when it comes to buying a new fragrance, be it for yourself or someone else as a gift, I am one of those people who will never purchase something based on a spritz in a store. For me, that fragrance has to be worn within familiar surroundings so I can get a real sense as to how it will work with my skin, this is where sample sizes and sites such as Subscents are a great discovery.
Subscents is a website which stocks fragrance samples from some of the best and well known perfumes and aftershaves from across the globe and I was asked whether I would be willing to try some of the fragrances the site had to offer, so I readily agreed. I love the concept of people able to try before I buy especially with fragrances.
As a brand Subscents was created back in March of this year, just as Covid took its hold and Lockdown began, but rather than put everything on hold, the guys behind the brand decided it was almost a now or never journey and it became a reality. They know that not everyone has £100 here and there to splash out on a high end fragrance and for some even those £30-£40 bottles are becoming more of a luxury than they ever have before, so in an effort to make fragrances more affordable, they simply decrease the size of the bottle you purchase it in, so by making the biggest designer fragrances available in smaller quantities, the cost of buying them becomes cheaper for their customers. The sizes offered at 2ml, 5ml, 10ml, 20ml and of course the option to purchase a full sized offering, but by breaking them down into smaller vials, if you decide that fragrance isn't for you, instead of wasting a whole lot of money, instead it costs as little as £4.50 rising upwards to £20+
The website stocks a number of different brands from the likes of Acqua di Palma and Byredo to Tom Ford and Guerlain to name just a few. I was kindly sent four 10ml vials to try of different fragrances and they are:
Creed Aventus for Her - Sitting in the Chypre Fruity family, this fragrance is one I had expected to like a lot more than I do. It opens with the top notes of Green Apple, Pink Pepper, Indonesian Patchouli, Calabrian Bergamot which helps this fragrance to hit the fruity opening before the heart notes of Bulgarian and Turkish Roses, Indian Sandalwood, Styrax and Musk come in to being and for me, they are too strong and overpower the scent for the base notes of Peach, Cassis, Lilac, Amber, and Ylang Ylang to comfortably come through. It is a nice fragrance, but definitely isn't one I would rush out to purchase for myself.
Maison Margiela Replica Bubble Bath - If ever there was a fragrance you could refer too as comfort in a bottle, it is absolutely this. Just stunning. It has top notes of crushed leaves and freesia. which just remind me of my gran's porch, freesia being one of her favourite florals, then we have middle notes of Indian sambac jasmine and Egyptian jasmine delicately dance with tuberose and rose from Grasse which, given Jasmine is my favourite note in fragrances, you can imagine her perfect I find this one and then with the sharp, intense base notes of peach, cedar wood and oak moss, you have a fragrance which I just want to spray everywhere - the sofas, the bed sheets, my freshly laundered pile of clothes as well as myself, it is just divine.
Maison Margiela Replica Lazy Sunday Morning - Again, another stunning fragrance and one which is every bit of its name, think freshly laundered bed linen, for which there is nothing better than fresh clean sheets to get into bed and never want to leave. This fragrance has top notes of pear accord and ambrette seeds, so it opened quite delicately without making much of an entrance, but the middle notes of iris accord, rose petals and orange flower bring to life the whole fragrance which is quite intense given the base notes of white wood and creamy musk give it that ultimate punch, letting the florals shine through with a hint of powderiness. Its a warm fragrance which envelopes you in that hug.
Tom Ford White Patchouli - This is another Chypre Floral fragrance and I really didn't like it at all. It is rare I find a fragrance I dislike (Thierry Mugler - all of them) but this is one I just couldn't get on with. It has Top notes are White Flowers, Coriander, Peony and Bergamot which for me I didn't like, there was a slight touch of Coriander but given Bergamot is usually a strong note, it was barely there for me. The middle notes are Ambrette, Rose and Jasmine are all notes I absolutely love in a fragrance but again for me, they have all been overshadowed by the base notes of Patchouli, Incense and Woody Notes. It is possibly a fragrance more suited to the warmer months than the colder ones, which in turn might make it less cloying.
As you can see, there is definitely two fragrances that I would add to my collection without hesitation and both of them are Maison Magiela Replica scents, neither of the fragrances I had tried before and the same for the brand, whereas I have fragrances from both Tom Ford and Creed already within my collection!
For me, the concept of this website has worked out really well, of four fragrances, I have managed to find two to add to my Wishlist without having to spend a lot of money to make the choice. If there is a fragrance which has caught your attention, but you are on the fence about it, sites like this one from Subscent Fragrances could just be that bank balance saviour you need!