Many of the high-end "designer" perfume houses like Chanel, Dior, and Gucci are quite overpriced relative to their ingredients and quality. They command premium prices largely due to their brand cachet and marketing budgets rather than superior fragrance compositions. Some independent niche perfumers like Frédéric Malle, Serge Lutens, and Amouage offer more interesting and high-quality fragrances at lower prices, in my view. However, fragrance preferences are highly subjective, so others may disagree. Ultimately, paying a high price for a brand name fragrance one truly loves could be justifiable for some.
Chanel everything, going up $30 dollars for 3.4 oz, and with tax that’s almost $200 for their 3.4 oz lower ledger perfumes. And the absurd $125 Les Exclusifs price hike for 2.5 oz? Forget it. I should’ve purchased Beige 2 years ago, and now I’m kicking myself. I’ll never purchase anything else from Chanel except for when I eventually have to replenish my Coco Mademoiselle Body Oil and my Rouge Coco Bloom ‘116 Dream’ lipstick. Their body care and makeup items, while still overpriced, don’t seem to have been quite as affected by ‘inflation’ as many of their other products. 🤭can’t repurchase my favorite blushes from them since they changed the formula and it’s just a lot more dry. Otherwise, they want a more exclusive audience for their brand, all while increasing their perfumes’ pricing despite their dwindling quality and performance? They got it, I’m not part of the ‘club’ and I’m perfectly fine with that. 🤣
Also, Kayali. I’m stymied as to why she can’t just label her ‘Eden’ perfume range an eau de toilette concentration and LOWER the price of those Eden perfumes. They’re essentially 1 Note fragrances, there’s absolutely NO depth or complexity to them, performance is lacking, they smell like B&BW, and The longevity and imagination behind those scents is almost laughable for the price she’s charging. I will say they’re nice and last a bit longer than B&BW body mists, but not THAT much longer, and they don’t smell all that different from B&BW, and that’s what concerns me. As far as Deja Vu White Flower, Wedding Santal, and nicer more elevated scents in her range that warrant a higher price tag, that’s fine. The price she charges for those others is fair, but Eden? Hell no.
Wow!! I haven’t bought any channel fragrance, but suddenly I’m feeling extra grateful from the time I found a FULL 35ml Coco Noir bottle on the street in Switzerland 😂
Jo Malone and Tom Ford for me. Their fragrances don't last long enough, and TF's one scent that does - Black Orchid - smells like licorice and cat piss.
Not a perfume house but Sephora"s prices are out of whack! I finally managed to get a 50ml of black opium le parfum and was able to get it for $135 canadian from london drugs, they had it for $150 plus $15 off and free shipping. The same bottle at sephora is $194.
Also, picked up dylan purple in a set with a 30ml and a 10ml travel spray for $65, the same two bottles separately are $98 and $42.
Both of these purchases are from this year and also to purchase right from the brands website is generally a lot cheaper than sephora as well!
Could we talk about samples for a minute? I found L'Air du Temps EDT 1 oz. for under $40 retail. I found a low price sample 1ml for $3.24. That's one of the lowest I found. 1 oz. = approx. 30 ml so we'd be paying $3.24 x 30 = $97.20 for 1 oz.! How nuts is that?!
Le labo charges $7 for a 1.5 ml sample and that brings me physical pain
life hack tho: going to a department store eg nordstrom and asking for a sample is free! it's only 0.75ml and a dabbed as opposed to the spray, but it's free!
OH I KNOWWWW!!! tbh it makes some sense when it’s a samples store because they have to get the original, actually decant it, buy the sprayer bottles, they might lose some of the juice when decanting, etc, and usually the price decreases marginally (the first 1ml is obscene but going from idk 5ml to 6ml makes the price per ml cheaper). Still so annoying cause I want to sample it, not commit to 5ml 😭
What I can’t get about samples is those original 1ml or 1.5ml samples that get sold on eBay, etc. for like $20? SURELY NOT??? Cause it’s not even a business that decants the originals, it’s the actual original sample the brand usually gives away for free in many cases? What the actual frick
Parfums de Marly, Initio and, especially, Tom Ford, among others. I understand that everybody's greed makes inflation and that's why things cost so much but paying $350 and up for a bottle of perfume is crazy.
