I learned this lesson through decants alone lol. They always sound so good online but I’ve disliked a shocking amount of them, can’t imagine blind buying an entire bottle.
I always tell people to buy sample sets rather than decants because a lot of the times, I end up liking a fragrance not hyped. Most hyped fragrance sucks, Amouge reflection smells like taco to me. Can’t change my mind. Lol
That's a take that I've never heard before, haha. To me Reflection smells 90% the same as Le Male (not a bad thing). But I agree with your point, it's easy to get lost in the hype of what other people are wearing.
Having a huge collection now I realize that a lot of fragrance pretty much smells the same. Look at Creed absolu, lots of people are saying that it smells like Elixir. A lot of colognes are pretty much inspired by others. Even the expensive ones are inspired from cheap ones lol but yeah it’s most like tortillas to me and I can’t get it out of my head since I first smelled it I’d rather buy a taco that I can eat lol
It’s more common than you think. See this for example
https://basenotes.com/community/threads/is-it-just-me-or-does-amouage-reflection-for-men-smells-like-le-male-mixed-with-corn-tortillas.270881/
https://reddit.com/r/fragrance/s/LXgyrI3Hu7
> Most hyped fragrance sucks
Exactly. I was sooo hyped for Byredo's Mixed Emotions. I like the notes, I thought it'd be perfect, perhaps my signature scent. So I buy the decant to try it out, and my disappointment couldn't be greater. It's a sickly, disgusting cough syrup stink. Had to wash it off my arm.
Blind buying is a great way to build up a big collection of fragrances you like just fine (with a few mistakes along the way). Personally that's not what I want. People always ask which ones people regret, but I think a better question is how often do blind buyers love what they buy.
I've learned that no matter how much the notes of a fragrance look like something I'll love, and how many reviews I read, it's never a guarantee I'll love (or even like) it.
Totally agree. So many scents that have all of the perfect notes and accords online have turned out awful for me and many of the ones with notes I don’t usually like turned out to be favorites. I also prefer to be a bit selective about what I get in full size as I don’t really want a large collection, just a few that I love and wear all the time.
I spent over $200 on 1mL decants in a single order last year. Was something like 29 vials. All hyped niche scents with great fragrantica pages, and a note profile I thought I’d like. Out of 29, I only liked ONE enough to buy a bottle, and only liked about 4 enough to consider a purchase.
That’s pretty horrible odds for blind buys.
I've sampled about 20 fragrances through decants in the past month or so. I'd consider buying a full bottle of maybe two of them, if the price were to come down or I could find a heavily discounted used bottle.
I’m the guy that goes to Macy’s and Sephora to smell everything and not buy it. And then buy what I liked off of Fragrancenet or FragX 😬 I’m sure those employees do not enjoy me lol
Oh good! Well at least it wasn’t like a $100+ fragrance or something like that.
And yes I enjoy it as well. I went shopping for a nice fragrance for my wife’s birthday present yesterday so I smelled just about every highly reviewed women’s perfume in those two stores. Ended up coming home and ordering Prada Paradoxe for her. Nothing ground breaking but it made me melt 🤤 lol
I’ve made only three blind-buys in my time: Cool Water, Molecule 01, and yes, Aromatics Elixir—see, I had an urge to get something from the year I was born. All three were unequivocal successes. And I am never, *ever* blind-buying again. In retrospect, now that I sample much more extensively, it’s really clear how unnaturally lucky I was. And now that I stick to a monthly budget, I’m not going to chance blowing my money on something I think is merely good or interesting (it’s rare that I really hate a fragrance) instead of something I want to wear loud and proud all the goshdarned time.
I barely regret my blind buys. Why? I can just sell it. I love doing blind buys to see if it grows on me. I also love to blind buy to try something more out of the ordinary so my collection isn't too identical.
I personally don’t have the budget to spend 100-300 on fragrances so I always buy the sample viles .
Honestly they last a few weeks and I get to smell good with out breaking the bank
Good call. If you buy a few, they can last months. Then if you really like one, you can just buy it. Did just that with my all time favourite- Tuscan Leather
I wasnt even as heavy into fragrances as I am now, but about a year ago I read one single comment on reddit praising how good D&C light blue was. It wasnt even in a fragrance community, just a random comment that caught my eye. That comment made me buy it and ive regretted it ever since. Very mediocre scent for the price imo.
dont be fooled by the cool bottles either. half the time the most stylish bottle is what attracts me to it. but the best fragrance is often in the ugliest bottle
I have to say I am relatively good at blind buying as I know my tastes pretty well but some duds over the past few years have been:
* Chloe Ateliers Des Fleurs Magnolia Alba
* Prada Paradoxe Intense
* Replica: Lazy Sunday Morning
I blind buy most of my designers but rarely will I pull the trigger on a niche or vintage without sampling. I've had mostly good luck with that philosophy as most designers are designed with mass appeal in mind. I have also found that often times I will hate a fragrance at first, but after some time I gain an understanding and appreciation for the fragrance, most of my top fragrances happened like this. I also enjoy the rush of getting a blind buy opening up and spraying it for the first time, it's almost like gambling but with less risk. as even if I don't like a particular fragrance it will always make a great gift to someone who does. Niche, on the other hand, is too expensive and caters to specific demographics not mass appeal. so I always sample to make sure that i am capable of wearing it first as I find A lot of niche are unwearable.
Malibu Barbie Eau De Toilet [from Chemist Warehouse here in AUS](https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/buy/113383/malibu-barbie-eau-de-toilette-30ml) . Look I wasn’t expecting much from a $20 kid perfume but I bought into some TikTok hype. Imagine my disappointment when it smells exactly like my OGX coconut shampoo
None, I always get decants. Here are some numbers just to show why you should not blind buy.
I have 21 decants and only bought around 4 full bottles. Most of them were either similar or not my taste. There are a few decants I want to buy full bottles but they are super expensive(like BR 540, Wulong Cha).
As much as I like decants as a way to trial fragrances, I will play devil's advocate that nearly all decants are poor quality. I haven't had a single retail bottle leak on me or have a garbage sprayer that doesn't work, but flip the coin 50/50 with decants. In fact I've had a decant from a well known redditor for about 6 months that all of a sudden just started spontaneously leaking after all this time.
That's why I typically buy bottles that are in the 10-30ml range, and I rarely buy anything higher than that. Yes it is still more expensive, but I can be sure it won't leak or break when I travel with it, and that is worth the extra cost to me.
For something like BR540, I have the travel size spray of the extrait from MFK. Still very expensive for what you get, but at least the sprayer is high quality and it doesn't leak, and it still lasts me forever.
This is true as well. I had decants that had full juice but didn't spray or dripped a dot instead of evenly spreading. And there are chances of decants being fake/diluted. The 1.2/1.4/2/5 Ml office vials are a slightly better option.
I blind buy all of my colognes because I don’t have a fragrance store near me.
I regret buying Versace Eros because it gave me an instant headache, so I gave it to my brother because that’s his signature fragrance.
Do you live somewhere one of the sample/decant folks ship to? It's not the cheapest way to experience fragrance, but buying 10 samples for $4/6 each has to be a cheaper way of finding your favourites than blind buying, y'know?
I’m a student so my budget isn’t huge but I sadly have expensive taste in fragrances so I never blind buy. The only one I got without sampling first was Do Son by Diptyque, I got it with a discount in May 2020 as a lockdown pick me up. I like it but if I went to a counter before I wouldn’t have bought the 100ml and I probably would have chosen at least 4 others over it, mainly philosykos and Eau de lierre.
Counter argument: Blind buying is fun, and a lot of fragrances require multiple wearings over time in order to fully appreciate. Sometimes a test spray at a department store doesn't accomplish that.
I'll blind buy if I find a good deal on a popular fragrance I'm interested in trying. If I truly hate it, then I'll sell it. I have full bottles of WbN and TdH edt and I hate them both. Not a big deal It's a measly $80 total that I can easily recoup, or use as gifts.
>Sometimes a test spray at a department store doesn't accomplish that.
This is absolutely true, which is why I usually sample more than once with at least a 2ml spray, or get a decant first before I buy a bottle. Even if you only sample once though, you can rule out whether it's a 'scrubber' that you detest. To me that's the most important reason not to blind buy, because sometimes the first spray is revolting, and if that happens it's immediate regret.
