April 6, 2016

What Was Your Last Blind Fragrance Purchase?

blind buy fragrance

What was your last blind fragrance purchase? Or do you eve blind buy fragrance? I do. I admit it. I don’t necessarily need to smell to know if I’ll like it or not. I’m typically pretty lucky with online fragrance purchases.

The thing is, I don’t like being overwhelmed at fragrance counters. I think people that work in fragrance are even MORE aggressive than ones that work in makeup. I typically leave Neiman Marcus smelling like a weirdo because everyone and their mom misted me with the latest and greatest fragrance when I was just there to smell one single thing. For example, I recently went in to smell the new Jo Malone Herb Garden Collection because my friend Justin expressed loving them so much. I was very quietly sitting in front of the display and trying to get a feel for the fragrance when suddenly, out of nowhere, there separate people tried selling me three other fragrances I wasn’t even interested in. Sadly, I was unable to complete my Herb Garden experience or purchase because I hightailed it out of there since they were so very aggressive.

This is why stores, in my opinion, lose sales. Slow and steady wins the race people! Needless to say, this is why I tend to blind buy fragrances online!

My last blind buy that I’m hoping I won’t regret is Angel Muse. It finally launched on www.muglerusa.com and there’s a great gift with purchase as well as excellent points on the purchase I didn’t mind the blind buy at all.

angel muse

Yeah, I kinda purchase it because Muse and all. But, no, seriously, I got it because I’m such a Thierry Mugler fan girl!

Apparently Angel Muse is the fun, younger, gourmand sister of Angel. This one contains notes of Grapefruit, Pink Berries, Hazelnut Cream, Vetiver, and Patchouli. They had me at vetiver and hazelnut cream!

I figure if I hate it I could give it to a friend or maybe my mom!

What was your last blind fragrance buy?

Do share!

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

  • Justin

    Aww sorry they did that to you. Actually that’s almost what happened to me and I happened to spray some cards before I got mauled….and then proceeded to order it online lol. Honestly I only blind order fragrance if their is 0% chance it’s carried near me. So that’s how I blindly ordered “like this” from Etat Libre d’Orange and YSL Rive Gouche

    • Isabella Muse

      I almost, ALMOST got to spray them on cards! I even had a pen handy to label them but sadly only got the chance to mist one before I was crowded. I had to run out quickly, I just couldn’t take it. So sad! I ordered Like This blinded because you liked it and I ended up loving it 😀 Everyone that says it smells rotten must be nuts because it smells delightful!

  • Robin

    The last Escada fragrance was a blind purchase… and the first one I didn’t like! It smelled like a cheap man’s cologne on me. 🙁 I love Escada, but this one didn’t agree with me.

    My favorite blind perfume purchase was Skin by Clean! I have the huge 3 oz bottle I bought a few years ago and it’s almost out. I wear it daily.

    I love fragrance samples from Sephora and Ulta. 95% of my shopping is online. I don’t want to be hassled with the traffic and people. What can I say, I’m an introvert. 🙂

    • Justin

      I might be crazy but I think Skin smells like Body Shop White Musk like almost a twin to me

      • Robin

        Really?? I have both, but I don’t think they smell anything like each other.

        Skin is an unusual fragrance. I smell a soft floral, but one of my friends who hates anything floral, smells green notes/watery notes. It’s the only fragrance we both like.

  • Kimmwc03

    I’ve “blind” ordered rollerballs but never the full size. The last “blind” purchase for me was Comptoir Sud Pacifique in Aloha Tiare but I was disappointed.

  • Dora

    I almost never do this. The description can sound perfect but I need to try it, and preferably a few times so ideally like to have a sample. My skin chemistry just does not mix right with certain fragrances. Anyway, I did blind purchase not long ago Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely because I had read so much about it and was kind of intrigued by it and I don’t even know if you can sample it anywhere (or even buy it other than online). Anyway, I love it — not my usual kind of scent but so interesting.

    Thinking I might really like those Jo Malone scents (love so many of hers, including Peony & Blush Suede and Pomegranate Noir and Orange Blossom and I could go on . . . ) or that they might smell too much like a salad for me. There’s a Jo Malone shop around the corner from my office so I could try, but it’s a dangerous place . . .

