I’ve been thinking of writing this post for a while, following an online conversation with a chatbot that irked me slightly.
If I’m spending £££ on a perfume, I want to be able to test it out first. Whether that’s a quick spritz in a department store, or buying a sample and testing it over a few days. I want to make sure that the perfume fits me, I enjoy wearing it, and feel comfortable wearing it. Longevity and projection are somewhat important depending on the circumstance. For example, I’m not too fussed if the perfume I wear to the office isn’t a great performer in terms of projection. But if I’m wearing a perfume on a night out it’s disappointing if I’m the only one who can smell it. I want to make sure it performs how I hope it will for the situation I intend on wearing it in. Anyway, I digress.
I have to preface this by saying I’m not after freebies. This isn’t me complaining that companies aren’t willing to hand out thousands of pounds worth of perfume for free. I understand the logistical nightmare that would entail if instead of buying a fragrance someone constantly extends their thumb over the “add to cart for £0” button on their phone screen.
However, gone are the days where companies freely handed out samples with magazines and clothes orders. And that’s okay, but I want to be able to obtain samples somehow, and am willing to pay for them. I think getting samples is important when you want to try perfumes from a brand that isn’t widely available anywhere other than online. How else are we going to make an informed decision on a product without being able to sample it first?
Am I going to spend money on a perfume I haven’t sampled before?
What irks me, is when you can’t pick up a fragrance sample anywhere. Especially if a full bottle is eye-wateringly expensive. I’m not dropping over a hundred pounds for a bottle of perfume I’ve never smelt before in my life. No matter how good the reviews are or how much it sounds like my type of scent profile.
Last year, there was a fragrance I wanted to try based on some reviews I’d read, however, finding a tester was impossible. I’d have had better luck trying to find a four leaf clover.
Usually when there is a new perfume I want to try, I search on fragrance sample websites first. If I can’t find the sample I want, I see if I can find a discovery set on the company website. I couldn’t find a sample of the perfume I wanted to try anywhere so I decided to use the chat function on the brand’s website. Our conversation went like this:
Me: “Hello. I’m interested in X fragrance. I can’t see that you sell any samples of it and I want to try it first before buying. Do you have any samples available to buy please?”
Chatbot: “Hello. No, unfortunately we don’t sell samples of our fragrances. There should be testers available at one of our beauty counters for you to try.”
I live in London, so I’m no stranger to a department store. However, contrary to popular belief, most Londoners don’t trek all the way to Oxford Street on a Saturday morning. One day I did go to a department store and the brand did have testers – of every perfume apart from the one I wanted to test. So it was a wasted effort. Also, having testers only available at a beauty counter at a department store somewhat excludes those who do not live nearby. Unless they want to blind buy.
To (blind) buy, or not to buy?
This is more of an opinion piece rather than saying anything useful – sorry! I’m not one to blind buy fragrances, especially when they’re eye-wateringly expensive. That the brand was unwilling to provide samples (even though I was willing to pay for them) left a bad taste in my mouth. Especially considering the smallest size bottle they stocked of the fragrance I wanted was 75ml.
Now I prefer to purchase from brands that do provide samples as a matter of principle. I think the approach of “come to our beauty counter at a department store to try the tester bottle” excludes a lot of people.
I understand the logistical difficulties of producing smaller vials for samples, or giving them out for free. But I think more people would willingly buy a sample over blind buying an expensive bottle of perfume they’re not guaranteed to enjoy.
Also, providing accessible samples can make niche or “high end” perfumes more accessible as people can enjoy a smaller size or test it out before making a larger investment.
What do you think?
