For men shopping for fragrances online, their initial forays into the digital world can quickly become a maze that’s difficult to negotiate. The internet is a great place for men with fragrance experience to find good deals and explore new scents, but those who lack that experience are definitely at a disadvantage.
It’s not an unsolvable problem, though. There’s definitely a path for men to overcome their inexperience, but there are some things you need to know going into this process. To help, we turned to Karen Dubin, the founder of Sniffapalooza.com, for some tips on online shopping for fragrances.
It’s a blind buy
When it comes to online shopping, most of us know the drill. We choose products with certain measurable attributes that are posted on the sites we explore, and we make judgments accordingly, along with some educated guesses.
But that’s not the case with men’s fragrances. They come in small packages that often come with big price tags, and there’s no way of knowing if we’ll actually like what we’re buying. Moreover, these products are described in glowing marketing language, which can make the process that much more confusing.
“It’s definitely a blind buy,” Dubin says. “It’s very comparable to buying something like wine, where you have to taste it to know if it’s going to be for you.”
But that’s not the only major issue in buying men’s fragrances. The scents and ingredients in these products react with our skin, and that process is different for everyone.
“Every formulation will react differently for everyone who tries it,” she explains. “It’s very individual, and some fragrances will vary more than others when it comes to trying them.”
Small samples and bargain hunting should be part of the approach
There are answers to these issues, however. The first is to do some in-person shopping, but not necessarily with a specific buy in mind.
“If you live in a city, you have a lot of choices,” Dubin says when asked about specific stores. “But most people can still get to a department store and try out every men’s fragrance they have. The men’s departments for fragrances in these stores have grown and expanded to an incredible degree, so you’ll have lots of choices.”
The prep work doesn’t stop there, though. There are deals to be had online in the form of samples, not to mention plenty of sites that offer them,” she says.
Dubin represents one of those sites. In addition to her role at sniffapalooza.com, she has a longstanding relationship with beautyhabit.com, but Dubin is quick to reference sites like luckyscent.com and scentsplit.com as additional possibilities.
“It’s a great way to establish a baseline,” she adds. “And you may even run into a fragrance you really like that becomes a favorite.”
It’s also an excellent way to save money. Sites like tomford.com, dior.com, and calvinklein.us come with a three-figure price tag for their premium fragrances, so buying a sample pack with smaller quantities is a much better approach.
These aren’t the only possibilities, however. Surprisingly, Dubin mentioned department store sites like Macy’s as possibilities for great online deals for sample packages. These stores may be vanishing dinosaurs in the brick-and-mortar world, but they’re still very involved in the men’s fragrance world, and they offer some great deals, too.
Do some extra homework
As solid as these approaches are, they do come with some potential blind spots if you don’t do some work to establish a solid knowledge foundation.
That includes the language as well. One key to navigating the marketing language associated with men’s fragrances is to know exactly what you’re buying and how long it will last once you apply the fragrance.
To wit: Eau de Toilette (EDT) is the term for the lightest concentration, and it typically lasts for 4-6 hours. Eau de Parfum is stronger and will last 6-8 hours or more. Parfum/Extrait is the highest concentration, and you can use this information effectively during the shopping process.
Finally, it’s important to have some knowledge about the men’s fragrances you’ll be seeing the most frequently as you explore this supposedly “masculine” world. Sandalwood is one of them, and cedar and pine are two others.
According to Dubin, sandalwood is one of the best when it comes to reacting similarly to the skin of most men. There are others, but it’s important to be open to new experiences as well. Some men may discover that a lighter fragrance like citrus works best when applied to their skin, while others may have a completely different experience with that particular scent. Keep in mind that there are dozens of sites and fragrances to explore, and the explosive growth in men’s fragrances means that new products will continue to appear at a dizzying pace.
“Personally, I love vetiver,” she says about this earthy, woody fragrance. “So that’s my example of coming up with a favorite. If there’s any new fragrance that features it, I’m almost automatically going to buy it and try it out.”