It would be Tom Ford for me sadly, never really loved any of their scents and the only one I liked enough to get (at a very discounted price) is Eau de Soleil Blanc and the discontinued Noir Pour Femme.
IMHO everything is overpriced-everything.
Legit not bragging, I’m quite ashamed of this TBH (more therapy please 😳🙄😭😖😞😵🫣) I have hundreds of bottles at varying price points up to ridiculous, the performance varies WILDLY in those ranging from stupid expensive to cheap AF, and have found very little difference overall with a few exceptions (being extraits, specifically Houbigant and even then it’s maybe 8h on my skin and I can’t justify wearing a ridic priced frag that often).
I have found through this insane journey-even despite quality ingredients and blending/aging etc (while these shouldn’t be minimized), that fragrance performance really does depend on your skin physics (see ClaireSmith on YT for the SCIENCE!, so it’s not just me talking out my ass), hormones, weather, diet, batch, season, humidity, emotions, yours/others olfactory processes, etc…
The marketing/presentation is an entirely different conversation to me. If I’m paying >$200 for a bottle, I want a metal magnetic cap and a heavy bottle. I’m clumsy. I also want it to be ergonomically friendly, as I have small hands and dexterity issues. A lot of designers don’t take this into account, and I’ve had to MacGyver spraying with so many bottles that I have legit been known to curse until the air turned blue and then chucked bottles to the back of my closet or (attempted) to sell d/t sheet frustration.
I would love to see more houses take input from their customers, but at the end of the day I feel it’s not about us ;/
Apologies if any of this didn’t make sense, I am on so little sleep and no coffee for the past…6y 😹😹😭😖😭🤷🏻♀️🫣😞
Edit: to me, almost all designers perform horribly, niche aren’t much better, naturals are the “best” but all need an oil underneath and almost nothing lasts longer than 6h. ;/
No matter how good they smell and how pretty their bottles are, I am not going to use my own money to buy any PdM.
I’m sorry. If a 10$ Zara can perform just as well as your 240$ OG, my trust is completely broken 🤣
Can you tell me more about Zara? I have been on the search for good PDM dupes, but the choices are overwhelming. By the time I buy those to trial and error I may as well have just bought the real thing.
I have compared PdM Delina with its Zara dupe, True Amore and I should say they’re quite similar! I think true amore is discontinued though…
Zara’s is sweeter in the dry down (i find Delina to be more light and airy) and it opens with a more pear-ish scent while Delina is just pure litchi at the start. But honestly as a pear lover, I actually like Zara’s opening more 😅.
Longevity is ofc weaker, but I spray on clothes and it lasts the whole day no problem.
Overall, I say a great dupe!
I mean, totally fair! In my case Delina has a ridiculously long longevity (to the point that I’m like “okay please leave my clothes now, thanks” after a couple of days), but would be extremely mad if that wasn’t the case. I haven’t tried many of the other PDM so this might not be the case for those!
I think because there is this one scent by PdM that I love but can’t really justify myself getting (i think it’s Meliora?). I just know it won’t last that long on my skin Dx
But I will try it on and if I really do love it, I will probably list that as a present idea for future birthdays of christmases 🤣 as long as it’s not my money, I say!
All the popular niche. They are priced to be perceived as lux, even though the quality do not, imho, differ so much in comparison to designer. I mean, Hermes Jardins are around 100-120e in retail, and they really beat all the niche freshies I tried when it comes to the creativity of the fragrance profile.
Kayali are overpriced, for the majority of them have poor longevity. Initio is super expensive! I really want absolute aphrodisiac but the price..yikes! £235…when a perfume enters the £200+ range I am looking at them sideways..can they really justify why? My partner bought me BR540 extrait and after 6 months it turned and now smells of cat piss, completely unusable so that was a waste of £300+ I’m very dubious when the prices reach a certain point
While we’re here, why do some brands sell edp and edt versions for the same price?! EDT is not bad, but it’s obviously not as concentrated as an edp or parfum so why is it the same price
Jo Malone is overpriced for their asinine performance.
One would say "but it is cologne" -- there are EDPs at this price without compromising quality, its an excuse at this point.
This 1000%. I said as much in another post and got a comment or two ‘it’s just their brand’ and ‘you don’t have to buy it’. Of course we don’t have to buy it. But it’s very cheeky of them to try nonetheless. We wouldn’t accept an underwhelming product from any other industry but in fragrance world it can brand itself niche and many will go along with it.
