How To Choose The Best Perfume Subscription Brand
Avid perfume users know the dread that comes with reaching the last few drops of a bottle of your favorite perfume. Maybe you’ll be able to replace it. Most of the time, though, you’ll head to the store and find the scent you painstakingly picked out has been discontinued or reformulated. Maybe you fell in love with a limited edition and didn’t even know it.
If you’ve known the heartache of having to unexpectedly choose a new signature scent, or if you’re just the opposite and love changing it up, it’s time to start exploring the world of the best perfume subscription boxes.
Just like any other subscription service, a perfume subscription service allows customers to get the goods on a recurring basis for a monthly or annual fee. Some feature legacy brands while others trade in indie perfumers. Some send samples, others send full-size bottles based on your feedback, while others let you choose. Some are even focused exclusively on home scents.
Perfume subscriptions have been rapidly growing and gaining attention since 2019. Media sources, including Brides, Byrdie, WWD, and Editorialist, have made lists of the top perfume subscription boxes.
10 Best Perfume Subscription Brands
This review researched the market, checked out beauty media’s faves, and listened to what perfume fans are raving about, to put together our own picks for the 10 best perfume subscription brands.
Our winners? NEST New York, LUXSB, Twisted Lily, Perfume Surprise, The Fragrance Club, Scent Box, Scent Trunk, Skylar Scent Club, Perfume.com, and Scentbird.
If you want to shake up your scent life, keep reading. We’ll introduce you to every brand on our list, and provide some useful information about the history and origin of the company, their mission, their products, and all of their unique selling points.
1. NEST New York
Laura Slatkin began the NEST empire with the 2008 launch of NEST Fragrances, a collection of scented candles. The launch proved to be an enormous success, which then prompted the industrious Slatkin to expand into NEST Fine Fragrances, a collection of eau de parfums, five years later.
Known for their internationally inspired florals, NEST expanded again in 2019 with the launch of a fragranced body care collection, which includes scented lotions, cleansers, and more.
NEST NY now sells collections of home scents, including diffusers, candles, and sprays, their eau de parfums, perfume oils, body products, and more.
As of right now, the brand only ships to locations within the US, free of charge on orders $100+. The site has a store locator where you can see all of the major retailers across North America that stock NEST products.
NEST’s subscription service is unique on our list because it’s focused on their iconic home scents. Choose between their Classic Candle Box or their Classic Candle & Reed Diffuser Box, and each month, the brand will send you a new scent.
Some of the selections you could get include NESTS NY’s best-selling Grapefruit, a green citrus paired with lily of the valley, or their brand new Blue Cypress & Snow, a crisp, wintery collab with photographer Gray Malin.
To initiate a purchase, visit the ‘Gifts’ navigation tab on NEST’s site and select NEST NY Monthly Subscription Box service.
Choose between the Classic Candle Box or the Classic Candle & Reed Diffuser Box, subscribe to the 3 ($40/$86), 6 ($39/$84), or 12-month ($38/$82) service, then wait for your products to arrive in the allotted time.
2. LUXSB (Luxury Scent Box)
Founded by a pair of sisters passionate about perfume, LUXSB went national in 2016, and has since been helping customers all over the US find and embrace their signature scents.
Leila and Lindsey Zagwolsky began their foray into the world of fragrance by opening their intimate fragrance boutique, OC Perfumes, in Santa Ana, California. Their customer base grew and the sisters decided it was time to go big or go home with a nation-wide brand.
The LUXSB Subscription Service allows subscribers to choose an ample amount of the fragrance they love most from a line of over 500 designer or unique scents. They have women’s and men’s fragrances you can buy for yourself or send as gifts.
This brand lets you sift through their available fragrances, from Amouage to Tom Ford, and purchase a one-month supply of a scent of your choice. The scent you choose is delivered to you in a 150-spray atomizer, starting at $16 per month. At 0.30 oz per bottle, LUSXB has one of the largest samplers of any service.
If you like what you smell, you can also purchase a full-size version directly through their site. LUXSB also allows you to upgrade your membership for access to even more unique scents.
The brand only ships within the US, free of charge on all orders with no minimum spending requirement, and you can cancel your membership any time.
After becoming a member, you can choose whether you want a membership of 3 ($45), 6 ($90), or 12 ($165) months. You can also send a membership to a friend, which can be sent in a bottle with a personalized message to make the recipient smile even wider.
3. Twisted Lily
Eric Weiser and Stamatis Birsimijoglou founded Twisted Lily, an internationally renowned indie fragrance company, in 2013. 7 years later, Europerfumes, a niche perfume distributor, bought the company and ships their selection of boutique scents internationally from their fulfilment center located in New Jersey.
