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What's your process or selecting a new perfume/cologne?

post #1 of 30
3/2/12 at 2:50pm
Thread Starter 
I'm not much of a snob...marketing will do a good job of getting me into a shop to check out a scent. After that...

1. I must spray on myself. If it is awful, I skip it. If it is interesting...I spray a couple more and walk out of the store letting it sit on me a day. If I find myself longing for it by the end of the day or the next day...we have a love match.

- I won't use paper and won't spray it on the salesgirl. I don't see the point...neither of those mediums will reflect how it works on my body. Though I have picked men's scents that way.

you?
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post #2 of 30
3/2/12 at 2:54pm
For me the process is research and sampling though every so often I will make a blind buy if I'm taken with a fragrance which has my favorite notes.
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post #3 of 30
3/2/12 at 3:00pm
i usually read about frags here, then sample em via store, or perfumed court samples if its niche. I need 2 full wearings before I pull the trigger.
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post #4 of 30
3/2/12 at 3:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Hunter View Post

For me the process is research and sampling though every so often I will make a blind buy if I'm taken with a fragrance which has my favorite notes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jamwires View Post

i usually read about frags here, then sample em via store, or perfumed court samples if its niche. I need 2 full wearings before I pull the trigger.

Agreed, my process is very similar
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post #5 of 30
3/2/12 at 3:35pm
If it compliments my collection, I buy it.
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post #6 of 30
3/2/12 at 5:12pm
I research, sample, ask for suggestions, and sniff, but right now I'm going based on houses. That way, I learn a little bit about their aesthetic and their approach to perfumery. It works really well for me because I'm pretty new to this.
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post #7 of 30
3/2/12 at 5:23pm
I blind buy a lot...I like the excitement, but I usually know just about what I'm getting with all the reading I do about it. For more expensive niche I test it first. Some I know I'll just love and don't really need to try, like SDV. Or if I can get a great deal I'll probably just buy it...I'm pretty impulsive.
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post #8 of 30
3/2/12 at 6:44pm
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I read about frags here and just blind buy them on eBay/sales forum. Rarely I go in to a Sephora to test stuff out but it would just be one spritz to the wrist then I walk out.
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post #9 of 30
3/3/12 at 1:17am
I'll test it at the boutique. Pretty much everything from designer to niche is available in Dubai. If i like it I'll buy it.
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post #10 of 30
3/3/12 at 1:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hednic View Post

If it compliments my collection, I buy it.

Your collection is colossal. Anything has the potential to compliment it lol.
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post #11 of 30
3/3/12 at 1:27am
If I like what I tested and further testings make an equally good impression, I usually decide to buy it
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post #12 of 30
3/3/12 at 1:46am
Quite similar to your methodology, I try a fragrance on my skin. If my interest is piqued sufficiently, I will see how the scent develops beyond the enticing opening, and whether a commitment is warranted.
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post #13 of 30
3/3/12 at 7:00am
I almost always wear something four or five times before deciding to buy a bottle of it. (That means that I typically order samples of them.) One thing I've learned about myself is that I tend to overestimate how much I enjoy a fragrance on the first few wearings; if I used positive first impressions as my criterion, I'd have a lot more bottles and a lot less money! If I still find something very compelling after four or five wears, and if the price of the full bottle is not outrageous, I'll buy it.
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post #14 of 30
3/3/12 at 7:23am
Pretty much the same process everyone has here without blind buying.

I do spray on paper first if I don't like the smell on paper then I will not spray on my skin. If I like on paper I spray on my skin...I usually go a few hours with it on my skin if I like it I buy.

If I get some recommendation from you guys on a fragrance I can't find in my area I will buy decants from perfumedcourts, luckyscent, somewhere like that.

Just ordered a sample of Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight in Paris last night...can't wait to try. If I like I will be ordering a bottle.
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post #15 of 30
3/3/12 at 7:33am
I have a pretty modest collection so far. With the ones I have gotten, I have researched the notes in a particular frag to see if it has ones that I like and is devoid of ones that I do not. I have then bought decants of it.
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post #16 of 30
3/3/12 at 9:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hedonist222 View Post

I'll test it at the boutique. Pretty much everything from designer to niche is available in Dubai. If i like it I'll buy it.

