In the comments to the last week’s SQ post, several participants mentioned their intent to stop buying perfumes unsniffed. These days I rarely hear from perfumistas about regular “buys” – let alone blind ones. So, let’s talk.
Saturday Question #198:
Do You “Blind Buy” Perfumes?
Have you ever? If yes, how successful were those purchases?
My Answer
The first perfume, Chanel №19 Poudré, I bought unsniffed soon after its launch, before it became available in the US. As I wrote back then:
Do I regret my unsniffed purchase? I’m not sure. Yes and no. I will be using it from time to time, I do not dislike it. But I think should I have tested it in the store I would have bought Chanel №19 EdT instead. But it’s definitely not the worst outcome.
Since then, I did buy No 19 EdT (and extrait as well), and I do wear №19 Poudré from time to time. I would have been probably fine without it in my collection, but I do not plan to get rid of it either.
The second blind buy was a much bigger leap: I got the limited edition Armani Privé La Femme Bleue. I knew I wouldn’t be able to try it (it was a very limited edition), and I wanted it. So I got it with a help from a perfumista in the UK. Looking back, I think it was an insane idea: it was too expensive for that type of a gamble, and even back then my success rate with perfumes I tested wasn’t that great. I could afford it, but I shouldn’t have done it.
But it looks like I learned my lesson: even though I absolutely love La Femme Bleue, and I am glad that I bought it, in 12 years since then I have not bought a single bottle of perfume without testing it first.
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 
Yers, I blind buy.
It’s not something I’m proud of and very few become regular wears.
Mildly amusingly I’ve blind bought stuff and then last year in the sample/decant thunks a couple of them were here already and I’d not used them. EMBARRASSING.
Portia xx
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Well, now after you thunked the sample/decant, you know whether you like those blind buys and can act accordingly :)
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True
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I have blind bought in the past, more frequently when I first went down the perfume rabbit hole. I wanted to try everything! Every now and then a blind buy would be a winner, but rarely. I always sample first now.
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I remember those times when I wanted to try everything. Luckily for me, it resulted in either sample or decant purchase, not a FB.
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I have in the past but very rarely do so now and try very hard to avoid it as my success rate is low. I’ve had a few very expensive failures so it’s not a good idea for me.
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Did you sell/swap those expensive failures? If yes, what percentage of your expenses had you recouped?
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Yes I sold them at a loss, I would say average loss is 1/3 of retail price.
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Early on in my journey I definitely blind bought quite a bit, with varying results. I have always had a pretty low $$ limit for such purchases – I doubt I have ever spent more than $100 on a blind. Have definitely participated in NST splits blindly, although usually those are smaller $ amounts. More recently I have had a few low $ blind buys when I felt pretty confident I would like the perfume – Nishane Ani from a FB group is the most recent and was successful. Otherwise, I enjoy picking up the little travelers from Scent Trunk ($21) and travel sizes from DSH during the holiday sale as a fun and not terribly expensive way to enjoy something new and different from independent/new perfumers. I keep an “out” bin for fails and either try to swap or give away those items that don’t work out!
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Loving the idea of an “out” bin. That’s a helpful tip when I’m preparing my next fragrances to be listed
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I do buy small decants unsniffed during splitmeets: those cost not much more than smaller samples from STC or Luckyscent. But bottles… Nah, I don’t have any shelf space for those.
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I rarely bought blind, even during the early years of my discovering the online fragrance community. Samples & decants were easily available. I had ample opportunity to test in department stores & the occasional specialised perfumeries. Then Brexit & Covid hit. Both Department stores & perfumeries closed or went online only. Shipping from the EU became as difficult as from the rest of the world. In addition I had the stresses of DH & mum’s health needs.
These circumstances meant I couldn’t sample as easily as I previous had.
I started blind buying to satisfy my stress induced shopaholic needs. Small bottles are just large samples was my justification!
I’m now over 40 bottles lighter & over £1000 better off!
I’ve kept my promise to myself to sample & buy only what I adore
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I’m curious: in your rough estimate, what % of what you’d spent on those 40 bottles you’ve recovered?
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I’ve taken the decision not to make that calculation. All were bought at good prices. Some I have made money from!
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The only blind buy I can report is Xeryus Rouge by Givenchy. I made this purchase on notes alone. There wasn’t a great deal of money invested, and ironically, it turned out to be one of my favorites. I really try to sample before purchasing.
