Lately, I noticed that there are a lot of online shops popping out that offer all kinds of cheap perfumes that are supposed to be dupes for luxury ones. And I say dupes because they have different names and packaging but they often include in the description the information that a certain perfume is similar to a more famous one.

I don’t mind it, quite frankly. Perfumes are expensive and even if the dupes are only similar meaning that you can tell they’re not the ”real” thing, the scents are beautiful and the longevity is also decent, so why not?

I came across this brand on Facebook and they advertised that you could get 50% off if you buy 3 perfumes. So, me being a perfume addict I took the bait and I ordered them. The shop is online, but there is also a brick-and-mortar store in Brasov, one of my favorite Romanian cities, so I admit that the location also played a factor in my decision making process.

Packaging:

The perfumes have all the same type of packaging: simple 50 ml glass bottles with a black and gold label on it. Being cheap perfumes, I get that they tried to cut the costs as much as possible. The only problem is that you have to be careful what you grab because the bottles all look the same and you have to read the label first.

Price and accessibility:

These perfumes are available in the Brasov store and through their online shop. They also ship to other UE countries as well. All perfumes are about 12 euros each, but if you get them with 50% off, then you only pay 6 euros for a bottle which is more than affordable.

My overall opinion:

I’ll talk about the perfume notes here because I have three perfumes and I want to tell what my preferences are. From the least favorite to my top favorite, the perfumes I have are the following:

Moondust Stardust (dupe for L’Interdit by Givenchy) – top note is ginger, middle notes are tuberose, jasmine and orange blossom and base notes are vetiver and patchouli. This is the third dupe I try for this perfume and I give up. I guess no one can beat the original, because that one was a sexy scent in my opinion, but all the others were too woodsy and almost too masculine for my taste. It’s not that bad, but I wouldn’t repurchase it. It’s also has the weakest longevity out of the bunch and after a couple of hours you can’t smell it anymore.

Sirena di Frutta (dupe for Kirke by Tiziana Terenzi) – top notes are pear, blackberry, passion fruit, peach, raspberry and citrus, middle notes are lily of the valley and ”sea nymph” notes (please don’t ask me to explain) and base notes are patchouli and vanilla. I didn’t have the original perfume but I was intrigued by the description. It’s such an interesting scent, a true unisex scent, not too feminine and not too masculine. It has a good longevity and it has gotten me some compliments at work while wearing it. It’s definitely unique enough to become signature scent.

Meringue Rose (dupe for Yum Boujee Marshmallow 81 by Kayali) – top notes are Pink Lady apple and Italian lemon, middle notes are freesia, nectarine flower and orange blossom water and base notes are marshmallow, strawberry, coconut, vanilla whipped cream, strawberry sugar and pink musk. If the expensive perfume smells at least like this one I can get the hype. It smells just like a strawberry milkshake or like a strawberry pie or something. It’s a delicious, gourmand scent and I didn’t think that I would go for that but I do. I love it and I want some more of that!

I must say the customer service was great with this shop because they’re new on the market and they really try to gain some customers. They called to make sure everything was fine with the order and to ask for feedback. That was nice of them. I will certainly get more perfumes from them because the sale is still going on and at 6 euros a perfume you really can’t go wrong with these. I plan to get another set of 3 perfumes as soon as possible.

The only thing that bothers me a little is that they don’t provide enough information about where these are manufactured. On the packaging, it says these are made in the EU by Zanthea, but I don’t know… It’s probably some white label brand. I don’t think it’s a negative thing because it’s not like they claim to be something they are not, but maybe a little more information would have been nice.

Either way, it was a good experience with Zanthea perfumes and I would recommend them to anyone who wants to try some nice perfumes without breaking the bank.