Out of all the beauty products out there, fragrance is my favourite. Perfume is powerful. It acts as an olfactory vehicle to transport us to a place, to a treasured memory, or to simply shift our mood on days we want to feel a certain way. Which is why I’ve started collecting fragrances and building out a perfume wardrobe. When I’m asked about my favourite scent, I say that I can’t commit to a signature perfume because it totally depends on my mood, the season and where I’m going on any given day.
However, buying perfume—especially from luxury fragrance houses—can quickly become expensive. Which is why I love perfume discovery sets to try lots of different scents without breaking the bank or having buyer’s remorse. Unless you live near to a good fragrance hall or boutique that stocks niche brands, trying new scents isn’t always easy and blind-buying a fragrance online is risky. Thankfully, many brands now offer discovery sets or travel sets that allow you to test a couple of scents without committing to the cost of a full size bottle.
One of the most-loved fragrance brands, Diptyque, offers two different types of discovery sets for its fragrances, which makes trying it’s chic perfumes much easier on your bank balance. Scroll head for everything you need to know.
Diptyque Discovery Set: Pre-Composed
(Image credit: @eleanorvousden for Who What Wear UK)
Diptyque Paris
Set of 5 Eaux De Toilette – Pre-Composed
The first discovery set contains five 7.5ml eau de toilettes that come pre-composed, so that you can experience some of Diptyue’s best scents. As I’m indecisive, this is the set I opted for, which contains classics I’ve tried before like Philoskyos and Do Son, as well as Eau Rose Ombre Dans L’Eau and Eau De Sens.
The scents come housed in a chic box covered in the brand’s iconic oval label motifs—which comes inside a Diptyque pouch—and inside there is also a smaller pouch for you to store your favourite perfume in your bag. The small and nimble vials make them ideal for travelling, easily slotting into your carry-on bag or for top-ups on the go when out and about.
In the pre-composed set you get:
Philoskykos: With it’s take on the fig tree (which includes the bark, leaves and the creamy fruit) this is one of the brand’s most-iconic scents. Ideal if you like woody scents with a hint of creamy fruit.
Do Son: If you like white florals, you’ll adore this. Inspired by Halong Bay in Vietnam, this floral scent centres around creamy tuberose, orange blossom and jasmine carried by a sea breeze.
Eau Rose: I’ve seen Rosie Huntington-Whiteley post this perfume on her Instagram, so you know it’s a good rose scent. Think voluptuous rose petals with a twist of green, as well as some unexpected notes in form of artichoke, chamomile and lychee.
Ombre Dans L’Eau: If you love Diptyque’s Baies candle, then you’ll like this fruity-floral a lot. It’s inspired by the scent of picking blackberries and roses, and smells like a riverside daydream underneath a canopy of willow trees on a summer’s day.
Eau De Sens: A celebration of the orange tree, with bitter orange, creamy orange blossom, green leaves and a twist of orange zest, combined with angelica root, patchouli and juniper berry.
This discovery set contains Diptyque’s best floral and fruity scents, so it’s great option if you want to add these to your collection or are buying for someone who prefers fruity and floral perfumes. If you’d rather have a mix of fragrance families, the ‘to compose- discovery set below is your best bet for choosing a range of scents.
Diptyque Discovery Set: To Compose
Diptyque Paris
Set of 5 Eaux De Toilette – To Compose
This discovery set allows you to build your own wardrobe of fragrances, and you can choose between ten 7.5ml vials to mix and match to your preferences.
In addition to the five classic scents in the composed discovery set, you can also choose between:
L’Eau Papier: If you’re a musk lover, this is a must-try IMO. Imagine the cleanness of a grained sheet of artisanal paper combined with blonde woods, musk and a sweet vapour of rice steam. It’s clean, smooth and slightly sweet. It’s a compliment-generator for sure.
Tam Dao: This one was based on the velvety, milky scent of sandalwood burned in temples among the holy forests of Indochina, and the addition of myrtle and cypress give it fresh twist.
34 Boulevard Saint-Germain: One of Diptyque’s more niche fragrances, this centres around rose, creamy sandalwood, sweet vanilla, spicy pink peppercorn and warming amber.
Eau Duelle: Perhaps the chicest take on vanilla, this scent is totally delicious. Bourbon vanilla from Madagascar unfurls into woody calamus and smoky cypriol. It’s a sugary scent with substance.
Vetyverio: This one is a celebration of Haitian and Java vetiver, a note which has so many facets. It’s woody, fresh, smoky and guranteed to make you smell amazing.
I’d go for this fragrance discovery set if you want to try a few different fragrance families and pick and choose some of Diptyque’s lesser-known scents and its bestsellers.
Scroll ahead for more fragrance discovery sets I love.
Shop More Perfume Discovery Sets:
Commodity
Exploration Kit
Commodity is one of my favourite fragrance brands of late (read my full commodity review here) for it’s unique approach to fragrance projection. Each scent comes in Personal, Bold and Expressive, depending on how far you’d like your fragrance to float around you, whether you prefer it stay close to the skin or fill the room when you walk into it. My favourite is Milk Expressive, a lactonic scent that melts into a creamy vanilla on the skin—heaven.
Byredo
Discovery Set Nomade
Byredo perfumes are amongst our favourites, and this discovery kit allows you to try brand icons such as Bal d’Afrique and Gypsy Water as well as the clean-smelling Blanche, dark academia Bibliotheque, ethereal Mojave Ghost and rosy Rose Of No Man’s Land. In the four weeks after purchasing, the set is redeemable against any 50ml or 100ml bottle, so you can buy a full bottle of your favourite.
Maison Francis Kurkdjian
Fragrance Wardrobe Discovery Collection
We all know Baccarat Rouyge 540, but Maison Francis Kurkdijian has so many incredible fragrances to discover, which you can try in this set. 724 and Grand Soir are two of my favourites from this discovery kit.
Frederic Malle
Discovery Set
Every fashion person has a Frederic Malle perfume on their dressing table, and this discovery set includes 12 of the brand’s best scents for you to experiment with, from the icons Portrait Of A Lady and Musc Ravageur to Carnal Flower and French Lover.
Kilian
Mini Discovery Set Icons
Kilian is loved by many a celebrity—both Rihanna and Beyonce count themselves as fans— and this set allows you to try their favourites: Love, Don’t Be Shy and Angels Share. Kilian’s scents are bound to have people chasing your down the road to ask what perfume you’re wearing.