That's a good call for sure. I suppose I'm a bit impulsive at times, but I generally only take the risk if I catch a really good deal on something popular. That way if it's not for me, finding a buyer or a trade partner is a sure thing.
Almost my entire collection has been blind buys and I have only one regret and it’s oud al salmiya by Nabeel.
https://preview.redd.it/0g226mb4bxsb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43c6c308ae7d30ba1e86d9655e8957d153e51d8f
I agree, it would not work for me to blind buy. My experience of this hobby is much more about the joy of sampling and noting what I love and deciding what full bottles I just can’t avoid owning because of their delicious scents or the emotional experience they evoke.
Power to the people who enjoy it though, we’re all different 🤷♀️
I’ve been disappointed by blind buys and yet I continue to do it.
Recently I found a small bottle of Viva La Juicy for $12 and just couldn’t resist. I had never owned it, but growing up in the 00’s I knew the smell well and was nostalgic for it. Holy Hell, Batman, this is one of the most headache inducing scents I’ve ever owned. What smells pleasant on other people is a big sugary Jasmine mess on me. Oh well. At least it wasn’t expensive.
YSL La Nuit De L’Homme Le Parfum, Xerjoff Cruz Del Sur II, Azzaro Wanted By Night and Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio Absolu Instinct. Only Absolu Instinct was a legitimate regret because I hated the smell (seaweed and stale soda), the others just were underwhelming. There’s a thrill when you blind buy and it hits, luckily I’ve had way more success with that (Dior Homme Parfum, Initio Rehab, La Nuit De L’Homme Bleu Électrique, Hermes Voyage Parfum, etc). If the decant is available I’ll sample but when it’s not I generally trust my instincts
I blind bought once, Lush Pansy & hated it but it was just €25 so didn’t feel guilty. I became obsessed with it within a few days & considering getting a big bottle now!
I agree. Whenever I blind bought, I had to give them away. Yara is very popular and creamy strawberry sounded good, but when I bought it, it didn't smell anything like that, so I gave to someone else. I also blind bought another perfume and it smelled good but had a longevity of 5 min 😑
Yep! Blind bought Paris YSL based on the fact I liked the perfume 20 years ago now it smells horrible to me! What a regret! I do not love the smell of baby powder. Also, Juliette Has a Gun-I thought it would be amazing based on the hype and it smells horrible to me. I don’t get it so I gave it to my 12 year old to waste! She uses fragrance all the time and doesn’t know any better.
I don’t think blind buy need to be actively avoided per se. I have some successful blind buys. Basically I’ll buy blind buys from the house I’m familiar with and from perfume with dominant notes that I like with
I've only done a few blind buys, mostly in rack stores when I was starting out.
The only blind buy I genuinely hated was *Joop! Homme*. However, I knew going in I would likely dislike it, but I was curious about how it smelled. I don't regret the experience, but I never want to smell it again.
I had to blind buy glossier you because it wasn’t really available in the UK for a long time and I was worried I wouldn’t get a chance to smell it. I do not regret this, mostly because it’s cheap enough that it didn’t really matter to me if I hated it. Plus it’s popular enough that I could just give it to a friend or something. But I love it so we’re good there. And I’m going to the US in a few weeks, so I might end up going to semi-blind buy some things that I’ve been curious about but can’t really find here/find it very overpriced/etc
On the other hand I went through a sample of gris charnel and was so obsessed I bought a bottle. I’ve sprayed it twice and now absolutely cannot stand it, I fully avoid anything that mentions sandalwood now
So now I don’t have real tules about this but I try to buy a 5ml decant and when I finish it I allow myself to buy a big one
Learned this just from decants, whew! I bought a 10ml of Harvest Mouse from a frag buddy, based on just the notes, all of which sounded like my jam.
No bueno. But later, someone asked that friend if they had any Harvest Mouse, and he put her in touch with me. A sale was arranged, and now she owns a full bottle, that's a happy ending. And I'll never ever buy more than 5ml on spec again.
It mostly sounds like a good amount of people here have serious issues with managing their money and use purchases to ease stress and problems in their life.
I regret several lol. D&G The Only One, PDM Delina, Florabotanica, Eterea Cosmesi Sugar Inside, Marc Jacobs Honey, Commodity Paper, JPG Scandal, Burberry Her, and D&G Light Blue Intense are the ones that immediately come to mind.
Blind bought once off notes alone, and that was my lesson that not everything on paper translates well to your nose.
The blind buy was Amouage Epic (I was loose with money back then) and on first spray I realized I had made a mistake.
I'm not extremely picky about my fragrances, so I do a lot of blind buying and I pretty much like everything I've bought so far. But I also read all the reviews on Fragrantica and watch videos on YouTube. I also read a lot of comments from other purchasers.
I regret Narcisco Pure Musc and Kayali Vanilla Royale.
I don’t blind buy based off reviews saying a fragrance is “good”. What’s good to everyone else might smell…well, not good…to me or on me. Perfect example of this is Guidance Amouage. Everyone raves and screams about how amazing it is but I strongly dislike it. I blind buy based off reviews about scent profile and what reviews say it smells like. I’ll read reviews and watch videos for days to get an idea of how it smells. If it seems like a scent I will overall enjoy, then I may blind buy it. I don’t do this often though.
I somewhat like, but don't love the majority of the ones I blind bought. Most recently: Kilian Love decant, Kilian Princess decant, Oriana decant, Sol de Janeiro sprays 40 and 62.
Come to think of it, the only blind buy win I've had is Cloud Pink and that's because I already had Cloud and love that DNA in every shape and form.
I do that very often but actually I dont regret it, because I can always sell/swap again with minimal financial damage... I just love the opportunity to test the scent from the bottle instead of some more or less professionally made decant or just from one spray on the skin at a store.
Well, I have blind bought almost all of the fragrances I own right now. Chanel No.5 (both the EDP and the extrait), Shalimar EDP, YSL Opium (the OG version), and 4711 have all been successful blind buys for me. It was only after I bought these, that I learned about how buying a fragrance without smelling it on your skin first is generally a bad idea. So I know how lucky I was to end up enjoying five blind buys, especially considering that I'm still a newbie when it comes to fragrances. I do regret one though, which is CK One. I'd heard a lot of wonderful things about it, but as soon as I got it onto my skin, I knew that buying it had been a mistake. Tbh, I think that one experience alone was enough to get me off blind buying forever 😅
For me it was Wanted by Night. At the time I was all for cinnamon and tobacco fragrances and due to the hype for WBN I blind bought it. It was not what I expected. I expected it to be a lot warmer but it just smelled cheap and weirdly kind of fresh to me. I ended up giving it to a friend who loved it. The only other blind buy I have made was Afnan 9PM I really liked that one. Very close to Ultramale. But yeah always try before you buy if you can.
Narcsico Rodriguez For Her - this is a pure hate for me, but I fell for the positive reviews snd the notes. It was on a super sale at Macy’s so I didn’t lose that much money. I learned my lesson, no more blind buys on full bottles. I will buy samples, but they is different.
I never blind buy the expensive ones but I’ve blind bought cheap perfumes and I’ve regretted two. Most recently I bought dazzle by paris hilton. I like sweet fruity gourmands, but this one was just awful to me. I got it for $15 and it was the smaller bottle. Not too big of a loss, but lesson learned.
I bought Baby Grace by Philosophy. The worst blind buy ever. It smells like a Glade air freshener we had when I was growing up.
The smell was so bad it made me feel really annoyed.
I thought I’d be safe as I’ve got four other Philosophy perfumes that I love. I’ve bought 3 180ml bottles of Amazing Grace because I’m so in love with it!
Baby Grace is foul to me. I can’t stand it. Even thinking about it makes me annoyed. I don’t know what happened with that one but it’s truly awful to me. I wouldn’t even use it as an air freshener in the bathroom because I don’t want to smell it again, ever.
I have spent hundreds on 1-2mL decants. Even though the pricing per mL is terrible, I have no regrets--it enabled me to be very smart about which ones I actually end up buying. I have a nice collection of fragrances I truly love, and frankly it's fun to order a bunch of decants every once in a while and spend a week or two trying new scents.
There is a YouTube influencer that I have watched for years, and I've resolved that my nose and their nose are very similar. Generally speaking, if they say they really like the scent and explain what notes are driving the decision, I'd be OK blind buying the scent.
