As I mentioned in my previous post about perfumes I am a devotee of The Perfumed Court, an online business that sells decants and samples of thousands of perfumes. I think this is a fantastic idea - having a quick spritz in David Jones (usually with some irritating sales assistant hovering around wanting to spray you with the latest Celebrity Vomit Fest) is not always a great way to get a good sense of what a fragrance is really like, or how it might wear on you after a while. And sometimes you can't even get to sniff a fragrance because it's not sold anywhere local. Here you can buy various size samples, in vials, sprays and roll ons, and test away to your heart's content. Prices vary depending on the size of the decant and the particular fragrance.
Aside from that, it's a great place to get hold of perfumes you can't buy anywhere else - for example, Chanel Gardenia is only sold in the Chanel store in Paris, and nowhere online (nowhere I've ever found, anyway). I love this fragrance - I buy a 5 ml spray decant every couple of months.
Important Things To Know
1. Shipping is very reasonable - I believe it's about $6US in America and Canada, and international shipping is based on amount spent. Under $75 is about $8US, and between $75 and $150 is about $9US. The business appears to be run by several people in different parts of the United States, so you will often receive several packages for one order.
2. I have found the occasional issue with evaporation in the smaller spray bottles - the 1.5 ml and the 2.5 ml. It's only happened a couple of times to me, but I think it's something to be aware of. It is possible to buy larger size decants (15 ml and 30 ml), but I tend to stick to the 5 ml and 8 ml and buy more frequently, as I'd hate to have shelled out for a 30 ml bottle of something I adored and have it evaporate. I should stress that I haven't experienced it in the 5 ml and above sizes, but because I have so many perfumes and tend not to use the same one all that often, I'd rather not take the risk of losing it within a couple of months.
3. The Perfumed Court also sells decanting equipment, such as vials, pipettes, and empty glass spray bottles, though some of them are not available to international buyers.
I lOVE TPC, I get heaps of samples from there! Although I must let you know that Chanel Gerdenia is sold at the Chanel Boutqies in Melbourne...lovely scent!
ReplyDeletePerfume is my addiction so this is another dangerous site you've sent me to. (I now own Neostrata eye cream thanks to you)
ReplyDeleteI am so addicted that I will own everything from Dior to latest Celebrity Vomit Fest.
I quite like going to the duty free shop where you can try anything on without a hovering hostess.
Shall check out TPC. But know that if I become addicted I may have to reconsider being a regular visitor to your blog.
Stef, I didn't know that! Is that a new thing? A friend of mine who lives in Victoria told me she hadn't been able to find it anywhere and that's when we Googled around and figured it was only available in the Paris store. I thought it had only been sold here years ago as a LE. I'm a bit excited by that news, because I will be in Melbourne having a shopping spree in a couple of weeks. I will definitely have to look for it!
ReplyDeleteLisa, you can blame me - I blame all the blogs I read (including Stef's, lol) and Beauty Heaven for my addiction. At least with TPC you can buy *small* tries of things, so you feel less guilty. Unless you are like me and buy about 10 *small* things at once... ;-)
Brilliant :D thanks for the review Dee :D
ReplyDelete