The huge bottles are popular with the decanters since they can squeeze more profit out, but brands could be extracting those sales more directly if they offered smaller options. (Is my elevator pitch good enough? 😆)
lol sounds right to me!
Christina, thank you so much for the post parts one and two! I laughed and thought “she gets it” on your comment about being stirred up to buy EVERY discovery kit right NOW because of amazing reviews like yours.
$$$ later I finally jumped off that treadmill…really can get get triggered try and buy everything NOW when the writing is good!
Question for you - do you know of a link on how to decant with recommended tools? I’ve been doing a search, especially for taking the perfume out of those Dabbers (looking at you Lucky Scent) and putting them into mini atomizers so I can get the best sense of scent by spraying rather than dabbing. For me as a newbie -this has worked out better for me being able to correctly assess whether or not the perfume works.
If you don’t know of a
link, perhaps you could consider writing a short article?
Perfume is precious to waste a drop and with all this talk about decants I can’t find a resource that gives tried and true methods of decanting versus hacks that may or may not work.
Your thoughts?
Oh that’s a great idea for a post! I can do a video of how I decant too. I buy travel bottles and they come with the funnel and stuff to decant. And for those lucky scent samples I dump them in 5ml atomizer bottles and it’s way better! I buy both on Amazon.
Seconding this request! Thank you 🙏🏻
❤️
Just visited Fumerie in portland, OR and it was such a fun time! I’ve bought samples from a company called Ambre. Recommend!
"Like a body count"!
Such a great breakdown and I love my Crumb Couture! That buttery note is really good. Also, their secret menu is always such a fun little adventure to browse through.
I love the secret menu so much too!
I highly recommend Sorce! I own Matcha Made in Heaven—it’s the perfect long-lasting scent that isn’t overpowering or headache-inducing, and a little goes a long way. I suggest starting with one of their discovery sets to explore a range of scents before committing to a full size.
Thanks! I will def do a discovery set. I’ve been so curious about their line.
Great resources to explore. Thanks for the list!
I have spent quite a bit on samples and decants since last year! Currently sniffing my way through 12 samples from Lucky Scent that just arrived yesterday! I agree about the travel sizes. There are a few scents I would love to have but would never use an entire full size bottle (looking at you Serviette).
Right? It’s such a good way to go! And if you get tired of something you don’t have to stare down a big bottle lol
Thank you so much for parts 1 and 2 of this guide! I love Crumb Couture from Snif and want to explore more of the main lineup. I’m also interested in trying the brands Vyrao and Heretic as they are more on the indie side and have more scent profiles that lean towards my preferences.
Both Vyrao and Heretic are great!
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