Back in the day, I used to test out new perfumes by strolling through the perfume aisles in New York department stores. I tried a million testers on every available inch of skin. And the sales associates back then were more than happy to give me vials of the perfumes to try at home.
But times have changed. Only the local Macy’s, Nordstrom and Sephora have fragrance departments. Last week when I stopped at Ulta, I noticed that they locked up all of their fragrances, ugh. The department stores still have testers, but you have to ask for them. And samples? Well, they are not a sure thing at all. In fact, some upscale retailers charge for the samples.
Since I gave up my subscription to Scentbird a year or two ago, I buy fragrance samples online. There are a number of online retailers that I shop: MicroPerfumes, The Perfume Court, LuckyScent, eBay, FragranceNet.com, and probably others for niche brands.
A Trio of Travel Scents from MicroPerfumes
MicroPerfumes often has deals on their samples, and I decided to go for it. I hadn’t ordered from MicroPerfumes since January 2022, so I was due.
Now, MicroPerfumes has the travel perfume spray containers that you twist and the spray comes up. I love those. They’re lightweight and easy to travel with.
Scentbird used to have them, but they switched to less expensive, harder to use travel containers, one of the reasons I ended my subscription.
I chose 3 EDPs, one of which, Vanilla Woods from The 7 Virtues, was mentioned in the Facebook Fragrance Friends group where I often get scent ideas. The other two were scents that I have tried in the past:
- Ani by Nishane
- Lolita Lempicka EDP for Women.
Vanilla Woods by The Art of 7
I read the conversation some of the members of FFF were having about Amber Vanilla from The 7 Virtues, a clean beauty, cruelty-free, vegan brand, with scents made from sustainable ingredients. I tried to find Amber Vanilla at MicroPerfumes, but they didn’t carry it. Instead, I found one of their other popular fragrances, Vanilla Woods.
Vanilla Woods is billed as a gender-neutral, warm and spicy scent – usually the kind of fragrance I like. It was a blind buy, but it was a sample.
- Top note: Pear
- Middle note: Rose
- Base notes: Vanilla, Caramel, Amber
Sounded promising. So far, the pear and rose notes combine to read as woods to me which makes it seem both masculine but also sweet and feminine. Odd, but long lasting. I will continue to give it a chance.
Ani by Nishane
I bought a sample vial of Ani a few years ago, and I liked it then. It’s another gender-neutral amber scent. I thought I would try this larger sample spray.
- Top notes: Ginger, Bergamot, Pink Pepper and Green Notes
- Middle notes: Cardamom, Black Currant and Turkish Rose
- Base notes: Vanilla, Benzoin, Sandalwood, Cedar, Patchouli, Musk and Ambergris.
I just love the dry down; the base notes are my favorite notes.
Lolita Lempicka Eau de Parfum for Women
Because the set of sample vials I bought in February on eBay smelled nothing like the delicious sample that I got from, maybe, Lovelyskin.com? or was it from Macy’s?, I thought I would try it once more. Sadly, another fail.
From what I’ve read online on Fragrantica.com and reddit, it sounds like Lolita Lempicka’s Original EDP for Women was reformulated FOUR TIMES since its launch in 1997! I can’t seem to find that first sample I got, and the other samples I’ve tried are not great. I should just give up. Or someday if I have nothing to do, I will go to Macy’s and try all of their Lempicka testers just for the heck of it.
Like the packaging. Thanks!
I love Ani by Nishane! I won a bottle on Instagram and it’s a favorite of mine.
It’s so voluptuous, don’t you think?! Ani for the win!
It really is. It’s a fragrance that makes you feel alluring!
Sadly, Ulta has all their fragrances locked up because there was a flurry of “smash and grabs” happening all over the country. I witnessed it first hand in October of 2022 – I was in my local store in Manalapan, NJ when 3 guys robbed the fragrances. And the employees are not allowed to do anything except alert the police. They took off with 3 big sacks of Chanel fragrances.
As for Lolita Lempicka, that used to be a favorite of mine in the early 2000’s. I haven’t smelled it in years but I have no doubt it’s been reformulated several times and is only a shell of its former self.
I don’t know what brands Micro Perfumes carry, but I highly recommend Dior Miss Dior edp and Miss Dior Parfum. The Parfum version was just launched earlier this year. It has all these juicy fruit notes on the top – Mandarin Orange, Apricot, Peach and Wild Strawberry. It is this burst of happiness when you spray it. And the edp version is more ethereal because it has a peony note in it that is sweet and powdery (Top notes are Iris, Peony and Lily-of-the-Valley; middle notes are Apricot, Rose and Peach; base notes are Vanilla, Musk, Tonka Bean, Benzoin and Sandalwood.) My boyfriend loves both on me.
Another new release is Kate Spade New York Bloom. I guarantee you’d like that one. It is such an easy scent to wear and will be perfect for summer.
I could talk to you all day about fragrances because I just adore them!
Gee, I hadn’t heard about the smash and grab at Ulta. That’s awful. I can’t believe that you were there when it happened at your local store! That must’ve been kind of scary. About Lolita Lempicka, I would look for some vintage juice, but to be honest, I’m not sure which name and which vintage to look for! I haven’t tried Miss Dior in many years. I will give it a sniff next time I’m at a department store or Sephora. The base notes are all my favorites. As far as florals go, I love iris and violet, and usually fruit scents don’t work for me except for bergamot, but I’m sure my body chemistry has changes over the years, so I will give it a try. Also, I will look for Kate Spade New York Bloom. When I lived in NYC, my favorite spring smell in the city were the linden trees. They smelled delicious. I have been searching for a linden scent but no luck so far. Maybe Bloom will do the trick! I know what you mean about talking about fragrances all day!! I love ’em too!