Fragrance Shop Discovery Club 2015 Reviews

The subscription box market is saturated with beauty and cosmetic product samples, but The Fragrance Shop’s Discovery Club offers a valuable and straightforward concept: every quarter, subscribers receive eight new fragrance samples that are designed with the upcoming season in mind. I was enticed by this box because I have long given up on the pursuit of pinpointing what particular perfume notes suit me. The Discovery Club presents a manageable offering of the season’s new releases, removing the tedious chore of separating the wheat from the chaff.

In addition to the eight samples, every box includes a sheet of vouchers that can be redeemed against a full size edition of your preferred scent at The Fragrance Shop (and the rest can be gifted to any perfume aficionado in your life). The vouchers range from a value of £5 to £10 and can offer tremendous value if you do settle on one of the fragrances. These can be used towards in-store or online purchases.

Finally, the Discovery Box is accompanied with a pull-out booklet containing an overview of each sample, giving a useful description of the inspiration behind the fragrance and the specific notes that it exemplifies. This is useful because it allows subscribers to identify the particular bouquet characteristics that they find attractive.

Given its cost, which is £5 a quarter, The Discovery Box also won’t break the bank.

The Summer 2015 Discovery Club Unboxed:

Discovery Club Booklet
Seven vouchers for £5 off full sized edition of each scent
One voucher for £10 off the full sized edition of Solo Loewe Cedro EDT
Eight samples in total: four for women and four for men.

The samples included:

For Women:

Dolce & Gabbana: Light Blue Sunset in Salina (EDT) (2.0 ml/ 0.06 fl. oz.)
Givenchy: Dahlia Divin (EDT) (1.0 ml/ 0.03 fl. oz.)
Hugo Boss: Boss Ma Vie (EDP) (1.5 ml/ 0.05 fl. oz.)
007 for Women (EDP) (2.0 ml/ 0.06 fl. oz.)

For Men:

Loewe: Solo Loewe Cedro (EDT) (2.0 ml/ 0.07 fl. oz.)
Prada: Luna Rossa Sport (EDT) (1.5 ml/ 0.05 fl. oz.)
Dolce & Gabbana: Intense (EDP) (2.0 ml/ 0.06 fl. oz.)
Paco Rabanne: 1 Million Cologne (EDT) (1.5 ml/ 0.05 fl. oz.)

I wasn’t expecting the box to include samples for both women and men’s fragrances; thankfully, my boyfriend was willing to take the men’s selection off my hands. This was the first occasion where we could both enjoy the contents of a subscription box and this added the unexpected dimension of mutual discovery!

The samples come in compact vials and in sparing portions. From my perspective, this is ideal to carry in your purse or gym bag for freshening up during the day, but there is only enough in a vial for a few sparse applications. Given the price point for the box, I felt that the size of the samples was adequate, especially for the intended purpose of merely testing a fragrance.

I got a few days’ wear of the Dolce & Gabbana fragrance- I am a fan of Light Blue, which is a breezy and sweet scent that is office appropriate- and this summer edition immediately piqued my interest. It’s a nice alternative to the original scent and provided a springboard into wearing something entirely unfamiliar.

Both the Givenchy and Hugo Boss fragrances are also very pleasing to my nose as they are floral and feminine scents, but the 007 eau de parfum is described as being more complex with spicy and musky notes. Despite this, I was astonished at how light and milky it was with a lingering vanilla finish. I habitually avoid celebrity-endorsed fragrances and would have completely disregarded a fragrance branded as ‘007’, but this sample has challenged my prejudices. While the scent is perhaps not as complex as it professes to be, it is effortlessly wearable during the day.

The Discovery Box is ideal for those who struggle to select a fragrance or need to pull themselves out of an aroma rut; it is affordable and leaves the experts to compile a variety of samples together from an inundation of new releases. The only shortcoming of this box is the lack of option to customise its contents. This would be valuable for individuals who are already heavy perfume users and connoisseurs. Specifically, there is no ‘his’ and ‘her’ box to allow subscribers to opt for exclusively women’s or men’s fragrances instead of receiving a mixture of both.

If you love fragrance, then you’ll love the Fragrance Shop’s Discovery Club.
This exciting club allows you to explore the very latest fragrance launches from the comfort of your own home. For just £5 per quarter, each edition comes with fragrance samples vials inside for you to try, details on each of the fragrances included, as well as discount vouchers so you can make some big savings on all the scents featured if you purchase them full size.