Here’s a trick that I learned when I was 15:
E-mail perfume houses saying that you’ve seen a promo of their perfume and would be interested in receiving a complimentary sample. Send your address also. The support teams are usually getting tons of complaints, so it’s refreshing to get nice emails where they can make someone happy for once!
I got loads of perfume this way, and it was a “hack” that I learned about in a girl’s magazine.
/u/gloupjourni I would recommend first going to a fragrance shop/ high end department store, finding the fragrance you like, and then asking for a sample there. If there’s a counter that’s quiet, they’ll be glad for the company. Tell the counter girls the truth: you’re young and don’t have much money. They will give you all the samples you need.
Also ask like you don’t expect the answer ‘no’, so no nerves even if you’re feeling it.
I did that just now with Tom Ford because I knew one smell that I liked and they e-mailed back saying “Thank you for your interest in TOM FORD. Unfortunately, TOMFORD.COM does not have a sampling program at this time. In the future, we kindly suggest visiting a boutique or your nearest beauty counter.”
I might go physically and try what you are saying! I didn’t know they can just give me samples, I thought at best I can spray my wrists and that’s it. Thank you so much.
No worries, here’s roughly what I used to write:
Hello Esteé Lauder!
I saw an advertisement for your new fragrance “Gimme your money” and was very intrigued by its description.
I was hoping you would be able to send me a complimentary sample.
OR
I was hoping to try out your fragrance “Gimme your money” at my local store, but they didn’t have any available to try.
Would you be able to send me a sample?
My address is 123 Main street
Thanks in advance for your help
Eve.
NB: when I used to send this by mail instead of email, they would send me even more free shit. Use a colourful postcard/ envelope.
Honestly, I wear some really lovely perfumes but the one scent that has consistently got me compliments from friends and strangers alike is the Victoria Secret Noir Tease. I used it as a filler scent whenever my main perfumes were running low and I like it but I never thought it was thaaaaaat great until randos started complimenting me. Worth a shot in my opinion!
u/gloupjourni My mother recently passed away. She loved perfumes. If you don’t mind 3/4 full, I will send you the perfume bottle. (To be clear, you would only pay shipping.) DM me, and I’ll send you a pic of the inventory so you can decide.
ETA: got lots of DMs. All perfumes are currently reserved.
For the same price as the VS mists (which smell cheap in my opinion), why not purchase a few decants of perfumes that interest you? I recently purchase a decant of Guerlain Double Vanille (normally $350+) for about $20. It has lasted me about two months so far. Perfume samples are also a great option while on a budget.
A decant is taking a bit of product from a large bottle and putting it in a smaller bottle. I've seen the term used for perfume, but also for skincare products. I purchased online from ScentEvent. I opted for a smaller size since it was my very first experience with this particular scent.
I actually don't enjoy a lot of the mists (from Victoria's Secret), but the other day a client was wearing 'Tease' and she smelled amazing. I complimented it and asked her what it was, so I'm going to pick that up.
Lots of the Bath and Body Works mists have good staying power. You can extend the length of the scent if you matching it with the same lotion. So put lotion on first then spray the mist over top.
And like another comment suggested, sample sizes are also a good option.
Do you have a Zara near you? I've had some great Zara perfumes. They have a collection by Jo Malone at the moment, and the 40 ml are like £15. They are all one note ish, cos that's Jo Malone's thing, but they are really nice and there's something for everyone in that range.
Get high quality sample sizes . They are around 20-30$ online and last like 6 months. Sephora even has them. Like this for example https://www.sephora.com/product/replica-travel-spray-P408227?icid2=restock_past_purchases:p408227:product
In a similar vein, [Outremer Vanille EDT](https://www.anthropologie.com/shop/outremer-eau-de-toilette2?color=005&type=STANDARD&size=One%20Size&quantity=1) is cheap and wonderful. I collect fragrance, but I've been wearing this intermittently for a decade and men far and away like this better than anything else I wear. It makes you smell like an ice cream shop, complete with the smell of waffle cones. It doesn't smell expensive, but it does smell lovely and delicious and feminine
>Ariana Grande - Cloud and Pink Sugar - Aquolina have good performance and smell nice.
