Olfactif is a monthly fragrance sampler subscription box that sends hard-to-find niche perfumes. Every month you’ll receive 3 samples, each of which contains 15-20 applications of an independently designed perfume. Olfactif is $20 a month, or sign up for a longer subscription for a discount – prepay for a year and the price drops to $15 a box!
Olfactif sends their scents in a black box with a magnetic closure. Classy.
Olfactif focuses on niche fragrances – unique scents produced with higher quality and harder-to-find ingredients than you would encounter in a department store. They offer both a unisex scent sampler (for women and adventurous men) and a men’s fragrance sampler with more masculine scents. You can check out our reviews of Olfactif Men here.
‘Tis the season of gifting and for those last-minute shoppers you can get a gift card for yourself and make someone smell good in return.
Opening my Olfactif box is like opening a special present: the presentation is simple and elegant. Olfactif recently made some changes. Member’s save 20% off of a full-sized monthly featured fragrance, 10% off all other full-sized fragrances, and 10% off all samples. Olfactif has also introduced a rewards program so you can earn points when you review your scents, refer a friend, or make a purchase.
I received three testers so I could spray the scent and get a feel for it, however, the scents almost always smell radically different on my skin than they do on paper!
There was a beautiful embossed envelope that had 4 cards inside. Each scent has a card that offers suggestions on how best to appreciate the fragrances. Since scents develop over time on the body, don’t assume your first experience will be your last! Spritz the fragrance on and smell it at different times to fully appreciate all that the artist intended to express through the scent.
The unisex theme this month was December Days. December is full of parties and other fun activities and a lot of them have scents associated with them. Hot apple cider, pine tree sap, a roaring fire, or baking spices are all around this time of year and I don’t mind keeping scents like those close to me all winter long.
The three scents chosen this month were all from the oriental scent family. The information card gives the scent notes of each perfume, but keep in mind that fragrances may smell completely different on everyone due to our unique chemistry.
Olfactif December 2017 Unisex December Days (all prices listed are for full bottles, available for purchase from Olfactif):
Anemone by Blackbird ($58) is an oriental floral with notes of plum, lotus, and ambergris. Upon first spraying I detected spicy notes, but I couldn’t single any one scent out. I thought it smelled like spiked eggnog! I never detected the ambergris note. After the top notes faded I was left with something sweet and cozy and always it stayed warm. Longevity was fairly short and it was mostly a skin scent.
Noel au Balcon by Etat Libre d’Orange ($90) is an oriental fragrance with notes of honey, tangerine, and apricot. It is a sweet cloud of honey and citrus right from the start but has a warm heart. A hint of spice, maybe licorice? It is sweet and spicy and perfect for those cloudy days when you want a burst of brightness without smelling too sweet. A stewed fruit compote, if you will. For a couple of hours it had some eau de skank but that finally faded away and the sweet notes lingered, and I believe that is exactly what the designer had in mind!
O, Unknown! by Imaginary Authors ($95) is an oriental woody scent and one of the few that I have immediately disliked upon application. It is supposed to have notes of black tea, iris, and sandalwood but it smelled strongly of plaster, powder, and something industrial. The notes eventually settled into something more wearable and warm and I liked it but according to my daughter I smelled manly. I know what wet tea leaves smell like and this is not it.
I love getting my monthly Olfactif and am always happy to find it in the mail! I change my fragrance daily and may match it to the weather, my outfit, or how I am feeling in the morning so this subscription is perfect for people who can’t commit to one fragrance or who are looking for something spectacular and out of the ordinary. This month’s scents were all very forward, and I have to say oriental fragrances are not ones that I would pick for myself, but they fit the theme well and are appropriate for the colder winter months when one might want to wear something bold and/or seductive.
Have you tried Olfactif yet? Let me know what you think of this subscription in the comments!
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