On the Twisted Lily site, you’ll find products in the categories of fragrance, home fragrance, beauty, grooming, and gifts.
They stock high-end lines almost impossible to find in retail stores, like Abel, Carner Barcelona, The House of Oud, Xerjoff, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, and many more.
Customers love Twisted Lily, with most scents rated 5 out of 5 stars by buyers on the site, averaged out from 1317 reviews.
When it comes to fragrances, Twisted Lily is pleased to offer both individual bottles and discovery sets that come stocked with sample sizes of various scents.
Twisted Lily is what the subscription industry calls an On Demand service – selling sampler and discovery kits for a one-time purchase price, to encourage either regular trying or sample first, purchase later buying. It’s great for perfume enthusiasts who like the idea of trying new things, but are wary of a recurring subscription.
Twisted Lily sells a changing assortment of curated sets built around individual perfume lines, their bestsellers, themes, and new launches. We especially love their Monthly Launches sampler pack, which costs $30 and includes a selection of fragrances landing in the boutique that month.
The discovery sets range in price between $30-$400, whereas the fragrances can cost anywhere between $30-$1000+. The large range in price is due to the fact that the site offers different size options and brands.
4. Perfume Surprise
This is the first service on our list that offers both luxury fragrances and jewelry in their monthly boxes.
Saffira Issa founded the company after noticing that she shared an issue with many women she knew: They’d keep buying full-size bottles of expensive perfumes that just sat and collected dust when they grew out of them or became disinterested.
The solution was to offer US customers a tailored monthly box that came packed with 5 sample-sized (2.5 ml) spray bottles of high-quality designer fragrances and a gorgeous jewelry set based around that month’s theme.
Perfume Surprise is focused on selections from beloved faves, like Hanae Mori, Versace, and Jo Malone. Based on previous sets, fans of bright, feminine, and fruit-forward fragrances will find a lot to love about this brand.
However, subscriptions aren’t all the site sells. Perfume Surprise also offers customers the ability to buy cute, giftable jewelry and charms, and even larger sample sizes of some of their fragrances (which come bottled in colorful tubes) individually. The brand is also growing into on demand sampler boxes and men’s fragrances.
When you choose to subscribe, you can select a 1-month subscription for $25, a 3-month subscription for $68, or a 6-month subscription for $125.
All of Perfume Surprise’s options ship for free. You can cancel your subscription any time you’d like by logging into your account and clicking ‘Cancel Subscription.’
5. The Fragrance Club
The Fragrance Club operates on the tenet that no matter what situation you’re in, you want to be ready for anything – and that means being prepared with a portable scent on-hand to refresh and liven up your vibe.
They base each month’s selections on a few changing fragrances from classic brands inspired by the season, with one new fragrance featured every month. Subscribers then pick 3 samples of what they’d like to try, and The Fragrance Club handles the rest.
There isn’t much information available about The Fragrance Club’s history or company workings, but we did find that the current owner of the brand is Joseph Keastead. Unfortunately, the company’s FAQs page is blank for the most part, but by digging, we found that the brand only ships within the US, seemingly free of charge.
On the site, you can browse through a catalogue of luxury scents, which include names like Versace, Coach, Jimmy Choo, Bvlgari, Polo, and Burberry, among many others. We love how Fragrance Club takes some of the overwhelm out of making decisions – just choose a few seasonal fragrances, enjoy them, and move on to what’s next.
Men and women can benefit from their subscription services, which offer monthly ($15), bi-monthly ($18), and yearly ($150) subscription options for both perfumes and colognes.
When you click on the service frequency you’d like, you will be prompted to select 3 different perfumes, then you will be led to the checkout, where you will see your total.
6. Scent Box
Southern California-based brothers Craig and Les Dualba launched Scent Box in 2016. The brothers wanted to create a subscription service that would provide customers with a way to sample several unique designer scents.
Scent Box is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, and it ships within the US free of charge. They’re strictly a recurring subscription service, where you can pick a sample of your choice from nearly 1,000 options and get it delivered to your door every month.
You can even choose from a selection of scented candles, body mists, and room sprays.
Related: Check out our full Scentbox Subscription Review to learn more.
Scentbox packages their perfumes in 0.27 oz 125-spray atomizers. Fragrances vary broadly, from Diptyque, to Hollister, to Dior, to a number of celebrity scents.
Subscribers have the choice of selecting one or two fragrances per month. If you opt for one, then you can choose between a standard service ($15/month), which gives you access to over 500 designer fragrances, or a premium service ($20/month), which gives you access to over 800 designer fragrances, plus 275 premium fragrances.
