Monday, June 5th
2023 Perfume Subscription Reviews
The Fragrance Club
- Perfume and cologne subscription starting at $12.49
- Monthly and bimonthly deliveries available
The Fragrance Club says that they believe that "smelling luxurious should not empty a person's wallet" . Beyond that, the details of this perfume subscription company aren't very clear - in fact, even their advertising varies from saying you'll pay $8.99/month to $14.99/month.
Less than 100 fragrances
You won't find thousands of fragrance options with this membership. When we clicked on the "Fragrances" link at the bottom of the site, we got a list of eight scents (not perfumes) described as "This Season's Colognes" with no images. Selecting "Men" or "Women" in the links at the top of the site, we didn't fare much better: approximately two dozen perfumes and three dozen colognes to choose from. Compare that with rival perfume subscriptions that offer hundreds of options and it's easy to see why The Fragrance Club doesn't get much love from us.
Prices aren't as advertised
It doesn't get any better when you try to sign up. There are a bunch of boxes showing subscriptions, but they all look the same. Finally, when we clicked on the one with a big bar saying "Perfume Subscriptions" , we were taken to our options: pay $149.98 per year (which works out to about $12.50, still not the advertised $8.99), $14.99 for month-to-month, or get deliveries every other month for $17.99.
Lacking information
The Fragrance Club's selection is just as disappointing as we suspected from our initial look. During the sign-up process, we only had about 30 perfumes to choose from. Many of them were within the same brand (five from Burberry, four from Vince Camuto, and so on). There's not a lot of detail offered on each fragrance, just the main accord and fragrance notes, but no backstory on when the scent was released and no subscriber reviews. You also have to select three fragrances to sign up, but the club doesn't indicate if those are going to be your first three deliveries or in what order you could expect them.
Cost per month
- $12.49/month when paid annually
- $14.99/month when paid month-to-month
- $17.99/month for bi-monthly plan
Only one case is included
We're also not thrilled with the fact that The Fragrance Club only includes a casing with your first delivery, with the expectation that you'll swap out the cartridge every month. In other words, if you don't use up your perfume between deliveries, you'll have partially-used cartridges to keep track of. That's not really our favorite way to approach a perfume subscription, especially compared with rival memberships that include a new casing each month.
Lackluster perfume subscription
In general, The Fragrance Club doesn't offer a high-end perfume experience. We found typos throughout the site (like "subsciription" and "recieve" ), their social media links were either broken or outdated (most recent posts were more than two years old), and there were hardly any customer reviews to be found. Even the FAQ made us laugh: there was just one question ("What are your shipping rates?" ) and no answer. It's no wonder that this is one of the lowest-ranked perfume subscriptions in our review. Fortunately, you've got plenty of options to choose from that won't leave you disappointed like The Fragrance Club inevitably would.
More Perfume Subscription Reviews
The 10 Best Perfume Subscriptions
Which Perfume Subscription is the Best?
We all know what it's like to notice that someone smells amazing and say, "What are you wearing? I love your perfume!" But, after we shell out the cash to get ourselves a bottle of it, we're disappointed by how it interacts with our own body chemistry - and now we have a pretty decoration on our vanity full of a fragrance we'll never wear again.
The same goes when we experiment with a new-to-us scent. Maybe we have a brand that we love and want to see if we like the next variation on that theme, as the top perfumers release their newest fragrances. Or we go adventurous and buy a scent based on the description alone. Spin the wheel, so to speak, and hope you get lucky? That's where perfume subscriptions come in and save the day.
Perfume Subscription FAQ
Continued from above...
When you sign up for a membership, you'll typically spend less than $20 to try up to three new perfumes (or colognes) every month. While most services don't have a refund or exchange policy, it makes it so much more affordable to get out of your comfort zone and give a new scent a try. And, as long as you stick with a reputable perfume subscription, you don't have to worry about getting anything that isn't 100% authentic.
Over the past few years, perfume memberships have become quite popular. Which one is right for you? That depends. Here are some factors to keep in mind as you browse all of the fun options out there:
- Designer vs. niche brands. Some perfume subscriptions focus just on the designer brands you already know and love: Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, and so on. Others work with independent perfumers around the globe to give you that one-of-a-kind fragrance experience with scents that no one else is wearing. And some give you access to both.
- Perfume, cologne, or mix-and-match. Are you looking for a subscription that is just perfume or that also offers cologne? Would you like to be able to choose between the two at any time you please? How about getting one of each in every monthly delivery? If you have a strong preference for that kind of flexibility, look for the memberships that offer it.
- Who chooses what you get. Usually, the designer brand perfume memberships let you select each ragrance - often giving you a calendar you can use to plan several months in advance, and only sending you a "surprise" if you don't enter a specific preference. On the other hand, most niche perfume subscriptions are all about the experience: monthly scents may be developed around a theme like "Saturday in the Park" or "Winter Chill" and unboxing your mystery fragrances is part of the fun.
- Exchanges or returns. Unfortunately, most perfume subscriptions don't let you return any fragrances that aren't quite to your liking (although there is one very popular retailer that lets you make up to five exchanges per year). You should probably get comfortable with the idea that you might not love everything you get as you try new perfumes.
To help you sample all of the most classic and newly-released fragrances, TopConsumerReviews.com has evaluated and ranked today's most popular perfume subscriptions. We're sure that you'll find a membership you love that will have you smelling like a million bucks - without having to go broke to get it!
Compare Perfume Subscriptions
Select any 2 Perfume Subscriptions to compare them head to head
Trending Perfume Subscription News
Related Perfume Subscription Reviews
Since you're interested in Perfume Subscriptions, here are some other reviews you might find interesting.
Newest Reviews