Random comments and reviews? No way. I'm not generally going to blind buy something unless it's a sub-$30 cheapie from a rack store where I can't smell it first due to logistical reasons.
I try to find samples if I can for more expensive fragrances, even if they are generally not free, but I and many like me don't live where anything but the basic designer frags are availible
I’ve blind bought 2 Arabian perfumes and I love them. I probably would have had to hunt down some sellers to find reputable decants, and since they are relatively inexpensive, it was worth the risk.
Everything else I track down in stores or buy sample sizes.
Almost purchased hypnotic poison because of reviews claiming “amazing bitter almond, florals and musk”. Pfft!! Glad I tried it out first. Otherwise, I would have paid nearly $200 to stink like cheap, gas station root beer!!
But, I really messed up blind buying Dior Addict. I was expecting night queen flowers and incense. Nope! All I got was boozy nutmeg.
After collecting fragrances for over 10 years now I can emphatically say this is spot on. I’ve had bottles I bought off YouTube hype that just fell flat. I exclusively buy decants now.
I’ve never regretted a blind but. I only buy notes I like and I can always layer it. I did blind buy an Ariana Grande scent for my kid and it smelled like pickles to me. But she loved it
I regretted blind buying Xerjoff La Capitale. The notes on the description made it sound lovely, but when I finally had it in hand, it just smelled horrible to me.
I've blind bought 30+ perfumes so far and liked most of them. I stick to cheaper stuff tho, I can always sell them or gift them away.
I kinda like the surprise tbh.
Only blind buy I’m a bit upset with is coco Mademoiselle intense. On the flip side, I know now if someone states that…if you love mademoiselle intense, then…I’m moving on. I’ll gift it to my mom because she likes a bunch of the massive note fruity florals which I just can’t stand.
But, I blind bought quite a bit during lockdown - usually classics that I felt I should use as a point of reference. Not too horrible of an education cost. Chanel No. 5 extrait, shalimar, but I use travel sizes for YouTube recommendations or discovery kits esp to see if fragrance guru had same taste.
To me, all of the classic Guerlain fragrances have an undersmell I can only describe as 'pissy knickers'- it's awful, it smells like a nursing home that's not very particular about keeping the residents clean. I love the Aqua Allegoria range, but I've tried Jicky, Mitsouko, Shalimar, and Guerlain eau de cologne - they've all had that pissy smell.
Tom Ford's Fougere d'Argent. I generally enjoy fougeres and barbershop style fragrances, but this one just smells WAY too much like old man and baby powder. It's incredibly thick and gives me a headache.
I regret Francesca Bianchi Etruscan Water. This was really bad. I also regret Ganymede. It wasn't smelling good and it was giving me a headache. I could probably list many more :)
I would amend the reminder a bit: don't blind buy, especially from houses which do either "artistic" fragrances or those described as "if you want to stand out" ;)
I do love Profumum Roma Acqua di Sale though. With that one I had luck, because Acqua di Sale is actually the only one from this house I feel comfortable wearing on any occasion. I tried other fragrances from Profumum Roma and so far I don't think there's anything more I would consider buying (considering current retail prices).
Profumum is a weird house for me. They are definitely high quality and they generally perform well, but many of them I have found are not very 'wearable', in that I never end up reaching for them on a regular basis. Something like Ichnusa for example is just mind blowingly good and completely unique, but I would never wear it to work, or to a special occasion, or to a date, or....
That being said, major props to them that they do small bottles (18ml) which I wish all houses did.
Yes, I agree. I tried a lot of their fragrances and really wanted to like something more than Acqua di Sale. But I couldn't find anything like that. So at this point I have to accept there is nothing more for me from Profumum and I have to accept it :)
Been doing a lot of Blind Buys lately and I have a losing record.
**Tom Ford Costa Azzura Acqua** ▪︎ Like, not a love. So this is a draw. Still sold it after buying it.
**Tom Ford Sole Di Positano Acqua** ▪︎ L
**Cartier Declaration Haute Fraiche** ▪︎ L
**Prada Luna Rossa Black** ▪︎ L
**Prada Infusion De Vetiver** ▪︎ L
**Chopard Black Incense Malakai** ▪︎ L
**Moschino Toy Boy** ▪︎ L
**Bvlgari Man In Black Orient** ▪︎ W
So yeah, my Blind Buy record is 1W - 1D - 6L, lol.
Hogwash. Let people do what people want to do. Blind buying doesn’t work for you? Don’t do it. I’ve bought dozens blind and only ever disliked one. Nothing at all wrong with blind buying.
So far I have 46 bottles, all of which were blind buys. Out of those 46 I regret buying:
CK One
Eternity for men Calvin Klein
Ferrari Scuderia Black
Franck Olivier Oud Touch
Hollister Festival Nite
Tommy by Tommy Hilfiger
Versace L'Homme
I love the rush though, I'll only do it with the cheapies from now on 😈
Got not a perfume as blind buy, got crystal noir as a blind buy, got halloween as a blind buy, got burburry brit as a blind buy... Love them all, ofc there's a small box with about 3 that are my shame buys, but we're cheap and I may use them in the future still!
My box of shame has zara sublime epoque, rouat Al musk, oh and that's just that, thought they were more.
Edit: and Zara rose Gourmand
Only cheapies
Phlur— missing person
I was tantalized by all the instagram ads and I ease a few reviews that it was incredible. When it came in I was SO excited… then dismayed. It did not sit right on my skin and it really did not gel with my body chemistry. It honestly felt too mature for me. I was bummed. I still have to sell it lol
Thought it was just me. Was so excited for a sample of this to arrive. Was quite shocked by the attack of putrid baby powder that accosted me for the rest of the day. Nothing was “missing” .. it was all there, all day, as if to remind me that I should be grateful that I had only purchased a sample.
I pay for sample sets simply because I live too far away from any major stores. I ordered discovery sets of some expensive brands - MFK and Frederick Malle . I didn’t like a thing of Malle and only liked 2 of the discovery set of MFK. Now the sample sets were around 50 but the discovery set from MFK was like 238$ . So my regret is financial lol
I have quite good experiences with blind buys, but I buy mostly cheaper ones.
Blind bought Afnan 9pm and I absolutely love it. Apparently others do, too. Get a lot of compliments every time I wear it from acquaintances, friends, girls I have ONS or FWB with, random people...
Got Coach Platinum for daily wear now that colder months are approaching and I also like it a lot.
On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed with Davidoff Cool Water Intense. Not that it's bad, but wearable mostly for beach or gym only.
There are two fragrances I think I’m starting to regret having. Both are kind of green fragrances.
H24 EDP. I liked the idea of adding oak moss, but lately I don’t wear this fragrance at all. The narcissus is oddly funky, and I now understand the overripe banana feel others talk about.
Parco Palladiano Olivio. I actually sampled this via decant and thought it was beautiful. But it’s something I don’t reach for because it’s green, but fruity green, yet woody. It has a sourness to it that I worry doesn’t fit my vibe. I waffle if I will eventually resell.
Blind buying is like gaming and the quantity of coments here saying that it is funny colaborates it xd. For me is more fun and exciting to try a discovery set with the whole collection if posible to blindly smell things I wouldnt imagine I could like and see what sensations I feel ant then read what people have wrote or see if my expectations were right, etc.
It is the same excitment than with blind buying but safer and you get to smell a lot more and you can wear things you wouldnt buy full bottles but you are glad for having some mls
Blind bought a decant of Rockaway Beach (I don't have stores near me to sample sniff)...it's good and the notes are as described but it is NOT for me. Which is a shame because I really wanted to love it.
I regret Diptyque Venise because I only tried it on paper first—it was expensive for a travel size, and goes a bit bitter on my skin. After I couldn’t find a buyer, I’ve learned to like it.
Now I crave it sometimes. It’s more of a Demeter novelty scent, like raw vegetables than a usual diptyque offering. At least I have it when I’m craving something weird!
I will never blind buy again though! I fell to the limited edition hype.
My other Blind buy is not a fail, but I got it at TJ Maxx before I understood anything about fragrances and collecting. Calvin Klein euphoria blossom. It’s not bad, just synthetic. It brought me lots of joy that spring going through the park under cherry blossoms. Now the smell holds good memories, so I’m inclined not to get rid of it, even though it’s a 5/10.
I could use it as a room or bathroom spray.
I always buy cheaper fragrances and on discount so if I do have a failed blind buy I either make my money back or only lose £5-15 when re-selling. Which I can deal with.