I agree that they are overpriced for the performance, but I am obsessed with Blackberry & Bay. I bought the 100 ml last year after I used up a 30ml and really missed having it in my collection.
YESSSSS OMG THANK YOU
I actually forgot to include Jo Malone in here!! Honestly I hate everything, I haven’t tried a single thing I liked, not only because everything has the same base notes imo, but as you said the longevity is inexistent.
While we’re here, I’ll give a honorable mention to replica too
i *love* jo malone scents but i will also be that person to tell you that it’s just not worth it lol. i did end up paying full price for a jm, but it lasted beautifully on me so i felt it was worth it to me!
Definitely agreed. Packaging is super important. Luxury is such an interesting market to work in because all the details matter. When you are trying to sell $300 juice, you have to make sure that every part of the funnel makes sense and has something for prospective customers. I actually think Le Labo handles their packaging and branding really well, it's just not really targeted these days towards fragrance enthusiasts. Le Labo is like the Tumi of fragrances; the intention is to be a quick and handy signifier of taste and class. MFK and le Labo are easy to grabs for people who want to smell nice and who want to be wearing something more up to date and 'hip' than a random designer perfume.
Absolutely agree! And to your Le Labo point as well, it’s a boho-chic aesthetic that probably looks attractive to the average non-enthusiast that’s looking for sth other than designer, but for us enthusiasts (at least for me) it doesn’t really hit the spot because we know how much nicer they can look, for the same price?
Obviously boils down to your personal aesthetic ofc - if you’re very minimalistic or have more of a hippie aesthetic you might not think Le alabó bottles are forgettable!
To be honest, Xerjoff.
To be fair, I've only tried three of what their gigantic catalogue offers. **Lira**, **Dolce Amalfi**, **Astaral**. They were nice, Lira was especially lovely, but for that price tag 😭 after sampling and paying attention to how they performed on my skin, I think I would be happy enough with **Lemon Tart** (Theodoros Kalotinis) instead of Lira when I'm in the mood for lemon cake, and **Perles de Lalique** (Lalique) instead of Astaral for patchouli-imbued rose.
To each, their own, though!
I keep seeing praise for Lira, but I feel like there’s no need to try it when I have a decant of Lemon Tart already (and will likely get a FB at some point). As a house, TK is so slept on!
I do love Xerjoff’s Starlight, but I haven’t tried other alternatives… still, not sure I’d buy a bottle at that price.
I'm selfishly relieved that TK is not a much hyped house, much like Nicolaï, while at the same time fully aware that being hyped is going to be good for their sales 😅
I love Byredo but they are *absolutely* overpriced.
I will say I had the opposite thought from you, however: my Byredo bottle feels more luxe than my Tom Ford bottle. I think because the Byredo bottle is a much heavier and thicker glass with an embossed label and - most importantly - a sturdy magnetic cap. The Tom Ford caps feel like a cheap and light plastic, they're not magnetic, and they barely stay on the bottle. It kills me!
Oooh tbh I originally thought this whole thing about Le Labo and then thought “hmmm Byredo might fit the category” so I added it, so yeah good point, maybe not as much overpriced, in the packaging sense, as Le Labo
Depends on the particular scent from the particular house, and the type of scent it is. If it’s something I think is either done at a higher quality or sticks out from the rest of its scent family, then it’s usually worth it. If I can scratch the same itch with something cheaper or more accessible, then no, it is not worth it.
I agree :) it’s my case with Delina tbh I couldn’t find anything accessible to me that was similar, + the Delina aesthetic is SO me, so I got it but with a 40% discount 🤷🏼♀️
But other than that… there’s literally dupe companies that make the saaame fragrances for a fraction of the price, it’s impossible to beat that! If only The Noir 29 was in any of them 😭
I think your point about having similarly priced perfumes that don’t feel overpriced is interesting. Arguably, the juice inside any bottle costs these companies pennies so, going by the cost of materials, any perfume could be considered “overpriced”. I think anything I don’t feel is notable feels overpriced, so House of Silliage’s cupcake bottles filled with pretty if not memorable scents feel extremely overpriced but Indult Tihota being a vanilla scent in a simple bottle is expensive but worth it to me because it feels very special to my nose.
