It's an easy trap to fall into - up to 97 per cent of the cost of producing a conventional perfume goes on marketing, packaging and advertising. The liquid in the bottle can represent as little as 3 per cent of the total cost of production.
As 'professeur de parfum' and founder of the Haute Parfumerie at Harrods, Roja Dove laments, 'I think most people don't actually smell fragrances anymore. People are so influenced by marketing that people buy scents that they don't really like.'
— From Perfume: how natural are you willing to go? at Ecologist. The article includes a list of recommended natural perfumes.
regular people on the street? maybe. but people who actually have SOME interest in fragrances? hardly?
if anything then i might be tempted by freaking low prices (bought half used testers of Calvin Klein Euphoria for Men and Armani Mania for 2 Euros a piece. i had to!)
You say that, but plenty of perfume lovers get suckered into impulse/unsniffed purchases on the strength of who the nose was, or a neat looking set of notes, or how niche it is.
yeah, I posted my comment below, in the wrong palce, But I agree that no matter how much you know, there are traps everywhere.
For the more “educated” it might be the perfumer name, for the loyals the brand, for the celebrity struck the name of their favorite VIP, for someone the bottle, for the other the price tag… Traps everywhere, I say.
I’m with Pigoletto on this one. I think it’s just a different sort of trap.
You know Prism, I think that also “educated” noses can fall into marketing/exclusivity traps.
I don’t want to refer to myself as particularly educated, because I’m not, but I often wonder – what if this scent with, say, a difficult opening wasn’t rare and pampered on blogs and forums…would I be that patient? Would I still define it interesting or just plain ugly?
I would be curious about mine and other people’s opinions in blind sniffing tests: would we really be able to place the right price tag?
I am quite confident I would give Epic $$$, but I fear I would have placed FM PDT aside other Sephora offerings.
I think that I AM a bit influenced by bottle, marketing, …, though I might not be fully conscious about it.
I was really thinking about this issue lately, upon receiving a bunch of samples, and in particular a 1/4 full vial of Amouage Homage.
I would have placed it as a house functional product, and I am sniffing it again and again…but no. It is not matter of liking it or not, it is my BS detector screaming out loud! I hope it isn’t broken – that would explain it all, wouldn’t it?
– And no, I use no fancy household products, in case you’re wondering ;)!! –
I think many people are impressed with high price tags, yes!
I interpreted Dove’s comments to mean that people (non-perfumistas mostly) fall for the marketing and hype and buy bottles of perfume that they don’t like, which end up just sitting on their vanities unused because, well, they didn’t like them to begin with. These people are more likely than not to think that they don’t like perfume in general so they are not going to hunt down something that smells better to them. There’s hardly a market for people’s “noses” if most consumers aren’t looking for next revelatory “smell/scent” (bc they think they don’t like perfume), but rather tend to wait to be seduced by beautiful packaging, imagery, etc. before buying. T
Yes, that’s how I took his comment too.
I find it really odd that there are phthalates in perfume. IFRA can take that out, with my blessings, and leave me my oak moss, citrus oils, high concentrations of jasmine, and vanilla! It’s funny to see an article pushing these natural perfumes when these natural ingredients are being targeted.
Exactly!!!
Brings to mind the age old question: What comes first? The chicken or the egg?
Sure people are influenced by marketing. Isn’t that where the industry has been putting most of it’s money in recent years?
Scents are being released ( and dropped) at a head spinning rate.
Maybe I missed a memo, but I get a feeling that “quality” hasn’t been the main focus for a lot of companies.
So people are buying crappy scents!
The real question that needs to be asked is: “Why are those frags on the market to begin with?”
Good way to look at it!
I’ll admit that as discerning as I may be, I have bought perfumes based on their marketing, but I always do my research. If it’s a floriental with a fabulous ad campaign I would probably buy it unsniffed.
I’m not an Opium wearer but I found myself looking at vintage bottles on eBay last night courtesy of having watched one of David Lynch’s ads. I first fell in love with Chanel No 5 because of Nicole — I was a huge Moulin Rouge fan as a teenager. Bought SMN because of it being touted as leading ladies’ signature scent in various Italian location films.
Of course, if it’s an esteemed fragrance I usually don’t feel any trepidation in making the purchase.
Bottles will influence me as will little blurbs. I don’t really buy into any particular endorsement but there are things that intrigue me. Likewise, there are things that put me off from ever wanting to try something. Case and point, Kim Kardashian. Luckily, in my case at least, I find the juice to be all kinds of awful.
There’s no doubt that all other things being equal, I’d rather have a pretty bottle, and just as soon have it be from a brand I like. But I’ll buy anything if it’s wonderful!
I like the idea of what a perfume represents almost as much as I like the perfume itself, so the blurb accompanying it goes a long way. Having said that, I haven’t actually purchased a full bottle of perfume in about two years–I’ve only purchased samples or received full bottles as gifts–so it’s not as though the marketing holds complete sway over me.
2 years! Very impressive.
Almost fell for this one the other day. Love Gaultier’s Classique EDT, like the EDP and Summer, had a coupon for 10% off at Sephora, felt like I had to buy the new X. I was standing in line to buy it when I thought “But I don’t really like it that much”. Got out of line, put it back, and left the store.
Yeah, I’ve done something similar! Good for you for putting it back.