Olfactif is a monthly perfume sampling subscription. Every month, you’ll receive a curated collection of three niche fragrances (2.5 mL for most, occasionally 1.75 mL) by perfume artists from around the world. You will also receive 20% off full-sized purchases of the month’s featured fragrances as well as 10% off other full-sized bottles and a la carte samples. Olfactif currently offers women’s and men’s collections.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
This review is of the Women's Collection, $20 a month, box.
About Olfactif
The Subscription Box: Olfactif
The Cost: $20 a month + free shipping. Save with 3, 6, and 12-month subscriptions.
The Products: Three 2.25 mL sample spray bottles from three fragrance artists from around the world.
Ships to: U.S.
Olfactif December 2017 “December Days” Review
Olfactif sends seasonally-inspired, niche fragrances. Let’s see what they’ve picked for December:
Each Olfactif collection comes with individual cards detailing the month’s theme and providing more information on the monthly selections. This month’s theme is “December Days.”
You’ll also get some testers to sample the fragrances before wearing them.
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.
Anemone by Blackbird – Buy 15 mL for $58
This one was probably my favorite for the month, although my impression of the scent is not what was listed among the notes: plum, pink lotus, champagne, honey, tobacco, ambergris, stryax, and labdanum. I was really getting something like cedar or otherwise woody out of this, and I can’t say why! Must be my body chemistry. At any rate, I am usually a fan of sweet scents (think honey) and tobacco notes in fragrances so this one was a win for me.
Noel au Balcon by Etat Libre d’Orange – Buy 50 mL for $90
Etat Libre d’Orange scents appear fairly regularly in Olfactif. This one was completely new to me. Notes included honey, tangerine, vanilla, cinnamon, red pepper, apricot, patchouli, and musk. This one was quite powdery, in my opinion. I guess it is the vanilla/patchouli combination. I am not normally a fan of powdery scents, but I was intrigued by some of the other notes, including tangerine, cinnamon, and musk (couldn’t really detect the red pepper and apricot on myself), and I think it worked overall.
O, Unknown! by Imaginary Authors – Buy 50 mL for $95
This fragrance is meant to be reminiscent of a journey through China, Nepal, and Tibet, and includes notes of black tea, lapsang souchong tincture, orris butter, Kyoto moss, musk balsam, and sandalwood. I love sandalwood-based fragrances in general, but I feel that the other notes were rather fleeting (at least on me) so this one didn’t have much in the way of sillage. I did like this one, but wish it packed a bigger punch, for lack of a better phrase. Perhaps I will wear a few extra sprays next time and see if that makes a difference.
Verdict: This was, overall, a good month for me from Olfactif. I did actually like all three scents, and I think they all worked for the season despite being quite different from one another. In general, the fall/winter months are better for me from Olfactif because I just tend to prefer fall and winter fragrances (when there are more woods and spices and fewer fruits and florals).
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, your first box would be January’s collection.
Coupon - Receive 50% off your first collection by joining their mailing list (it was a pop-up when I went to the site).
Value Breakdown: You are paying about $6.67 per vial if you subscribe on a month-to-month basis, but if you get a longer-term subscription, or regularly buy new fragrances, or use the 20% discount on featured fragrances and/or the 10% off on all other bottles, or you decided to take part in their referral/rewards program, you can gain quite a bit of added value.
Check out all of our Olfactif reviews and other great fragrance boxes in the Perfume Subscription Box Directory.
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What do you think of the December 2017 Olfactif collection? What was your favorite fragrance this month?
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