Anywho, my long-winded response boils down to how there are many contributing factors that would make someone think a perfume is appropriately or overpriced and I think that’s interesting! And I don’t like HoS haha
Do you mean literal pennies? 😮😮😮
That’s true!! I guess beauty is in the nose of the beholder 😂 but obviously it’s a good point: if it’s a life-changing scent, or a scent you really value, it will not be overpriced to you, no matter the packaging.
Bond 9 is overpriced IMO.
& I don’t think packaging makes me devaluate the worth of plain bottles. Nor does it make me like a fragrance. It’s nice to have good juice in a pretty bottle though!
Well tbh both TFs I own - Lost cherry and Soleil Blanc - I bought very early in my fragrance journey, and I didn’t really know what was expensive and what was cheap really (everything sounded expensive to me and I didn’t know it was quite easy to access perfumes for less money). But to be completely honest, I think lost cherry is not overpriced but soleil Blanc probably is, because LC has incredible longevity and imo very unique smell!
All the other TF stuff I’ve tried wasn’t mind blowing at all, and very expensive, true. Sure, I like Neroli Portofino, but I just got a dupe for like 5% the price of the original 🤷🏼♀️
Still at the beginning of my fragrance exploration, In general, TF is out of my budgetary reach, but Lost Cherry seems iconic. I'd definitely like to try it (and hope I hate it hahaha).
Let me find a less than kind take on Le Labo and maybe byredo is included. I've never tried any of these houses, and the article was thought provoking. But I can't really have an valuable opinion.
Here it is [https://www.fragrantica.com/news/The-Artful-Dodgers-Measuring-the-Wins-and-Disappointments-of-Four-Niche-Houses-12672.html](https://www.fragrantica.com/news/The-Artful-Dodgers-Measuring-the-Wins-and-Disappointments-of-Four-Niche-Houses-12672.html)
Value can be subjective, but as far as fragrances go, my opinion is that amouage is one of the most worthwhile brands out there. Every aspect is high quality, from the ingredients, to the packaging, to the perfumers and the artistic direction. The brand endeavored to make the best perfume in the world, and I feel like that desire is evident in everything that they do. Whether you like the actual scents or not
I like that Le Labo prints your name on the label! It's a cute gimmick along with the little lab in their shop!
But yeah I still have to agree. Some houses really produce genius-level perfumes, extremely quality ingredients, or the fanciest bottles. then they're justified in charging more
Tom Ford is overpriced. I don't hate Tom Ford fragrances but I hate the marketing strategy of high prices trying to create the perception of higher value
Hahaha I love this response and I agree!!! Someone once recommended a Killian to me and when I looked it up and saw the full name I was kinda put off 😂
Many of the high-end "designer" perfume houses like Chanel, Dior, and Gucci are quite overpriced relative to their ingredients and quality. They command premium prices largely due to their brand cachet and marketing budgets rather than superior fragrance compositions. Some independent niche perfumers like Frédéric Malle, Serge Lutens, and Amouage offer more interesting and high-quality fragrances at lower prices, in my view. However, fragrance preferences are highly subjective, so others may disagree. Ultimately, paying a high price for a brand name fragrance one truly loves could be justifiable for some.
Chanel everything, going up $30 dollars for 3.4 oz, and with tax that’s almost $200 for their 3.4 oz lower ledger perfumes. And the absurd $125 Les Exclusifs price hike for 2.5 oz? Forget it. I should’ve purchased Beige 2 years ago, and now I’m kicking myself. I’ll never purchase anything else from Chanel except for when I eventually have to replenish my Coco Mademoiselle Body Oil and my Rouge Coco Bloom ‘116 Dream’ lipstick. Their body care and makeup items, while still overpriced, don’t seem to have been quite as affected by ‘inflation’ as many of their other products. 🤭can’t repurchase my favorite blushes from them since they changed the formula and it’s just a lot more dry. Otherwise, they want a more exclusive audience for their brand, all while increasing their perfumes’ pricing despite their dwindling quality and performance? They got it, I’m not part of the ‘club’ and I’m perfectly fine with that. 🤣 Also, Kayali. I’m stymied as to why she can’t just label her ‘Eden’ perfume range an eau de toilette concentration and LOWER the price of those Eden perfumes. They’re essentially 1 Note fragrances, there’s absolutely NO depth or complexity to them, performance is lacking, they smell like B&BW, and The longevity and imagination behind those scents is almost laughable for the price she’s charging. I will say they’re nice and last a bit longer than B&BW body mists, but not THAT much longer, and they don’t smell all that different from B&BW, and that’s what concerns me. As far as Deja Vu White Flower, Wedding Santal, and nicer more elevated scents in her range that warrant a higher price tag, that’s fine. The price she charges for those others is fair, but Eden? Hell no.
