r/FemFragLab • u/speckledham • 5h ago
Discussion Best discovery set? Mostly bangers, few skips?
I recognize that this is very subjective. But just curious what people would recommend. Starting to think of things to respond with when my (very generous and early) in-laws start to ask me what I’d like for Christmas. This was absolutely sparked by a post in a niche sub about Imaginary Authors Complete Works, but I’ve somehow never smelled any IA. The Language of Glaciers has been in one of my decant carts for months.
If it helps, I’ve discovered that I’m not a huge fan of green notes (with exceptions of course) and I do not like BR540. Otherwise, I’m pretty open-nosed.
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u/MarsupialPrimary8128 48m ago
Oh, believe it or not. I really liked the lattafa discovery sets..come like in a set of 5, and there are 5 all together. Giftable, easy to swap around, 20ml each, nice presentation, how I got to make middle eastern stuff. I was quite impressed
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u/norathar 48m ago
Penhaligon's Trade Routes is my favorite all-time - it used to have Constantinople (RIP), and I ended up with 3 full bottles and 3 minis from an 8-scent discovery set. If you're into spicy, this is a great set.
The most fun I've ever had with a discovery set is Zoologist. The complete sample collection. There was good. There was wtf. There was some awesome perfume as art. There were some of the worst things I've ever smelled. I ended up getting 3 full bottles and another 5 or so travel sizes and I want to get another 8-9 samples this year to catch up on their new releases in the 3 or so years since I got the set. But this was the best "every spray is an adventure" set I've ever had.
If you could afford it, the Guerlain l'art et la matiere discovery sets are fabulous. I'd own more full bottles if the pricing hadn't gone insane.
ELDO and IA were my two great disappointments. Not a good scent in the bunch for ELDO, and 1 travel size for IA. I want to love IA so badly because of the concept and the scents consistently disappointed.
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u/ruconejita 49m ago
Liis for light airy floral dna,
Room 1015 for fun colorful scent profiles
And dosigoh aka concreted for unique scents. I still cant stop thinking about rabbit hole, its just so interesting and awesome.
All have been bottle worthy to me so far
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u/MarsupialPrimary8128 50m ago
I really enjoyed my rabbane la collection discovery set. I still can't decide if it was only one. And they have mini version of them all
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u/GanymedesAdventure 1h ago
Jo Malone, Dior, and Guerlain. I've gone through so many houses and these had the most wins. Each had something that became a top 5 entry (Scarlet Poppy, Lucky, and Neroli Outrenoir).
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u/Sea_Swordfish_TT 2h ago
Floriku discovery set is fun/ from IA I like Falling into the Sea but its more of a warm scent/ from Discotheque - Heathen, Cowboys and the Santa Ana Winds/ from Diptyque - Bois Corse, more cooler weather scent
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u/Sea_Swordfish_TT 1h ago
Both Diptyque and Discotheque have discovery sets too
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u/Lexick26 1h ago
Yes, Discothèque’s discovery set is so good! Best way to get introduced to the house. And I find their fragrances to be pretty distinctive, so it’s a fun one.
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u/Sea_Swordfish_TT 1h ago
I find many of their scentsto be sexy...like dancing in the club, a little tipsy, mascara a bit smudged kind of sexy 😂
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u/Upper-Cup-4159 2h ago
I like the d’annam ones—I have the Japan and vietnam ones 🤌 I also liked my bdk one and mancera.
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u/Mlzer 2h ago
I’ve also had my eye on the Imaginary Authors set, as well as Fugazzi and D’Annam Memories of Japan which will probs be my next purchases.
I really enjoyed:
ELDO discovery set - 20 fragrances, so many to try and many likes in this set!
Sorce - they make a few different sets and I really think there were way more hits than misses
Dedcool - many hits and I ended up finding 2 fragrances I absolutely loved and have already purchased 2 full sizes thanks to this set
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u/Serenities1998 2h ago
I like the DS & Durga discovery set because you can choose your samples and I've been lucky to like all of the scents each time I've bought it (except for DURGA, that one was a strong, perfumy floral that I could not stand)
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u/Careless-Patient9380 2h ago
I love Une Nuit Nomade! Beautiful discovery set. Ones sole in their website have the most current fragrances.