    Interested in hearing you what you think about Angel Muse.

    • Isabella Muse

      haha I like the way you said “It’s a dangerous place” 🙂 I can’t wait to get it, hoping for something fantastic (and unique!?)

  • Carly

    The last one was the NEST Sandalwood one… on paper it seemed perfect, but not so much in real life. It smells almost bitter.

  • sarah

    All my fragrance buys are blind. I tend to prefer online shopping for everything. I hate aggressive sales tactics, I’ve worked in retail and I know from experience it does not improve sales. I can’t recall how many times I had a manager tell me I was not aggressive enough to then look at my actual sales numbers and see I was outperforming everyone else without being rude and pushy.

    Aggressiveness from sales people always results in me leaving and never coming back. I don’t shop at places like Lush and Teavana because I can’t stand it. And I completely avoid the cosmetics department in department stores.

    The only stores I actually like going to is the art store. They just ask me what I’m looking for and point in the right direction.

    • Isabella Muse

      sigh! Teavana what a crazy place. I only shop online now due to their very very very very very very very pushy sales people 🙂 Such a shame!

  • Lauren

    You know me, I’m a fragrance junkie! I will admit that I’ve done quite a few blind buys, and USUALLY they’ve worked out surprisingly well, with a few exceptions that I’ll mention later.

    I blind-bought Byredo Seven Veils, and I definitely had a “holy $@##, what did I do?!” when it arrived and I smelled it for the first time, lol. Luckily, I tend to gravitate towards heavier fragrances, and it’s now a favorite of mine, even though it’s a difficult one to wear in close company (it’s strong, strong, STRONG). Same with my Kenzo Jungle L’Elephant. Blind buy, but luckily a great, heavy-on-the-spice powerhouse.

    One of my favorite things to blind-buy are Al Rehab perfume oils. I get them on eBay for cheap, so they’re a great cheap thrill if they work out, and not too much of a regret if they don’t. Choco-musk is one of my favorite true gourmand scents (I love vanilla, but I don’t usually go for straight-up gourmands).

    I am a big fan of getting scents on eBay, especially if a particular fragrance isn’t locally available. I’ll buy a sample or decant, so that I don’t waste a lot of money on a whole bottle if I don’t like it. Occasionally, this leads to a blind-buy, though, if I find something interesting or a good deal. I got a 100 ml bottle of Byredo Green, which is a now-discontinued Barney’s exclusive, and it was one of my most successful blind-buys because I love it and have gotten a lot of comments on it.

    There have been a few blind-buy bombs, though, and usually they were because I listened to one of my coworkers who also is a fragrance junkie, lol. I bought a couple of Penhaligon’s scents that turned out to massive disasters: Iris Prima and Lavandula. I normally adore iris scents, but I despise Iris Prima (I think it’s synthetic compounds they use in that particular scent and the jasmine in it, since the other notes are ones that I usually like). I luckily was able to sell the Iris Prima to my coworker, but I’ve still got the Lavandula, and I hate that one, too.

    • Isabella Muse

      Lauren you are always a fountain of great fragrance info as now I need to try Al Rehab perfume oils!

      • Lauren

        Since you love gourmand scents, I think you would go gaga over Choco-musk! To me, it smells like an ice cream parlor, a mix of fudgey chocolate ice cream, fresh-baked waffle cones, and a base of sweet vanilla.

  • Carol G

    I don’t buy any perfume blind anymore because I’ve gotten burned in the past so I always make sure I smell it first. The exception being I finally ordered the Nest fragrance sampler. It was getting such rave reviews and since there are seven different choices I figured the odds were in my favor for liking some of them.

  • Dominique

    I bought the whole agent provocateur fragrance line. I was BEYOND dissatisfied with Agent Provocateur (the eponym & pink bottle) and petale noir. It was a blind buy, as these are not available in Canada. But it won’t stop me to do it again !
    Also, I think it’s a worldwide thing about department stores ; they drive you nuts as soon as you step in…

    • Isabella Muse

      Really?! Oh no! I’m one of those people that belives AP can do no wrong!

