As you might have noticed, for the past month I have been posting interviews of some wonderful, talented perfume bloggers. Each of these interviews contained the same question: “What is your favorite place to shop for perfume?” Their answers resulted in this list, a globe-spanning guide to perfume bloggers’ favorite perfume shopping haunts. Please share your favorite spots for perfume shopping in the comments!
New York City
- Bergdorf Goodman (Recommended by Eyeliner on A Cat)
- Henri Bendel (Recommended by The Non-Blonde)
- MiN NY (Recommended by The Non-Blonde)
- Aedes de Venustas (Recommended by Bois de Jasmin)
Portland
- The Perfume House (Recommended by Angela of Now Smell This)
San Francisco
- Barneys (Recommended by Another Perfume Blog and Undina’s Looking Glass)
- Harrods (Recommended by The Candy Perfume Boy and Fragrant Reviews)
- Roja Dove Counter at Harrods (Recommended by Cologne Show)
- Guerlain Counter (Recommended by Fragrant Reviews)
- Selfridges (Recommended by The Candy Perfume Boy and Cologne Show)
- Harvey Nichols (Recommended by The Candy Perfume Boy)
- Liberty (Recommended by The Candy Perfume Boy, Cologne Show, and Fragrant Reviews)
- Les Senteurs (Recommended by The Candy Perfume Boy, Cologne Show, and Fragrant Reviews)
Athens
- Tonic Essentials (Recommended by Memory of Scent)
Amsterdam
- Skins (Recommended by Memory of Scent)
Rome
- Profumeria Cherry (Recommended by Memory of Scent)
Melbourne
- Myer Bourke Street (Recommended by Girl With The Curious Nose)
National Chains
- Nordstrom (Recommended by Another Perfume Blog and Undina’s Looking Glass)
- Sephora (Recommended by Bois de Jasmin)
- TJ Maxx (Recommended by Bois de Jasmin)
Online Stores
- The Perfumed Court (Recommended by Bois de Jasmin, The French Exit, and Girl With The Curious Nose)
- LuckyScent (Recommended by Bois de Jasmin, Eyeliner on a Cat, and The Non-Blonde)
- Beauty Habit (Recommended by The Non-Blonde)
- Parfum1 (Recommended by The Non-Blonde)
- Cheap Smells (Recommended by Cologne Show)
- Ebay (Recommended by Bonkers About Perfume and Cologne Show)
While we’re at it, I thought that I would share my favorite perfume shopping spots!
- Bergdorf Goodman. Bergdorf Goodman is my favorite place in the world to shop. It is an oasis of calm in the often frantic New York City. Bergdorf’s fragrance department, which includes Amouage, By Kilian, JAR Perfumes, and a full Guerlain boutique, is unrivaled in the United States.
- Lush. Lush really gets it. The tagline for their perfume ads is: “Forget the marketing, the beautiful people, and the bottle: THE PERFUME IS THE POINT”. Not only does Lush make consistently interesting and unusual fragrances, but they also offer perfumista-friendly small sizes ($15 for 9 ml), solid perfumes, and extremely reasonably priced sample sets.
- Parfums de France Tyson’s Corner. This tiny shop has some niche goodies (the entire Piguet line, Creed, Bond), but it is mostly notable for its impressive collection of discontinued, vintage, or difficult-to-find perfumes. On my last visit I spotted some Guerlain Après l’Ondée, Guerlain Meteorites, Yohji Yamamoto, and some older Balenciagas and Patous.
- Merci. This Parisian charity shop is unbelievably cute. It’s run by Marie-France Cohen, the late Annick Goutal’s sister (Jews! Stop anglicizing your names!) Merci sells designer clothing, jewelry, furniture, and (of course) perfume, including several Annick Goutal scents for 40% off the normal price. In the basement is a second-hand bookstore and a vegetarian cafe. 100% of profits go to a foundation for impoverished children in Madagascar.
- Anthropologie*. Anthropologie is the last word in fauxhemian boho chic, and while I don’t care for their clothes (too flowy) I am powerless against their charming home decor items. Anthropologie has also seriously stepped up their perfume game in the past few years. They carry such niche lines as Ineke and Histoires de Parfum (for which they have sampler sets), Lostmarc’h and Strange Invisible Perfumes. Anthropologie also has exclusive perfume collaborations with Le Labo and Ineke. I just bought a bottle of Annick Goutal Un Matin d’Orage there for $18!
*I was wary of including this one, as readers had warned me that Anthropologie supported anti-gay organizations. However, after doing research, all I could find was that the founder of Anthropologie had donated to the campaign of conservative presidential candidate Rick Santorum. There are many non-homophobic reasons why someone might donate to a conservative politician’s campaign, so Anthropologie stays for now.
Likewise, Parfums de France & and I also love Art with Flowers at Tyson’s Galleria. I’ve noticed that I’ll much more readily buy perfume locally even if I can get it cheaper online because I’m an instant gratification kind of lady when it comes to perfume.
Amen, amen. That’s one of the reasons that I don’t care for online shopping- it just doesn’t seem as fun as going to a store and trying things on!
90% of what perfume I buy, I do so on a whim. Like the other week when I randomly bought a bottle of Lady Vengeance which has now become my fiance’s favourite perfume. I’m not terribly surprised though, considering he really likes Midnight Poison — though I often do not — and they both have that whole rose + patchouli thing going for them. Admittedly, I find LV to do it better.
