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.