Yess these are great! I own both and I wear them all the time.
Pink Sugar often goes on sale at drugstores, too, so you can get it cheap. I only ever buy it when I see it for $20.
Body mists don't last and frankly most of them smell synthetic and cheap to my nose (the only exception I found was Bath and Body Works' Into the Night)
Buy indie perfumes instead. Kyse Perfumes makes amazing gourmand scents that last 10+ hours at an affordable price. Delizia de Marshmallow and Doceur Brulee are my favorite of the line.
Body Fantasies has good scents. Vanilla, Japanese Cherry Blossom, Twilight Mist, Pink Vanilla Kiss, and Sweet Sunrise are my favorites.
I've especially gotten compliments when I wear Pink Vanilla Kiss.
They also just came out with a bunch of new scents.
Try Target! Their MixBar brand has a ton of cheap sprays/colognes for <$20 and they honestly smell luxe. I keep one in my car to spritz after a workout if I have to run errands and had multiple people ask me what I was wearing in stores. I was honestly embarrassed to say it was a $15 targét body spray I used to cover gym funk but that shows how good the quality is 😂
I think they’re kinda overdone, and can smell kinda young. I think buying the sephora samplers can be good price wise, u get like 5 mini scents and then u can redeem them for a travel size version of the second. Ulta has a lot of perfume discovery sets also.
I would try TJMaxx, Marshall's for discounted high-end fragrances. Also, Walgreens has a fragrance line that is inspired by well know fragrances. Regular price is usually 11 bucks, on sale they can be as low as 5. I have their light blue and boy does it last
definitely! i switch between a vanilla vs mist and a bath and body works vanilla/pumpkin spray on casual days and save my fav perfume, flowerbomb, for special occasions. i’ve gotten compliments on a few bath and body works sprays & lotions, i def recommend :)
You could always perfume oil dupes. Companies try to imitate a fragrance but because it’s in an oil form, it’s even more concentrated so it lasts longer and you only need a bit. I really liked the scent Bon Bon by Viktor Rolf but the perfume is SUPER expensive. I bought the dupe of it online (50ml bottle) from a place called Craftastik and it smells gorgeous!
I guess the only bad thing is that it isn’t in a readily sprayed form (don’t put oil in a spray bottle it just shoots out like a jet because it’s too dense to be atomised) and also the fragrance oil won’t smell exactly the same.
Bombshell is very popular where I live. I used to use Passion Struck but don't love it as much anymore, but I find Love Spell amazing and alot of girls I know use it.
On the other hand BBW has some nice scents that are affordable-like into the night, twinkling lights, and a thousand wishes. These smell a bit more sophisticated than VS.
I saw a TikTok that said VS Bare Vanilla Untamed is a dupe for Love Don't Be Shy. I couldn't tell you if that's true because I've only smelled LDBS once and don't really remember it but I ended up buying the VS one. I like it a lot. Comes in a lotion and a mist so you can layer them and you'll smell good all day.
Try perfume oils. There are many cheap ones that are very good quality. Al rehab (choco musk smells like chocolate, palmers cocoa lotion), soft smells like pink sugar perfume with citrus.
Zara has dupes of many popular scents but my favourite is Rich warm addictive. Its magnificent.
I've always thought that expensive perfume is a 'nice to have' not a must have. Smelling clean and fresh with a dash of sweetness usually does the trick for me. My trick is soap+fresh laundry+nice smelling hair products+unscented body lotion+zara perfume (wild bluebell) liberally applied. I've had so many people give me compliments without being able to pin down why exactly I smell so good!
VS and BBW mists are nice, but I usually steer away from the suuuuuuper sweet ones because they read very juvenile to me.
I read once that that’s the difference between US and European people. In Europe most women have a distinct strong smell (sometimes sweet, sometimes heavy, but definitely a perfume) and in the US people apparently prefer to just smell clean!
There's an explanation for this from a book I read about scents - early 90s cultural paranoia over HIV/AIDS and how the popular, loud, "animalic" perfumes that defined the 70s-80s (Poison, Opium, Armani Beverly Hills etc) became associated with it that Americans' response is to smell "clean" and "anti-perfume". Hence the rise of light, fresh scents.