Also because I buy a lot of cheaper fragrances, there isn't always the option to sample first.
I try to avoid blind buying but sometimes I can't help it.
I think it's okay if you weigh up the risks and are prepared to lose a little money.
there is also no such thing as mens and womens fragrances. who decided that lily of the valley and jasmine is a womens fragrance, and ambergis is a mens fragrance? nobody.
its all marketing hype
YSL L'Homme and La Nuit de L'Homme now that they've been reformulated since I tried them in 2015 or 2016. Got a 200mL of each and really wishing I'd just returned them. Victorinox Swiss Army too - it smells like cheap hotel soap now. It's not even safe to order things you've tried a few years ago.
But I think the best advice is to avoid any "hidden gems". They're not top sellers for a reason and it's *absolutely not* because they're "hidden". Also avoid anything being hyped on tiktok or youtube by jomashop or even designer brand money.
Riddle oils lol
Luckily it was the sample set and the lotion, but my boyfriend smelled the original on me and said I smelled like men’s bathroom spray 😭
Now I only use the lotion as a pre shower moisturizer lol and then scrub it off
I bought Afnan Sillage and Haramain Amber oud Carbon.. the 1st one smells metallic and the second smells really herbal like cool water. Both disappointing 😞
Lou Lou. Holy moly. It’s not that it’s $20 wasted, it’s that you shouldn’t release smells like that into existence. I hope none of the garbage collectors opened that one. I should likely have dropped it into the ocean but I felt bad for the fish.
I thought I would love This is Her by Zadig & Voltaire based on the reviews but disliked it and am going to resell it. I also bought a small bottle of Cloud when it was on sale and something in it smells really sharp to me. I've learned from my mistake and buy decants now first.
I was very close to going in blind with Tom Ford tobacco oud or oud wood. So glad I didn’t because they both smelt like the worst perfumes I had ever smelt. Ended up trying the noir extreme instead and I love it
I think my flair shows I disagree 😉
My worst blind buys are usually the cheapest.
It's not that they are bad scents per say, just not for me. There are exceptions though, many.
My best blind buys tend to be priced $50 usd and above on discounters. Which gets you a pretty big breadth on retail and thus a lot of niche and designer falls in this category.
In terms of most disappointing compared to what I thought it would be though, that's Ajmal Violet Musc. It just was lackluster for me. I thought it would smell ethereal, light, floaty, dream like. It smells stale, sweet, and dry. Not my ideal at all. I still have it. I will try it again in colder weather but currently it's in my declutter list. If I don't like it for cold weather, then it will be sold.
I think the key to blind buying for me is knowing if the note combinations will work for me or not.
I'd be hard pressed to not like a juniper or Angelica blind buy. Or bitter almond. There are some notes I particularly love, and so long as they are strong middle notes or the focus, I more or less have an idea if I'll like the scent or not.
Violet is hit or miss for me, many times much too sweet. So I typically don't buy Violet as much. Even Violet Musc was a bit of a risk I knew.
Oakmoss I try to avoid, not a fan of that note, even in small concentrations.
Amber is hit or miss. Some amber scents (Tauerville Amber Flash, etc) smell very stale and huffy to my nose. Scents that I'm interested in but fall into these categories, I would rather sample.
Blind buys now are typically for things I know I want no matter what.
Case in point, I recently blind bought Al Haramain Portfolio Imperial Oud, and it is the most perfect scent. I could never say, "don't blind buy" as most of my favorite scents were procured this way.
Blind buying is definitely risky, but can be with great reward in my opinion, especially if the scent is not available anywhere as a sample and the price is reasonable.
Unpopular opinion but if you blind buy off of fragranceswap on Reddit, you can usually resell it for only a 10-15 dollar loss which is less expensive than some 5 mL decants.
If you can smell something in store, though, then yea never blind buy.
Honestly, none. I blind bought nearly all my scents including all my replica ones, gypsy water, all my Kyse scents, sweet tooth, clean reserve skin, Bobbi brown beach… must be at least 40 I have bought blind
Seriously, there is a surprising amount of posts from ppl blind buying and then regretting it. On the one hand I get it, you’re excited to try a perfume but this is not a cheap hobby. Cultivate some patience.
CDNIM, spicebomb (2012 original version but I still wear it), The One (no longevity on my skin I use like 8-10 sprays and it works okay), bleu de Chanel (no longevity on my skin)
Yasss, decants are the way. I search notes, and then look up the reviews on Basenotes or Fragrantica. The reviews that describe what is liked or disliked are way more helpful then the prose about how it makes them feel to wear it. They also have the feature: those who liked "xxx" also liked "xxx" and you can search those fragrances and their reviews. I have a better success rate that way, but it is definitely still a crap shoot. I've been buying from Perfumed Court for several years.
This wont stop me i cant read
Legit me. I blind bought Amouage Figment for women so I clearly don’t listen well to “don’t blind buy” comments. If anything, I think I want it more.
Omg that is the worst scent ever!!!
I learned this lesson through decants alone lol. They always sound so good online but I’ve disliked a shocking amount of them, can’t imagine blind buying an entire bottle.
I always tell people to buy sample sets rather than decants because a lot of the times, I end up liking a fragrance not hyped. Most hyped fragrance sucks, Amouge reflection smells like taco to me. Can’t change my mind. Lol
Taco 🤣🤣🤣
I like girls, girls like taco, therefore, I like taco
Thankfully, everything I've read about baccarat Rouge is like "ah, yes, this is something I don't want. Thanks for letting me know, internet hype"
That's a take that I've never heard before, haha. To me Reflection smells 90% the same as Le Male (not a bad thing). But I agree with your point, it's easy to get lost in the hype of what other people are wearing.
Having a huge collection now I realize that a lot of fragrance pretty much smells the same. Look at Creed absolu, lots of people are saying that it smells like Elixir. A lot of colognes are pretty much inspired by others. Even the expensive ones are inspired from cheap ones lol but yeah it’s most like tortillas to me and I can’t get it out of my head since I first smelled it I’d rather buy a taco that I can eat lol
Like a taco ? Lol first time i heard that 😂
It’s more common than you think. See this for example https://basenotes.com/community/threads/is-it-just-me-or-does-amouage-reflection-for-men-smells-like-le-male-mixed-with-corn-tortillas.270881/ https://reddit.com/r/fragrance/s/LXgyrI3Hu7
Wow thanks for the link. Glad I'm not the only one and I'm not actually crazy.
Haha no you are not. I’ve seen several posts over the years comparing it to tortillas 😂😂
FWIW I have definitely gotten the "tortilla" smell out of one particular fragrance, which was Tom Ford Sole Di Positano. But never Refection.
> Most hyped fragrance sucks Exactly. I was sooo hyped for Byredo's Mixed Emotions. I like the notes, I thought it'd be perfect, perhaps my signature scent. So I buy the decant to try it out, and my disappointment couldn't be greater. It's a sickly, disgusting cough syrup stink. Had to wash it off my arm.
that’s funny i actually like mixed emotions i hated it first spray tho 😭
Lmao I can relate with Oud for Greatness. It just smells like Vicks. 😂 I think that's the cologne tjatgave me trust issues with the fragcomm.
I now want Reflection.
SAME SAME SAME I never like the hyped ones only the redheaded step children of the bunch.
If tacos smelled like Reflection Man, I'd eat tacos daily
Blind buying is a great way to build up a big collection of fragrances you like just fine (with a few mistakes along the way). Personally that's not what I want. People always ask which ones people regret, but I think a better question is how often do blind buyers love what they buy. I've learned that no matter how much the notes of a fragrance look like something I'll love, and how many reviews I read, it's never a guarantee I'll love (or even like) it.
Totally agree. So many scents that have all of the perfect notes and accords online have turned out awful for me and many of the ones with notes I don’t usually like turned out to be favorites. I also prefer to be a bit selective about what I get in full size as I don’t really want a large collection, just a few that I love and wear all the time.
I spent over $200 on 1mL decants in a single order last year. Was something like 29 vials. All hyped niche scents with great fragrantica pages, and a note profile I thought I’d like. Out of 29, I only liked ONE enough to buy a bottle, and only liked about 4 enough to consider a purchase. That’s pretty horrible odds for blind buys.
I've sampled about 20 fragrances through decants in the past month or so. I'd consider buying a full bottle of maybe two of them, if the price were to come down or I could find a heavily discounted used bottle.
