How do you choose a perfume online?
Choosing a perfume you cannot smell is risky. Read what a page really tells you, check the seller and use a sample to settle the question before you buy a bottle.
How do you choose a perfume online? Carefully, because you cannot smell it. The safest way is to shortlist three, read each page for what it truly says, check the seller, and try the shortlist as samples on your own skin before you buy a bottle. A perfume that sounds right on a page can smell wrong on you, and a sample is how you find out cheaply. The rest of this article shows what to read, what to distrust and where samples fit.
Read the page for facts, not adjectives
Words like fresh, sensual or addictive carry little information. Facts carry more: the exact name, the concentration, the house, the notes and the year. Check that the concentration matches what you want, because the same name can hold an Eau de Parfum and an Extrait with different lists, as EDT, EDP or extrait explains. A page that gives all of this is easier to trust than one that gives mood words alone.
Notes help, with limits
A note list tells you what is in a perfume and removes what you know you dislike. It does not tell you how much of each, how the perfume develops, or how it behaves on you. Juliette Has a Gun Not a Perfume is recorded with a single material, Cetalox, in every tier, which tells you almost nothing about how it will smell on you.
A longer list is not always clearer. Mykonos Sorrento is an Extrait de Parfum recorded with fizzy grapefruit, bergamot, mandarin orange, magnolia and ginger on top, and its heart and base lists repeat the grapefruit, with fizzy grapefruit, neroli, ginger, powdery notes and water notes in the heart and fizzy grapefruit, amber, musk, cedar, patchouli and orris root in the base. Whether that reads as one bright idea or three stages is for your nose to say.
When there is no note list
Some pages have none, because the house does not publish one or because the seller has no source. Xerjoff 40 Knots is an Eau de Parfum for which our records list no notes, and Orto Parisi Megamare is a Parfum from a house that does not publish notes. We do not make notes up. With pages like these, the sample is not an extra but the only real way to learn what the perfume is.
Check the seller
A perfume bought online is only as good as the seller behind it. Look for a named company, a postal address, a registration number and a clear statement of where the perfume comes from. The checklist in buying perfume samples in Europe applies to bottles too, and how can you tell if a perfume is real covers the checks on a delivered bottle. Read the returns policy before you buy: opened perfume is often not returnable, which is exactly why you test first.
Use reviews, but know what they are
Reviews describe somebody else's skin, climate and nose. They are useful for general character, such as whether people find a perfume sweet or sharp, and less so for how long it lasts or how loud it is. Use them to build a shortlist of three, and treat the final choice as yours.
A short routine for buying online
Write down five smells you love and three you dislike. Use the finder to pick three perfumes. Read each page for the concentration and the notes, and discard any with a note you know you cannot bear. Order samples of the remaining ones, test them over a week, and buy the bottle of the winner, or a larger decant first if you want one more step before a bottle. If none of the three works, you have lost a few sprays and learned something about your taste, and you start again with a better shortlist. Keep a line about what you bought and why, so that the next purchase is easier.
Let a sample do the deciding
With a shortlist and a trustworthy seller, order samples and wear each for a day, following how to test perfume on your skin. The scent finder is a good way to build the shortlist, and which perfume suits me gives the five questions. If you prefer to compare sets, how to build a sample set shows how. Browse all samples or the niche range, and use the FAQ for practical questions.
FAQ
Can I buy a perfume online without smelling it?
You can, but it is a gamble. A sample turns the gamble into a test, and it costs far less than finding out with a full bottle.
What should I look for on a perfume page?
The exact name, the concentration, a note list with a source, and clear information about the seller. If any of these is missing, treat the page with caution.
Are reviews a reliable guide?
They help for taste and general character, but they describe someone else's skin and conditions. Use them to build a shortlist, not to make the final choice.