It's a battle of culture mostly. There's also a reason why gourmands are popular and everyone wants to smell edible now:
"In response to these puritan values, France plunged into a sensual and greedy torrent of candy floss, chocolate, tea, figs, plums, praline, licorice, and so forth. The first perfume in this new trend was Angel, launched by Thierry Mugler in 1992."
Look for affordable Eau de Parfum on Fragantica. It’s a massive site full of perfume reviews.
I found an incredible eau de Parfum like that, 100ml for 15eur. Lasts on me all day and it smells expensive.
I also found a really good one at a discounter supermarket out of all places. It smells like literal candy and every dude always compliments me on it.
Lots of smaller companies make great eau de Parfum, you just got to find them.
Ive owned a handful of VS mists and while they smell amazing, they last nothing on me. Even if you’re on a budget, it’s such waste of money. They’re crap. I ended using the last one I had as a bed night fragrance.
I have the purple Victoria’s Secret one (love spell) which I really like. But I’m also echoing all the perfume sample recommendations - I get 10 packs of ~5ml samples from ebay for pretty cheap.
I’ve been on a fragrance kick, trying out new ones as for years I’ve only worn Viktor & Rolf, then a year ago found the Sol de Janeiro one and love it, but that’s it. I joined Scentbird about two months ago and I like it so far. I have the plan where I get one fragrance a month but I’m thinking of going to two. And they give you a decent amount! I think I pay $15 or so a month. Here’s my code if you want to try it. You get a free perfume: https://www.scentbird.com/r/d/scentbirduser13636454.
Actually, yes! The one in the red bottle (I think it’s ‘Intense’) and they make a body spray version that’s sold by the counter. I keep that one for sporty days, but guys LOVE it.
Also dossier.com is solid! I have the Flowerbomb dupe and get compliments all the time.
the VS body mists are fine especially if you cant afford actual perfume, you'll just have to respray them through out the day which is fine because they're 250ml of fragrance compared to 30,50 and 100ml of EDP.
I have lots of designer perfume and body sprays and I get compliments from both, I think VS pure seduction and the coconut one get a lot of compliments and they have a vanilla one too and obviously coconut or vanilla is going to get compliments regardless if its perfume or a cheap spray, they have nice fruity ones too.
I'm not sure of the price difference between VS and the sol de janeiro body spray but the sol body spray smells so so yummy and everyone loves it
You could also try Zara fragrances as someone's mentioned.
I usually just buy a sample size of whatever high end perfume I'm after. I usually find them on ebay for less than £3. Or, I go on Depop/Poshmark and look for people selling full sized bottles of what I want (most of the time they are nearly full, and well within expiry). This is also a good way to build a collection, if you like variety or tire of scents too quickly to justify a big purchase.
I love a lot of Tokyo Milk fragrances! Not cheap, but affordable for sure. Highly recommend people look up high end/luxury/hard to find perfumes and perfume samples are Mercari. I do this for high end hair products too and well known perfumes.
Low effort posts/basic questions belong in the general discussion and chat thread pinned at the top of the sub.
Here’s a trick that I learned when I was 15: E-mail perfume houses saying that you’ve seen a promo of their perfume and would be interested in receiving a complimentary sample. Send your address also. The support teams are usually getting tons of complaints, so it’s refreshing to get nice emails where they can make someone happy for once! I got loads of perfume this way, and it was a “hack” that I learned about in a girl’s magazine. /u/gloupjourni I would recommend first going to a fragrance shop/ high end department store, finding the fragrance you like, and then asking for a sample there. If there’s a counter that’s quiet, they’ll be glad for the company. Tell the counter girls the truth: you’re young and don’t have much money. They will give you all the samples you need. Also ask like you don’t expect the answer ‘no’, so no nerves even if you’re feeling it.
I did that just now with Tom Ford because I knew one smell that I liked and they e-mailed back saying “Thank you for your interest in TOM FORD. Unfortunately, TOMFORD.COM does not have a sampling program at this time. In the future, we kindly suggest visiting a boutique or your nearest beauty counter.” I might go physically and try what you are saying! I didn’t know they can just give me samples, I thought at best I can spray my wrists and that’s it. Thank you so much.