If you choose two scents a month, you can choose between a deluxe service for $25/month or an ultra premium service for $33/month. The same restrictions apply for the two-choice-per-month options and the one-choice-per-month options.
7. Scent Trunk
Scent Trunk was founded in 2015 by Queen’s University grads William Yin and Richard Smale. The friends noticed how much perfume companies overcharged for their products and how little interest there was in offering customers bespoke scents, so they were inspired to offer a service that would allow customers an affordable opportunity to explore unique fragrances.
Now based in the US, the company ships internationally and is home to a long list of talented perfumers making original scent blends. On the site, you can shop for original fragrances in a variety of sizes, or purchase mix-and-match scents, and palettes full of sample size bottles of unique and intoxicating fragrances.
Original scents can be traditional, like Neroli and Magnolia. Or, they can be olfactory experiences like Celestial Gala, with marine, mint, and milk notes, Beeswax, and Hemlock. You can search by their fascinating list of notes – think carrot, mezcal, and pennyroyal.
Scent Trunk also lets you create a truly signature scent from their DIY Bespoke collection. These scents can be worn alone or together to create your own blends out of evocative base tones like Bavarian Woods and Speakeasy Herbal.
All perfumes start at $16 with sets pricing around $24. The site is currently revamping its membership program, so stay tuned!
8. Skylar Scent Club
Cat Chen founded Skylar in 2017 after nursing her daughter back to health from allergies triggered by her own everyday fragrance. This stressful and scary experience inspired her to launch her own line of refreshing scents that are cruelty-free, hypoallergenic, and suitable for all skin types.
The brand has been featured in media sources such as Allure, Byrdie, Who What Wear, Forbes, InStyle, and more. LA-based Skylar Scent Club ships to the US for free on orders over $50, and ships internationally to Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and France.
Skylar’s scents reflect their clean beauty approach, with nature-inspired blends like Pink Canyon (grapefruit, pink salt, and cedar), and Fall Cashmere (cinnamon, roasted almond, and ginger).
On the site, you can shop for fragrances, candles, discovery sets, merchandise, gifts, and more. They also offer a Discovery Set, with five mini fragrances for $25. Skylar also features a number of discounted bundles.
Skylar’s Scent Club sends shoppers a monthly rollerball for $20. Skylar allows you to either choose a roller-ball featured on the site or opt for the brand’s limited-edition monthly scent.
Every month you will be sent an email that lets you cancel, swap, or skip this month’s box, or even add more perfumes to your purchase. When you become a member, you also receive 20% off other Skylar products.
9. Perfume.com Subscription Box
It is incredibly hard to find any details about the founding history of the brand, but what we can tell you is that it was launched in 1995 and is based in the US. The massive platform stocks fragrances from brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, Bvlgari, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry, Guerlain, Versace, and many more.
On Perfume.com’s site, you can shop from the platform’s extensive line of women’s and men’s fragrances, or you can sift through their wide selection of gift sets. The site lets you navigate through their massive stock via scent family, season, and brand name.
If you join the Perfume.com subscription service, you will receive a monthly shipment of a men’s or a women’s fragrance of your choosing that comes bottled in an atomizer with a capacity of 0.27 oz, good for 120 sprays.
Perfume.com’s selection leans classic, with all major perfumers like Thierry Mugler, Burberry and D&G well represented. Since there’s so much crossover with major retailers like Sephora and Nordstrom, Perfume.com is a great resource for trying before you buy.
The perfectly priced $10/month order renews automatically, and you can cancel it anytime you like. Perfume.com also gives you the option to choose a surprise bestseller, which is a great way to discover exciting scents you may never have tried for yourself.
Shipping is free on all of your deliveries for the duration of the program. Perfume.com ships internationally and is free for US orders over $44.
10. Scentbird
Mariya Nurislamova, Sergey Gusev, and Andrei Rebrov founded Scentbird in 2013. The New York-based brand was created to help customers move away from the practice of buying expensive fragrances that would sit unused.
In their own words, Scentbird lets you “date luxury perfumes before marrying them.”
Scentbird is a monthly subscription-only service, with a substantial catalogue of scents, from indies to big designer brands. They categorize their scents by mood and aesthetic, making it easy to browse the scents that really resonate with you.
Related: View our Scentbird Subscription Review for a full analysis.
For just $16/month, customers in the US and Canada can pick a scent from the site’s extensive line of best sellers, which comes bottled in a stylish and subtle refillable 8 mL tube, which holds approximately 140 sprays.
There is also a great quiz that offers personalized recommendations whenever you need help navigating the choices or testing out an unfamiliar scent family.
