Discovery sets

Top 7 Perfume Discovery Sets – Holiday Gift Ideas 2018

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I absolutely love perfume discovery sets and selected 7 fabulous sets from independent perfume houses for you. These sampler sets are great to try new fragrances and make excellent gifts as well. Here we go, the sets I selected are from Gallivant, Baruti, Tauer Perfumes, Sylvaine Delacourte, Etat Libre d’Orange, NOT Perfumes and Pierre Guillaume Paris. They are all available online.

1. Gallivant Nomad Discovery Sampler Set: Gallivant was founded by former L’Artisan Parfumeur creative director Nick Steward. Gallivant has 6 fragrances at the moment all based on different cities around the world, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brooklyn, Istanbul and Telviv. The 6 sample set is sold out at the moment but there is still a smaller one available with 4 samples for 18 pounds. Postage is free in December 2018. All sprays are 2 mls.

2. Baruti Baruti was created by Amsterdam based Greek perfumer Spyros Drosopoulos. You will not find these fragrances easily anywhere else. They make an excellent gift for those who want to try something different perfume wise. I sampled his fragrances many years ago when Spyros just started and tried his newest creations at The Perfume Lounge in Amsterdam. This discovery set is only available online with 8 samples of the whole Baruti collection. All spray samples are 1 ml. Price: 30 euro

3. Tauer Perfumes Tauer Perfumes was created by Zurich based Andy Tauer. His samples are stored in small beautiful metal boxes like the box on the photograph. These boxes are still one of my favorites to store samples. You are free to choose from his whole collection and create your own Discovery Set. Andy Tauer has some recommendations on his website which is fabulous if you are new to his fragrances and do not know which one to choose. All spray samples are 1,5 mls. Price: 27,50 euro including shipping.

4.  Sylvaine Delacourte, Sylvaine Delacourte worked for Guerlain 15 years and started her own perfume house several years ago. At this moment she has 2 collections based on perfume notes, Vanilla and Musc. She just introduced some wonderful scented candles inspired by the different seasons of the year. Both the Vanilla and Musc set are lovely and affordable sets with 5 samples each for 4 euro including postage. I tried the Musc sampler set and just received the Vanilla box. This is an excellent deal. All sprays are 1,5  ml. Price: 4 euro per set including shipping

5. Etat Libre d’Orange (ELDO) This French niche brand has several sampler sets in its collection. One set for its whole collection and 2 different sets stored in fabulous metal boxes with their 7 classics or modern classics. All are available through their website. The metal boxes are 20 euro for 7 samples with 2 mls. The complete collection set has 22 samples with 1,5 to 2 mls and its price is 39 euro. Isn’t this metal box beautiful?

6. NOT Perfumes. This brand new Swedish brand recently launched with 5 creations. It’s creator and perfumer Johanna Venables made original fragrances with very outspoken Nordic visuals. The complete sampler set is 25 euro excluding postage. The samples are 0,5 ml extraits and the sampler set is only available online. I haven’t tried them yet but very much look forward to experience her poetic fragrances as they look and sound very unique.

7. Pierre Guillaume Paris  If you are not on a budget, French perfumer Pierre Guillaume just launched his whole perfume collection as a sampler set called Integral Box 64. All 64 creations are stored together in a beautiful black box for 146 euro excluding shipping. It’s available online but check your local perfume store as well if you live close to a perfume shop which sells his creations.

Concluding: The perfume sampler sets I selected this year are from the following perfume houses: Gallivant, Baruti, Tauer Perfumes, Sylvaine Delacourte, Etat Libre d’Orange, NOT Perfumes and Pierre Guillaume Paris. Did you like one? Are you interested in one of these as gifts?

If you want some more inspiration for sampler sets, please visit my previous Discovery Sets posts here: Discovery sets 2017, Holiday sets 2016 and Fragrant Holiday Gifts 2014.

