Statements vs. Reviews

I wish the content on this site was arranged more equitably. I get that some people don`t like to read overly long reviews and prefer statements. I personally would like to read what someone who`s put the time and thought into expressing their feelings about a perfume has to say in a review. I get really disappointed and discouraged every time I have to scroll through a bunch of statements to get to the stuff I really want to read, reviews! Isn`t there a better page layout that can situate the reviews and statements side by side? 

Thank you for considering this, Parfumo admins. Have a nice day!

I understand your frustration! If you click on the reviews section on top of every perfume page it takes you straight to the reviews, so you don't have to scroll. I wish they used a different font/color or highlighted it because you can't really tell that those are the links that take you to reviews, photos or statements. At first I thought it was just for statistics.

Thanks, yeah, I hadn`t realized that. Still, it does need to be highlighted in some way so that the function can be more easily understood.

The German site still has the reviews on top, only the English version changed for some reason. I prefer to see the reviews first, too. Wish Parfumo would change it back.

I think it`s really hard to write well, in a short and concise manner that conveys something extra or interesting about the perfume. I often find the information in Statements kind of lacking, in the sense that there's hardly anything of substance there that I can`t find just by looking at the notes or rankings. Statements like "It has jasmine." "I love it." "It`s sweet." Okay, but please elaborate on that a bit. Otherwise, why not just rank and vote for the notes? 

I agree with you all : reviews are more interesting than statements.

One thing I would really appreciate though is that people giving a bad rate should have the obligation to leave at least a statement. I mean it's OK to hate a perfume, really, even a popular one. But the less we can do is explaining why we dislike it.

I believe people should be free to express their feelings and thoughts on a perfume the way they want in statements. 

Hell, there isn't even enough room in statements to give a proper elaboration, there is a limit on the amount of characters you can write out. Honestly I prefer short to the point statements over lengthy reviews that tell a lot but don't actually say anything. 

Personally, I am not interested in which feelings and childhood memories a perfume evokes in you but sure, if that floats your boat, then write a review. If short and to the point ( or jab at / tease of a fragrance) is your thing, do a statement.

Maybe we all have different views on what we would like to read and with both statements and reviews there is something for all.

As for the structuring of the page, I do agree. Reviews on top, statements at the bottom.

not entirely relevant to the topic, but I wish statements could be slightly longer. sometimes I don't have quite enough to say for a review, but the statement character limit is a bit too short. 

I know what you mean about reviews that are too long and often hard to read or relate to. Yes, writing is an art and it`s hard to find the balance between conciseness and eloquence. I would want to be able to write a little and convey all I want to say, but I find that incredibly challenging. I realize perfumes are a very personal experience, but to help me choose and understand if I should buy one or not, knowing why the reviewer likes or hates it, how it performs, and such details are way more helpful than an overly short positive or negative statement. 

I like to read both of them and I understand that people have different kind of skills to write in an informative way. I think everyone should think “does this statement give some valuable information”. I mean only telling if the scent is good or bad doesn’t help anyone. At least there should be a reason for that. 

Personally I write a statement if the perfume is not my style at all and I try to focus on the reason why it’s not.  Or I write a statement about some perfume which I love a lot and in that case I will write a review later. And the third case: I like the perfume but I’m not going to buy a bottle. I agree that the space of statement is so short that sometimes it’s very difficult to describe the scent in the way I wanted to. That’s why I may write a review even if I only have a sample. If so, I have worn it properly and in the most cases 3-5 times in the different kind of weather and mood.

Personally I don’t like that kind of statements at all where someone is telling “this scent is half like the perfume X and half like a perfume Y”. What does it tell to me? Nothing. First of all I should know both of those scents, and secondly I should know how the writer has experienced those two scents. If the experience of those two scents differs a lot of how I would feel about them the statement is totally misleading and therefore useless.

Some people seem to write statements in based of first impressions and if so, it should be mentioned but there is no space for that. The first impression is not so informative since it can be totally different than the opinion after few full wearings.

In the end, whatever is the style of the statement or the review, the reader gets the most out of it by knowing the style of the writer and/or the writer’s level of the knowledge even if the experience of the perfume is a subjective thing.

I find statements very useful for quickly deciding how interested I am in smelling something (e.g., adding it to my watchlist). A lot of the reviews on Parfumo are...well, overly florid and not super practical in determining whether I will like something. I totally get perfumes having ~vibes~ and all, but I would prefer to read those types of reviews at my leisure and not have to wade through them to get to the more immediately useful information. It doesn't make much sense to me to put more in-depth info on top of succinct info, personally. One review takes up the same space as 2 or more statements, and only (up to) 10 statements are displayed by default, so you don't really need to scroll that much.

Yeah, in theory, I agree, but in practice... Most of the statements I come across don`t give me anything much beyond what I can glean from the pyramid of notes. I kind of don`t see the point of most of them.

I want to add that, reviews or statements, I always enjoy a mean and funny comment, even it's about a perfume I love. 

Some of you are very talented at being mean AND funny. 🤣

Agree to disagree. I still think statements about notes can offer new information. For example, if everyone mentions a particular note then I know it's going to be dominant player, which will likely influence my level of interest depending on my opinion of the note. Another example would be the execution of a note, like the leaves vs the fruit vs the flower or cold vs warm incense.

Oh, sorry! My comments are about the perfume, not the person who wears it. And they`re limited by my own perception and body chemistry. There are perfumes that smell amazing on my sister, but on me, they're a disaster. Hence, I could never be mad at someone hating a personal favorite.

No need to be sorry @Raluko111! I am 100 % face value, I am truly always enjoying a funny comment.