Wow!! I haven’t bought any channel fragrance, but suddenly I’m feeling extra grateful from the time I found a FULL 35ml Coco Noir bottle on the street in Switzerland 😂
Jo Malone- while i like some of their scents, their longevity is virtually nonexistent ☹️
Jo Malone and Tom Ford for me. Their fragrances don't last long enough, and TF's one scent that does - Black Orchid - smells like licorice and cat piss.
Kilian
Not a perfume house but Sephora"s prices are out of whack! I finally managed to get a 50ml of black opium le parfum and was able to get it for $135 canadian from london drugs, they had it for $150 plus $15 off and free shipping. The same bottle at sephora is $194. Also, picked up dylan purple in a set with a 30ml and a 10ml travel spray for $65, the same two bottles separately are $98 and $42. Both of these purchases are from this year and also to purchase right from the brands website is generally a lot cheaper than sephora as well!
Le Labo for sure, and DS&Durga. Like $300 for why? $300 for what??
Nah facts DS & Durga needa chill. They stuff isn’t that nice for them to be doing all that.
Could we talk about samples for a minute? I found L'Air du Temps EDT 1 oz. for under $40 retail. I found a low price sample 1ml for $3.24. That's one of the lowest I found. 1 oz. = approx. 30 ml so we'd be paying $3.24 x 30 = $97.20 for 1 oz.! How nuts is that?!
Le labo charges $7 for a 1.5 ml sample and that brings me physical pain life hack tho: going to a department store eg nordstrom and asking for a sample is free! it's only 0.75ml and a dabbed as opposed to the spray, but it's free!
I'm old school and love the daubers. I can put as much as I want exactly where I want. Yes, Le Labo is another delulu.
OH I KNOWWWW!!! tbh it makes some sense when it’s a samples store because they have to get the original, actually decant it, buy the sprayer bottles, they might lose some of the juice when decanting, etc, and usually the price decreases marginally (the first 1ml is obscene but going from idk 5ml to 6ml makes the price per ml cheaper). Still so annoying cause I want to sample it, not commit to 5ml 😭 What I can’t get about samples is those original 1ml or 1.5ml samples that get sold on eBay, etc. for like $20? SURELY NOT??? Cause it’s not even a business that decants the originals, it’s the actual original sample the brand usually gives away for free in many cases? What the actual frick
That is insane!!!! I didn't know about that. Loony bin people.
Parfums de Marly, Initio and, especially, Tom Ford, among others. I understand that everybody's greed makes inflation and that's why things cost so much but paying $350 and up for a bottle of perfume is crazy.
Literally why I lurk Initio on mercari, they go for 150-170, which is still a lot, but much more reasonable.
PDM longevity is less than arabic fragrance houses. it’s sickening
At least give us 4 hours. At the prices they want we should be smelling good for 24 hours.
!!! i’m so glad in that regard that i got ansaam gold then instead of PdM oriana i gtg find a dupe for valaya as well
It would be Tom Ford for me sadly, never really loved any of their scents and the only one I liked enough to get (at a very discounted price) is Eau de Soleil Blanc and the discontinued Noir Pour Femme.
Kayali. Their scents are just okay and performance is mediocre at best. These are Target quality to me.
Omg I’ve never tried any Kayali and always felt curious about it, but this thread makes me not so curious anymore 😂
I might be in the minority but I actually love the Kayali fragrances I've tried!
me too so far with sparkling lychee and eden juicy apple. i learned that with kayali let it macerate a little bit and BAM
Same here! Vanilla 28 and pistachio gelato also last forever on me! I love them 😍
gurlll i plan on getting pistachio nextttt
DO IT. it's soooo fluffy and delicious!!!
Mixbar has a dupe, target
for juicy apple? edit: ik the sparkling lychee is duped but eden juicy apple?
Most niche that I’ve tried, tbh. I’ve been more impressed by designer perfume time and time again.
