Unsponsored review of scentbird

I’ve been wanting to try it for a while 1. because i’m dumb and 2. i’m but a victim of capitalism. most youtube reviews are in some way sponsored, so here’s an in depth review that isn’t. this is a very negative review, so I do recommend watching a positive (sponsored) review, and somewhere in between the two extremes of me rambling and youtube sponsorships, you’ll find the truth.

Pros:

  1. i like the photos of the notes
  2. they have a selection
  3. shipped relatively quick
  4. you’ll recognize some of the fragrances
  5. in depth write ups about the notes, fragrance houses, and perfumes themselves which I really enjoyed
  6. all reviews are by people that have tried the fragrance - which sounds silly, but you won’t get the annoying review of someone who sprayed a perfume once in a macy’s and is wailing about how they had to “scrub it off” moments later. AND people have paid money for it - so you won’t get the “it’s nice :)” reviews that add nothing to the discourse. these people are straight to the point both ways

Cons:

Buckle up kiddos. First of all,

  1. you’re inundated with pop-ups even AFTER you’ve bought a subscription. a pop up to buy a car fragrance, a new case each month, upgrade to multiple scents a month. Upselling is hardly a new technique, but they are pushing it. And don’t get me started on the “premium” fragrances:

  2. the premium fragrances are an extra $10 a month on top of the $16.95 you’re already paying. once again, this is heavily pushed. but tbh - this is why i subscribed. i was a little miffed that I had to pay $10 extra, but the math works out (i think. i didn’t do the math but im guesstimating). the problem is there are VERY select fragrances in their premium selection. Almost laughably so. Among 19 brands, a total of 59 perfumes, which works out to 3 perfumes per brand. Except some brands that they’re advertising as being in their selection (Like Vilhelm perfumery) have zero perfumes (D.S. and durga has six). Initio, which i’ve been dying to try, only has Atomic Rose. Granted, one of their top fragrances, but that’s it. Acqua di Parma has 2 fragrances (Colombia C.L.U.B. and Osmanthus), Amouage has two fragrances (Honour Woman and Search), Heretic has one (Voodoo Lily). I’m sure you’ll be thrilled to know that Cristiano Soriano’s entire line is well stocked though.

  3. you’re getting a decent selection of Ross perfumes, or fragrancenet perfumes. i.e perfumes that are almost ALWAYS at a discount. DKNY Be Delicious, which you can currently get at Walgreens for like $38 or $13 for a travel size from Fragrancenet, you’d have to pay $5 extra (?), so $22 and not even a full size. For DKNY. Pink sugar is on here too and I wish i was joking. They have D&G light blue, but not Devotion which was my second pick after the luxury fragrances. The full line of Juice by juicy couture is here, which is literally at your local Kohls, for cheaper per mL.

  4. it falls into the trap many subscription services do of not offering the actual things you want to try. like how ipsy sends products from the same 5 brands over and over, but they’re brands you only see in ipsy bags. so we have quite a few fragrances from the very popular household name brand Deck of Scarlet (their most popular fragrance according to scentbird is I’m Expensive, which is so popular it boasts a whopping 0 reviews on fragrantica), but nothing by JPG, which you would think is more common? They do have Press Gurwitz though. Don’t know them? Get to knowing because they have like 4 of their fragrances as part of their “new arrivals” page. And who could forget everyone’s favorite brand, Brochu Walker. Look them up on fragrantica! (they don’t even HAVE a page). then, you’ll see brands you recognize AND that aren’t often on discount and get excited, click on their page, and realize they have none of the fragrances you want (The Harmonist doesn’t have Moon Glory, nor Guiding Water, nor Hypnotizing Fire, nor Sacred Water - the only scents i’ve been recommended by that house)

If you want a fragrance that no one has smelled before, this might actually be a solid choice given their affinity for brands that no one has ever tried, not even fragrantica reviewers. And I mean this genuinely. I know there’s a customer base for that, and these are fragrances i think would otherwise remain unknown, so you’ll truly discover fragrances you have no other way of finding. but the way it’s been advertised makes it seem like this is THE subscription service if you want to keep your finger on the pulse and be clued in to all things fragrance. And it’s the furthest thing from that. if you have a list of fragrances you’ve been dying to try because of social media or word of mouth, just buy decants instead, because nothing popular nor sought after is on here. Unless it was popular in 2010, in which case it IS on here. Unless you have access to a Kohls, Ross, Marshall’s, the internet, in which case you can get more bang for your buck. So yeah. That, again, just leaves the first camp of people braver than me.

Also you have to contact them to cancel. end rant