ಒಂದು Aromaholic ಆಫ್ ಕನ್ಫೆಷನ್ಸ್: ಸ್ಯಾಂಪಲ್ಸ್ ಇದ್ದರೆ ಪ್ರಾಮುಖ್ಯತೆಯನ್ನು

Having discovered Roma Uomo on a trip to Brussels while in college, I quickly became enamored with Laura Biagiotti’s fragrances (and still am, though sadly there has been nothing of interest since 2001′s Emotions, and that one seems to have been largely un-noticed, I mean has anyone actually seen Biagiotti Due?). Anyhow, there I was sitting in a friend’s home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina flipping through a magazine when I noticed an advertisment for a new scent “ವೆನಿಸ್”. Seeing that the scent strip had already been opened, I pulled it back and sniffed and was amazed to find a mixture of plum and tobacco (to my nose, anyhow). I was immediately hooked. Could it be? Another stunner from Laura Biagiotti?

Fast forward a couple of years and I’m on vacation in South Florida and standing at the counter of where else but Scentiments (I think at this point they should be paying me commission for namedropping). Having become enamored with Venezia for Women, I was intrigued by the thought of a Venezia for Men. ನೈಸರ್ಗಿಕವಾಗಿ, Scentiments had a tester and naturally I bought it unsniffed. I brought it home, sprayed it once and then sniffed. It smelled like….

…ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ, it smelled like nothing. “What the…?” I thought. Had I purchased a factice (dummy bottle filled with water)?

I sprayed it on again…still nothing. “Hmmm, maybe my nose isn’t working.”

The following day I went to my bottle and sprayed yet again. This time I thought I registered a warm tobacco aroma, nowhere near as sweet as the original Venezia for Women…but I wasn’t convinced I hadn’t made a mistake.

But here’s the thing – a week later I’m back in Washington, DC and on my way to a medical appointment (be careful what you wear when visiting doctors and dentists…ಇಲ್ಲ, I’m not talking about consideration for other patients’ noses, I’m talking about creating scary associations with scents you love just because you wore it to a terrifying root canal session). My SOTD (scent of the day) was Venezia for Men. From the moment I first applied it, I was amazed at how strong it was. I couldn’t understand how it could be so weak one moment and then so strong the next…it couldn’t have anything to do with my nose, could it?

So this brings me back to the whole sample thing. Most Sephoras will do it. Nordstroms does it…god love’em. They actually give you samples of any scent that interests you (if they have a tester available). ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು, Nordies. Now if only other stores would follow suit. There’s nothing worse than being accosted by a fragrance model (the person with the bottle that follows you around trying to get you to buy her or his product but is wholly unwilling to actually make with some samples for you) who insists on talking you into a purchase of something you’ve barely had the time to explore. And the last time I walked through a Macy’s with my Dad I explained to him, “Dad, don’t make eye contact, keep your eyes to the ground, don’t say a word. Just relax and move quickly. They can smell both fear and interest!”

ಬಾಟಮ್ ಲೈನ್: As fragrance prices become higher and higher, I need time to consider whether or not I want to buy something. True, I do a lot of blind puchasing, but one or two shpritzes from a tester bottle at Sephora just don’t equal going home with a sample that I keep in my car, my backpack, or on the nightstand. The presence of the sample itself is advertising! It reminds me of the scent, calls to me to be used and experienced. And the fact that I can get three or four wearings from a sample is enough for me. Of course a split-second decision at the fragrance counter (and I’d love to see the numbers for how many people purchase fragrance on-line vs at a boutique vs at a department store) might be better than sending someone home with a sample due to the chance that they’ll never come back.

But for today, right now, I’m an advocate of the sample and think that Nordies is absolutely correct in respecting the customer’s right to a sample, the customer’s right to explore how a fragrance changes over time, adapts to its wearer, blossoms in the summer heat. ಸಹಜವಾಗಿ, when we transfer this line of thinking to other merchandise, it sounds absurd, “I’m just going to take home these Steve Madden loafers to see how they change over time, to see if they’re really me, to see if I love them enough to actually buy them.”

Looking for samples of scents that you can’t find at Sephora or Nordstrom? Try http://www.theposhpeasant.com/ ಮತ್ತು http://theperfumedcourt.com/, neither site is actually inexpensive, but both provide a great alternative to blind buying $200 bottles of fragrance!

Where do you get your samples?

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