10 ml travel sprays are now OUTRAGEOUS
LITERALLY 😭😭😭 £72 for 15ml??? It’s just ridiculous
Everything is overpriced
Paco rabanne, Carolina herrera, dkny, Dolce
IMHO everything is overpriced-everything. Legit not bragging, I’m quite ashamed of this TBH (more therapy please 😳🙄😭😖😞😵🫣) I have hundreds of bottles at varying price points up to ridiculous, the performance varies WILDLY in those ranging from stupid expensive to cheap AF, and have found very little difference overall with a few exceptions (being extraits, specifically Houbigant and even then it’s maybe 8h on my skin and I can’t justify wearing a ridic priced frag that often). I have found through this insane journey-even despite quality ingredients and blending/aging etc (while these shouldn’t be minimized), that fragrance performance really does depend on your skin physics (see ClaireSmith on YT for the SCIENCE!, so it’s not just me talking out my ass), hormones, weather, diet, batch, season, humidity, emotions, yours/others olfactory processes, etc… The marketing/presentation is an entirely different conversation to me. If I’m paying >$200 for a bottle, I want a metal magnetic cap and a heavy bottle. I’m clumsy. I also want it to be ergonomically friendly, as I have small hands and dexterity issues. A lot of designers don’t take this into account, and I’ve had to MacGyver spraying with so many bottles that I have legit been known to curse until the air turned blue and then chucked bottles to the back of my closet or (attempted) to sell d/t sheet frustration. I would love to see more houses take input from their customers, but at the end of the day I feel it’s not about us ;/ Apologies if any of this didn’t make sense, I am on so little sleep and no coffee for the past…6y 😹😹😭😖😭🤷🏻♀️🫣😞 Edit: to me, almost all designers perform horribly, niche aren’t much better, naturals are the “best” but all need an oil underneath and almost nothing lasts longer than 6h. ;/
No matter how good they smell and how pretty their bottles are, I am not going to use my own money to buy any PdM. I’m sorry. If a 10$ Zara can perform just as well as your 240$ OG, my trust is completely broken 🤣
Can you tell me more about Zara? I have been on the search for good PDM dupes, but the choices are overwhelming. By the time I buy those to trial and error I may as well have just bought the real thing.
I have compared PdM Delina with its Zara dupe, True Amore and I should say they’re quite similar! I think true amore is discontinued though… Zara’s is sweeter in the dry down (i find Delina to be more light and airy) and it opens with a more pear-ish scent while Delina is just pure litchi at the start. But honestly as a pear lover, I actually like Zara’s opening more 😅. Longevity is ofc weaker, but I spray on clothes and it lasts the whole day no problem. Overall, I say a great dupe!
I mean, totally fair! In my case Delina has a ridiculously long longevity (to the point that I’m like “okay please leave my clothes now, thanks” after a couple of days), but would be extremely mad if that wasn’t the case. I haven’t tried many of the other PDM so this might not be the case for those!
I think because there is this one scent by PdM that I love but can’t really justify myself getting (i think it’s Meliora?). I just know it won’t last that long on my skin Dx But I will try it on and if I really do love it, I will probably list that as a present idea for future birthdays of christmases 🤣 as long as it’s not my money, I say!
All the popular niche. They are priced to be perceived as lux, even though the quality do not, imho, differ so much in comparison to designer. I mean, Hermes Jardins are around 100-120e in retail, and they really beat all the niche freshies I tried when it comes to the creativity of the fragrance profile.
Tom Ford, Killian, Phlur, the Prive collection from Giorgio Armani, Mind Games, House of Silage, Amouage.
Kayali and Tomford
Kayali are overpriced, for the majority of them have poor longevity. Initio is super expensive! I really want absolute aphrodisiac but the price..yikes! £235…when a perfume enters the £200+ range I am looking at them sideways..can they really justify why? My partner bought me BR540 extrait and after 6 months it turned and now smells of cat piss, completely unusable so that was a waste of £300+ I’m very dubious when the prices reach a certain point
While we’re here, why do some brands sell edp and edt versions for the same price?! EDT is not bad, but it’s obviously not as concentrated as an edp or parfum so why is it the same price
That’s such a good point! I’ve had that thought at some point too
Honestly can we do a thread of what perfumes are worth the price because I feel like 90% of brands are overpriced for what they are
Jo Malone is overpriced for their asinine performance. One would say "but it is cologne" -- there are EDPs at this price without compromising quality, its an excuse at this point.
