Expensive or Cheap Perfumes: How to Tell the Difference

If your budget doesn't allow for higher priced perfumes, discover how to tell the difference between expensive and cheap perfumes.

Everyone loves to smell good. But how can you smell really good, like three-levels-of-scent-notes good? And will people be able to tell the difference?

If you've ever wondered what the difference was between expensive and cheap perfumes, this article is for you. We'll walk you through price levels, scent notes, and more, and we'll even give you some tips on how to smell expensive while saving money.

When it comes down to it, only you can decide what kind of perfume smells best to you. But when you're wondering whether the cost of high-end perfumes could be worth it, we're here to help:

What Do We Mean By 'Cheap Perfumes'?

Perfumes are on the more expensive side of beauty products. You might think a £40 perfume shouldn't count as cheap, but you should see some of the prices on the more expensive ones.

In this article, a 'cheap perfume' will be in a price range of anywhere from £20-40 for a bottle. Of course, if you wanted to get an even cheaper perfume, you could get one for less than that range. But here, we're going to focus on perfumes that are cheaper than some of the luxury brands, but that are still pretty high, or at least standard, in quality.

And 'Expensive Perfumes'?

If you're going for the super-pricey options, you could be looking at thousands of pounds for a single bottle of perfume. And some of the higher-end perfumes in our collection will go for over £100 for a 50-millilitre bottle. Our selection has discounts on every item, but when you're thinking about quality and a certain product's place in the market, you should think about its original price.

These perfumes are often branded as luxury perfumes, and they're directed toward an audience looking for the best of the best.

Levels of Scent

An expensive perfume won't have just one level of scent. It'll likely have three layers: the top notes, middle notes (or 'heart notes'), and base notes. You might recognize this layering system from things like coffee and wine tasting.

But which layers are most important? Most people would say the top or middle notes. If not the most important, these are at least the most noticeable.

This means that a cheaper imitation of an expensive perfume will often take the top notes of that scent without worrying so much about the middle notes and base notes. Or they might focus on the middle notes without the top and base layers. The general impression of the resulting scent will be similar to the expensive version, but there could be a difference in depth.

How to Notice the Levels

Wondering how to tell whether a perfume has these three levels of scent or not? Well, you'll need to approach this much like a coffee or wine taster. You might not notice each level at first, but concentration will go a long way.

Here are some things to look—or smell!—out for:

1. Timing

The notes tell us how long each of the scents will stick around.

Top notes give us the first impression of a perfume, but they'll evaporate before the other notes. Middle notes are the next to appear. And base notes don't show up until a while after wearing the perfume, but they can stay for several hours.

If you're just going by the first whiff, what you're smelling are likely the top notes. See if there's a change about 30 seconds later. If there is, you've moved into the mixture of top notes and middle notes.

2. Scent Family

Top notes are the lightest oils of the bunch, and they'll likely be citrus or light floral scents. Middle notes usually go heavier on the florals, and for the base notes, you can expect some woodsy scents. When you're trying out a new perfume, take a look at the scents listed and see if you can pick out which are the top, middle, and base notes.

Practice makes perfect, so the more you try understanding levels of scent in the world around you, the better able you'll be to detect the depth of a perfume.

Type of Scent

Cheaper perfumes often come in sweet flavours, while more expensive perfumes have more complex, not-so-sweet varieties. There's no definitive answer on why this is, but we can speculate a few.

Some people say that cheaper perfumes are targeted toward younger people who might have less money to spend on their beauty products. Supposedly, these same people tend to be more interested in sweet scents, so perfume companies target that market.

This might be true, but we think there's also something else at play here. More expensive perfumes need to prove why they come with the high price tag. In order to display how out-of-the-ordinary they are, they may go for the perfumes with less mainstream-seeming scents.

There's also the exploration factor in perfume design. Perfume innovators working for high-end brands might have more freedom to explore than they would working for a cheaper brand. They don't need to focus so much on widespread appeal, just super-precise targeted appeal.

Durability

An expensive perfume might have more lasting power than a cheap one. Part of this could be due to the levels of scent notes in a more expensive perfume, but it could also just be the components involved in the product—we'll get to that last point later.

If you need a perfume that can last all day, you might be interested in a more expensive perfume. But we're here to say this isn't your only option. You can just as well keep a less-expensive perfume with you and re-apply in the middle of the day.

The choice is up to you, of course, but you'll likely be able to get larger quantities of a cheaper perfume to begin with. This way, you can feel freer to re-apply without worrying about how much is left in the bottle.

Components

Cheaper perfumes tend to use ingredients that are cheaper to source—hence the lowered price for the consumer. Sometimes, this means that the perfume ends up smelling sweeter since sweet components can be cheaper than others. This adds to the list of possible reasons why a cheaper perfume might smell sweet.

The ingredients list also gives us more insight into why cheaper perfumes might forgo the base notes. In general, these deep, often woodsy notes are more costly to get and produce than the top and middle notes. Since these aren't the main part of the action anyway, many cheap perfumes will go without base notes at all.

Expensive perfumes might use ingredients that are rare and difficult to source, like Bulgarian rose or orris. These components might come from specific regions or from flowers that only bloom for a short time every year.

Can You Really Tell the Difference?

Here's the important question. Can people really tell the difference between a cheap perfume and an expensive one? There are lots of things that set them apart, but will you be able to notice, and will the people around you notice?

The answer to that question depends on what you're looking for. It also depends on what kind of setting you expect to be in and whether the people there will be expecting you to wear a high-end perfume.

If you're looking for your perfect signature scent—one that combines an intricate harmony of notes to tell your story—the value of the perfume might not be whether the average person notices the high quality or not. It might be more personal, and in this case, a more expensive perfume could be worth it.

In the end, only you can decide whether the scent levels, components, and durability make a difference to you. If not, you'll likely have just as pleasant an experience with a cheaper perfume.

How to Get Expensive Quality on a Budget

There are a few reasons why you would want to opt for a cheaper perfume. Maybe you don't have the budget, or you'd like to try different kinds of scents before making a big purchase. But getting a cheaper perfume doesn't mean you need to settle for noticeably lower quality.

One way to find expensive-smelling perfumes at a low price is to try out a variety of options and discern which perfumes have the true depth and durability you're looking for. If you can get samples from the store, try them on and see how the scent holds up and changes throughout the day. This way, you can look for the 'expensive' qualities in the price range you need.

A simpler way is to get the high-end perfumes at a discount. You could wait for sales and scour the internet for coupons. Or, if you don't have the time for that, you could shop at a place that does the saving for you.

No Matter the Price Point, We Can Help You Smell Great

Here at PerfumePrice, we have a wide selection of gorgeous scents, all at a discount to the consumer. If you have a particular scent or brand you love, see if we have it in stock on our website. If so, you could be saving a great deal of money by shopping through us.

From cheap perfumes to luxury brands, we have it all—and at a price you can feel good about. For any questions regarding our perfumes and what might work best for you, leave us a note today!