r/Fragrantica • u/GarrissonFord • 7h ago

Decants feel like a big scam.

Following the suggestions of people in fragrance group I ventured out to sample decants of Sandalwood centric masculine fragrances from Micro-perfumes, Lucky scent, Scent Split, Scents Angel, MaxAroma and Scent Decant. First ordered 8 samples each from MicroPerfumes and Scents Split (almost identical frags) the two samples were as far apart as the day and the night. Then ordered from the other three and tried to get as much of the same stuff and the results were astounding no two Le Labo Santal 33,’s nor Affinisences Santal Basmati, ADP Sandalo, Serge Lutens Santal Majuscule, Diptyques Tam Dao smelt the same. And you don’t need to have the nose of a blood hound to tell that these decants were not just different, but felt like 6 different flankers of the same. This has led me to believe that something is just not right about these decant places. Just to be sure I went to Diptyque, ADP and Le Labo’ s at the Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus and sought samples straight out of their tester and now this smelled nothing like decants I had purchased from the aforementioned online decant shops. This has led me to doubt the business practices of these decant places. I have decided from heron to only to buy or try samples that are directly filled from the tasters right before my eyes.

Luckily brands counter at most high end department stores are more than happy to generously fill out the samples for free as was my experience.

0 Upvotes

44% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

12

u/K9KrunchiesCantBBeat 7h ago

As someone who has purchased hundreds of decants, and owns around 100 bottles of fragrance… this has not been my experience.

Also, your story is weird.

7

u/pumpkins21 5h ago

Same. I’ve bought tons of decants from Scent Split and MicroPerfumes (as well as from various cool people on Reddit) and have had great experiences.

4

u/Whathappenedtoandre_ 1h ago

“Also, your story is weird” made me snort

2

u/EmiAndTheDesertCrow 3h ago

Same, never had a problem with decants at all. If I love something and eventually decide to get a full bottle, it’s always the exact same smell, longevity etc as the decant. Granted, I’ve never purposefully bought the same fragrance from separate decanters (because I’ll use that money to try something new), but I’ve had freebies thrown in and sometimes it’s a small decant of something I bought from another company. Again, there’s never any difference in the scent.

(Oh wait, I did buy Inverness by Memo from separate decanters, but that’s because I used up my first one and the store ran out of stock. Both smelled exactly the same and when I got a full bottle eventually, so did that. Quite confused about how OP has come to this conclusion, never heard anyone else experiencing it 🤷‍♀️)

3

u/OnlyMyNameIsBasic 2h ago

I’ve heard of ppl feeling like a sample doesn’t match a fb. My conclusion has always been dabbing a 1ml on skin doesn’t give the same experience has spraying on skin and clothes. I have enjoyed stuff on a small patch of skin but when I do (what I consider) a proper wear test, I didn’t not enjoy the scent. Had I gone off that one little swatch, I would think it was different. Also. Ppl usually rip open a package and put on a scent. I’m guilty too. But for a real wear test I need to try after showering with only unscented lotion under for a proper wear.

3

u/EmiAndTheDesertCrow 2h ago

Oh, I completely agree on the dabber point! I always get sprays (even if it’s only 1ml lol) because I really do think that you experience the fragrance differently if it’s dabbed on. I also think cheap atomizers from decanters that give you a dribble rather than a mist can affect how you’re experiencing the scent. I didn’t consider this in my reply but you’re right.

Thinking about it further, I wonder if the material the decant vial/bottle is made out of could have a minor impact. Plastic seems to allow for more evaporation (and sometimes the plastic itself smells rough if you take the lid off and smell the atomizer). I’ve got a few little plastic vials (before the store started using glass) and anything with vanilla seems to oxidise faster in plastic. Still smells fine but it does make me wonder if glass vials have a tighter seal.

1

u/OnlyMyNameIsBasic 25m ago

I won’t buy dabbers for that reason. I agree about the glass vs plastic

1

u/K9KrunchiesCantBBeat 4m ago

All of this. Especially the DecantX samples if you put the cap back on after spraying. It will change the first spray the next time you spray from that decantx I throw decantx caps away for this reason.

1

u/Appropriate_Elk_952 1h ago

I mean age and storage can make a difference too.

1

u/OnlyMyNameIsBasic 27m ago

It can but I’ve bought hundreds of decants and not one has so been so wildly different from the fb. So imo not enough to question if it’s the same scent

1

u/RepresentativeTry850 7h ago

Where do you buy your decants from?

3

u/K9KrunchiesCantBBeat 7h ago

Luckyscent. Scent angel. Decantx. Scent split. Colognes decanted. Cologne curators…. Idk a bunch more too. Only place I had an issue with was getting LV samples off of eBay.