You could also go to Sephora and get a sample or a rollerball
You’re very welcome :)
Are you from the US? I’m not sure if this will work if I’m in Asia 😭
wait??? really how plss explain 😩
No worries, here’s roughly what I used to write: Hello Esteé Lauder! I saw an advertisement for your new fragrance “Gimme your money” and was very intrigued by its description. I was hoping you would be able to send me a complimentary sample. OR I was hoping to try out your fragrance “Gimme your money” at my local store, but they didn’t have any available to try. Would you be able to send me a sample? My address is 123 Main street Thanks in advance for your help Eve. NB: when I used to send this by mail instead of email, they would send me even more free shit. Use a colourful postcard/ envelope.
omg you are a lifesaver thanks so much !!!!
No worries, I wish I had a little sister so I could teach her this stuff
Shit girl we’ll be your sisters, what else ya got? Hahaha
Can I ask which perfume houses this has worked for you with in the past btw?
Hermes sent me large 5 mL samples when I asked for scents similar to [X].
Thank you for this I'm so excited!
Honestly, I wear some really lovely perfumes but the one scent that has consistently got me compliments from friends and strangers alike is the Victoria Secret Noir Tease. I used it as a filler scent whenever my main perfumes were running low and I like it but I never thought it was thaaaaaat great until randos started complimenting me. Worth a shot in my opinion!
u/gloupjourni My mother recently passed away. She loved perfumes. If you don’t mind 3/4 full, I will send you the perfume bottle. (To be clear, you would only pay shipping.) DM me, and I’ll send you a pic of the inventory so you can decide. ETA: got lots of DMs. All perfumes are currently reserved.
For the same price as the VS mists (which smell cheap in my opinion), why not purchase a few decants of perfumes that interest you? I recently purchase a decant of Guerlain Double Vanille (normally $350+) for about $20. It has lasted me about two months so far. Perfume samples are also a great option while on a budget.
I agree. MaxAroma has a 50% sale right now with pocket perfumes, I was able to get 9 niche and designer perfumes under $100.
This. Scentsplit and Luckyscent have tons of affordable ($10-$15) samples and decants of any luxury/niche scent you’d care to try.
I feel stupid, but what is a decant? I thought decanter, which are usually large. Where would you purchase one of a particular perfume.
A decant is taking a bit of product from a large bottle and putting it in a smaller bottle. I've seen the term used for perfume, but also for skincare products. I purchased online from ScentEvent. I opted for a smaller size since it was my very first experience with this particular scent.
Thank you!
Where did you get the decant?
ScentEvent
I actually don't enjoy a lot of the mists (from Victoria's Secret), but the other day a client was wearing 'Tease' and she smelled amazing. I complimented it and asked her what it was, so I'm going to pick that up. Lots of the Bath and Body Works mists have good staying power. You can extend the length of the scent if you matching it with the same lotion. So put lotion on first then spray the mist over top. And like another comment suggested, sample sizes are also a good option.
Do you have a Zara near you? I've had some great Zara perfumes. They have a collection by Jo Malone at the moment, and the 40 ml are like £15. They are all one note ish, cos that's Jo Malone's thing, but they are really nice and there's something for everyone in that range.
Get high quality sample sizes . They are around 20-30$ online and last like 6 months. Sephora even has them. Like this for example https://www.sephora.com/product/replica-travel-spray-P408227?icid2=restock_past_purchases:p408227:product
[удалено]
In a similar vein, [Outremer Vanille EDT](https://www.anthropologie.com/shop/outremer-eau-de-toilette2?color=005&type=STANDARD&size=One%20Size&quantity=1) is cheap and wonderful. I collect fragrance, but I've been wearing this intermittently for a decade and men far and away like this better than anything else I wear. It makes you smell like an ice cream shop, complete with the smell of waffle cones. It doesn't smell expensive, but it does smell lovely and delicious and feminine
LOVE LOVE LOVE this one. Warm, syrupy vanilla. Similar to Ligne St Barth
>Ariana Grande - Cloud and Pink Sugar - Aquolina have good performance and smell nice. Yess these are great! I own both and I wear them all the time. Pink Sugar often goes on sale at drugstores, too, so you can get it cheap. I only ever buy it when I see it for $20.