  • Flaky

    I’ve been subscribed to Scentbird for quite a while now & had had a few months that were blind pics based on recommendations & reviews. I’ve been lucky enough to have good luck – I really like what I received. If it weren’t so inexpensive, I probably wouldn’t gamble like that.

  • Rachel R.

    I never buy fragrances blind. I have a weird body chemistry. Some fragrances go unscathed, but often wonderful smelling scents turn awful on me. The reverse is true: Often scents that are awful on everyone I know will smell great on me. I always try to get a sample or spray on in-store before I buy.

  • nelle

    I just ordered a free sample of the Angel Muse from the Theirry Mugler website so, I am waiting to sample before I buy, because sometimes Thierry Mugler fragrances have too much vanilla for me and I am more of a fruity floral kind of a girl, even though I have purchased the 2014 and 2015 Angel Sucrees. But my last blind buy was Bulgari Indian Garnet and YSL Baby Doll, love the YSL but the Bulgari wasn’t anything special. But I still rather purchase fragrance online, than to have fragrance sales people stalking me to make a purchase anyday. LOL.

    • Isabella Muse

      Angel is deeppppppppp! It’s very complex and heavy on the patchouli but quite lovely if you give it a chance 😀 I always find Bulgari fragrances to be meh! Maybe it’s me but they seem uneventful!

      • nelle

        I loved Bulgari Coral, so I mistakenly assumed I would love Bulgsari Indian Garnet, big mistake. But I mixed it with a roller ball of Elizabeth and James Black (which was way to strong for me),and the combo turned into something quite nice. Not a waste after all.

        • Isabella Muse

          I dunno what it is but Bulgari fragrances never do it for me!

          • Lauren

            The only Bvlgari scents that I’ve been really attracted to are the tea scents. I have Red Tea and a mini of the White Tea, and while they aren’t my favorite scents, they’re very nice. I also have the original Omnia, but it’s just okay, IMO.

          • Isabella Muse

            They are nice but just not unique enough for me you know?

  • Carrie

    Either something from black phoenix alchemy lab, or the tokyo milk dark sample set. I sort of blind bought the fresh cream perfume from philosophy, but that was because I loved the body wash and lotion.

    • Isabella Muse

      I wish I lived in CA so I can actually smell my Bpals before ordering them 😀

  • Iris

    I purchase a lot of indie perfumes, especially from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (but I’m trying to cut back). Needless to say, I’ve made a lot of blind buys. Last one was a half decant of the rare Seven Herbs Charm. It worked out really well and I love it. Too bad I only have the half and have used it up quickly. There’s only one to two uses left.

    • Isabella Muse

      Likewise! All my bpal are blind buys! Also my etsy ones!

  • danadoo

    Ive been blind buying the heck out of the sampler sets from sephora. My latest buys were the Commodity cocktail set, and I’m in love with all the masculine scents in the black bottles, especially “Book”, which is the best thing ive smelled in a long time! Too bad the full size is so pricy! I also got the Tocca rollerballs, i think it was ,called “The Romantics”? I had to pop the rollerballs out though, they didnt work very well. I also own Like This, and i love it! I also wear Angel and im VERY excited to see what Angel Muse smells like!

    • Isabella Muse

      likewise because thave are so damn good! Book, Wool, Whiskey, and Gold were my favorites 😀 I have full sizes in my cart right now hahaha 😀 Did you get the Tocca Girls set? That was nice too! I AM too! It arrives tonight can’t wait!

  • Erin Conrad

    I blind ordered a travel size Paper. It was the only scent not in the Commodity Cocktail Kit, AND it’s being discontinued. With that in mind, I immediately ordered it. It certainly didn’t hurt that I had a 10% coupon. I really like it once it dries down a little. Now if only I could pony up the guts to order a full size of a few of the fragrances I know my husband and I love.

  • Amy

    I ordered the small travel size of Comptor Sud Pacifique’s Vanille Abricot……..Love it!!!