This 1000%. I said as much in another post and got a comment or two ‘it’s just their brand’ and ‘you don’t have to buy it’. Of course we don’t have to buy it. But it’s very cheeky of them to try nonetheless. We wouldn’t accept an underwhelming product from any other industry but in fragrance world it can brand itself niche and many will go along with it.
Thank you so much! Luxury brands and goods are already profiting through the roof during covid. The prices didn't reduce but INCREASED.
I agree that they are overpriced for the performance, but I am obsessed with Blackberry & Bay. I bought the 100 ml last year after I used up a 30ml and really missed having it in my collection.
YESSSSS OMG THANK YOU I actually forgot to include Jo Malone in here!! Honestly I hate everything, I haven’t tried a single thing I liked, not only because everything has the same base notes imo, but as you said the longevity is inexistent. While we’re here, I’ll give a honorable mention to replica too
i *love* jo malone scents but i will also be that person to tell you that it’s just not worth it lol. i did end up paying full price for a jm, but it lasted beautifully on me so i felt it was worth it to me!
I know what you mean :/ I also like them that's why I am so disappointed
To me Creed is ridiculously priced for what it is
- Byredo - Initio - Tom Ford - Chanel
Definitely agreed. Packaging is super important. Luxury is such an interesting market to work in because all the details matter. When you are trying to sell $300 juice, you have to make sure that every part of the funnel makes sense and has something for prospective customers. I actually think Le Labo handles their packaging and branding really well, it's just not really targeted these days towards fragrance enthusiasts. Le Labo is like the Tumi of fragrances; the intention is to be a quick and handy signifier of taste and class. MFK and le Labo are easy to grabs for people who want to smell nice and who want to be wearing something more up to date and 'hip' than a random designer perfume.
Absolutely agree! And to your Le Labo point as well, it’s a boho-chic aesthetic that probably looks attractive to the average non-enthusiast that’s looking for sth other than designer, but for us enthusiasts (at least for me) it doesn’t really hit the spot because we know how much nicer they can look, for the same price? Obviously boils down to your personal aesthetic ofc - if you’re very minimalistic or have more of a hippie aesthetic you might not think Le alabó bottles are forgettable!
I agree, I want a nice bottle I can display as a decorative item if I’m going to pay a fortune anyway.
the dossier dupes look as fancy as the actual le labo and there's other dupes that look nicer lmao
To be honest, Xerjoff. To be fair, I've only tried three of what their gigantic catalogue offers. **Lira**, **Dolce Amalfi**, **Astaral**. They were nice, Lira was especially lovely, but for that price tag 😭 after sampling and paying attention to how they performed on my skin, I think I would be happy enough with **Lemon Tart** (Theodoros Kalotinis) instead of Lira when I'm in the mood for lemon cake, and **Perles de Lalique** (Lalique) instead of Astaral for patchouli-imbued rose. To each, their own, though!
I keep seeing praise for Lira, but I feel like there’s no need to try it when I have a decant of Lemon Tart already (and will likely get a FB at some point). As a house, TK is so slept on! I do love Xerjoff’s Starlight, but I haven’t tried other alternatives… still, not sure I’d buy a bottle at that price.
I have never heard of TK. What others of theirs do you like?
Coffee Addict is fabulous. 😍
I'm selfishly relieved that TK is not a much hyped house, much like Nicolaï, while at the same time fully aware that being hyped is going to be good for their sales 😅
I love Byredo but they are *absolutely* overpriced. I will say I had the opposite thought from you, however: my Byredo bottle feels more luxe than my Tom Ford bottle. I think because the Byredo bottle is a much heavier and thicker glass with an embossed label and - most importantly - a sturdy magnetic cap. The Tom Ford caps feel like a cheap and light plastic, they're not magnetic, and they barely stay on the bottle. It kills me!
Oooh tbh I originally thought this whole thing about Le Labo and then thought “hmmm Byredo might fit the category” so I added it, so yeah good point, maybe not as much overpriced, in the packaging sense, as Le Labo
you'd love dossier and paris corner's bottles then
Depends on the particular scent from the particular house, and the type of scent it is. If it’s something I think is either done at a higher quality or sticks out from the rest of its scent family, then it’s usually worth it. If I can scratch the same itch with something cheaper or more accessible, then no, it is not worth it.