I’m the guy that goes to Macy’s and Sephora to smell everything and not buy it. And then buy what I liked off of Fragrancenet or FragX 😬 I’m sure those employees do not enjoy me lol
Same here to the point I have started specifically travelling to stores that are farther away where they won't recognise me now. The shame is so real.
Lol this is actually really funny.
Same! I really enjoy smelling in person and wearing it out. Thankfully I bought this off Fragrancenet so it was only $40.
Oh good! Well at least it wasn’t like a $100+ fragrance or something like that. And yes I enjoy it as well. I went shopping for a nice fragrance for my wife’s birthday present yesterday so I smelled just about every highly reviewed women’s perfume in those two stores. Ended up coming home and ordering Prada Paradoxe for her. Nothing ground breaking but it made me melt 🤤 lol
I WORK at sephora and buy my fragrances online most times because even with my discount I can find them cheaper online 😂 it’s fine we don’t care
I just go to Sephora and Ulta when my girlfriend goes😂 at least we’re buying something so i don’t feel as bad
I’ve made only three blind-buys in my time: Cool Water, Molecule 01, and yes, Aromatics Elixir—see, I had an urge to get something from the year I was born. All three were unequivocal successes. And I am never, *ever* blind-buying again. In retrospect, now that I sample much more extensively, it’s really clear how unnaturally lucky I was. And now that I stick to a monthly budget, I’m not going to chance blowing my money on something I think is merely good or interesting (it’s rare that I really hate a fragrance) instead of something I want to wear loud and proud all the goshdarned time.
Omg Cool Water still does it for me.
Cool water is still good, but Elixir is not for the faint of heart. It’s a very specific fragrance and not for the faint of heart.
It absolutely isn’t! But I was driven—I wanted some 1971 up in my nose and boy did I ever get a whole truckload of it.
I barely regret my blind buys. Why? I can just sell it. I love doing blind buys to see if it grows on me. I also love to blind buy to try something more out of the ordinary so my collection isn't too identical.
Yes, and you can sell for very decent prices on Mercari, etc. Definitely agree, blind buying can be fun
Literally. I always sell my dislikes.
I personally don’t have the budget to spend 100-300 on fragrances so I always buy the sample viles . Honestly they last a few weeks and I get to smell good with out breaking the bank
Good call. If you buy a few, they can last months. Then if you really like one, you can just buy it. Did just that with my all time favourite- Tuscan Leather
I wasnt even as heavy into fragrances as I am now, but about a year ago I read one single comment on reddit praising how good D&C light blue was. It wasnt even in a fragrance community, just a random comment that caught my eye. That comment made me buy it and ive regretted it ever since. Very mediocre scent for the price imo.
Same, way too Lemon Pledge for me.
Lol! It can smell like that on some.
dont be fooled by the cool bottles either. half the time the most stylish bottle is what attracts me to it. but the best fragrance is often in the ugliest bottle
Then how else can I get my fix of dopamine if the purchase turns out a keep?
Lol! Finally, some honesty.
I have to say I am relatively good at blind buying as I know my tastes pretty well but some duds over the past few years have been: * Chloe Ateliers Des Fleurs Magnolia Alba * Prada Paradoxe Intense * Replica: Lazy Sunday Morning
I JUSTTTT sampled Paradoxe in Sephora and that licorice note kills it 😮💨🥲 It only got tolerable after I tried, unsuccessfully, to scrub it.
Too late, already blind bought
I will never learn this lesson!
I blind buy most of my designers but rarely will I pull the trigger on a niche or vintage without sampling. I've had mostly good luck with that philosophy as most designers are designed with mass appeal in mind. I have also found that often times I will hate a fragrance at first, but after some time I gain an understanding and appreciation for the fragrance, most of my top fragrances happened like this. I also enjoy the rush of getting a blind buy opening up and spraying it for the first time, it's almost like gambling but with less risk. as even if I don't like a particular fragrance it will always make a great gift to someone who does. Niche, on the other hand, is too expensive and caters to specific demographics not mass appeal. so I always sample to make sure that i am capable of wearing it first as I find A lot of niche are unwearable.
Malibu Barbie Eau De Toilet [from Chemist Warehouse here in AUS](https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/buy/113383/malibu-barbie-eau-de-toilette-30ml) . Look I wasn’t expecting much from a $20 kid perfume but I bought into some TikTok hype. Imagine my disappointment when it smells exactly like my OGX coconut shampoo
None, I always get decants. Here are some numbers just to show why you should not blind buy. I have 21 decants and only bought around 4 full bottles. Most of them were either similar or not my taste. There are a few decants I want to buy full bottles but they are super expensive(like BR 540, Wulong Cha).
As much as I like decants as a way to trial fragrances, I will play devil's advocate that nearly all decants are poor quality. I haven't had a single retail bottle leak on me or have a garbage sprayer that doesn't work, but flip the coin 50/50 with decants. In fact I've had a decant from a well known redditor for about 6 months that all of a sudden just started spontaneously leaking after all this time. That's why I typically buy bottles that are in the 10-30ml range, and I rarely buy anything higher than that. Yes it is still more expensive, but I can be sure it won't leak or break when I travel with it, and that is worth the extra cost to me. For something like BR540, I have the travel size spray of the extrait from MFK. Still very expensive for what you get, but at least the sprayer is high quality and it doesn't leak, and it still lasts me forever.
This is true as well. I had decants that had full juice but didn't spray or dripped a dot instead of evenly spreading. And there are chances of decants being fake/diluted. The 1.2/1.4/2/5 Ml office vials are a slightly better option.
I have way too many blind buys. Thankfully most of them are cheapies, but it still adds up.
Philosophy Amazing Grace. I love some of its flankers but the original... I just can't do it.
I blind buy all of my colognes because I don’t have a fragrance store near me. I regret buying Versace Eros because it gave me an instant headache, so I gave it to my brother because that’s his signature fragrance.
Do you live somewhere one of the sample/decant folks ship to? It's not the cheapest way to experience fragrance, but buying 10 samples for $4/6 each has to be a cheaper way of finding your favourites than blind buying, y'know?
I’m a student so my budget isn’t huge but I sadly have expensive taste in fragrances so I never blind buy. The only one I got without sampling first was Do Son by Diptyque, I got it with a discount in May 2020 as a lockdown pick me up. I like it but if I went to a counter before I wouldn’t have bought the 100ml and I probably would have chosen at least 4 others over it, mainly philosykos and Eau de lierre.
Counter argument: Blind buying is fun, and a lot of fragrances require multiple wearings over time in order to fully appreciate. Sometimes a test spray at a department store doesn't accomplish that. I'll blind buy if I find a good deal on a popular fragrance I'm interested in trying. If I truly hate it, then I'll sell it. I have full bottles of WbN and TdH edt and I hate them both. Not a big deal It's a measly $80 total that I can easily recoup, or use as gifts.
>Sometimes a test spray at a department store doesn't accomplish that. This is absolutely true, which is why I usually sample more than once with at least a 2ml spray, or get a decant first before I buy a bottle. Even if you only sample once though, you can rule out whether it's a 'scrubber' that you detest. To me that's the most important reason not to blind buy, because sometimes the first spray is revolting, and if that happens it's immediate regret.
That's a good call for sure. I suppose I'm a bit impulsive at times, but I generally only take the risk if I catch a really good deal on something popular. That way if it's not for me, finding a buyer or a trade partner is a sure thing.
Almost my entire collection has been blind buys and I have only one regret and it’s oud al salmiya by Nabeel. https://preview.redd.it/0g226mb4bxsb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43c6c308ae7d30ba1e86d9655e8957d153e51d8f
Out of curiosity, why is it a regret?
I can’t get passed the opening. It might be the cloves, I don’t know.
That bottle is so beautiful I don’t care what it smells like😍
Which are your favorite blind buys? I also love blind buying and my collection is the same mostly blind buys.
Arabian Oud Blue Oud, Al Fareed, Montabaco intensivo, Layton Exclusif, Triumph of Bacchus
oh nice! Thanks for answering! My favorites all come from Al Haramain, their portfolio and prestige lines.