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Why did you make that single blind buy? There must have been a good reason (since usually you don’t do that)?
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To be perfectly honest, I own a few vintage Givenchy men’s fragrances. Base of my experience with those, I thought I’d take a chance on Xeryus Rouge, and it paid off. As I mentioned, it wasn’t expensive, so if it turned out to be a scrubber, I couldn’t be too upset about the decision. I’d never take the chance with a blind buy with a expensive perfume. I find it too risky.
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What amazing luck you had with La Femme Bleue!
I was good about not doing that for a while, and then recently I wanted 7 as a Constant from Aura of Kazakhstan so much based on notes and descriptions, that I bought the travel spray as that was the smallest size available to even try. It was disappointing for me, but luckily I was able to give it to someone who loved it (opportunities are few and far between). More frequently, esp. in the past, I’ve made the mistake of buying after one sniff – falling for the opening notes in the store and purchasing right away. Definitely a few expensive regrets there, but also some successes. These days I try to be more disciplined about walking away and spending more time with a fragrance before buying.
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From before my going into the proverbial rabbit hole, I learned that I need at least 2-3 skin tests before deciding that I wanted perfume. In my favor also was that I almost never pay full price for perfumes or beauty products, I wait for at least a GWP (since in older days they never had sales for beauty/perfumes). So, while waiting for those, I usually had an opportunity to test perfumes multiple times.
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SO I’m guilty of this :) It’s because I live in an area where there is nothing to purchase. I look for sales, read notes, ect. But I do blind buy. And it’s not a great idea lol. Even my latest-house of Goutal, which I love, list of notes I thought would be good, beautiful packaging-but the scent was too sweet and lasted forever. Didn’t change, or linger-it LASTED, if you know what I mean.
And to add to my weirdness: sometimes I keep my stuff unopened, deliberately, so that when the urge to have something new really strikes I can go to my stash and pick something. Honestly-I need to grow up a bit. But then I think of people who collect wines and things like that, and I’d say my collection is a bit like that. But I do think I should release some things to the universe to tidy up the collection :)
Great Sat question, as always, Undina. Thank for the extra Rusty pictures on Insta-I always enjoy a picture of a beautiful orange cat :)
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Hey Carole,
I have a bunch of unopened bottles too. They sit awaiting their opening ceremony.
Portia x
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Maybe it’s cause we both live in areas where it can be hard to find certain things. At least you get better weather :)
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HA!
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Unopened I have only those bottles that I bought before I went through the decant or sample that led to the purchase. Everything else gets opened within the first couple of weeks.
I decided to try and publish one picture of Rusty every day. I might skip some days but I will try not to.
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I’ve never blind-bought a fragrance. And would definitely not recommend it to others.
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Exactly! I always preach not doing blind buys :)
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I have blind bought quite a few scents and mostly i got lucky. There were some that i sold again, but in all i am happy with my blind buys. And as a chypre lover, most of the classic chypre scents are a safe buy…
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Do you mostly do blind buys for vintage perfumes, or are any chypres a fair game?
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Any chypre is fine, but I would be pleased to find a great vintage one
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Oh yessss, I’m guilty, your honour. I have bought blind many times, but with a large hit rate. My most recent blind buy was Francesca Bianchi Encounters, another big hit. I’m trying to think of the ones that weren’t so successful and the only standout is Theo Fennell Scent, that was a horrible mess on me. There are probably others, but they’re not popping into my head at the moment.
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Interesting! Why do you do that? Are you that sure in your perception of perfumes based on notes and description? Or do you think that financially it makes a better sense than buying samples first?
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Lots of reasons, it might be too good a deal to miss (this is the most popular reason) or something gets mentioned in a perfume chat, and my impulse nature does the rest.
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I’ve blind bought a few times, with mixed success. But that was years ago. With age comes wisdom, I don’t do it anymore. I always sample first now.
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I remember being quite upset when a perfume I had high hopes for didn’t impress me during testing at a store! I could only imagine how upset I would have been had I paid for it!
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Very rarely now, I am pleased to say. I was tempted to blind buy Boujee Bougies Gilded, but stopped myself. From the few reviews I have seen, I reckon the candle is more my thing than the perfume. If I blind bought anything now, it would have to be very well regarded, yet very cheap. ;)
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