Did you know that just as there are fake designer wears, there are also fake perfumes? What makes it worse is that they abound in the market. And if you don’t know how to recognize original perfume, you’ll wind up buying something that won’t be a tad worth your money.
So, to be on the safe side? What do you do?
You guessed right. You have to be careful when you go perfume shopping lest you should buy what you’d regret. The best way to exert this carefulness is by learning the ways to recognize original perfume when buying. And no, you don’t have to spritz it to smell the fragrance. That’d be unnecessary especially if you’re yet to pay for it.
Instead, read this piece to the end. You’ll find tips on how to recognize original perfume right here. But if you don’t have the time, jump to your preferred section right away.
How to Recognize Original Perfume
If you spend a reasonable amount (or even a fortune) to get your perfumes, then they must be important to you. And for that reason, you must really be on the lookout for fake products. Some of them come with expensive price tags too, you know. And that means you can’t tell the authenticity by the price.
So. if you don’t want to spend money on a counterfeit product, let these tips guide your buying decision.
1. Research the Brand Beforehand
Unless you’re going to get just any perfume from the store, you should research the brand you have in mind.
You can visit their official website or social media pages to know what they have in stock and also see the price range. Also check for information about their packaging, bottles, and the placement of the bar code.
You can as well visit brick-and-mortar perfume stores to see for yourself what a particular brand looks like and compare it with what you find on the manufacturer’s pages.
Furthermore, when researching the brand of perfume you want to buy, you should also check to know its note. Is it supposed to have a single note or a complex scent? Figure that out and read the description of the scent before you head to the store.
2. Check the Appearance
An original perfume will come in a high-quality, smooth, and transparent bottle so you can tell its content. It won’t look rough or tampered with. Neither will the dispenser tube be curved or longer than the bottle.
Moreso, the cap of the bottle is usually tight to ensure nothing spills from it. This is because such perfumes usually go through a quality assurance test before they are sent into the world.
You should also check the wrapping and box of the bottle. Some authentic perfumes are neatly wrapped with tight cellophane to ensure no dirt touches the box made of superior quality paperboard.
So. if the wrapping of the perfume you’re about to buy is rough, loose, or has glue residue around it, drop it— it’s not original.
3. Be Sure of its Composition
An original composition isn’t made in a day. It takes as long as a year to make and this is because every little detail, including the minutest ingredient, is always taken into consideration.
And most of the time, these ingredients are never harmful to the skin. They are usually a combination of synthetic and natural ingredients, unlike fake perfumes which only use synthetic ingredients.
So, when you wear perfume and the scents don’t last long, know for sure you just got a fake product. If it also gives you an allergic reaction, there are no two ways about it. It’s fake.
To be sure its composition is authentic, check for pale colors in the bottle as most big brands use pale colors as the final result of their handiwork. But if the color looks darker than what you saw on the brand’s website, it could be fake.
4. Look at the Labelling
Look at the labeling to see its barcode, properties, batch number, serial number, traceability number, and every other number needed to verify its authenticity.
Also, read the inscriptions and compare them with what you found on the manufacturer’s website while doing your research. Do they dovetail with what the manufacturer says? Your answer must be yes, otherwise, let it pass.
There must be no spelling or grammatical errors and the bar code should be placed on the lowest back portion of the pack and not the sides. Anything other than that is a counterfeit.
So, check for clean packaging but don’t settle for that because some counterfeits can be put into the bottles of authentic perfume to deceive buyers.
That’s why you need the next point.
5. Smell It
Although this may be a difficult determinant, we still recommend that you do this. However, you have to be well-versed with scents to be able to spot a fake one.
The typical scent of an original perfume is complex. Most of the time, it comprises a top note, middle note, and base note. This complex scent is necessary to ensure that the perfume switches fragrance from the time you apply it on your skin to when your skin absorbs it.
For example, when you first spray, you smell the top note. Afterward, the middle notes come on before you finally smell the base notes. This only applies to authentic perfumes as they can last up to three hours or more whereas fake ones only have one fragrance layer and they never last long.
But there’s a clause to this: Sometimes, an original perfume may have a single note, and as such, you can’t use the layers alone to determine if it’s counterfeit or not.
So, to tell the authenticity of a single-note perfume, compare the scent with what’s on the manufacturer’s website. If it has a strange smell or doesn’t fit the description, don’t buy it.
6. Check the Price
Even though price is never an absolute indicator of quality, you should always check the price of any perfume you want to buy.
Is it too cheap for the brand? The safest way to answer that question is to use tip one by researching to get insight from the horse’s mouth.
If the price is unusually cheap, it may also be because the brand has some products on sale. But you wouldn’t know if you don’t visit the manufacturer’s website to do your research.
7. Buy from a Trusted Seller
To be on the safer side, only buy from reputable stores or vendors. If you aren’t sure about the seller’s reputation, don’t be scared to ask them questions such as the batch number, bar code, and other inscriptions on the box.
And if you’re buying online, check for reviews to have an idea of what other people think about the seller. You should also request their contact details and read their return policy to know what to expect after making payment.
In addition, check for good grammar as original perfume vendors would do everything to come out clean. And if they don’t have a return policy, request one.
This will back you up if you don’t like what you get after paying for the perfume.
Now that you know how to recognize original perfume, go ahead and shop for the band you want. But it doesn’t end there. You still have to learn how to apply perfume correctly so you can make a lasting impression on anyone you come across.
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