I had an experience recently that I can’t quite stop thinking about, and I’m curious if this is normal now or if something has changed.
I was in a well-known luxury department store, exploring niche fragrances — just taking my time, asking questions, trying to understand what I might actually like on my skin.
I came across Maison Crivelli and was genuinely interested. The fragrances are not cheap (around £300), so naturally I wanted to test properly before making any decision.
At one point I asked if it would be possible to have a small sample — just to see how it develops over a day or two.
I was told I would only receive a sample if I purchased the full bottle.
What surprised me wasn’t just the answer, but how quickly the tone of the interaction changed after I asked.
It went from friendly and engaging to… noticeably colder.
I was there with my daughter, and she even asked me:
“Why are they looking at us like that? Can we go?”
And honestly, that stayed with me more than anything else.
Because I’ve had experiences in other places where you can take your time, ask questions and feel comfortable — and this felt completely different.
Here, it felt like I had to prove something.
I completely understand that samples can’t be given endlessly — that’s not what I’m expecting.
But for a £300 fragrance, is it really unreasonable to want to test it properly first?
It just made me question whether luxury today is about experience… or just transaction.
Curious what others think — is this normal now?