Perfume samples: how to use them

A sample lets you get to know a fragrance before choosing a larger bottle. The Perfume Society recommends living with a scent you like and suggests a sample as one way to do this. A pleasant first impression does not yet tell you whether you will want to wear the fragrance in everyday life.

This guide aims to help you make a personal testing plan. Before you start, we suggest writing down what you want the fragrance for: work, leisure, travel or a gift. Then assess it against that same purpose. The question “do I like it?” becomes more specific: “would I want to smell like this in my chosen situation?” This is an editorial suggestion, not a measurement scale.

Size alone does not establish that a sample and a large bottle have identical contents. When comparing the packaging, check the full product name and version. If the information differs, ask the seller to clarify exactly what you are testing. Leave space for these details on your notes sheet.

We have no exact answer for this sample: the number of sprays and the duration of use have not been measured. We therefore give neither a dose per press nor a promise that the sample will last a set number of days. Nor do we convert a volume of three millilitres into specific hours of fragrance longevity.

Before testing, plan what you want to learn from the amount you have. On one occasion you could observe your first impression; on another, whether you want to return to the scent. If little liquid remains, repeat the most important unresolved test first. You do not have to use up the bottle to decide against choosing it.

Record how many times you pressed the atomiser during a particular test, but do not apply that number to another sample. The note helps you remember what you did; it is not a laboratory measurement of the atomiser. Comparing doses precisely would require a separate measurement protocol and equipment. This guide contains no results from such a study.

Start with a fragrance blotter: absorbent paper intended for testing. The Perfume Society suggests using it for an initial shortlist, then testing a scent you like on your own skin. The same organisation advises taking your time and allowing the first impression to change. Here, blotter and skin serve different purposes.

Write the name on the blotter before spraying. Do not keep it next to another freshly sprayed blotter. Describe your impression in your own words: fresh, dry, sweet, floral or reminiscent of wood. You do not need to guess the full composition. The note is there to help you choose, not to identify the manufacturer's formula.

Use only a product intended for application to skin and follow its instructions. For assessment, we suggest choosing one clearly marked test area. If the test is unpleasant, you need not continue just to complete the plan. Record the experience separately from the scent description: “I did not like it” and “I do not know which note it is” are different answers.

Explore this topic in the guide: How to test perfume: blotter and skin.

One possible explanation is olfactory adaptation: reduced sensitivity after exposure to an odour. The abstract of Dalton's review describes adaptation to continuous or repeated odour exposure. The response depends on the circumstances of exposure. The fact that you can no longer smell the fragrance yourself does not prove it has disappeared completely.

This source cannot establish why you cannot smell your particular sample today. It also gives no universal recovery time for everyone's sense of smell. That is why there is no rule here about ten minutes outdoors or a compulsory break of several hours. Fragrance remaining on the skin has not been measured in this guide.

In practice, we suggest not deciding to spray more solely because you failed to notice the scent at one moment. Record when you checked and what you noticed, and leave the final conclusion for another test. If someone else also described the fragrance, record their comment separately. It is a second impression, not a measured scent-trail distance.

Read the labelling information together with the packaging and any enclosed leaflet. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of 30 November 2009 covers cosmetic product labelling in Article 19. It provides an exemption from stating nominal content for packaging containing less than 5 g or 5 ml, free samples and single-application packs.

Paragraph 2 of the same article allows certain precaution and ingredient information to appear on enclosed or attached material when it is impracticable to label it in the usual way. This is not a general exemption from providing information. Where a product's small size makes it impracticable to show the batch number or identifying reference on the product itself, that information may appear only on the packaging.

Do not try to calculate shelf life from a sample's size. For products with a minimum durability exceeding 30 months, the regulation provides for information about use after opening, except where that concept is not relevant. The open-jar symbol is therefore not unconditionally required on every perfume sample. Ask the seller if the information is unclear. This is not individual legal advice.

We suggest trying the fragrances in a set separately and using the same notes sheet for each. The Perfume Society recommends recording which fragrance you sprayed where and limiting the number tested at once. The one-fragrance-per-day approach suggested in this plan is a matter of convenience, not a proven physiological limit.

Compare like with like: sweetness with sweetness, the desire to wear a scent again with that same desire. Do not compare one fragrance's vivid opening with another's later impression without noting the difference. Record the time and setting for each entry. This makes it clearer why you chose one option.

At the end of your selection process, allow three possible answers: I want to try it again; it is not my direction; I am not sure yet. The last answer is enough. A sample set is not an exam in which you must pick a winner. If choosing a gift, record separately what you liked and what you know about the intended recipient's preferences.

If you liked two fragrances equally, write down one remaining question about each. For example: would I want this sweet opening on a working day, or do I prefer the later impression? Devote the next test to that question instead of starting the whole set again.

Explore this topic in the guide: How to Find Your Scent?.