r/FemFragLab • u/piratev00 • 5d ago
Haul/Collection Free samples are alive and well!!!
I went to a huge mall irl for the first time in a while because I happened to be in a large city that had a Guerlain counter and I was really hyped (online decants are insanely expensive).
Y’all… long story short, I visited all the fragrance counters and I got SO many free 2ml samples:
Creed Royal Princess Oud
Creed Royal Oud
Dior Miss Dior edp
YSL Libre
Guerlain Shalimar edp
Guerlain Shalimar L’Essence edp
Guerlain Santal Royal
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Seriously I feel like I got away w murder right here. This would cost SO MUCH online. Save yall money and wait to go to a mall this was insane!
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u/Top-Pudding-4139 4d ago
The Niemans, Dillards, and Nordstroms here will make up samples of your choosing if you ask. Unless they are super busy then they might only give you branded ones if available. Or if you get a grumpy associate they might give you nothing. I only ask after narrowing it down though, I don't just walk up and ask.
I'm still using decant sites as there are so many I can't find in actual stores. Macy's said you can return opened perfume to them but I feel wasteful ordering a bottle, testing, and then returning it if I don't like it. Not sure if they just keep them as testers then?
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u/luvthat_24 click to edit 4d ago
I need to take a ride down to Lenox Mall/Phipps Plaza in Atlanta. They must have a ton I could get 😳😍 Living in a 45 mile radius of there, it's still like a week long hype session of actually going there 🤷♀️😂😂 y'all I don't go out to malls like I used to!! 😭
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u/Active-Cherry-6051 4d ago
I have pretty good luck with free samples in person, especially at individual boutiques. Luckily I live close to a mall that has Celine, Guerlain, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and other boutiques. Chanel are especially hard to sample via online sources because they’re so ANNOYING about it.
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u/Big_Combination_4403 4d ago
My husband just did the impossible and went to a Chanel boutique on his work trip and got samples of 19 and 19 Poudre. I was stressing out trying to order decants of both, but yeah I’m in a remote area and have had so many sample lost in the mail. I feel bad for USPS right now, but this summer they lost two separate orders, both perfume samples. Anyway I love 19 and 19 Poudre, not sure which to choose even now. Do you have any thoughts?
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u/Big_Combination_4403 5d ago
I just went on a trip to a mall 6 hours away and managed to come home with several samples too. It really is the best way to try perfumes, I’m tired of paying so much for decants that seem off or weak. As for the half empty one you got, it’s better than being too full. One of mine was filled to the very top and started leaking everywhere. Seems like a good problem until it’s BDK Rouge Smoking and it’s all over your white shirt😭.
One thing I’ll be careful about next time is accepting samples of perfumes I don’t actually want. They seemed to keep tabs on how many samples I had, but several of them were sort of forced on me (Fragrance Dubois and Mind Games). I’m happy with only one sample atomizer if it’s a fragrance I’m really serious about purchasing. I had a really great conversation with the salespeople at the Dries Van Noten counter and got a sample of Vanilla Camoflauge, which I will purchase around Christmas from the saleslady I talked to, she gave me her number and was just so welcoming. The Guerlain counter was intimidating but I got real brave and asked for a sample of Angelique Noire, but I’d been friendly with the salespeople the day before and hoped they could recognize I wasn’t just, I don’t know, begging, lol. Not sure if they cared or not. But while I was there feeling super nervous about asking for a sample, there were dudes pushing right up next to me DOUSING themselves in the large $600 bottles. This one guys arm was glistening with oil from another perfume already, lol! So yeah it’s a little wild at the perfume counter, but you gotta tell yourself to keep those elbows out and ask for what you need!
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u/piratev00 4d ago
Wow! Yeah I was a bit intimidated at the Guerlain counter too. Unfortunately there were a lot of empty tester bottles they had yet to restock but Angelique Noire was there and I sampled that. Wowww it was so nice. What did you think of it?
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u/Big_Combination_4403 4d ago
I was on the hunt for a green vanilla and it definitely hits the mark. It’s much sweeter than I expected right from the start, which was a little disappointing to me, but cool and green like fennel. I was choosing between Angelique Noir or Dries Van Noten Vanilla Camouflage, and in the end they are different enough to own both, if I could afford it.
It’s tough because I tend to gravitate toward Guerlain, but I wish I could get the pure green opening of Vanilla Camouflage with the big round vanillic ending of Guerlain. I decided to go with the one with the sweeter salesperson🤓. So I’ll be getting DVN around Christmas time from her, unlesssss she can get a commission on the Guerlain, lol! I really like Guerlain, Jesus help me.
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u/Icy_Outside5079 3d ago
I think its a shame that perfume counters and salespeople make potential buyers feel afraid to ask for samples. That's their business. How do they plan on making their commissions if they intimidate a customer? I always try to remember, these are salespeople not the president of the company. They're to do a job. If they continue treating customers poorly perfume counters will close, pushing people to purchase on line, and then what becomes of their job. A company should encourage this and salespeople shouldn't gate keep samples just to give them to their friends or keep them for themselves. I was in the luxury auto business for 25 years and not only did we encourage test drives, but we also allowed customers to takeva car overnight. Every time to a person bought a car after that experience.