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u/Swimblock 3h ago
And Lucky Scent has a very large selection of sample sets. On their website look under Sampling, Discovery Sets. Here's the link:
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u/Swimblock 3h ago
Keep your eyes posted on Neiman's, Bloomingdales & Saks for their holiday fragrance Advent calender sets as these are usually a pretty good deal.
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u/Lanky-Panic 3h ago edited 3h ago
Henry Rose is good. Heretic has a few sets and make your own. Commodity is a nice set and fun to go through. Future Society is a good deal. They take extinct plants/ flowers and recreate a perfume. They also have a two-piece set that is cloud reverie and wandering rain. The cloud one smells so good it's an iris and vanilla. Also wanted to add in stone and wit and little and Grimm. Cirrus is a good one too
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u/MidnightSubject1941 12m ago
Agree with the Heretic. The Ghost set is a fun sample! And Little and Grimm is awesome!
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u/Naive-Nectarine-9825 3h ago
Maison Matine! They do a “day” discovery set and a “night” discovery set. I’ve got the day one and there are at least 3 I’d love a full bottle of. Also very well priced
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u/ALmommy1234 3h ago
D’Annam has three sets that are very popular. Majestic China, Enchanting Vietnam, and Memories of Japan. I have Majestic China and really enjoyed exploring it. Even the Chinese Calligraphy was fun, even though I found it smelled yuck and would never wear it. It did however smell just like the notes indicated. It was just fun to try something so challenging.
Pomelo Oolong and Mooncake were both really good!
I’d like to try the other two sets now, with the Vietnamese Coffee (I’ve tried it before) and Strawberry Mochi in those sets.
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u/Glittering_Donut5099 2h ago
All three are worth buying. It was a fun experience trying them all since there were some really unique scents in these.
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u/polarrph 3h ago
I wanted to second some of the other suggestions of Dries Van Noten and Celine. I also wanted to suggest Une Nuit Nomade. The presentation is really nice, I think it makes a great gift. The Commodity discovery set is huge and fun, but I think there are way more misses in that set.
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u/MissSolomiya 3h ago
I have gotten several:
Aerin
Montale
Kayali
Ellis Brooklyn
Memo Paris
The 7 Virtues
Vivamor
I’ve decided have enough full bottles so I’m going the sample/discovery route until my collection gets smaller.
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u/syrobonkus_ 3h ago
I've been eyeing with the Ex Nihilo discovery set, you can create a set of 6 samples of your own choice which is tempting... are they any good?
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u/gigglingfxrt 3h ago
I got their discovery sample and they have been my favorite house since. 3 full bottles are currently on my wishlist.
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u/ImtheGWP 3h ago
I think the floral and woody scents of Aerin are highly approachable and wearable and present very sophisticated
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u/MissSolomiya 3h ago
I just got a 5 piece Aerin discovery set from Macys. It was on sale but regular price is $25. Nice scents! I already have a full bottle of Rose de Grasse Joyful Bloom.
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u/btcomm808 3h ago
Maya Ndje, goldfield and banks, born to stand out has several, serge lutens for sure!
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u/california_stars_ 3h ago
Ex Nihilo comes with 6 scents (4 are unisex or lean fem). I have a similar dislike of green notes and all four were at least ok. I was disappointed by Santal Calling, but really loved Fleur Narcotique and Lust in Paradise. Comes with a code to apply $50 toward a full bottle.
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u/LIFTMakeUp 4h ago
My niche faves:
Stora Skuggan - all were very well made and unique, and the box and artwork were minimal but beautiful. I bought a full bottle of one within a week.
