• From: USA
  • Registered: 2010-10-15
  • Posts: 1,653

Topic: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

Pretty self-explanatory, right?

When I first began blind-buying, I gave one popular house FIVE TRIES before I finally wised up. These days I mostly order samples or minis first, but even now, I'll only give a house one or two chances to redeem itself to me.  glad

How about you? At what point do you give up and kick a house to the curb?

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light!" "(And) always smell as nice as possible."  (From prologue of Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins)
  • From: The Gothic South
  • Registered: 2011-03-08
  • Posts: 413

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

If you count samples, I'm probably at ten (BPAL). If you're talking full bottle, then my vote is ONE. For instance, I blind bought Givenchy Pi, and I will NEVER buy anything from that house again.

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  • From: USA
  • Registered: 2010-10-15
  • Posts: 1,653

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

SilverFire wrote:

If you count samples, I'm probably at ten (BPAL). If you're talking full bottle, then my vote is ONE. For instance, I blind bought Givenchy Pi, and I will NEVER buy anything from that house again.

I'm not familiar with much of the men's Givenchy, but it so happens I love exactly one Givenchy for women (Amarige Mariage) but nothing else they make is my cup of tea. You'd think at least one other Givenchy would float my boat, but no!!!  lol

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light!" "(And) always smell as nice as possible."  (From prologue of Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins)
  • From: Europe
  • Registered: 2010-10-21
  • Posts: 3,640

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

Well, blind buying...never tongue

Testing and samples...I had tried almost all the main Guerlains before finding the one that I love.

'Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we might win, by fearing to attempt.' William Shakespeare
  • Registered: 2011-05-16
  • Posts: 1,433

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

I'm not sure how to vote. My blind buying is tightly regulated.  superglad But unless a perfume house follows a particular line with all their scents, I wouldn't dismiss them over one or even a few dislikes. For example, Dior has a wide range of scent types. I dislike a few but like and love more, different from each other at that.

"Did I miss something? Are we girls now? ... Are we bonded together by estrogen or sisterhood or some other feminist drivel?" Pam,True Blood
  • From: Canada
  • Registered: 2009-01-30
  • Posts: 2,370

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

I voted at least 3 tries, but it actually depends on how many I want from the house to begin with, as well as how many they have available.

A long time ago, there used to be many that I wanted to own from Lalique. But this house has failed to impress me on every single perfume I've either tried or own from them, so I am deeming it a 'useless house' for me. Btw, for reference, I own 4 of their perfumes, and have smelt 14 of them. That's more than a fair chance, I think.

  • From: Central Coast of California
  • Registered: 2012-01-22
  • Posts: 1,491

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

I am taming my blind buying habit thank goodness. I was about to blind buy a Caron, when some common sense and advice from you Fragranticans knocked on my brain and told me to buy some samples first. I'm so glad I did. Out of 5 samples ordered, I found only one that I loved. The others were complete stinkers on me. Even in the dry down they were awful on my skin.

On full bottles, I'd blind buy something once and if it was a disaster, I'd be reluctant to try that house again without a sample of something first.

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for." Georgia O'Keefe
  • From: Daytona Beach, Florida
  • Registered: 2012-02-06
  • Posts: 547

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

DresdenDoll wrote:

Well, blind buying...never  tongue

Testing and samples...I had tried almost all the main Guerlains before finding the one that I love.

+1

Every day I die again and again I'm reborn.
  • Registered: 2010-01-07
  • Posts: 1,331

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

I just don't buy full bottles blind, so  I voted "none". I've done so a few times in the past, and learned my lesson; from any house, let alone several blind buys from one. It would take only one wrong blind buy from a house to never do it again. Honestly, I'd probably be bitter enough to even second guess purchasing samples from a particular house- if I had wasted money on a full bottle.

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  • Hammy01
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  • From: Lawrence, KS
  • Registered: 2012-06-19
  • Posts: 403

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

SilverFire wrote:

If you count samples, I'm probably at ten (BPAL). If you're talking full bottle, then my vote is ONE. For instance, I blind bought Givenchy Pi, and I will NEVER buy anything from that house again.



Have you tried anything other than PI from Givenchy? If Pi is all you have tried then you may be missing out on some pretty good fragrances. I have PI and I like it but it does not compare to Play Intense... they are on completely different levels.

Of course what smells good to me you may hate so in the end you may not be missing out on much.... but Play Intense is so good, very much worth a sample glad.

Brightening my day one spray at a time :).
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  • Hammy01
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  • From: Lawrence, KS
  • Registered: 2012-06-19
  • Posts: 403

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

I voted one for blind buying but I am open to trying / sampling everything a house has to offer. Even if the first 10 I sample may be bad the eleventh one may be the golden goose!

Brightening my day one spray at a time :).
  • From: Oregon, USA
  • Registered: 2012-02-19
  • Posts: 1,979

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

I think you gotta give it a few tries, because you might be going for the wrong line of perfumes or something. For instance, I LOVE all Britney Spears Fantasy and flanker frags as well as Curious in Control, but I hate all the others. If I had tried Curious, Radiance, and Believe first, I would have shunned all her perfumes forever. Luckily I got to the Fantasy's first and they are AMAZING. I say at least try one in each range before you totally shun a house.

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  • Registered: 2012-07-12
  • Posts: 177

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

This is a tough one to say because often times in designer perfumes, a house isn't usually bad: instead a perfumer or concept is bad. When it comes to Givenchy for instance, I really dislike over half of their offerings but the ones I do like, I love! Glad to have not given up on them! Exceptions: some houses have chosen to reformulate and ruin everything in their line. Those I give up on immediately!



On the other hand niche, I find, is more consistent within a house, as often the same perfumer is used over and over. If I try about three scents from a niche firm and truly hate them all, I'll usually give up on that firm, for better or worse (this is for decants and samples--I would never blind-buy niche, oh the $$$ that would be!).

"Dreams unwind/love's a state of mind."
  • From: Tennessee
  • Registered: 2011-05-18
  • Posts: 4,625

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

I voted for two. I can't find anything I like from Gucci or Givenchy so I don't have anything from those houses. If I do blind buy, I make sure that I can send it back or exchange it for something else if it doesn't work. At least that way I'm not out much money.

"Don't break anybody's heart, they only have one. Break their bones, they have 206." -Anonymous
  • From: Alabama
  • Registered: 2012-04-07
  • Posts: 1,252

Re: POLL: How many bad blind-buys from one house before you shun them?

Three and I have become leery of Calvin Klein. There must be some of his perfumes I will like. I haven't seen any deals that are irresistable so far. I do find a couple of them interesting, but I hesitate to buy them so far.

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