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Does Anyone Else Experience this with Diptyque?

I want to know if my nose is malfunctioning or if any of you have had this issue.

 

Let me preface, Diptyque is the only perfume house I've experienced this with, and it's only this one scent (as I know) - Philosykos EDT.

 

I have a Diptyque sample, the 50ml, and the 100ml of Philosykos EDT, both purchased from Nordstrom within the last 3 months.  The sample smells the same as the tester in the store.  But the actual product from both smells different than the tester and sample.  The 50ml and 100ml even smell different from each other.  I thought that it was because I was ovulating earlier this month, that my hormones affected my sense of smell, but after that hormonal shift passed, it's still smelling the same.

 

The sample and tester smell the best and what I want to smell like.  Unfortunately, the product itself doesn't have the coconut or fig creaminess nor does it develop the same, and is mostly cedar, fig leaf, and it almost smells sour on me. 

 

I contacted my Diptyque SA in Nordstrom, and she confirmed that the Diptyque testers are sent to them directly, and they never pull from their stock.  So I'm wonder if they formulate the samples/testers differently. 

 

Have any of you experienced that the sample/in store tester smells different than the actual product you purchase?

7 Replies

Re: Does Anyone Else Experience this with Diptyque?

Ohmygosh, HI, it literally took forever for me to find a post with someone experiencing this issue. I bought the EDP of Philosykos and it smells nothing like their tester from their store. I had tried the EDT and loved the fruity, milky, and green notes, and so I sampled the store's EDP. Their bottle smelled exactly the same as the EDT on my skin, so I spit out 230 for my own EDP full bottle.

 

It has the notes I love, but instead they're minor and overpowered by the same note you mentioned: cedar. To me it smells spicy/smokey, which I hate in perfumes. I wouldn't have got it if I smelled this note in the testers and samples. I also got the sour note when I was spraying, though at first I confused it with alcohol since it stung my nose like crazy. I usually don't notice perfume changes, but this was drastic enough that it felt almost like a whole different perfume/scent.

 

I wonder if these are just a few lemons, because I've only seen one other post with a similar issue with this brand and it was on reddit. Besides that everyone else seems to be receiving issue-free perfumes from the brand. Also like you, I've never experienced this with another brand.

 

I know this is an old post... did you perfume ever improve with time? I'm hoping the store's just smelled different due to the bottles maybe being older. I'm trying to not be disheartened by potentially wasting $230 lol.

Re: Does Anyone Else Experience this with Diptyque?

@modernwarpaint 

Actually have experienced that. With both Chanel and Mugler to mention a couple. I think the testers are older than the perfume maybe or vise versa. It's a wonderful thing called masceration. Middle Eastern perfumes, for example, many times will have to sit a few months to get the full effect. Something about the ingredients needing time to do their mojo. You could email Diptyque directly.

Re: Does Anyone Else Experience this with Diptyque?

The sample was probably older than the bottle you purchased / your bottle was probably very recently produced. The fragrance in the bottle should change and get stronger over time… it ages like wine, and can smell quite different (younger, less potent) when it’s more recently bottled. I have also come to the conclusion that Diptyque’s fragrances change a lot depending on how they’re applied, they really need to be sprayed from afar and dispersed in a fine mist… it seems to need to oxidize to smell its best. 

Re: Does Anyone Else Experience this with Diptyque?

First, @modernwarpaint I’m so sorry your 50ml and 100ml did not live up to the sample/tester 😞 I can think of three reasons why you might be experiencing this.

 

One possibility is that high quality perfumes use more natural ingredients. This means that even when following the exact same recipe, the quality of the natural ingredients will be different from batch to batch. Changes in weather and climate will affect the source material. I imagine the effect is minute but if you have a very sensitive nose, it may be possible for you to detect differences. Really, really obsessive perfume people will talk about batch codes like wine people talk about years.

 

Another possibility is reformulation. Brands are suuuuuuper secretive about this and they tend to claim they’ve never reformulated but honestly who knows. This is why everyone dreads a buy-out of an indie house to a major beauty conglomerate because of fears of the parent company slashing production costs… 2012 (? I think) is also a major year for reformulations due to changes in IFRA-regulations that forced many houses to remove key ingredients identified as allergy-causing. I have not heard anything about an official reformulation to Philosykos but like, there are rumours for practically every perfume about reformulations.

 

My final suggestion is a little controversial and it’s only something I’ve read about on discussion boards. But rumour has it that some houses increase the fragrance concentration for testers and samples (ie an increase in quality). Perhaps you could try checking the alcohol % on your sample and compare that to your bottles. Sometimes with 100ml, you will see the concentration go down. This I can confirm and have seen with samples (not testers). I mean, it’s never by a lot but perhaps enough for someone with a sensitive nose, there is a difference. I do think this practice is a bit deceptive, even if the difference is negligible. A formula should be standardized across all sizes, including testers, in my opinion.

 

All in all, I’m sorry to say that yours is not an uncommon experience and it is not specific to Diptyque.

Re: Does Anyone Else Experience this with Diptyque?

@pocketvenus That last explanation I tend to agree with. I have a perfume that the sample was totally patchouli spicy heat and the full size was no where near it and much more floral. I kept the pefume but was bummed.

Re: Does Anyone Else Experience this with Diptyque?

@pocketvenus - Thanks for the reply.  I contacted Diptyque customer service since they distribute the testers and samples directly to Nordstrom.  I have not heard back yet, but my Nordstrom SA was very transparent and even has contacted her Diptyque rep.  I understand the return policy and that since I've used the product, it's non refundable, but this is something for me to note so I can avoid it.  The sample I have is honestly the best representation of this scent, as you can smell each note and it captures the pure balance and essence of the fig tree.  It's what I consider to be perfection.  I've never been this picky about note development and ratios, but I don't like the fact that what I use to gauge my purchase on is better than the actual product I buy.  If anything, it would be nice if it was the other way... but accuracy and consistency is the most important.  If I could buy a bunch of samples, and put them all together in one bottle, I would.  lol 

Re: Does Anyone Else Experience this with Diptyque?

@modernwarpaint I had an issue with this with Philosophy's Fresh Cream a while back.  In that case, I think the fragrance had changed but the tester was outdated.  I contacted the company and they sd they would take it back, but I just returned it (opened) to Sephora.

 

It looks like you got the fragrance from Nordstrom - is that right?  I thought their return policy was that they would accept used beauty items.  I find it unsettling that they won't 😞

Spoiler
We handle returns on a case-by-case basis with the ultimate objective of making our customers happy. We stand behind our goods and services and want customers to be satisfied with them. We'll always do our best to take care of customers—our philosophy is to deal with them fairly and reasonably. We have long believed that when we treat our customers fairly, they in turn are fair with us. We do apply returns to the tender it was purchased with. If we choose to provide a refund and no record of sale is available, we will ask for personal identification and a return will be provided at current price on a Nordstrom Gift Card.
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