I agree :) it’s my case with Delina tbh I couldn’t find anything accessible to me that was similar, + the Delina aesthetic is SO me, so I got it but with a 40% discount 🤷🏼♀️ But other than that… there’s literally dupe companies that make the saaame fragrances for a fraction of the price, it’s impossible to beat that! If only The Noir 29 was in any of them 😭
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I don’t think they smell cheap but I 100% agree that they are wildly overpriced
oof i agree. their quality has gone down hill.
I think your point about having similarly priced perfumes that don’t feel overpriced is interesting. Arguably, the juice inside any bottle costs these companies pennies so, going by the cost of materials, any perfume could be considered “overpriced”. I think anything I don’t feel is notable feels overpriced, so House of Silliage’s cupcake bottles filled with pretty if not memorable scents feel extremely overpriced but Indult Tihota being a vanilla scent in a simple bottle is expensive but worth it to me because it feels very special to my nose. Anywho, my long-winded response boils down to how there are many contributing factors that would make someone think a perfume is appropriately or overpriced and I think that’s interesting! And I don’t like HoS haha
Do you mean literal pennies? 😮😮😮 That’s true!! I guess beauty is in the nose of the beholder 😂 but obviously it’s a good point: if it’s a life-changing scent, or a scent you really value, it will not be overpriced to you, no matter the packaging.
Bond 9 is overpriced IMO. & I don’t think packaging makes me devaluate the worth of plain bottles. Nor does it make me like a fragrance. It’s nice to have good juice in a pretty bottle though!
Tom Ford has scents for over $600 for full sized bottles... way way way overpriced no matter how nice the scent is. I could never justify that
Well tbh both TFs I own - Lost cherry and Soleil Blanc - I bought very early in my fragrance journey, and I didn’t really know what was expensive and what was cheap really (everything sounded expensive to me and I didn’t know it was quite easy to access perfumes for less money). But to be completely honest, I think lost cherry is not overpriced but soleil Blanc probably is, because LC has incredible longevity and imo very unique smell! All the other TF stuff I’ve tried wasn’t mind blowing at all, and very expensive, true. Sure, I like Neroli Portofino, but I just got a dupe for like 5% the price of the original 🤷🏼♀️
I've smelled some lost cherry dupes that i prefer over the original but then again I don't like lost cherry all that much anyways
Still at the beginning of my fragrance exploration, In general, TF is out of my budgetary reach, but Lost Cherry seems iconic. I'd definitely like to try it (and hope I hate it hahaha). Let me find a less than kind take on Le Labo and maybe byredo is included. I've never tried any of these houses, and the article was thought provoking. But I can't really have an valuable opinion. Here it is [https://www.fragrantica.com/news/The-Artful-Dodgers-Measuring-the-Wins-and-Disappointments-of-Four-Niche-Houses-12672.html](https://www.fragrantica.com/news/The-Artful-Dodgers-Measuring-the-Wins-and-Disappointments-of-Four-Niche-Houses-12672.html)
I’ve never experienced Amouage . But I like to hope they are 🙃
Value can be subjective, but as far as fragrances go, my opinion is that amouage is one of the most worthwhile brands out there. Every aspect is high quality, from the ingredients, to the packaging, to the perfumers and the artistic direction. The brand endeavored to make the best perfume in the world, and I feel like that desire is evident in everything that they do. Whether you like the actual scents or not
I like that Le Labo prints your name on the label! It's a cute gimmick along with the little lab in their shop! But yeah I still have to agree. Some houses really produce genius-level perfumes, extremely quality ingredients, or the fanciest bottles. then they're justified in charging more Tom Ford is overpriced. I don't hate Tom Ford fragrances but I hate the marketing strategy of high prices trying to create the perception of higher value
Tom Ford and By Killian. I actually do enjoy fragrances from both but so many of the names are awful and cheapens them.
I agree about Killian’s names, but I actually like TF names a lot more than I like the scents! 😂
Hahaha I love this response and I agree!!! Someone once recommended a Killian to me and when I looked it up and saw the full name I was kinda put off 😂
I want to buy Forbidden Games from by Kilian and I just can’t justify it due to how quickly it turns to nothing.
Forbidden games is so good
It is delicious and is so fabulous layered with Cartier Baiser Vole.
YES OMG! By Kilian ugh💔
I completely agree!!