How to build your own perfume sample set

A set of samples is the quickest way to learn what you like, as long as it is a plan and not a pile. Six random vials give you six impressions and no conclusion. The same six vials, chosen to answer one question, can give you an answer. Here are three ways to build a set, how many samples to take and how to wear them.

Start with a question

Ask what you want to find out. Do you like a house and want to know which of its perfumes is yours? Do you keep coming back to a note and want to see its range? Or do you not know your taste yet and want to explore? Each question suggests a different set. The sample sets page lets you pick any combination, and the scent finder helps when you have no idea where to start.

The house set

Take three perfumes of one house. They share a hand and often a mood, so what separates them is easier to hear. Le Labo is a good way to see this. Santal 33 is recorded with cardamom, iris, violet, Australian sandalwood and cedarwood. Rose 31 is recorded with Centifolia rose, cumin, olibanum, cedar, amber, Gaïac wood, cistus and musk. Bergamote 22 is recorded with bergamot, petit grain, grapefruit, amber, musk and vetiver. Three perfumes, three centres of gravity, one house.

The Le Labo samples are one page. Every house on DecantGems has its own, and the brands page lists them all.

The note set

If one note keeps pulling you back, build the set around it and see how differently it can be written. Vanilla is the easy example. Essential Parfums Divine Vanille is recorded with Madagascar vanilla absolute, tonka bean, benzoin, cinnamon bark, osmanthus, cedarwood, patchouli and musks. Mykonos Bonfire Vanilla is recorded with clove, nutmeg, pink pepper, orange zest and vanilla on top, smoked wood, pepper, guaiac wood and burnt brown sugar in the heart, and smoked wood, vanilla, marshmallow and caramel in the base. Velixir Galatea is recorded with caramel and biscuit on top, tonka bean, honey, sugar and milk in the heart, and white musk, vanilla, praline filling and amber in the base.

Three vanilla perfumes, three different stories. The vanilla samples list is longer, and the vanilla guide shows how to read it from gourmand to smoky.

The contrast set

When you do not yet know your taste, choose on purpose for difference: something bright and clean, something warm and sweet, something woody, something floral. Velixir Poseidon is a useful anchor on the fresh side, recorded with bergamot and mandarin on top, ginger in the heart and ambergris in the base. Put it next to the vanilla perfumes above and you have a clear opposite pair. Wear the set and note which end of the scale you reach for first. The Arabic and niche pages are good places to pick the other contrasts.

A set for a season or an occasion

Some sets have a purpose rather than a question. For a coming holiday, take three from the summer samples. For the colder months, the winter samples are the natural pool. For the office, the samples for work list the perfumes tagged for it. If you are choosing for someone else, read perfume samples as a gift, because a set that lets the other person decide is a different task from one you build for yourself.

How many, and how to wear them

Three to five samples is the sweet spot. Wear one a day for the days you have vials, and give each perfume the routine from how to test perfume on your skin: clean skin, one perfume per arm, a note at the end of the day. After the last vial, look back at your notes. The perfume you remember without looking is the one to take seriously.

Size matters when you plan a set: which sample size to pick goes through when a small vial is enough and when you want more, and our standard vial is shown on the 10 ml samples page. Every vial in a set is the same kind of decant, filled by FragranceGems from the original bottle and labelled by us. You will find the details in How we fill your sample, and quick answers in the FAQ.

FAQ

How many samples should a set have?

Three to five is easy to wear and compare over one or two weeks. With more, you start to forget which was which, and the vials sit unused.

Should a set be one house or a mix?

It depends on what you want to learn. One house shows you which of its perfumes suits you. A mix across houses and notes shows you what you like in general.

What is the difference between a discovery set and a sample set?

A discovery set is usually the small vials a house sells itself. A sample set on DecantGems is a group of our own decants that you choose, each filled by FragranceGems from the original bottle.