November 9, 2015

Try Niche Fragrances On a Budget Before Committing To a Full Size!

I purchased this item and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post.

niche fragrance samples

Sephora has started carrying a ton of different niche fragrance brands such as Histories de Parfums, Juliette has a Gun, and Etat Libre d’Orange just to name a few.

These are high end fragrances with unique offerings and excellent sillage and quality to back up their fairly expensive price tags. Sadly, many of these fragrances are not yet available within Sephora stores. These aren’t hard to get niche fragrances as there other online stores such as Lucky Scents and Indie Scents that also sell these brands and also, unlike Sephora, samples of these fragrances so you can try them before you buy them.

But Sephora has something great that have been doing with fragrances lately and that’s offering either partial or entire sample collections of a fragrance line. I can’t express how much I LOVE the fact I can try an entire range of fragrances for a very low price before committing to a full size!

Right now Sephora a Etat Libre d’Orange Perfume Sampler ($12) that includes seven of the 15 fragrances that the brand offers in 0.05 oz vials. And better still the Juliette Has a Gun Discovery Set for $15 includes the entire brand’s range of fragrances which is 8 total perfumes. These 8 perfumes come in generously sized mini mists of 0.06 oz each. I LOVE this set. I’ve wanted to try fragrances from the brand for a very, very long time and this helped me discovery my top four fragrances from them to haul in larger sizes during the Sephora 20% Holiday Shopping Event.

Etat Libre d'Orange Perfume Sampler

Etat Libre d'Orange Perfume Sampler 1

Juliette Has a Gun Discovery Set

So if you want to try niche fragrances on a budget before committing to a full size these two sets are a must have. They are also an excellent way to introduce yourself to some very, very unique, niche fragrances.

Get both these sets now at Sephora.com (use your ROUGE20 if you’re a VIB Rouge member for an extra 20% Off).

musings_approved

I purchased this item and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Ann Hatfield

    I bought the Juliette set a few weeks ago and finally tried one of them yesterday, Lady Vengeance . I thought it smelled like a pine scented air freshener LOL Oh well, there are 7 more for me to try!! I just loved the idea of trying these fancy, expensive perfumes for such a small price.

    • Isabella Muse

      I do too! I just like the fact I can get EVERYTHING the brand has to offer and try it all at my leisure and at such a great price. Hmmm I didn’t get that from Lady Vengeance but I only sniffed that quick, didn’t actually wear it 🙂

  • Grace

    Great post!! I love a good niche fragrance. I just wish there was a bigger selection in-store at Sephora. I hate having to take a risk and order online without smelling a sample first but it seems like that is the only option with a lot of these. The sample sets are a good idea. Though I’m not a fan of the sample sets that don’t have a spray attachment. The ones with the stick (like the Etat Libre d’Orange) are hard for me to use without making a mess.

    Speaking of Juliette Has A Gun, I was in an actual Sephora store Saturday. I asked the perfume SA if they carried that and she looked at me like I had just sprouted horns. She also didn’t know what a top note was either….le sigh.

    • Isabella Muse

      I agree! I’d love somewhere if not Sephora at least another online store that had a larger selection of niche available. I hate having to pay high shipping from Lucky Scents or Indie Scents for samples. 🙁 These discovery scents are so so awesome for that reason. $15 to $12 is a steal and with flash shipping it is free and quick 🙂 gotta love that. lol! Yeah, not surprising. It just recently launched online a few months ago and I honestly doubt, even in bigger locations, that Sephora will ever offer it in stores 🙁 if it is any help the most of the Juliette fragrances have a top and dominate not of rose 🙂 If you need any other niche fragrance recs, yell at me, it’s one of my passions 🙂

      • Lauren

        When I order from Lucky Scent, I usually use the code MUA and get free shipping (or I order enough to get free shipping). Hopefully, they won’t discontinue it anytime soon, lol!

  • Grace

    Niche fragrance recs–YES PLEASE!! 🙂 Tell me everything! There isn’t wrong with any of the more “commercial” (for lack of a better word) scents but I just love something different, you know?

    Have you tried any of the MMR scents? I have Beach Walk and love it. That was a risk too. Ordered it blindly from Sephora without smelling it first. Got lucky.

    Hmmm….at Dermstore they sell Juliet Has A Gun but it says some of the bottles may be in the old packaging?

    An example http://www.dermstore.com/product_Mad+Madame+Eau+de+Parfum_56458.htm

    Is that a sign not to buy from them? I was thinking about ordering the sampler from Sephora and then maybe ordering from Dermstore around Black Friday when they usually have great deals (plus that awesome goodie bag)…but maybe it would be better just to buy from Sephora.