You can find the direct links to the sampler sets in this article by clicking on their names:

Gallivant, Baruti, Tauer Perfumes, Sylvaine Delacourte, Etat Libre d’Orange (ELDO), NOT Perfumes and Pierre Guillaume Paris.

Disclosure: Except for the photographs of the Sylvaine Delacourte and Tauer sets all photographs were taken from the official websites. The photograph for the NOT perfumes sampler set was made by Joaquim Suñe from Lost Branch Leather and kindly provided for this post. This article was not sponsored and does not include affiliated links.

(Side note: please check before ordering if postage is included to your own country, I live in The Netherlands)

Top 7 Must Have Sample Sets

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Discovery sets are an easy way to try new perfume brands especially those hard to find in shops. I have chosen sample sets with 1.5 to 4 ml sprays, which are better for first testing than 7/10 ml sprays. This way you do not end up with larger sprays of fragrances you do not like.  Looking for sample sets, I found these were well worth a try:

  1. Oriza LeGrand Parfums
  2. Tiziana Terenzi
  3. Olfactive Studio
  4. Neela Vermeire Creations
  5. Zoologist Perfumes
  6. Technique Indiscrete
  7. Histoires Des Parfums

1. Oriza L. LeGrand Parfums

The large 18 sample box is an excellent way to explore the complete Oriza LeGrand collection. Oriza L. LeGrand has good quality and (relatively) affordable fragrances. I love their soft frankincense centered fragrance, appealingly called Relique d’amour and the herbal violet creation  Violettes du Tsar.  The exquisite packaging of their perfume bottles is an extra bonus and most of the fragrances have matching soaps.

Why is it a must have? Oriza L. LeGrand has beautiful fragrances with an interesting history for a reasonable price. Their 100 ml bottles are 120 euro online.

Price: 42 euro for 18 samples or 20 euro for 7 samples

The set can be bought here:

2. Tiziana Terenzi

A beautiful and convenient discovery set with all 10 fragrances in 1.5 ml sprays from the Black Line nicely displayed with the following extraits de parfums: Gold Rose Oudh, White Fire, Lillipur, Arethusa, Kirke,  XIX March, Ecstasy, Maremma, Laudano Nero and Al Contrarío.

Why is it a must have?  Before Tiziana Terenzi made perfumes it created beautiful scented candles with wooden wicks which are well worth a try as well.  This exquisite sample set in a beautiful box is an excellent way to try their fragrances.

Price: 39 euro

The set can be bought here:

3. Neela Vermeire Creations

Get to know all Neela Vermeire Creations with this recently introduced sample set including all six fragrances, Trayee, Mohur, Bombay Bling, Ashoka, Pichola and Rahele in 2 ml sprays. If you like one of these you can continue to enjoy this fragrance with their Take Two sets (except Rahele). These sets are 2 x 15 ml sprays of the same fragrance, which are 112 euro.

Why is it a must have?  All fragrances are worth a try as they are probably different from all other fragrances you have tried before, created with eye for detail by Neela Vermeire with perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. This set is an excellent way to explore the whole collection. My personal favorites are Mohur and Trayee.

Price: 55 euro

The set can be bought here: Neela Vermeire Creations website or at The Perfume Lounge 

4. Olfactive Studio

Explore all 7 fragrances with this discovery set including  Autoportrait, Chambre Noire, Still Life, Flashback, Lumiere Blanche, Ombre Indigo and Selfie in larger 4 ml sprays.

Why is it a must have? Olfactive Studio is a contemporary French perfume house which links fragrance to photography.

Price: 44 euro

The Olfactive Studio set can be bought here: or at The Perfume Lounge

5. Zoologist Perfumes

The complete collection of the Canadian brand Zoologist Perfumes are sold as 2.5 ml single sprays including their newest scent Camel, plus Bat, Beaver (New Formula), Civet, Dragonfly, Elephant, Hummingbird, Macaque, Nightingale, Panda (New Formula) and Rhinoceros. If you like several fragrances after testing: Zoologist Perfumes sells beautiful 11 ml travel spray sets which come in a deluxe box. An excellent way to continue enjoying a fragrance you like.