The subscription contains no hidden fees and can be cancelled any time you please. They also have recurring sales of up to 25% off for new members throughout the year.
How Perfume Subscriptions Work
One of the greatest things about perfume subscription services is that they are, typically, customizable. You can tailor the service to suit you whether you want to choose your scent or leave it a surprise, and choose how often you’d like to have your perfume delivered.
Perfume subscriptions driven by choice have many ways of helping you narrow down what you’re looking for. You might want to stay far away from sweet scents or woodsy aromas, so many of our top 10 perfume subscriptions have quizzes or very detailed filtering options to ensure you’re getting the scents you want, and avoiding the notes you don’t
Services focused on discovery kits, recommendations, or surprise picks are perfect for the adventurous noses, or people who just aren’t sure what to choose. By leaving the choice up to the professionals, a perfume subscription is a great, low-cost and low-commitment way to explore and experiment with great scents you may never otherwise discover.
You can also tailor the service to deliver your perfumes whenever you feel you’ll need them. If you are an avid and heavy perfume user, you will want to opt for a shorter window of time between refills. If you are the type of person that only spritzes for special occasions, or likes to make a scent last, then you can opt for a larger window of time in between.
Some of the services even let you choose from body products and candles, so you can mix up your sensory experience, or even enjoy a scent-based subscription service even if you aren’t interested in wearable fragrances.
What Types Of Perfume Are There?
When you look deeper into the brands featured on our list of the 10 best perfume subscription brands, you’ll see words such as ‘parfum,’ ‘eau de parfum,’ and ‘eau de toilette.’ These are a few of the many types of fragrance products you can buy, and they can be confusing terms to even the biggest fragrance fans.
These names, or designations, are meant to indicate the level of fragrance concentration in each product, with ‘parfum’ topping the list as being the most concentrated.
Let’s break down each of the following, in order of intensity:
- Parfum
- Eau de Parfum
- Eau de Toilette
- Eau de Cologne
- Eau Fraiche
- Aftershave
- Mist
Parfum is also referred to as ‘extrait de parfum’ or ‘pure perfume.’ It has the highest concentration on the list, typically composed of anywhere between 20%-30% pure fragrance.
The benefits of using this type is that it lasts longer, between 6-8 hours, and it has the richest scent profile. Drawbacks are that it may irritate sensitive skin and leave quite a hole in your wallet. Pure perfume is typically best for nighttime wear or luxurious occasions, and a little goes a long way.
Then we have eau de parfum (EDP), which simply means ‘perfume water’ in French. EDP is a commonly-chosen type that typically has a concentration of 15%-20% fragrance.
EDP can last anywhere between 4-5 hours on the skin. It’s a bit better for sensitive users than its predecessor, although it contains a higher concentration of alcohol than pure perfume. It also carries a less intense price tag.
Arguably, the most popular type of perfume is eau de toilette (EDT), which has a fragrance concentration of between 5% and 15%.
EDT is much more affordable than the previous types, but the lower price comes at the cost of decreased longevity, as EDT lasts between 2-3 hours. The name comes from the French phrase ‘faire sa toilette,’ which translates to ‘to wash,’ meaning to get ready for the day.
You will typically see eau de cologne (EDC) in larger bottles in virtue of the fact that more of the product needs to be used each time. This is because it only lasts up to 2 hours on the skin in virtue of containing 2%-4% of fragrance concentration, so users are compelled to up the frequency of use. The good part about this is that EDC tends to be cheaper than the more highly-concentrated types of perfume.
Like EDC, eau fraiche or ‘fresh water’ lasts about 2 hours on the skin, but it has an even-lower fragrance concentration (1%-3%) and less alcohol in its formula. In eau fraiche, the fragrance is partnered with water. The scent resulting from such a combination is lighter and more suitable for daytime or locations that have restrictions on scented products.
Aftershave is a scented product applied to skin after shaving to help close the pores. It has an ultra-light fragrance concentration of up to 3% and a high alcohol content, which explains the stinging sensation felt upon application.
Aftershave is typically available in splash bottles, but it can come in the form of creams, gels, or lotions. The scent left behind from aftershave products typically lasts up to 1-2 hours.
Mists are refreshing and light fragrance products that are mostly water-based with a 1%-3% fragrance concentration. In virtue of having a low alcohol content, mists can be applied to porous surfaces such as hair without drying your locks out. The scent that comes from these products typically lasts up to 2 hours.
Things To Consider When Buying a Perfume Subscription
There are a handful of things you’ll want to consider when you are committing to a perfume subscription service:
- Variety: How many fragrances does the service stock? Are they independently manufactured/owned, or are they manufactured by other brands? Are the scents offered exclusively from a certain fragrance family, or do you have variety when it comes to scent profiles?