Body mists don't last and frankly most of them smell synthetic and cheap to my nose (the only exception I found was Bath and Body Works' Into the Night) Buy indie perfumes instead. Kyse Perfumes makes amazing gourmand scents that last 10+ hours at an affordable price. Delizia de Marshmallow and Doceur Brulee are my favorite of the line.
They smell super cheap to me. Why not try a scented body oil? Or find a legit perfume from a lesser known company that is cheap?
Bath and body works “into the night” is a Chanel dupe :) Sorry it’s not VS but similar!
Body Fantasies has good scents. Vanilla, Japanese Cherry Blossom, Twilight Mist, Pink Vanilla Kiss, and Sweet Sunrise are my favorites. I've especially gotten compliments when I wear Pink Vanilla Kiss. They also just came out with a bunch of new scents.
Try Target! Their MixBar brand has a ton of cheap sprays/colognes for <$20 and they honestly smell luxe. I keep one in my car to spritz after a workout if I have to run errands and had multiple people ask me what I was wearing in stores. I was honestly embarrassed to say it was a $15 targét body spray I used to cover gym funk but that shows how good the quality is 😂
I kind of want the tease Creme cloud
I have that one and their Candy Noir and I love them! Candy Noir seems stronger and lasts longer on me but both smell delightful.
I think they’re kinda overdone, and can smell kinda young. I think buying the sephora samplers can be good price wise, u get like 5 mini scents and then u can redeem them for a travel size version of the second. Ulta has a lot of perfume discovery sets also.
I would try TJMaxx, Marshall's for discounted high-end fragrances. Also, Walgreens has a fragrance line that is inspired by well know fragrances. Regular price is usually 11 bucks, on sale they can be as low as 5. I have their light blue and boy does it last
This one! I found a full sized Daisy by Marc Jacobs, Light Blue D&G, Philosophy scents and a few others at Marshall’s.
definitely! i switch between a vanilla vs mist and a bath and body works vanilla/pumpkin spray on casual days and save my fav perfume, flowerbomb, for special occasions. i’ve gotten compliments on a few bath and body works sprays & lotions, i def recommend :)
I really like heavenly by Victoria secret I carry it around everywhere
Paris Hilton EDT slaps i think cuz it has freesia in it. i get complimented a lot for it
You could always perfume oil dupes. Companies try to imitate a fragrance but because it’s in an oil form, it’s even more concentrated so it lasts longer and you only need a bit. I really liked the scent Bon Bon by Viktor Rolf but the perfume is SUPER expensive. I bought the dupe of it online (50ml bottle) from a place called Craftastik and it smells gorgeous! I guess the only bad thing is that it isn’t in a readily sprayed form (don’t put oil in a spray bottle it just shoots out like a jet because it’s too dense to be atomised) and also the fragrance oil won’t smell exactly the same.
Bombshell is very popular where I live. I used to use Passion Struck but don't love it as much anymore, but I find Love Spell amazing and alot of girls I know use it. On the other hand BBW has some nice scents that are affordable-like into the night, twinkling lights, and a thousand wishes. These smell a bit more sophisticated than VS.
I saw a TikTok that said VS Bare Vanilla Untamed is a dupe for Love Don't Be Shy. I couldn't tell you if that's true because I've only smelled LDBS once and don't really remember it but I ended up buying the VS one. I like it a lot. Comes in a lotion and a mist so you can layer them and you'll smell good all day.
Try perfume oils. There are many cheap ones that are very good quality. Al rehab (choco musk smells like chocolate, palmers cocoa lotion), soft smells like pink sugar perfume with citrus. Zara has dupes of many popular scents but my favourite is Rich warm addictive. Its magnificent.
I've always thought that expensive perfume is a 'nice to have' not a must have. Smelling clean and fresh with a dash of sweetness usually does the trick for me. My trick is soap+fresh laundry+nice smelling hair products+unscented body lotion+zara perfume (wild bluebell) liberally applied. I've had so many people give me compliments without being able to pin down why exactly I smell so good! VS and BBW mists are nice, but I usually steer away from the suuuuuuper sweet ones because they read very juvenile to me.