    • Isabella Muse

      I’m the same way Grace. I like something unique and too many mid-range fragrances are all the same.

      Here’s a list of uniques that might interest you:
      4160 Tuesday
      Royal Apothic
      Lady Primrose (MY FAVORITE)
      Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab
      Conjure Oils (although this is more of an indie brand versus a niche)
      Bourbon Street Perfumes (again more indie but wonderful)
      Serge Lutens (try the Un Bois Vanille)
      Penhaligon’s

      SO many others lol! Justin, can you add to the list? He def knows his stuff and can give you awesome recs!

      Hmmm I don’t know. It might be fresh juice but it might not be. Perfume can be a picky thing. Sometimes it can last for centuries when stored well, other times it can go off so they might be selling older bottles so I can’t really say what they got going on there.

      Hey if they have a good deal, check it out, worst case scenario you have to return it!!!!!!

    • Grace

      Ooooh those all sound great! I will definitely check those out. Yes, please Justin if you have any to add, I’d love to hear about them. 🙂

      About the JHG redesign, I noticed something. The bottles on Sephora’s site are the old packaging but they didn’t mention that. I wouldn’t have known if Dermstore didn’t say anything in their listing. That being said, I think I will take a risk with Dermstore since the bottles look the same as Sephora’s. They don’t offer returns on perfume but my plan is to decide on a scent or 2 🙂 after my sampler arrives. Then I can order with no worries. Plus Dermstore has a 30% off coupon too now I think. Then add in cashback from somewhere like Mr. Rebates and you have a nice savings.

      I ordered 2 scents from MMM and 2 from L’Etat Libre d’Orange during the Sephora sale. They are due to be delivered today too. Exciting! 🙂

    • Isabella Muse

      Yay! 🙂 that’s next on my list as a full size purchase Crystal!

  • danadoo

    Oh wow, i absolutely love that this is now a thing! I love to try fragrance in mini form before committing to full size because i tend to get headaches from many fragrances. Not living near a sephora also makes trying scents like this difficult and i can totally justify a blind buy with these! Awesome!

  • Grace

    I think my comment from earlier disappeared? Anyway, I would LOVE to hear any recs on niche fragrances you might have.

    BTW, I ordered the Juliette Has A Gun sampler after reading your suggestion. I’m excited! 🙂

    • Isabella Muse

      no no I didn’t get to it! Sorry delayed chica! Answering now 🙂 YAY! glad you got it wahoo!

  • Justin

    Did you try Like This??? I really like it definitely a relief cause I had ordered the full size. Ironically I like it to where I don’t want to wear it too often cause I feel its unique enough to where I could get over it
    Muse I got another Kurkdjian perfume too!

    • Isabella Muse

      I DID! because of you! I got the full size bottle, un-sniffed because you loved it so I firgured if you loved it I’d love it. I was a little tiny bit worried because the reviews are terrible but I ADORE IT! it’s beautiful! Very fresh, very unique! No pumpkin, no ginger to my nose. It smells more like a fresher floral. I love it. Haha OMG which one? I got the Guerlain Exlirs I didn’t already have because I had this mental breakdown of them dcing them come January. Also got four full size Juliette fragrances, couldn’t resist.

      • Justin

        I got Pour Le Soir absolue. It’s very heady, warm, and spicy. It was on my radar for a while. I also got more diptyque candles, one of their hourglass scent diffusers, and La Mer candle. Yea I’m crazy…we aught to colab and do a we smell pretty campaign

        • Isabella Muse

          haha! someone hauled hard. How’s the La Mer Candles!? 🙂 Yes please I want to the We Smell Pretty Campaign to be in effect ASAP 🙂

  • Justin

    I haven’t gotten the La Mer candle yet. I had to order it. To add to Grace’s comment. Niche fragrances have lots of coffert set out right now for holidays: Kurkdijian, Jo Malone, diptyque (theirs is very nice), Fresh. Great way to try them. Fresh and Jo are more cologne to me but still interesting. There’s also Margot’s ranges (love and toast, Tokyo Milk, and Tokyo milk Dark) I feel like she’s in line with 4160 Tuesdays (great concept but no staying power). I do like mainstream fragrances from fashion houses (Chanel,YSL, Dior) but I will generally stay away from celebrity perfumes and branded perfumes (i.e. Hollister, Abercrombie, and certainly BBW)