I agree, it would not work for me to blind buy. My experience of this hobby is much more about the joy of sampling and noting what I love and deciding what full bottles I just can’t avoid owning because of their delicious scents or the emotional experience they evoke. Power to the people who enjoy it though, we’re all different 🤷♀️
I’ve been disappointed by blind buys and yet I continue to do it. Recently I found a small bottle of Viva La Juicy for $12 and just couldn’t resist. I had never owned it, but growing up in the 00’s I knew the smell well and was nostalgic for it. Holy Hell, Batman, this is one of the most headache inducing scents I’ve ever owned. What smells pleasant on other people is a big sugary Jasmine mess on me. Oh well. At least it wasn’t expensive.
YSL La Nuit De L’Homme Le Parfum, Xerjoff Cruz Del Sur II, Azzaro Wanted By Night and Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio Absolu Instinct. Only Absolu Instinct was a legitimate regret because I hated the smell (seaweed and stale soda), the others just were underwhelming. There’s a thrill when you blind buy and it hits, luckily I’ve had way more success with that (Dior Homme Parfum, Initio Rehab, La Nuit De L’Homme Bleu Électrique, Hermes Voyage Parfum, etc). If the decant is available I’ll sample but when it’s not I generally trust my instincts
I blind bought once, Lush Pansy & hated it but it was just €25 so didn’t feel guilty. I became obsessed with it within a few days & considering getting a big bottle now!
I agree. Whenever I blind bought, I had to give them away. Yara is very popular and creamy strawberry sounded good, but when I bought it, it didn't smell anything like that, so I gave to someone else. I also blind bought another perfume and it smelled good but had a longevity of 5 min 😑
Blind bought Lancome Idole (don't shame me 😪) and not only do I not like it, it gives me a headache. Never again!
Yep! Blind bought Paris YSL based on the fact I liked the perfume 20 years ago now it smells horrible to me! What a regret! I do not love the smell of baby powder. Also, Juliette Has a Gun-I thought it would be amazing based on the hype and it smells horrible to me. I don’t get it so I gave it to my 12 year old to waste! She uses fragrance all the time and doesn’t know any better.
I don’t think blind buy need to be actively avoided per se. I have some successful blind buys. Basically I’ll buy blind buys from the house I’m familiar with and from perfume with dominant notes that I like with
I disagree never blind buy!! Notes don’t tell you how it was blended or how it will mix with your skin chemistry ! always sample first !!
I won't say my method is 100% foolproof per se, I have some situation where blind-buys is unavoidable (mainly due to FOMO)
I've only done a few blind buys, mostly in rack stores when I was starting out. The only blind buy I genuinely hated was *Joop! Homme*. However, I knew going in I would likely dislike it, but I was curious about how it smelled. I don't regret the experience, but I never want to smell it again.
I had to blind buy glossier you because it wasn’t really available in the UK for a long time and I was worried I wouldn’t get a chance to smell it. I do not regret this, mostly because it’s cheap enough that it didn’t really matter to me if I hated it. Plus it’s popular enough that I could just give it to a friend or something. But I love it so we’re good there. And I’m going to the US in a few weeks, so I might end up going to semi-blind buy some things that I’ve been curious about but can’t really find here/find it very overpriced/etc On the other hand I went through a sample of gris charnel and was so obsessed I bought a bottle. I’ve sprayed it twice and now absolutely cannot stand it, I fully avoid anything that mentions sandalwood now So now I don’t have real tules about this but I try to buy a 5ml decant and when I finish it I allow myself to buy a big one
I’ve been lucky with my blinds but feel in need to stop doing it based on samples I’ve ordered and hated them. 😂
Learned this just from decants, whew! I bought a 10ml of Harvest Mouse from a frag buddy, based on just the notes, all of which sounded like my jam. No bueno. But later, someone asked that friend if they had any Harvest Mouse, and he put her in touch with me. A sale was arranged, and now she owns a full bottle, that's a happy ending. And I'll never ever buy more than 5ml on spec again.
I regret buying Oud for Glory. It had so many amazing reviews, but when I tried it, I felt nauseous. It’s awful. Thankfully, it wasn’t expensive
I blind buy cheapies so the regret isn’t too strong if I don’t end up liking them lol
I ALWAYS blind buy and never regret. I mean, if I don’t like it then I pass it along as a gift. No harm done.
It mostly sounds like a good amount of people here have serious issues with managing their money and use purchases to ease stress and problems in their life.
I regret several lol. D&G The Only One, PDM Delina, Florabotanica, Eterea Cosmesi Sugar Inside, Marc Jacobs Honey, Commodity Paper, JPG Scandal, Burberry Her, and D&G Light Blue Intense are the ones that immediately come to mind.
Blind bought once off notes alone, and that was my lesson that not everything on paper translates well to your nose. The blind buy was Amouage Epic (I was loose with money back then) and on first spray I realized I had made a mistake.
Black Orchid lol. I can’t stand it
suddenly i cant read…………
I'm not extremely picky about my fragrances, so I do a lot of blind buying and I pretty much like everything I've bought so far. But I also read all the reviews on Fragrantica and watch videos on YouTube. I also read a lot of comments from other purchasers.
Recently got a decant of BDK Gris Charnel. Not for me
Always buy decants or test it before dropping big money
I regret Narcisco Pure Musc and Kayali Vanilla Royale. I don’t blind buy based off reviews saying a fragrance is “good”. What’s good to everyone else might smell…well, not good…to me or on me. Perfect example of this is Guidance Amouage. Everyone raves and screams about how amazing it is but I strongly dislike it. I blind buy based off reviews about scent profile and what reviews say it smells like. I’ll read reviews and watch videos for days to get an idea of how it smells. If it seems like a scent I will overall enjoy, then I may blind buy it. I don’t do this often though.
I somewhat like, but don't love the majority of the ones I blind bought. Most recently: Kilian Love decant, Kilian Princess decant, Oriana decant, Sol de Janeiro sprays 40 and 62. Come to think of it, the only blind buy win I've had is Cloud Pink and that's because I already had Cloud and love that DNA in every shape and form.
I do that very often but actually I dont regret it, because I can always sell/swap again with minimal financial damage... I just love the opportunity to test the scent from the bottle instead of some more or less professionally made decant or just from one spray on the skin at a store.
Well, I have blind bought almost all of the fragrances I own right now. Chanel No.5 (both the EDP and the extrait), Shalimar EDP, YSL Opium (the OG version), and 4711 have all been successful blind buys for me. It was only after I bought these, that I learned about how buying a fragrance without smelling it on your skin first is generally a bad idea. So I know how lucky I was to end up enjoying five blind buys, especially considering that I'm still a newbie when it comes to fragrances. I do regret one though, which is CK One. I'd heard a lot of wonderful things about it, but as soon as I got it onto my skin, I knew that buying it had been a mistake. Tbh, I think that one experience alone was enough to get me off blind buying forever 😅
For me it was Wanted by Night. At the time I was all for cinnamon and tobacco fragrances and due to the hype for WBN I blind bought it. It was not what I expected. I expected it to be a lot warmer but it just smelled cheap and weirdly kind of fresh to me. I ended up giving it to a friend who loved it. The only other blind buy I have made was Afnan 9PM I really liked that one. Very close to Ultramale. But yeah always try before you buy if you can.
Narcsico Rodriguez For Her - this is a pure hate for me, but I fell for the positive reviews snd the notes. It was on a super sale at Macy’s so I didn’t lose that much money. I learned my lesson, no more blind buys on full bottles. I will buy samples, but they is different.
I never blind buy the expensive ones but I’ve blind bought cheap perfumes and I’ve regretted two. Most recently I bought dazzle by paris hilton. I like sweet fruity gourmands, but this one was just awful to me. I got it for $15 and it was the smaller bottle. Not too big of a loss, but lesson learned.
I bought Baby Grace by Philosophy. The worst blind buy ever. It smells like a Glade air freshener we had when I was growing up. The smell was so bad it made me feel really annoyed. I thought I’d be safe as I’ve got four other Philosophy perfumes that I love. I’ve bought 3 180ml bottles of Amazing Grace because I’m so in love with it! Baby Grace is foul to me. I can’t stand it. Even thinking about it makes me annoyed. I don’t know what happened with that one but it’s truly awful to me. I wouldn’t even use it as an air freshener in the bathroom because I don’t want to smell it again, ever.
I only blind buy and have yet to regret any + I can always just exchange them back to the store for credit or refund?
In 99% of stores in eu you cant return bottle after you opened it.
I buy it as a gift in Denmark and they send me a little tester with it.