T K Maxx / T J Maxx is a good one, though in my part of the world its selection has got a lot worse of late – lots of Iceberg and Kylie and Elizabeth Arden. It also seems a lot more expensive than I remember when I first started furiously collecting in 2008. My finest T K Maxx moment still has to be snagging a bottle of Cuir de Lancome for £30, even if the top was terminally wobbly (which was probably why it fetched up there in the first place…)
My local TJ Maxx is growing less impressive too. Cuir de Lancome is a great find! It’s always in my cart on Parfum1, where it is only $30.
Like some commenters above, I check local discounters like TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, etc- although I agree that the quality of selection seems to be going down in those places and I don’t know what that’s about.
I do a lot of department store shopping – Macy’s and Dillard’s if I have to (big Macy’s loyalist as I used to work there). I live very close to Neiman’s which is nice, but honestly the Austin Neiman’s doesn’t have the greatest selection in my view. I think our Saks actually has a better selection in some regards. The downtown Anthropologie has a ton of perfumes. Nordstrom’s is good but I hardly get there because it’s far from my house.
As far as local Austin stores, there’s Enchante and Atelier 1105. Luxe Apothetique has a few things. I have never been to the Lush in Austin but evidently there is one (meep). I also recently read about a boutique on S. Lamar that’s carrying some things that sound interesting, and I need to go check that out. I suspect there are a fair number of clothing boutiques that may be secretly carrying perfume…
This all leads me to a question, though:
I’m traveling to Indianapolis and Chicago for Christmas. Any shopping recs? I want to check out Barney’s in Chicago if I can since I can’t access that in Austin. Any local shops in either city that are a must-see?
Susan, I’ve never been to Chicago, but I hope that someone else can answer your question!
Parfums de France now also has a large selection of Montale! You’re welcome. 😉
Thank you! 🙂 Excellent news! I have never tried any of the Montales.
If you love incense, spices and oud, you are in for a real treat!
Umm, incense, spices and oud is my middle name! Arielle IncenseSpicesandOud Weinberg.
I have been to literally 2 of the stores listed, haha. That’s what I get for living in the boondocks. One day, when I move to a town that actually has a department store, I’ll be in there every weekend trying perfumes.
By the way, I got my sample in the mail yesterday, along with your note (your Andy Warhol stationary is fantastic). I am in the throes of a cold, so my nose is out of commission, but I look forward to testing it out. Thanks again!
Selina, I’m so happy to hear that the sample reached you safely! I actually bought that stationary just for my perfume mail 🙂 I hope that you feel better soon, please let me know what you think of the sample once you can smell again!
oooh Ari, Congrats! you lucky girl… as far as I know, Montale is another unavailable in whole Spain.
I also enjoy more buying perfume locally, although lately it’s by far more expensive.. 😦
My favorite perfume shops in Barcelona are:
REGIA, Passeig de Gràcia, 39
Interesting things they carry: Serge Lutens, Amouage, Biehl parfumkunstwerke, Byredo, Houbigant, Isabey, Floris, Yardleys, Penhaligon’s, some Czech & Speak, Creed, Comptoir Sud Pacifique, Etro, L’Artisan, Carner Barcelona, Clive Christian, Lalique, Molecule, Boadicea, Tom Ford Private Collection, Annick Goutal, Robert Piguet, Acqua di Parma, and the only place where you can find Maître Parfumeur et Gantier.
LA COMERCIAL, C/ Rec, 77
3 little shops side by side
Interesting things they carry: Histoires des Parfums (New!), The Different Company, Rancé, Paul Smith, Lorenzo Villoresi Man, Comme des Garçons, Diptyque, Miller Harris, L’Artisan, Acqua de Biella, Juliette Has a Gun, Miller & Bertaux, Reminiscence, Eau d’Italie, Acqua di Genova, Etro, Costes, DelRae.
JC APOTECARI http://www.jcapotecari.com/ carry just a few perfume brands: Atelier Parfums, Diptyque, Eau d’Italie, L’Artisan, Hierbas de Ibiza and Carner Barcelona.
Santa Maria Novella has a shop in C/Espaseria, 4-8, where you can find all their product line.
The only place where I could find the whole Fréderic Malle line in exclusive has been closed short time ago. 😦
THE VANITY (inside the multi-storey Bulevard Rosa in Passeig de Gràcia) carry just another few brands: Puredistance, Atelier Flou, Les Parfums de Rosine, Masakï Matsushïma and Acqua di Stresa. But I’m not sure about the future of this shop, last time I was there they were having a sale (70% discount) of brands they also had been carrying until now, like Aqaba, Il Profvmo and Teo Cabanel… 😦
Lately since I’m obsessed with the 80′-90′ Era fragrances, I’m enjoying specially in the perfumery sections of El Corte Inglés (the largest retailer multi-storey store) where sometimes you may find some little gem rather hard to find. Caron, Coty, Grés, Ted Lapidus, Fabergé, Salvador Dali… or some interesting ‘secondary’ brands. Last time I saw Casmir by Chopard which I think it’s hard to get in regular stores now.
Chanel Exclusive Line only available at Chanel store of course… but No Dior shop in BCN, only in Madrid.
No Montale No Bond n9 trace in the whole city (neither in whole Spain)
Thank you so much for this list! Now I have the excuse to go to Barcelona that I always wanted! I’ve heard that it is so beautiful, but my Spanish is not much good anymore… I would have to brush up first!
I’m going out for Christmas holiday weekend, so I’m signing off and wishing you all a merry Christmas / happy Hanukkah! I wish you all the best and your holiday be filled with joy: full of cats and family and nice writing cards and meals and gourmand desserts and ginger almond cookies and good scented very special moments!!
I’ll be back on next week… muaks muaks!
Merry Christmas to you too! We will miss you, come back soon!
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