- Recurring or On Demand: Do you want a service that auto-renews and sends you something regularly, or do you want to make individual purchases and try things on your own schedule?
- Customization: Do you have the choice of picking your own fragrances and customizing your service, or is it a random selection? What are the customization options available to you?
- Brands: Is there a mixture of luxury and non-luxury brands included? Are the fragrances reputable? Are they name brands, indies, or something else entirely?
- Price: What is your budget? Some services offer fragrance subscriptions at higher prices than others for various reasons, so if you are on a budget, you will want to look for more affordable services.
- Warranty: Do you have security with your service? Can you be sure that if anything needs to be cancelled, you will be able to do so easily? Will you be covered if your package arrives damaged or defective?
- Returns: Does the service have a return policy? Especially when you’re dealing with fragile packaging, this can be important.
- Shipping: Does the service offer free shipping for every order? Just the first? How much does the service charge for shipping? Keep in mind that regular shipping fees add up.
- Extras: Do you just want perfume included in your service, or would you like some extras such as merchandise, home scents, body products, or even free samples?
- Fragrance: Are you a die-hard lover of highly-concentrated types like eau de parfum or eau de toilette, or do you like the lighter scents and vibes from mists, eau fraiche fragrances, or body sprays? Does the service offer enough of what you want to keep your subscription worthwhile?
Are Perfume Subscriptions Worth It?
Finally, we’ve arrived at the question that may have been in the back of your mind while navigating our list of the best perfume subscriptions: Are perfume subscriptions worth it?
While we can make an argument that there is something wonderful about all of our top 10 perfume subscription brands, deciding if a perfume service is worth it is, just like choosing a perfume, a totally personal decision
What we can do is give you some considerations that may help you make a decision:
- Price
- Who is the service for?
- Why would someone want this service?
- What does it offer?
Price
The price of a perfume subscription service depends on a few things, but these are the factors that can have the most influence over cost: the types of fragrance included, the ingredients in the fragrances offered, and the brands being offered.
As we’ve learned, an EDP or parfum product with stronger or more concentrated scent will typically have a higher price tag than a less concentrated type like a mist or cologne. This is solely because you’re getting more of the good stuff. If your subscription contains, or is wholly centered on, higher-concentrated products, it will probably cost more.
The ingredients contained within each fragrance may be sourced from somewhere far from the manufacturer, or they may be rare. These considerations will drive up the price of the perfume.
For instance, oud (a resin that is created when the Agar tree is infected with mold) and Bulgarian rose are two of the most expensive perfume ingredients in the world, and they’re used by a few of the perfumers on our list.
Brand is another factor that will add to the price tag of your perfume subscription service. If you opt for a service that provides you with luxurious perfumes, you’ll be paying more than you would if you opted for a subscription that sells casual fragrances. Many of the services in our best perfume subscriptions list offer you several options, both luxe and otherwise.
Who is the service for?
If you’re scent-sensitive or have allergies to any ingredients commonly found in perfume, then a perfume service needs to be researched carefully. Some don’t distinguish ‘clean’ perfumes, or focus on natural ingredients, while others don’t offer anything but.
You also want to make sure the brand has an interface you like using and offers scent profiles that appeal to you. If you’re not a fan of fruity perfumes, or if you strictly want to wear unisex offerings, make sure the company has enough of what you need.
Why would someone want this service?
Perfume subscriptions are great because they offer you a way to experiment with scent, make a smart decision before investing in expensive perfumes, and are a great way to buy small, affordable sizes of scents you like so you can take them on the go.
Perfume subscriptions also make great gifts! If you have someone on your list who loves scents, but you don’t want to get them something they won’t like or use, a subscription is a great way to buy a personal gift with no risk.
Even if you are buying for yourself, they are fun pick-me-ups. Who doesn’t love receiving packages in the mail?
What does the service offer?
At the very least, a subscription service will deliver your product to your door as often as you choose. But what else does it get you?
Does the service have a choice to buy full-size versions of the perfumes you try, or is there a chance you’ll fall in love with a scent you can’t find later? Are there any bonuses, like discounts, samples, or additional gifts that come with your scents?
If the perfume subscription you’re interested in checks all the boxes, we hope you’ll give one of our top 10 perfume subscription services a try. Finding a new scent can be daunting, but the best perfume subscriptions make it affordable and easy – no dusty bottles on the dresser, just the excitement of discovering what might be your perfect new scent.
Check out these curated lists for more top brands:
Best Sustainable Lingerie Brands
Best Swimwear Brands for Women
Best Lingerie Subscription Box
