Sample so bad it turned you off of the house?

Have you ever received a sample and tried it but it was so “not you” or bad or whatever that you just lose all desire to explore within that fragrance house again? 

I have two.

I really can’t see myself trying anything from Mancera after Red Tobacco (and I love tobacco notes) and Viktor & Rolf for the body odor scent of Spicebomb Extreme. 

It’s not far but I can’t help it. Maybe someday I will, but right now I just have zero desire. 

Red Tobacco is really good past the absolute horrible top notes, such a shame for me. 

Spicebomb Extreme without cumin would be something I love. 

I know both have their fans and am glad a lot of people like these scents, however. 

I probably won't pass judgment on a house after one bad experience but after 2 or 3, I stop caring about new releases and I lose interest in their existing catalog.

It's unfortunate though, since there might be a diamond in the rough that you miss out on. For example, I don't really care for anything by D.S. & Durga other than Amber Kiso and I might have missed out on that one if I had gotten my sample set earlier.

Mancera is a weird brand. Their catalog is so bloated and full of mediocrity that people miss out on great scents like Black Gold. I hated Red Tobacco as well.

I feel like with lower-tier designers like Viktor & Rolf (as opposed to the "higher tier" of Chanel, Dior, Guerlain, etc), I only like 1 out of 10 or 20 releases so I might just spray something on at the store just to see if it's one of those hidden gems. Like I hadn't tried a Burberry I really liked until Hero Parfum Intense, and I had tried the other Hero flankers, London for Men Eau de Toilette, Brit for Him Eau de Toilette, etc.

Varens Sweet - Coco Soleil . i'm not one to turn my nose up at affordable fragrances purely because they're affordable, and i was really looking forward to trying Varens for Men Ambre Coca since i've heard a few times that it's a really enjoyable cola scent. however, coco soleil was so bad, it is PURE astringent white florals with almost no coconut whatsoever. the smell is so bad, i would not be surprised if i saw this in a dollar store. i think i will not be trying ambre coca now, which is sad, ive been dying for a good cola fragrance

Probably CK One Eau de Toilette and Calvin Klein Women Eau de Parfum . I have sampled both and they both start up well enough but then turn into this sort of heavy and soapy accord, that has turned me away from the other offerings from them

Juliette has a gun and Hermetica are both absolutely vile so far. The 3-4 samples I've tried from both made me feel like these are brands betting on people who don't have noses.

I've said it once and I'll say it again..... Mr. Pink . I haven't sampled anything else from the house since.

When I tried Layton I was sure I would never do anything from PDM. It was the second worst fragrance Ive ever smelled. I’m probably not picking up the iso e super which would fill in the blends thus leaving only the edges and not the body.

First was Terre d'Hermès Eau Très Fraîche oh my gosh that was truly horrible.

We all have different receptors in our noses so there’s so much variance person to person on what is being smelled

This. I wouldn't judge the whole house based on one bad sample only because who knows if I have just had bad luck and got a sample of their worst fragrance and will enjoy the others. However if I keep testing and several others are bad too, then I will definitely lose my interest to the house. For me for example Narciso Rodriguez and Chanel are houses like this - I have tested several fragrances from both houses but not enjoyed anything too much so far. So I'm not too interested in testing more because seems that those houses just aren't for me.

This is funny because for me Calvin Klein is one of the best houses ever but Calvin Klein Women Eau de Parfum is my least favourite fragrance from them 😅 I love CK One Eau de Toilette though and don't find it soapy or heavy at all, however it's quite complex and has probably differences in different formulations too so might be that some other formulation smells different than my bottles. However I think Calvin Klein is a very versatile house with tons of different styles of perfumes so I'm quite sure they would have something for almost everybody. They are absolutely amazing quality for the price IMO.

Yes, Montale/Mancera and Costume National.

Honey Aoud is the most disgusting perfume I've ever tried, or even smelled.

