The Fragrance Shop

The Fragrance Shop is the only UK fragrance chain with an algorithmic perfumery counter, and that is the reason to start here rather than with its size. Through a partnership with EveryHuman, built by the Dutch company ScenTronix, £45 buys a questionnaire, three 5ml scents composed on the spot from a palette of 52 building blocks, and something almost no perfume purchase gives you: a look at your own formula before you pay for it. If one of the three lands you can reorder it in 5ml, 30ml or 50ml, adjust the ingredients yourself, or book a free fifteen-minute session with a scent coach to go through it. EveryHuman has its own entry in this directory; The Fragrance Shop is the UK route in.

The rest is a straightforward high-street proposition done at scale. TFS Buying Limited, company number 06789840, has traded since 1994 from Trafford Park in Manchester, and describes itself as the UK's largest independent fragrance retailer: over 200 stores, over 150 fragrance brands and over 200 beauty brands, plus a separate niche section for the houses the chains usually skip. Trustpilot has passed 188,000 reviews at 4.5 out of 5.

The pricing structure rewards paying attention. MyTFS membership carries 30% off selected lines and a Price Promise that credits you back the difference if you find the same thing cheaper elsewhere, and students get 15%.

Their feed is the one we get on best with. We map over 3,000 of its 3,193 products onto more than 1,300 perfumes, the highest coverage of any feed partner we carry, and the listings are unusually complete for an affiliate feed, with top, heart and base notes written out on most products.