Decant, tester, brand sample or miniature: the difference
Four small ways to meet a perfume, and they are not the same thing. What each one is, who makes it and which one suits testing at home.
Perfume comes in a surprising number of small forms, and the words for them are used loosely. A decant, a tester, a brand sample and a miniature are four different things with four different makers. Knowing which is which helps you read a shop page, and it tells you what you are actually receiving.
The decant
A decant is perfume taken from a regular bottle and filled into a smaller vial, usually glass with a spray pump. The seller fills it, labels it and sends it. The liquid is the perfume as the house made it; the vial and the label are the seller's. There is no brand box or leaflet, and the house is not involved. Ours are described on How we fill your sample, and what is a decant goes through the basics.
Take Jo Malone London English Pear & Freesia, recorded with Williams pear, freesia and patchouli. As a decant it arrives in our 10 ml vial with our label, and not in the Jo Malone box.
The tester
A tester is a bottle supplied to shops so that customers can try a perfume at the counter. It is often in plain packaging, with no outer box or with a simple cap. The liquid is usually the same formula as in the regular bottle. A tester is a full-size bottle for the shop floor, not a small format, and it is not meant as a sample to hand out. If you want to be sure what you are buying, look at how the seller describes it.
The brand sample
A brand sample, sometimes called a vial, sachet or spray card, is made and filled by the house itself. It is small, often enough for a few wearings at most, and it is often given away with an order or sold in the house's own discovery set. It carries the house's own design. A decant, by contrast, is filled by a seller and is never an official brand sample, however carefully it is done.
A decant of Nishane Hacivat Extrait de Parfum shows how plain the format is. The perfume is recorded with bergamot, pineapple and grapefruit on top, jasmine, patchouli and cedarwood in the heart, and clearwood, oakmoss and dry timberwood in the base. The label on our vial says house, perfume, concentration and size, nothing more.
The miniature
A miniature is a small version of the bottle itself, made by the house with its own box and often its own design. It is for keeping, giving or travelling, and some people collect them. The container is the brand's; ours is not. Because a miniature is a finished product of the house, it tends to be made for a few perfumes only and not for the whole range.
Side by side
- Who fills it: decant, the seller; tester, the house; brand sample, the house; miniature, the house.
- Container: decant, a plain glass spray vial; tester, a full bottle in plain packaging; brand sample, a small house vial or sachet; miniature, a small bottle in the house's design.
- Meant for: decant, wearing and testing over days; tester, trying at the counter; brand sample, a first impression; miniature, keeping or travelling.
- Official: only the tester, the brand sample and the miniature come from the house. A decant does not.
The glossary defines the same terms in a few lines each.
Which one to use when
If you want to find out whether a perfume suits you, you need something you can wear for several days on your own skin. That is the decant, or a house vial if the house offers one for the perfume you want. The article on how to test perfume on your skin describes how to use it. A tester at the counter shows the opening and little else, and a miniature is nice to own but is not the usual route to a decision.
Afnan Supremacy Collectors Edition, recorded with pineapple, bergamot, apple and white flowers on top, birch wood, amber and orange blossom in the heart and oak moss, musk and ambergris in the base, is the kind of perfume where a few days of wearing say more than a quick sniff. The same goes for Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club, recorded with pink pepper essence, Primofiore lemon oil and neroli oil on top, rum absolute, clary sage oil and Java vetiver oil in the heart, and styrax resin, tobacco leaf absolute and vanilla bean CO2 in the base.
A seller should say clearly what kind of small format it offers. Our own answer is on the FAQ, and what a good decant shop tells you lists what to look for. To see what we fill, start with all samples or the eau de toilette samples, or go back to the home page.
FAQ
Is a decant the same as a tester?
No. A tester is a full bottle made for the shop counter, often in plain packaging. A decant is a small amount of perfume that has been filled into a vial from a regular bottle, with a label of the seller.
Is a decant the same as a brand sample?
No. A brand sample is made and filled by the house itself. A decant is filled by a seller from the original bottle. The house is not involved, and we are not affiliated with the brands.
Which one suits testing a perfume at home?
A decant or a house vial, because both are small, easy to carry and meant to be worn. A miniature is more of a small bottle to keep, and a tester is a counter bottle you rarely get to take home.