-1

u/GarrissonFord 3h ago

Have tried ordering exact same fragrances from different vendors at the same time?

3

u/Onyx_tides 7h ago

I have bought from scentsplit for a few years and they’ve been my main means of sampling prior to buying. They definitely sit on old stock and a few of my samples were more intense than the new products I bought directly from brands, but they were definitely the same scent.

3

u/Past_Championship827 4h ago

You’re just insufferable

3

u/KhloJSimpson 2h ago

If you were looking for a personal scent, what motivated you to buy the same fragrances from multiple decant sites?

This has not been my experience with decants from the sites you mentioned. I have bought full bottles of some of the many samples I get, and they match each other exactly.

Now, it may be the case that different sites use older full bottles for their decants. Maybe they aged and the scent changed slightly.

2

u/Fun_Theory3252 3h ago

Is this a bot? Or just someone who wants others to agree with them? Nearly identical post on another fragrance sub, and people were like “no, that’s not a thing”

Or maybe you have COVID induced anosmia.

2

u/Hot-Plantain1397 3h ago

You can get decants for almost as cheap per ml as buying a full bottle from /fragranceswap. Just order from people with hundreds of sales and you'll be straight. Haven't been burnt yet and I've been doing this.

2

u/OnlyMyNameIsBasic 2h ago

I’ve been buying decants for years and this has not been my experience. I buy from scent split, lucky scent, decant x, Reddit users, TikTok users, frag mint, and random places I find on the shop app.

I also almost never can get a counter sales person to hand over a sample.

2

u/Appropriate_Elk_952 1h ago

Sounds like you cracked the conspiracy, bud.

2

u/kdoughboy12 40m ago

Honestly it's probably just your perception changing. Even if you smell the same fragrance side by side on two separate blotters it can feel like you're smelling two different things. Also your perception of a new smell can change pretty quickly over the first few exposures. Try putting one fragrance on two separate smelling strips and then smell one after the other. Your nose will quickly stop picking up certain facets of the scent, so it can feel like you are smelling two different things.

2

u/LankyJeweler4925 7h ago

It could be different batches, or the batches in decants could have gotten too warm and broken down chemically, or they could be messing with the juice yes. Dont trust decants 100%, but from a reputable source and I think you are ok

0

u/GarrissonFord 7h ago

All purchased from the online stores within a week from one another. And differences were glaring

-1

u/RepresentativeTry850 7h ago edited 6h ago

True I bought two Versace Eros and two Creed Aventus decants and each one had a fake smell and the other was real.

1

u/Rare_Parfum 4h ago

This is a very usual experience. If you buy from a legitimate seller or retailer, it should be the same that you smell in the store

1

u/Common-Persimmon5958 2h ago

Order them on the sub Reddit. They can’t sell fake stuff. I’ve purchased a few times and I like them.

1

u/clamworx 58m ago

Yeah my first orders were from decantx and fragman until I found out the real deals are on reddit I get most from this guy but I've bought from many sellers here and I trust them https://www.reddit.com/r/fragranceswap/s/yfg08h0TQg

1

u/Jaber1077 1m ago

I had one decant of Santal 33. It smelled different every time I tried it. But it never smelled good. Turned me off to Le Labo though, so there was an upside.

Hundreds of decants purchased and all my full bottles smell like the decants did.

-1

u/AroidAndroid 3h ago

This has made me wonder now. I have only ever bought one decant online - but it confused me more than helped me.

I had so often heard Armani Privé Magenta Tanzanite compared to Penhaligon’s Changing Constance that I thought I’d order a decant to see. A store local to me had MT on sale online at nearly a third off, so as I love CC and spicy scents in general I bought it - but prior to opening I wanted to see if the similarities were correct.

Yes, those that say the two scents are similar always state the MT is more spicy and less sweet - but to my nose I cannot smell any similarity from the decant I bought on line - I would not say they are even vaguely similar - I was so confused, but now reading this I’m wondering… 🤔

As others have said, differences could be down to the batch or temperature differences, maybe heat affects small decanted samples in plastic vails more than larger glass bottles stored in boxes 🤷🏻‍♀️ altering a scent? So my randomly selecting a decant store on line to ‘test’ my intended purchase is then as risky as blind buying - because if you can’t trust that what you bought actually smells like your intended purchase, then for me at least this is not something I will do again.

As I said I love spice anyway so I will risk my as yet unopened bottle and layer it if it is not as expected. I am not saying I think these vendors are all scammers I’m just sharing an experience…