Scented Samples

Scented Samples is the broadest UK decant shop we have found, and breadth is the whole point of a sample service. More than 250 fragrances, sold in 1ml, 2ml, 3ml, 5ml and 10ml, starting at £2.99. If you want to try eight things for the price of one bad blind buy, this is the shape of shop that lets you.

What earns it a place is the range it reaches. Alongside Guerlain and Donna Karan sit D.S. and Durga, Juliette Has a Gun, Rayhaan, LEDDA and Sorce, a mix of American indie, Arabian and small-house perfumery you will not assemble from a department store counter. Those are exactly the houses where blind buying goes wrong, because there is no way to smell them first.

The five-size ladder is more useful than it looks. 1ml tells you whether you can stand it. 5ml tells you whether you want to live with it, which is a different question and the one most people skip. Being able to go back for a larger decant of something you liked, without committing to a full bottle, is the bit that actually saves money.

Their own framing is that fragrance should be experienced rather than rushed into, and that finding one is not about blind buying or following trends. The catalogue backs it up: this is a shop built for working out what you like.

Free UK shipping over £30, which at these prices is a decent sampling session rather than a hurdle.