Price: 49 USD

Why is it a must have? This line has fragrances you probably have not scented before like the earthy Bat and creations of exceptional beauty like Hummingbird. All fragrances are created by different perfumers around the world together with Victor Wong. Camel is his next upcoming release made by Spanish perfumer Christian Carbonnel.

The Zoologist Perfumes set can be bought here.

6. Technique Indiscrete

Explore all 14 eaux de parfums with 1.5 ml samples from Belgian Perfumer Louison Libertin with this box containing: Indiscrete, Veloutine, Paname Paname, Plaisir d’Amour, Santa Subita, Safran Nobile, Délivre Moi, Monarchy, My Burning Secret, Omnipresence, Saint Extaxe, Eau de Bruxelles, Eau d’Anvers and Carmel Snow.

Why is it a must have?  I must admit I haven’t tried this line but some of my Dutch perfume friends whose judgement in perfume I trust love this brand. This set is on my wish list as it is not expensive either.

Price: 15 euro ( if you use the discount code samplekit25 this month, you will get 25 percent discount)

The Technique Indiscrete set can be bought here:

7. Histoires des Parfums

A beautiful set for a reasonable price with their 10 bestsellers: 1804, 1826, 1725, 1828, 1740, 1899, 1969, Ambre 144, Noir Patchouli and This is Not a Blue Bottle presented in 2 ml sprays.

Why is it a must have? Histoires de Parfums tells interesting stories of famous characters in history like Jules Verne and George Sand, raw materials like patchouli and mythical years (1969!). This set is an excellent way to explore them.

Price: 20 euro (online) or 20 USD at Luckyscent.

The set is available here and at Luckyscent as well.

Bottom line: these 7 sets from Oriza LeGrand Parfums, Tiziana Terenzi, Olfactive Studio, Neela Vermeire Creations, Zoologist Perfumes, Technique Indiscrete and Histoires Des Parfums are all well worth a try and will make excellent (holiday) gifts as well. Some sets are presented in exquisite boxes. All sets contain smaller samples varying from 1.5 to 4 ml, an excellent way to explore a new brand without having to end up with larger sprays of fragrances you do not like.

All these sets are excellent gifts as well. You could give the sample sets with a bottle of their choice for special occasions as well. Go to my article to read more here.

In case 7 discovery sets were not enough: you can find more choices for gift sets here . 

Disclosure: all photographs except the Olfactive Studio Discovery Set were taken from the official websites.

How to choose a perfume gift for a special occasion

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Last week I bought a scented gift for my fiance’s niece Rachel for her college graduation. A very special occasion! My aunt had given me a bottle of Diorella perfume many years ago at my high school graduation and I still wear It. So I wanted to buy Rachel a perfume to link this happy occasion of graduating with a fragrance.  I wasn’t sure about her taste in perfume, only that she is 23 years old and likes perfume.

So I went to the perfume shop The Perfume Lounge which specialises in niche perfumes in Amsterdam. Where Phine helped me choose an appropriate gift for her.  She thought Olfactive Studio could have a perfume Rachel would like, since young women of her age usually like their fragrances. I choose the Olfactive Studio discovery set with 7 fragrances of 4 ml spray samples. This will give her plenty of possibilities to test them extensively. If she likes one of these she can choose a full bottle of one of the Olfactive Studio fragrances as a gift. I like the fact that Rachel can sample all fragrances for a longer period as the samples are 4 mls and experience which one she likes best. Rachel loved her present very much and we will see which fragrance she will choose.

Buying a Discovery Set and later a full bottle is probably not a common solution for all scented gifts given its price tag but I find it a good idea for a special occasion if you have a bit more to spend on a gift. It will also work well if you are buying a present with more people together for example at work or with a group of friends.

What do you think, would this work for you? Do you give perfume as a gift? How do you choose a fragrance for someone else?

Disclosure: photograph 1 and 3 made by me, photograph 2 made by Rachel.

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