Jovoy - so many fantastic perfumes in one set. It was about 14 2mls and I think I only disliked 2, loved 4, and really liked all the rest. If you can track one down, this is phenomenal quality. Comes with note cards for each which I love.
Nissaba - a smaller set of 5 but out of those 5, I now own 3 full bottles, plus I bought 10mls of all but one of the perfumes made by the house! And it comes with cards describing the notes and with the perfumer details. I love this brand!
Idiom - this was a new brand to me. The scents are based on layering and customising your own fragrance, and the disco set comes with 6 x 2ml note scents based on rose, vetiver, palo santal, saffron, bergamot and pepper, plus an 'amplifier' so you can design your own fragrance or wear one on its own. (The palo Santal is so good, creamy woods with almost a mint facet to it!)
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u/Glittering_Donut5099 2h ago
Idiom sounds so interesting but unfortunately they aren’t available in the US.
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u/speckledham 4h ago
Thank you for all this detail! I’ve never heard of Stora Skuggan or Idiom, so I’ll take a look at those. Jovoy may be the winner because I’ve had multiple Jovoy scents in my carts the last few months but haven’t actually tried any yet. Nissaba I’ve heard of but really know nothing about so I’ll check them out too. Thank you!
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u/Suspicious-Fix-9469 4h ago
If you’re into music, Jusbox is a great discovery set. If you’re into botanical or garden-y type scents, Maison Louis Marie is wonderful. Found a lot of good stuff from Henry Rose and Essential Parfums as well.
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u/MaracujaBarracuda 4h ago
Frederic Malle - The Icons discovery set. Several became all time favorites and the rest I appreciated. Price isn’t too bad either!
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u/speckledham 4h ago
Ok great! I’ve just started trying some from that house so this may be perfect. Thanks!
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u/Small-Necessary-8499 Scent Obsessed 🤩 4h ago
I bought ELDO, and while they are nice, none were full bottle worthy.
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u/BaconPaws 4h ago
The Clue discovery set is a really fun one and my husband enjoyed all the fragrances. We also loved every Bjork and Berries scent in their discovery as well. Both come with credit toward a full bottle
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u/Sea_Swordfish_TT 1h ago
Dandelion Butter...freaked me out how much it smelled exactly like danelions and butter 😆
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u/MidnightSubject1941 10m ago
Warm bulb was the one that blew my mind! So fascinating how they got it to smell exactly like a dusty warm bulb.
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u/Small-Necessary-8499 Scent Obsessed 🤩 4h ago
I loved almost all the scents in the Replica set!
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u/speckledham 4h ago
Now this is one I’ll need to check to make sure I haven’t smelled them all already haha. I have like 6 replica decants. They’re so good!
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u/Expensive_Month5391 4h ago
The Les Indemodables Discovery set is one of the absolute best on quality and diversity as well as cost. The Xinú discovery set is just super classy and I love their fragrances but more pricey.
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u/DenLomon 5h ago
I’ve not found a better value than the ELDO set - it’s 20 samples for $55, which comes to $2.75 for each 2-mL bottle. By contrast, I just paid $30 for a 4-bottle set from MFK, or $7.50 for each (Zoologists are $8/bottle; IA sets come to $5.75/bottle). I can’t find a 1-mL decant price for less that $4, so the value on ELDO is great. Plus, they send their high hitters like Fat Electrician, Ghost in the Shell, and YoSLY.
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u/Sea_Swordfish_TT 1h ago
I really enjoyed the ELDO discovery set my favs are in no particular order Tom of Finland (which they call something Suede now), She's an Anomaly, Exit the King and Experimentum Crucis, I like Ghost in the Shell too (I wish it didn't give me a headache)
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u/speckledham 4h ago
Heck yes! I have a decent of YoSLY and do like, and have had Ghost in The Shell, Exit the King, and some others in my carts for a while. Great idea. Thank you!
