Olfactif is a monthly perfume sampling subscription. Every month, you’ll receive a curated collection of three niche fragrances (2.25 mL for most, occasionally 1.75 mL) by perfume artists from around the world. You will also receive an $18 credit towards a full-sized purchase of one of the month’s featured fragrances.
Olfactif offers a unisex collection and recently began offering a men’s collection as well. This is a review of the unisex collection.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this subscription box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: Olfactif
The Cost: $18
COUPON: Receive 15% off your first collection by joining their mailing list - no coupon needed, just link here for a pop-up!
The Products: Three 2.25 mL sample spray bottles from three fragrance artists from around the world.
Ships to: US
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Each Olfactif collection comes with a card offering instructions on how to try out the fragrances. This month there was also information on the new box style as well as the monthly fragrance theme and a few bits of information on the fragrances.
Anyway, there’s a new box style this month (no more sliding stuff out). You can remove the fragrance insert (see below) and reuse the box for other purposes. I think these are easier to open, as well.
It’s important to note that fragrances may smell different when you wear them than when you spray them on a card or piece of paper. They may also smell different on different people due to individual body chemistries.
Also, the fragrances develop and change over time, with different notes becoming prominent. “Top” notes form your initial impression but evaporate within a few minutes, so you may still love a fragrance even if you are not fond of the top notes. “Middle” or “heart” notes emerge after you’ve been wearing the fragrance for a few minutes up to an hour. “Base” notes are large, heavy molecules that persist for a long time. They are often richer than the top or middle notes, although they may contribute to how you perceive the top and middle notes due to their interactions with the other fragrance components.
The collection also included an information card about this month’s theme and the notes in the individual fragrances that were sent. This month’s theme was “Acts of Devotion.”
Goddess of Love and Perfume by 4160 Tuesdays – This has notes of plum, peach, strawberry, blackcurrant, raspberry, grapefruit, yuzu, oakmoss, opoponax, bergamot, patchouli, rose, jasmine, lily of the valley, vanilla, and vintage musks. Oddly, perhaps, I did not find this to start out either as fruity or floral (it was more musky to me), but it definitely developed into something fruity over time.
Midnight in the Palace Garden by 4160 Tuesdays – I think this was my favorite of the bunch this month. It has notes of blood orange, frangipani, jasmine, neroli, vanilla, coffee, cedarwood, and sandalwood. I think the vanilla and sandalwood were calling to me. I also felt this one changed the least over time.
Maxed Out by 4160 Tuesdays – This has notes of rum, coconut, lime, tobacco, coffee, cannabis essential oil (!), vintage musks, vanilla, cumin, and Atlas cedar. This one smelled a bit fruity at first but I really didn’t care for it at all after an hour or so. It’s weird, because normally musk, vanilla, lime, tobacco, and coconut are winners for me, and I didn’t notice the cannabis at all (at least, it didn’t smell like I was standing next to someone’s weed cloud at a concert). I think the cumin is what didn’t work for me. It stood out more and more over time and cumin is not something I really want to wear in a fragrance.
Verdict: This was an interesting month for me from Olfactif. I can see how these fragrances are all summery, and all of them had some notes I’m fond of, but not every blend worked for me. But that’s the fun of this subscription – you get to try niche fragrances that you’d likely never be exposed to, otherwise. And I did like Midnight in the Palace Garden quite a lot.
What do you think of the June 2016 Olfactif collection? What was your favorite fragrance this month?
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