Journal · Guides · 4 min
How to use a discovery set properly
Four fragrances, five blotters and one rule — never judge a fragrance in the first ten minutes. A three-day routine that finds the one you will actually wear.
A discovery set is the cheapest way to find a fragrance you will wear for years, but only if you give it time. Most people spray all four on their wrists in the first evening, smell a blur, and decide they like the one they tried first. Here is what works better.
Day one: paper only
Spray each fragrance once onto its own blotter and write the name on the end. Smell each one at five minutes, at an hour and before bed. Do not put anything on your skin yet. By the evening, one or two will have become more interesting and one or two will have gone flat. Put the flat ones aside.
Day two: skin, one at a time
Wear your favourite from day one on the inside of your wrist in the morning. Notice it at lunch and again at the end of the day. Skin is warmer than paper and changes every fragrance, sometimes a lot. If it still interests you at six o’clock, it is a real candidate.
Day three: the other wrist
Wear your second choice. By now you know what the first one did across a whole day, which is the only comparison that means anything.
Then decide
Your set comes with a code worth £22, the full price of the set, to use against any 50 ml bottle within a year. Most people know by the end of the week. Some come back in winter for a different one, which is also fine.
Quick answers
Can I try two fragrances at once?
On paper, yes — that is what the blotters are for. On skin, one per wrist at most, and never on the same patch of skin on the same day.
How much is left in a 2 ml spray?
About 25 sprays, which is enough for a week of wearing one fragrance or three days of comparing them all.