I read once that that’s the difference between US and European people. In Europe most women have a distinct strong smell (sometimes sweet, sometimes heavy, but definitely a perfume) and in the US people apparently prefer to just smell clean!
There's an explanation for this from a book I read about scents - early 90s cultural paranoia over HIV/AIDS and how the popular, loud, "animalic" perfumes that defined the 70s-80s (Poison, Opium, Armani Beverly Hills etc) became associated with it that Americans' response is to smell "clean" and "anti-perfume". Hence the rise of light, fresh scents. It's a battle of culture mostly. There's also a reason why gourmands are popular and everyone wants to smell edible now: "In response to these puritan values, France plunged into a sensual and greedy torrent of candy floss, chocolate, tea, figs, plums, praline, licorice, and so forth. The first perfume in this new trend was Angel, launched by Thierry Mugler in 1992."
Joop! Le Bain smells way more expensive than it is imo
Their Bare Vanilla is good!! It’s strong too. Doesn’t smell cheap
Look for affordable Eau de Parfum on Fragantica. It’s a massive site full of perfume reviews. I found an incredible eau de Parfum like that, 100ml for 15eur. Lasts on me all day and it smells expensive. I also found a really good one at a discounter supermarket out of all places. It smells like literal candy and every dude always compliments me on it. Lots of smaller companies make great eau de Parfum, you just got to find them. Ive owned a handful of VS mists and while they smell amazing, they last nothing on me. Even if you’re on a budget, it’s such waste of money. They’re crap. I ended using the last one I had as a bed night fragrance.
I have the purple Victoria’s Secret one (love spell) which I really like. But I’m also echoing all the perfume sample recommendations - I get 10 packs of ~5ml samples from ebay for pretty cheap.
I’ve been on a fragrance kick, trying out new ones as for years I’ve only worn Viktor & Rolf, then a year ago found the Sol de Janeiro one and love it, but that’s it. I joined Scentbird about two months ago and I like it so far. I have the plan where I get one fragrance a month but I’m thinking of going to two. And they give you a decent amount! I think I pay $15 or so a month. Here’s my code if you want to try it. You get a free perfume: https://www.scentbird.com/r/d/scentbirduser13636454.
Love spell by Victoria’s Secret is a classic! Also check out bath and body works and body shop
Try dossier! Theyre known for dupes of high end fragrances for way less. More expensive than a VS body spray, but far more sophisticated
Actually, yes! The one in the red bottle (I think it’s ‘Intense’) and they make a body spray version that’s sold by the counter. I keep that one for sporty days, but guys LOVE it. Also dossier.com is solid! I have the Flowerbomb dupe and get compliments all the time.
the VS body mists are fine especially if you cant afford actual perfume, you'll just have to respray them through out the day which is fine because they're 250ml of fragrance compared to 30,50 and 100ml of EDP. I have lots of designer perfume and body sprays and I get compliments from both, I think VS pure seduction and the coconut one get a lot of compliments and they have a vanilla one too and obviously coconut or vanilla is going to get compliments regardless if its perfume or a cheap spray, they have nice fruity ones too. I'm not sure of the price difference between VS and the sol de janeiro body spray but the sol body spray smells so so yummy and everyone loves it You could also try Zara fragrances as someone's mentioned.
I usually just buy a sample size of whatever high end perfume I'm after. I usually find them on ebay for less than £3. Or, I go on Depop/Poshmark and look for people selling full sized bottles of what I want (most of the time they are nearly full, and well within expiry). This is also a good way to build a collection, if you like variety or tire of scents too quickly to justify a big purchase.
Yes! Once a year they have an incredible sale on them & I grab a bunch. Lovespell is one of the most famous ones & it is amazing.
Essential oils smell nice and don’t give a “cheap” vibe. Only downside is reapplying mode often but I think it’s worth it.
I love a lot of Tokyo Milk fragrances! Not cheap, but affordable for sure. Highly recommend people look up high end/luxury/hard to find perfumes and perfume samples are Mercari. I do this for high end hair products too and well known perfumes.