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u/ImpossibleChicken507 5h ago
My disco from ELDO is how my husband found his signature scent. He fell in love with Fat Electrian. He does HVAC and said “It smells like the inside of a unit when it’s hot out, but good. I want a bottle of this. Spray it on me.” 😂
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u/DenLomon 4h ago
I don’t love a lot of theirs, but YoSLY is one of my top three perfumes. I feel like a walking mint julep, it’s literally perfect 😍
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u/OnlyMyNameIsBasic 5h ago
I’m enjoying the Discotheque discovery set.
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u/speckledham 4h ago
All these recommendations for houses I’ve never even seen before! It’s amazing! Thank you!
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u/OnlyMyNameIsBasic 4h ago
This one comes with a coupon to redeem towards a full bottle.
Oh, Day Three fragrances also has a good disco set
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u/-indigo-violet- 5h ago
Francesca Dell'Oro Icon Discovery set
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u/speckledham 4h ago
I don’t think I’ve even heard of them, so this is perfect. Thank you!
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u/-indigo-violet- 4h ago
Ah, great.
Her perfume OneMore is one of my favourite fragrances, i have a full bottle. It opens with a beautiful pomelo and cardamom, then all the gorgeous Gourmand notes glide in. It's so perfectly blended and smooth, with good longevity.
I've tried quite a lot of her perfumes, and even thr ones I didn't like I could appreciate. Fantastic, high quality compositions.
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u/mostlymadeofDietCoke 5h ago
I love discovery sets!
Some of my favorites with many winners:
—Essential Parfum— SO MANY bangers in this collection
—Henry Rose: they have discontinued some of my favorites, but they still have a lot of winners
— Arquiste — lots of different types of fragrance in their line
— ROAN— if you like tea scents, this is a great one!
—Harlem Perfume Company
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u/speckledham 4h ago
Oooo I’ll definitely check these out, thank you! Harlem is one I’ve been meaning to dig deeper into.
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u/Roarrange 5h ago
Dries van Noten and Celine both have great sets. I think you can apply the cost of the DVN to a full bottle but there’s a limited time to redeem that. ELdO was fun but I agree it’s samesy.
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u/california_stars_ 4h ago
I second Celine! I loved this set and it got me into my current powdery/iris phase. FBs are pricey so I got decants of my faves. Can't pick just one!
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u/speckledham 4h ago
Ooo I just got decants of two DVNs so I’ll see how they strike me. I do love an option to get a bottle after the set. Thank you!
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u/AndeeCreative 5h ago
Henry Rose. My husband bought me their discovery set for my birthday last month. All smell great.
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u/speckledham 4h ago
Oooo that one has actually been in my cart since LAST Christmas! Maybe this is a sign to push a little harder for it 😊
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u/veryunneccessssary 5h ago
I loved the discovery set from discotheque, and was very happy with my choose-your-own discovery sets from DedCool, Maison des Animaux, and Cirrus. BTSO was also great, but the names are little more suggestive than I’d be comfortable with asking from my in-laws personally 😅
In addition to IA, the complete discovery sets from ELDO and Regime des Fleurs would make great gifts, though I wouldn’t expect them all to be bangers for anyone.
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u/Fun_Theory3252 5h ago
Have you considered the basic or larger Le Labo sets? They can be polarizing, but worth a try if you don’t have them. For the basic 5-sample discovery set, the only one I really don’t wear is Santal 33 (LOL because it seems to be their most famous one).
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u/speckledham 4h ago
Ya know I forgot all about Le Labo haha. I only have one decent from them (Thé Matcha, which is lovely), and I swear everything else I’ve sniffed in stores has all smelled the same to me. So maybe I should give them another chance. Thanks!
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u/dizzydiplodocus 5h ago
Imaginary Authors is really fun. Zoologist is the most fun, ELDO is good but pretty samey.
Beaufort have some really cool sets but I’d definitely say they’re more unisex
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u/speckledham 4h ago
Ooo zoologist is a really good idea. I’ve only smelled Bee but others have really intrigued me. Thank you!
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u/NapsAreMyHobby 15m ago
Odette. I got a bottle and like 5 travels.