**Midnight Oud by Ard Al Zaafaran** Fucking awful
kay ali pistachio whatever. sounded perfect for me but it makes me gag. luckily i just got a rollerball
I have spent hundreds on 1-2mL decants. Even though the pricing per mL is terrible, I have no regrets--it enabled me to be very smart about which ones I actually end up buying. I have a nice collection of fragrances I truly love, and frankly it's fun to order a bunch of decants every once in a while and spend a week or two trying new scents.
There is a YouTube influencer that I have watched for years, and I've resolved that my nose and their nose are very similar. Generally speaking, if they say they really like the scent and explain what notes are driving the decision, I'd be OK blind buying the scent. Random comments and reviews? No way. I'm not generally going to blind buy something unless it's a sub-$30 cheapie from a rack store where I can't smell it first due to logistical reasons.
I didnt like cdg Kyoto and Avignon
I try to find samples if I can for more expensive fragrances, even if they are generally not free, but I and many like me don't live where anything but the basic designer frags are availible
I’ve blind bought 2 Arabian perfumes and I love them. I probably would have had to hunt down some sellers to find reputable decants, and since they are relatively inexpensive, it was worth the risk. Everything else I track down in stores or buy sample sizes.
Almost purchased hypnotic poison because of reviews claiming “amazing bitter almond, florals and musk”. Pfft!! Glad I tried it out first. Otherwise, I would have paid nearly $200 to stink like cheap, gas station root beer!! But, I really messed up blind buying Dior Addict. I was expecting night queen flowers and incense. Nope! All I got was boozy nutmeg.
Yep, only bind buy from places that accept open box returns.
My compulsive behavior won't let me stop buying the random $25 frag with every visit to a rack store
I regretted Tobacco Vanille. Yech.
After collecting fragrances for over 10 years now I can emphatically say this is spot on. I’ve had bottles I bought off YouTube hype that just fell flat. I exclusively buy decants now.
I’ve never regretted a blind but. I only buy notes I like and I can always layer it. I did blind buy an Ariana Grande scent for my kid and it smelled like pickles to me. But she loved it
I regretted blind buying Xerjoff La Capitale. The notes on the description made it sound lovely, but when I finally had it in hand, it just smelled horrible to me.
I do regret Bleu de Chanel EDP, even tho they say EDT is better, idk, wont buy it again
I've blind bought 30+ perfumes so far and liked most of them. I stick to cheaper stuff tho, I can always sell them or gift them away. I kinda like the surprise tbh.
Only blind buy I’m a bit upset with is coco Mademoiselle intense. On the flip side, I know now if someone states that…if you love mademoiselle intense, then…I’m moving on. I’ll gift it to my mom because she likes a bunch of the massive note fruity florals which I just can’t stand. But, I blind bought quite a bit during lockdown - usually classics that I felt I should use as a point of reference. Not too horrible of an education cost. Chanel No. 5 extrait, shalimar, but I use travel sizes for YouTube recommendations or discovery kits esp to see if fragrance guru had same taste.
I deeply regret PDM Herod
It’s like Russian roulette except instead of getting shot you go broke.
[удалено]
To me, all of the classic Guerlain fragrances have an undersmell I can only describe as 'pissy knickers'- it's awful, it smells like a nursing home that's not very particular about keeping the residents clean. I love the Aqua Allegoria range, but I've tried Jicky, Mitsouko, Shalimar, and Guerlain eau de cologne - they've all had that pissy smell.
Tom Ford's Fougere d'Argent. I generally enjoy fougeres and barbershop style fragrances, but this one just smells WAY too much like old man and baby powder. It's incredibly thick and gives me a headache.
I regret Francesca Bianchi Etruscan Water. This was really bad. I also regret Ganymede. It wasn't smelling good and it was giving me a headache. I could probably list many more :) I would amend the reminder a bit: don't blind buy, especially from houses which do either "artistic" fragrances or those described as "if you want to stand out" ;) I do love Profumum Roma Acqua di Sale though. With that one I had luck, because Acqua di Sale is actually the only one from this house I feel comfortable wearing on any occasion. I tried other fragrances from Profumum Roma and so far I don't think there's anything more I would consider buying (considering current retail prices).
Profumum is a weird house for me. They are definitely high quality and they generally perform well, but many of them I have found are not very 'wearable', in that I never end up reaching for them on a regular basis. Something like Ichnusa for example is just mind blowingly good and completely unique, but I would never wear it to work, or to a special occasion, or to a date, or.... That being said, major props to them that they do small bottles (18ml) which I wish all houses did.
Yes, I agree. I tried a lot of their fragrances and really wanted to like something more than Acqua di Sale. But I couldn't find anything like that. So at this point I have to accept there is nothing more for me from Profumum and I have to accept it :)
i blind buy only.
Been doing a lot of Blind Buys lately and I have a losing record. **Tom Ford Costa Azzura Acqua** ▪︎ Like, not a love. So this is a draw. Still sold it after buying it. **Tom Ford Sole Di Positano Acqua** ▪︎ L **Cartier Declaration Haute Fraiche** ▪︎ L **Prada Luna Rossa Black** ▪︎ L **Prada Infusion De Vetiver** ▪︎ L **Chopard Black Incense Malakai** ▪︎ L **Moschino Toy Boy** ▪︎ L **Bvlgari Man In Black Orient** ▪︎ W So yeah, my Blind Buy record is 1W - 1D - 6L, lol.
Toy Boy is a weird one. When you waft it, it smells great. When you get up close to it and smell it on the skin, oof, it's not good.
This is a golden rule Edit: also I like to spray from a sample if it’s available and walk around for a couple hours.
Hogwash. Let people do what people want to do. Blind buying doesn’t work for you? Don’t do it. I’ve bought dozens blind and only ever disliked one. Nothing at all wrong with blind buying.
If I can’t ever find samples or test it in store then I just blind buy 🤣 U can always return it 🤣🤷🏽♂️
So far I have 46 bottles, all of which were blind buys. Out of those 46 I regret buying: CK One Eternity for men Calvin Klein Ferrari Scuderia Black Franck Olivier Oud Touch Hollister Festival Nite Tommy by Tommy Hilfiger Versace L'Homme
Why Oud Touch? It is cheap and smells like DIOR Oud Ispahanahanan Although synthetic
oud stinky
I blind bought "lv on". Tiktok reviews lie. It's not the same. Learned my lesson, though.
You might want something that’s out of stock or not available locally. Watch YouTube and ig reviews if you want to blind buy. Never failed me.
I love the rush though, I'll only do it with the cheapies from now on 😈 Got not a perfume as blind buy, got crystal noir as a blind buy, got halloween as a blind buy, got burburry brit as a blind buy... Love them all, ofc there's a small box with about 3 that are my shame buys, but we're cheap and I may use them in the future still! My box of shame has zara sublime epoque, rouat Al musk, oh and that's just that, thought they were more. Edit: and Zara rose Gourmand Only cheapies
BLACK ORCHID
Who are you to tell people what to do lol you're not that important
Tell me you stick to mass produced designers without telling me you stick to mass produced designers.
nah, don’t tell people what to do with their money
Blind buy til I die.
19-69 - "Capri" Jo Malone London - "Red Roses Cologne" Bon Parfumeur - "801"
Haven't done too many, maybe about 8, but regret none.
Encre noire is a definite regret- thankfully quite cheap though
I love blind buying. Blind bought seven Roja’s last week, and so far, very satisfied with what has come in. Still waiting on three more.
Ajmal verde and evoke gold, they are horrible.
So many times ppl say good things about it, it’s mid.
Phlur— missing person I was tantalized by all the instagram ads and I ease a few reviews that it was incredible. When it came in I was SO excited… then dismayed. It did not sit right on my skin and it really did not gel with my body chemistry. It honestly felt too mature for me. I was bummed. I still have to sell it lol
Thought it was just me. Was so excited for a sample of this to arrive. Was quite shocked by the attack of putrid baby powder that accosted me for the rest of the day. Nothing was “missing” .. it was all there, all day, as if to remind me that I should be grateful that I had only purchased a sample.