Black Gold and Xplicit Vanilla were hurtful. Though I liked Aoud Blue Notes, so I'm not gonna try anything else from Mancera and Montale on purpose but I'm not totally done with them I guess. One more bad sample and I'm definitely done however.

Soul and Homme Parfum are the only ones I tried from Costume National, and I can't even describe what I smell and why it's so bad to me. Sad cause I'm sure it's a really interesting brand.

That review. It more than made my morning. 😂

Wild Pears and Boss Bottled Eau de Toilette. Vietnam flashbacks flavored in the worst possible ways, both of them.

I had a sample-set from Maison Crivelli and I absolutely didn't like the scents: To me they felt like 'new money', too 'obviously there'.  

I was also disappointed by Maison Violet for almost opposite reasons: I found the scents very fleeting, no sillage and not interesting. 

Ofcourse I haven't tried all from these houses and maybe it doesn't make sense to avoid them, but it makes me reluctant to try something from these houses for now. 

This is Xerjoff for me. I've sampled both 40 Knots and Cruz del Sur II and literally hated both - immediate scrubbers. Lira - ok, but the hype around it is so intense, I expected my mind to be blown... it wasn't.

Summer Hammer

Pax

smelled okay at first but turned rancid and lasts forever

Byredo

First attempt: Bal d'Afrique Eau de Parfum

Second attempt: Blanche Eau de Parfum

No. Never. Again.

Bortnikoff Scheherazade & Sayat Nova, both so faint as to be indetectable after just a couple of minutes.  Admittedly my decants were from ScentSplit, but I have not had any issue with faked or diluted decants from them before.  I am only very vaguely interested in testing more Bortnikoff, but only from partials, and only at a price so low only a saint would offer it to me.  There are just too many other houses that have blown me away from the jump.

Nishane. Wulong Cha and Sultan Vetiver killed my nose to the degree that I wasn't really hyped to sample the rest of the box. 

Panda (2014) I know many people love them - and I'm sure I'll try them again at some point - but this one was so nauseating I've avoided this house ever since.

Same here, but with Afrika-Olifant I don't need my perfume to last three days 😄

I got a discovery set from Galimard along with a perfume making kit. The perfume making kit is really fun, but the samples were all atrocious to me. I am totally turned off from Galimard fragrances.

Same. I have sampled Casamorati - Lira Eau de Parfum , Accento and Symphonium . Xerjoff is just not my brand. I have expected more, to be honest.

And I’ve tested two fragrances by PDM, Delina La Rosée and Althaïr and even though two or three samples might not “speak” for the whole brand, but their style is not what I like. It doesn’t mean they are bad, it’s just not for me at all.

Spring Flower (2023). I don't quite understand the Creed hype in general, but when testing the men's selection – I was willing to chalk it off as "good house, just doesn't fit my personal taste". But the quality of feminine selection felt outright disrespectful, and human shit forward composition of Spring Flower was the final cherry on top of it.

I’ve tried several times with Essential Parfums. I like the concept, the price point, and the noses they hire. I’ve sniffed Orange x Santal , Patchouli Mania , and Rose Magnetic, and was not excited.

I see why people like Bois Impérial Eau de Parfum but other fragrances hit these notes far better. I sampled Velvet Iris recently and had high hopes based on descriptions. I found it so overwhelmingly sweet and synthetic, I scrubbed and tossed—which is rare to do both. That ended any and all interest I have in the house unfortunately.

I had a similar experience with Matiere Premier sadly. Radical Rose Eau de Parfum was an early love then I sampled Crystal Saffron Eau de Parfum and it’s just obnoxiously strong for me. It unnecessarily overwhelms every other sample in the drawer and I’ve lost all curiosity about the brand.

Pistachio which to me reeked of patchouli, a note I do not love, turned me off the house. Zero pistachio in there for me. I was genuinely surprised when I liked Coriander Eau de Parfum recently 😅

Recieved Ex Vetiver and never wanted to smell anything from them after that.