Beauty writer Lucy Addicott found a fun and cost-effective way to find her next go-to fragrance
Being told you smell nice is one of the best compliments to receive and for me, no outfit is complete without a spritz of fragrance. I’ve worn the same signature scent for years but have wanted to switch it up, so to make the decision easier and waste less money when searching, I was delighted to get my hands (and nose) on the Sentier Set.
Blind-buying a full-sized perfume bottle without knowing whether you want to commit can be risky business, not to mention set you back more than £100 in some instances when opting for a luxury scent. This set allows you to test ten of Sentier’s bestselling fragrances – including the coveted Parisian Embrace, which won the Best Fragrance 2026 at the Universal Beauty Awards.
The price of the cost-effective set impressed me, retailing for £25, it comes down to just £2.50 per vial. Instead of a flimsy paper sample you might find in a magazine or beauty counter, the mini perfumes are housed in a quality glass bottle. According to the brand, each vial contains 45 sprays – more than enough to test ride the individual scents for several days and occasions.
Even better, the £25 includes the same value store credit. This can then be spent towards 100ml of your chosen favourite scent – essentially giving a try before you buy experience at home, ahead of getting a full-size £112 bottle.
The packaging of the Sentier discovery set is lovely and would make a thoughtful gift for any fragrance fan in your life. You could also split the set up if you were feeling generous to give to various friends and family.
The Sentier Set
£25
Sentier
Shop here at Sentier
The price includes £25 store credit towards the 100ml fragrance you choose.
What’s inside the Sentier Set?
The brand state the mini perfume set ‘turns ten destination-inspired storytelling scents into a cinematic journey’. With holiday season here, some of the scents transported me back to places I’ve travelled to such as Paris and Italy, as well as working as a handbag size friendly perfume that I can take with me on upcoming trips. I do wish the spray bottles had a small lid or mechanism that stops them from accidentally spraying, for travel purposes.
- Parisian Embrace
- Path of Lemons
- Balade in Autumn
- Rán
- Le Marais
- Rose Taif
- Monde à part
- Mémoire du temps
- Esteemed Musk
- Oud Gaiac
What are my top two scents?
The Sentier Set contains scents that evoke feelings from exploring different locations and experiencing all the seasons. I appreciated this meant I could choose a fragrance I liked best for varying times of the year and for various moments.
Those that are looking for specific summer scents can find twelve travel-size perfumes in the Liberty Summer Scents Kit. Priced at £110, the perfumes included are worth £446 from brands such as Bibbi and Escentric Molecules.
I just so happened to come across my favourite Sentier scent from first spritz. The Oud Gaiac scent is a fresh, slightly masculine smell, that when left on the skin becomes warm and inviting. It boasts notes of apple, bergamot, honeysuckle, vanilla and precious woods.
To me, it smells incredibly luxurious and as someone that doesn’t favour fragrances that are too sweet, it is heavenly. It’s also very unique, so doesn’t blend into a crowd of perfume, instead standing out and turning heads.
Runner up in my opinion is Balade in Autumn. With saffron, Turkish rose, jasmine, cedar and botanical moss, it’s a little sweeter than Oud Gaiac, but not overpowering. I also have to give Parisian Embrace a special mention as while it isn’t to my everyday perfume taste, I can totally see why it’s award-winning and would be a gourmand perfume lover’s dream.
I went to Paris earlier this year and it instantly took me back to sugary pastries in chic cafes and strolling past bustling fruit markets with notes of juicy nectarines, peaches and pears, finished off with the aroma of brown sugar and vanilla.
YSL also have a scent named ‘Paris’, capturing the essence of the French capital with notes of rose and violet. It retails at The Fragrance Shop for £85 for 125ml.
How long do the Sentier scents last?
A perfume can smell the best in the world, but if it doesn’t last, to me it’s not one I will reach for or spend my money on. I don’t want to be constantly topping it up throughout the day or night but this is certainly not a concern when it comes to the Sentier scents.
Like most perfumes, they don’t last as well on skin as they do on clothing and do fade to a more subtle scent overtime, but I still could smell them hours after spritzing. They also give off a wonderful aroma when I moved or walked. On clothes and my hair, the fragrance lingered for days, with my partner even remarking how lovely my top smelt days after I’d used the perfume.
Sentier scents fall into the more premium fragrance category – a full size bottle costs £112 – and the unique, long-lasting and genuinely dreamy fragrance choices are well worth it for me. The discovery set is a cost-effective and fun way to choose a scent that works for you and while I initially set out with just one signature scent in mind, I might have to treat myself to two.
Shop the Sentier Set here.
