Thread: my observations (or rants, whichever)

I've found a few .com's that will ship cologne samples. But for the more esoteric ones (Boellis Panama 1924 comes to mind), their standard response is; "Well, that's a limited edition and we don't do samples."

All fine, well, and good. But in this economy, with most of these fragrances costing upwards of $150.00+, I'd like to try before I buy. I don't pay any attention to the descriptors on their web sites, nor should anyone else, IMHO. These scents ultimately have a different response on everyone when worn.

My sister works on panels for P&G in Ohio whose members are chosen for their olfactory and taste abilities. I recently ordered five samples of colognes I thought sounded interesting. She was able to identify a lot of things that were conveniently left out of not only the descriptors, but the top notes as well. Things like known allergens and irritants.

FWIW

There are many great scents out there that don't cost anywhere near that kind of money. The way I've always looked at it those fancy colognes are sold based on some fancy name and making people think when they wear the stuff they are transformed into something they are not not unlike strapping on some brand of watch for instance. If you have the ability to really detect fine nuances of scent and that's important to you maybe in that case it's worth the cash but for most of us that's not the case.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

There are many great scents out there that don't cost anywhere near that kind of money.

Spendur, I thought you'd vanished after the Lucky Tiger Menthol Disappearing Cream incident

You're right though, ultimately what's important to me is the scent. I use Canoe which is still being made; about $20.00 on Amazon.

My point is, if merchants are charging a premium for those "fancy colognes" as you say, I'd like to have the ability to sample before I would spend that kind of money. Most serious razor dealers who I've purchased from will ship a straight to me on approval; i.e. I use it first before I decide. So where's the difference?

That said, I can detect things that most people can't as far as fragrances are concerned. In fact, fragrances are used to make non-scented products, scentless.

Go figure

Well I did vanish but the stuff was so cheap the effect only lasted a few hours.

I think for most folks the actual scent on the fancy stuff is secondary to the name and the prestige or maybe I should say the signature scent which is recognizable is what folks are after so if that's the deal why would you need a sample?

So see, the fact you aren't intimately aware of the brand's scent makes you unworthy to wear the stuff.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

So see, the fact you aren't intimately aware of the brand's scent makes you unworthy to wear the stuff.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I think for most folks the actual scent on the fancy stuff is secondary to the name and the prestige or maybe I should say the signature scent which is recognizable is what folks are after so if that's the deal why would you need a sample?

My sister and I had this conversation a few days ago about the "prestige" fragrances. In one of those recently ordered samples was Penhaligon's latest and there were so many things going on in that cologne; I've made molé that had less ingredients. I'm not impressed with the enigma of a fragrance. I like to detect one note and maybe a couple of secondary ones. That's why I like Canoe; simple and citrus.