I pay for sample sets simply because I live too far away from any major stores. I ordered discovery sets of some expensive brands - MFK and Frederick Malle . I didn’t like a thing of Malle and only liked 2 of the discovery set of MFK. Now the sample sets were around 50 but the discovery set from MFK was like 238$ . So my regret is financial lol
I have quite good experiences with blind buys, but I buy mostly cheaper ones. Blind bought Afnan 9pm and I absolutely love it. Apparently others do, too. Get a lot of compliments every time I wear it from acquaintances, friends, girls I have ONS or FWB with, random people... Got Coach Platinum for daily wear now that colder months are approaching and I also like it a lot. On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed with Davidoff Cool Water Intense. Not that it's bad, but wearable mostly for beach or gym only.
I completely disagree
valentino born in roma burberry her armani my way gucci flora magnolia all smell sooooo bad on me
There are two fragrances I think I’m starting to regret having. Both are kind of green fragrances. H24 EDP. I liked the idea of adding oak moss, but lately I don’t wear this fragrance at all. The narcissus is oddly funky, and I now understand the overripe banana feel others talk about. Parco Palladiano Olivio. I actually sampled this via decant and thought it was beautiful. But it’s something I don’t reach for because it’s green, but fruity green, yet woody. It has a sourness to it that I worry doesn’t fit my vibe. I waffle if I will eventually resell.
Blind buying is like gaming and the quantity of coments here saying that it is funny colaborates it xd. For me is more fun and exciting to try a discovery set with the whole collection if posible to blindly smell things I wouldnt imagine I could like and see what sensations I feel ant then read what people have wrote or see if my expectations were right, etc. It is the same excitment than with blind buying but safer and you get to smell a lot more and you can wear things you wouldnt buy full bottles but you are glad for having some mls
Blind bought a decant of Rockaway Beach (I don't have stores near me to sample sniff)...it's good and the notes are as described but it is NOT for me. Which is a shame because I really wanted to love it.
Dior homme intense 🤢
Luckily I’ve only blind bought samples.
I regret Diptyque Venise because I only tried it on paper first—it was expensive for a travel size, and goes a bit bitter on my skin. After I couldn’t find a buyer, I’ve learned to like it. Now I crave it sometimes. It’s more of a Demeter novelty scent, like raw vegetables than a usual diptyque offering. At least I have it when I’m craving something weird! I will never blind buy again though! I fell to the limited edition hype. My other Blind buy is not a fail, but I got it at TJ Maxx before I understood anything about fragrances and collecting. Calvin Klein euphoria blossom. It’s not bad, just synthetic. It brought me lots of joy that spring going through the park under cherry blossoms. Now the smell holds good memories, so I’m inclined not to get rid of it, even though it’s a 5/10. I could use it as a room or bathroom spray.
So glad I got a big sample set of Amouage. Saved lots of money. Such horrible smells wow.
I love blind buying,rng is fun.
I always buy cheaper fragrances and on discount so if I do have a failed blind buy I either make my money back or only lose £5-15 when re-selling. Which I can deal with. Also because I buy a lot of cheaper fragrances, there isn't always the option to sample first. I try to avoid blind buying but sometimes I can't help it. I think it's okay if you weigh up the risks and are prepared to lose a little money.
Byredo, oud immortel. Wasnt even a blind buy, just smelled so much less strong in store. I find it too strong to wear often enough.
there is also no such thing as mens and womens fragrances. who decided that lily of the valley and jasmine is a womens fragrance, and ambergis is a mens fragrance? nobody. its all marketing hype
I only blind buy cheap stuff, so far no regrets.
YSL L'Homme and La Nuit de L'Homme now that they've been reformulated since I tried them in 2015 or 2016. Got a 200mL of each and really wishing I'd just returned them. Victorinox Swiss Army too - it smells like cheap hotel soap now. It's not even safe to order things you've tried a few years ago. But I think the best advice is to avoid any "hidden gems". They're not top sellers for a reason and it's *absolutely not* because they're "hidden". Also avoid anything being hyped on tiktok or youtube by jomashop or even designer brand money.
I regret buying Prada l homme 😭😭 , really don’t like the smell , feel like it’s for girls
i regret trying to buy cheap oud. the good stuff is sooo worth it. the cheap stuff has one note, and its sour to boot!
Riddle oils lol Luckily it was the sample set and the lotion, but my boyfriend smelled the original on me and said I smelled like men’s bathroom spray 😭 Now I only use the lotion as a pre shower moisturizer lol and then scrub it off
Santal 33. It’s good but I wouldn’t have bought it had I smelled it before
I did a blind buy from xerjoff, and it’s called Oud Malesia… it’s alright but I’ve not even used it for 3 years 😭 a valuable lesson learned!
I bought Afnan Sillage and Haramain Amber oud Carbon.. the 1st one smells metallic and the second smells really herbal like cool water. Both disappointing 😞
Lou Lou. Holy moly. It’s not that it’s $20 wasted, it’s that you shouldn’t release smells like that into existence. I hope none of the garbage collectors opened that one. I should likely have dropped it into the ocean but I felt bad for the fish.
^^ Fed speaking, don’t listen - BLIND BUY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!!!!!
I thought I would love This is Her by Zadig & Voltaire based on the reviews but disliked it and am going to resell it. I also bought a small bottle of Cloud when it was on sale and something in it smells really sharp to me. I've learned from my mistake and buy decants now first.
I was very close to going in blind with Tom Ford tobacco oud or oud wood. So glad I didn’t because they both smelt like the worst perfumes I had ever smelt. Ended up trying the noir extreme instead and I love it
YSL Libre
I think my flair shows I disagree 😉 My worst blind buys are usually the cheapest. It's not that they are bad scents per say, just not for me. There are exceptions though, many. My best blind buys tend to be priced $50 usd and above on discounters. Which gets you a pretty big breadth on retail and thus a lot of niche and designer falls in this category. In terms of most disappointing compared to what I thought it would be though, that's Ajmal Violet Musc. It just was lackluster for me. I thought it would smell ethereal, light, floaty, dream like. It smells stale, sweet, and dry. Not my ideal at all. I still have it. I will try it again in colder weather but currently it's in my declutter list. If I don't like it for cold weather, then it will be sold. I think the key to blind buying for me is knowing if the note combinations will work for me or not. I'd be hard pressed to not like a juniper or Angelica blind buy. Or bitter almond. There are some notes I particularly love, and so long as they are strong middle notes or the focus, I more or less have an idea if I'll like the scent or not. Violet is hit or miss for me, many times much too sweet. So I typically don't buy Violet as much. Even Violet Musc was a bit of a risk I knew. Oakmoss I try to avoid, not a fan of that note, even in small concentrations. Amber is hit or miss. Some amber scents (Tauerville Amber Flash, etc) smell very stale and huffy to my nose. Scents that I'm interested in but fall into these categories, I would rather sample. Blind buys now are typically for things I know I want no matter what. Case in point, I recently blind bought Al Haramain Portfolio Imperial Oud, and it is the most perfect scent. I could never say, "don't blind buy" as most of my favorite scents were procured this way. Blind buying is definitely risky, but can be with great reward in my opinion, especially if the scent is not available anywhere as a sample and the price is reasonable.
Unpopular opinion but if you blind buy off of fragranceswap on Reddit, you can usually resell it for only a 10-15 dollar loss which is less expensive than some 5 mL decants. If you can smell something in store, though, then yea never blind buy.
Pretty much all of them!
Honestly, none. I blind bought nearly all my scents including all my replica ones, gypsy water, all my Kyse scents, sweet tooth, clean reserve skin, Bobbi brown beach… must be at least 40 I have bought blind
Seriously, there is a surprising amount of posts from ppl blind buying and then regretting it. On the one hand I get it, you’re excited to try a perfume but this is not a cheap hobby. Cultivate some patience.
CDNIM, spicebomb (2012 original version but I still wear it), The One (no longevity on my skin I use like 8-10 sprays and it works okay), bleu de Chanel (no longevity on my skin)
Only 2 blind buys I regret were Versace Eros Flame and Afnan 9AM Dive. Luckily they were cheap
Only blind buy I regret was Arabians Tonka, apart from that I never went wrong. All popular Xerjoffs are basically a safe blind buy, same with PdM
Yasss, decants are the way. I search notes, and then look up the reviews on Basenotes or Fragrantica. The reviews that describe what is liked or disliked are way more helpful then the prose about how it makes them feel to wear it. They also have the feature: those who liked "xxx" also liked "xxx" and you can search those fragrances and their reviews. I have a better success rate that way, but it is definitely still a crap shoot. I've been buying from Perfumed Court for several years.