Cheap perfume that smells expensive?

[Andoffwego]

My favourite perfume (and the only one I have worn for years) is Dune. The scent really suits me and smells ‘right’ on my skin. However, it is £90 for a bottle and I just can’t afford that at the moment.

I have real trouble finding any other perfume that I like, but there MUST be a cheaper one that I find acceptable for short term use? I realise that cheaper perfumes are cheap because they have less complex notes and use more expensive ingredients rather than cheaper synthetics, but there must be a lovely smelling cheap perfume somewhere out there? I don’t like very sweet and fruity scents or anything too light and citrusy. Any contenders for me to have a sniff of?

Perfume Parlour. They have every dupe you can think of and are almost always spot on with their similarity.the ones that aren't just don't last as long but for the price I'm happy to keep reapplying throughout the day. The fragrances are always spot on.

I came on here to say Perfume Parlour also. Amazing perfumes!

I’ve tired Perfume Parlour (and similar). I should have mentioned in the original post. Their dupe of Dune smells nothing like it sadly.

Try Abbey Perfumery. You can order sample boxes for the price of postage, to help find one you like. I have Kindled Rose and it doesn't smell cheap at all!

Think Stash is still quite reasonably priced:

www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Sarah-Jessica-Parker/Stash-SJP-40750.html

Nexts dupes are excellent. I wear Cashmere which is a dupe of Vera Wang and of all my perfumes its the one i get complimented on the most. Its about 8 pound per bottle but smells really expensive and lasts ages. They have loads of others.
If you want a one like dune Asda( yep thats right) do a little bottle called sea salt and citrus which smells very like Dune and again smells expensive. Its about 4 pound for a small bottle.

I love the SJP perfumes but there is a reason why they're cheap...... may as well be scented water. It's a real bugbear with me that she didn't team up with a better perfumier than Coty. Stash and Lovely are really good scents.

For this reason, I've learned that it's better to have one good bottle than 3 or 4 cheaper ones. Dior, Chanel, Mugler all have much better staying power.

Another Dune fan here, but yikes it has become pricy hasn't it.

Another one that I get complimented on a lot (always have when wearing Dune too) is Modern Muse Rouge. I'm not in UK and battled to find it for a while, but it seems to be available again. Perhaps give that a try if you are looking for something new.

I have t found a proper dupe for Dune either.

iscentyouaday.com

Loads of budget reviews as well as expensive

If you like Chanel coco, try Tutu woman. It’s about £5 on eBay and is a dead ringer. Honestly, try it!

I rate Zara's perfumes by Jo Malone, well Tubereuse Noir in particular. Very cheap. I'm not fond of sweet perfumes either

For a cheap perfume I love arianna grande, cloud. About £20 a bottle but smells lovely!

Marks and Spencer have some good, not too sweet, scents. Their Verbena eau de toilette has become my everyday go to. I also like their Vetiver but it’s very masculine, more so than Guerlain’s. After a while though I find I actually prefer it to Guerlain’s.

Thank you so much! I am making notes of all these suggestions so I can have by them down and have a sniff.

Britney Spears midnight fantasy smells amazing and you can get it for around £20

Also if you're on Facebook look up Parfum Club they are excellent fragrances I get complimented when I wear the Tom Ford black orchard dupe more than when I wear the real thing!

I buy M&S perfumes, currently using true red I think it’s called and I love it, about £15 and lasts all day

The Jo Malone dupes from Aldi are great. super cheap too

Rive Gauche is lovely. If you google you can pick up 50 ml for around £30 or 100ml for £45. It's long lasting and due to the design of the metal bottle the scent lasts for a long time without spoiling. I recently rediscovered a 20 year old bottle which still smells great.

Eden
There's a shop in Brighton ( all the bottles hanging like optics ) or Mail Order where you can go through the scent types - Oriental/Citrus/Floral/Fruity /Mens etc
The names are different (obvs) and numbered . I try and work out from the name what it's duping but I don't know perfumes .

I bought a sample box (including one for my DS the Eau Savage dupe )
I haven;t worn the real ones so I have no clue how accurate they are .
But worth a look ?

Jil Sander No4 is a nice oriental floral that smells much more expensive than it is. You can pick it up for about £25 and it lasts for ages as you only need a little bit.

Yardley ‘Jade’ is delightful and smells a lot like Chanel Crystalle.
La Jardin Retrouvé do decent sized tester packs for not much.
Lidl Do one called Suddenly (?) or Madame which smells like Chanel Coco.

Vogue

www.amazon.co.uk/Vogue-Parfum-Toilette-Women-Milton-Lloyd/dp/B0030SRVLA/ref=sxin_14?crid=2Y3MPQ77CN6M8&keywords=vogue%2Bperfume&sprefix=vogue%2Bperfume%2Caps%2C60&pd_rd_i=B0030SRVLA&qid=1644012108&cv_ct_cx=vogue%2Bperfume&rdc=1&pf_rd_p=6e12e94b-8358-4bae-8444-ffe7165a54cd&th=1&pd_rd_wg=bdKTc&pf_rd_r=8JS4GFAME126NG157NGM&pd_rd_w=1Rtqu&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&pd_rd_r=1469bf69-4613-4ccf-9c2a-04b547228269&sr=1-1-571618a2-1e9e-49c4-ae7e-d71a2ef34bdd

Whenever I wear this everyone says lovely perfume is it chanel no 5. i hate cheap perfume and would rather not wear anything than something nasty but this is wonderful.

Zara perfumes are great, especially the summer ranges

Youth Dew is often on offer. Bought it blind having read lots of reviews about its classic status. I really like it and it lasts all day.