This is part of a series on perfume companies that I personally have purchased perfumes from – these are not sponsored posts.
Layered Fragrances
Layered Fragrances is mainly marketed towards women. They have Inspiration Fragrances, which are dupes of higher-end fragrances. They also have single note fragrances, made for layering. Layered also has some original fragrances that they have come up with in-house.
Now, I know some people do not like to buy dupes of perfumes, and I understand that. Personally, my perfume budget is limited, and I have no problem buying or wearing dupes of fragrances. I especially like that many of the dupes I buy have better longevity than the originals.
I first discovered Layered perfumes when I was planning my wedding in late 2019. I asked on the Facebook Fragrance Friends group for recommendations, and this company was mentioned for having a good dupe of Delina from Parfums de Marly. I purchased a bottle of First Kiss, their Delina dupe, and they included a sample of First Kiss Exclusive, a dupe of Delina Exclusif. I actually liked that one better, so I purchased a bottle of it too. Their prices aren’t bad – First Kiss Exclusive is listed for $62.99 for 55 ml, whereas Delina Exclusif is $340 for 75 ml. You can also purchase a travel size (10 ml) for around $25. Most of their perfumes have good sillage (scent trail) and longevity.
Now: the name – is it Layered? Be Layered? It’s so confusing. Next, the website leaves a lot to be desired. My number one gripe is how cringey the descriptions are. Some are over the top, with such poor grammar, punctuation, and capitalization, that it’s just really hard to take them seriously. I unsubscribed from their emails awhile back, but those often had obvious misspellings. I even wrote to them once, offering to help them with proofreading, but never got a reply. For their Inspiration Fragrances, there are 21 listed, and only 11 have the name of the inspired-by fragrance on the thumbnail, so you have to actually click on each of the other ones and read the description to see what scent they’re inspired by. When I first started buying from them, they had a Vault section, and as you bought more perfumes from them, you would unlock special bundles and pricing. That system never worked for me. I even wrote to their customer service for help because the stuff that was supposed to be unlocked for me wasn’t. They sent me a direct link that didn’t work either, so I gave up. I think it was changed later to be a different kind of program, but it was hard to follow what happened on their FB group.
As far as their shipping times go, that’s always been pretty good. I did feel like in the past, they would pack and print shipping labels quickly, and then take their time about getting the packages to the post office. However, I made my last order on 1/19/22 and received it on 1/22/22, so that’s awesome! If you ask nicely in the notes section when you make an order, they will include specific freebie samples in your order. If you don’t ask, they might not put anything in. You can purchase a set of 7 samples (5 ml) for $44.95.
Some of my faves: First Kiss Exclusive, Ancient Amber, Cherry Delight, Dark Temptation, Danielle’s Milk Bath
Alexandria Fragrances
Alexandria Fragrances is the sister company to Layered Fragrances. They are marketed to both men and women. There are many more options, and lots of niche scents. It looks like their bottles have recently been upgraded to a pretty cobalt blue spray bottle with a gold cap. I haven’t ordered from them recently, so I only have the older style bottle. I feel like the actual fragrances are similar to the Layered ones, as far as the sillage and longevity goes. They also have solid fragrances, packaged in a little tin, but I haven’t tried any of those yet.
Alexandria’s website is much nicer. The listings are better, the descriptions seem more polished, and it just feels more professional. I wouldn’t be embarrassed to refer someone here if they asked about my perfume. Their presentation and packaging was very fancy, the last time I ordered from them. There used to be a longstanding coupon code you could use: ALEXANDRIA15 for 15% off your order, but I haven’t tried it in awhile.
You can purchase a set of 7 samples (5 ml) for $50. They also have a set of 4 travel size sprays (10 ml) for $49.99. And like with Layered, you can request specific freebie samples in the notes at checkout, and if they have them available, they will include them in your order.
In Summation
If you’re looking for a less expensive version of a popular perfume, Layered and Alexandria make great dupes. Some of their original fragrances are really nice, too. Their scents have good projection and longevity. The price is reasonable, and shipping is usually pretty fast.
Please check out some of my previous weekly posts for more about individual perfumes. (I promise I’ll get back to posting those again soon!)
Have you tried Layered Fragrances? Alexandria Fragrances? Tell me about it in the comments below, I’d love to hear about your experiences, and which perfumes you like:
Molly's Mewsings 