You are one lucky person
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post #17 of 30
3/3/12 at 9:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oupavoc View Post

You are one lucky person

Perfumistas living within driving distance from luckyscent are even luckier and those in Roma .
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post #18 of 30
3/3/12 at 1:48pm
Thread Starter 
What is this Luckyscent place?
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post #19 of 30
3/3/12 at 2:12pm
Skin test is mandatory for me.
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post #20 of 30
3/3/12 at 7:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RiveGaucheInstead View Post

What is this Luckyscent place?

I think the brick and mortar is named Scent Bar - in California.
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post #21 of 30
3/3/12 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by alfarom View Post

Skin test is mandatory for me.

+1, despite I've already made so many blindbuys.
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post #22 of 30
3/3/12 at 10:29pm
After sampling it for a day I usually let my wife smell it just to be sure she isn't repulsed by it. We usually agree so I am good so far.
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post #23 of 30
3/3/12 at 10:45pm
I do too many blind-buys, based on reviews and hype. Too lazy to go to store and test it out, or too lazy to order sample and wait 2 weeks. I end up selling or swapping if I don't like something - advantage of buying hyped-up fragrances.
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post #24 of 30
3/4/12 at 7:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by L'Incandescent View Post

I almost always wear something four or five times before deciding to buy a bottle of it. (That means that I typically order samples of them.) One thing I've learned about myself is that I tend to overestimate how much I enjoy a fragrance on the first few wearings; if I used positive first impressions as my criterion, I'd have a lot more bottles and a lot less money! If I still find something very compelling after four or five wears, and if the price of the full bottle is not outrageous, I'll buy it.

I agree, I've often liked something after a wearing or two, only to find that - no, I don't like it enough to even think of bothering with it again, or in a couple of cases, absolutely can't stand the smell, I like to do four or five wearings. I will say that I need to love a fragrance, not just like it, to purchase it. And if I do love it and can't afford a full bottle, I'll buy the largest decant that I can afford.
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post #25 of 30
3/4/12 at 9:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikesc View Post

After sampling it for a day I usually let my wife smell it just to be sure she isn't repulsed by it. We usually agree so I am good so far.

+1. thats how i usually get a new frag. try it on my skin and ask my girlfriend or girl-friends for their opinion. Usually those I dont really enjoy she wouldnt like them too so its quite safe. Only one I might have problem with would be L'Artisan Havana Vanille. She insisted its too edible hahaha.
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post #26 of 30
3/4/12 at 5:35pm
I also try to spray a fragrance multiple times before purchasing. My tastes have changed so quickly, that I have a hard time simply buying based on my wardrobe, so I test repeatedly. I have found that some fragrances that I wasn't crazy about initially end up being some of my favourites!
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post #27 of 30
3/4/12 at 7:45pm
Lately I've haven't been using a process, blind buy based one the notes :P
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post #28 of 30
3/4/12 at 11:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oupavoc View Post

Lately I've haven't been using a process, blind buy based one the notes :P

that actually sounds ridiculously fun!
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post #29 of 30
4/3/12 at 8:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RiveGaucheInstead View Post

that actually sounds ridiculously fun!

This is how I MOSTLY buy. Sometimes people will recommend a fragrance for me but they are almost always similar to what I already have. I tend to buy the same fragrance (based on notes) over and over again. Different designer, different names, similar notes.
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post #30 of 30
4/3/12 at 8:58pm
I've worked mostly in art museums and tend to use an art museum approach: buy some houses in depth, carefully considering their reputation with the critics, look for classics and future classics, get some contemporary stuff that is a bit shocking, fall in love with a few, add representatives of certain eras and attitudes, seek a balance of historical well-roundedness and personal taste. Not everything has to be sampled first in this system.
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Just Starting Out › What's your process or selecting a new perfume/cologne?