(Apologies for repurposing this intro from my Memoirs of a Trespasser review, but it already says everything I wanted to say to summarize the company...) As anyone who's spent much time shopping for indie perfumes knows, there's a plethora of interesting, imaginative indie scents inspired by literature out there--Imaginary Authors is a brand that takes that idea and does it one better: all its scents are inspired by novels, but the novels don't actually exist. As the name of the company suggests, all the perfumes are inspired by imaginary novels written by imaginary authors, each with their own bio and plot summary. They had a sale recently so I finally took the plunge and got a few samples from them to try out.
Packaging:
Full-sized eau de parfum perfumes (which I've never bought) come in a square glass bottle with a beautiful label that varies by the scent--you can see photos of the bottles on the purchase pages for each "book."
My package was carefully packaged up in a brown paper parcel with plenty of bubble wrap, and came with matching bookmarks for the scents I ordered (but not the free samples):
Sample sizes come in a clear spray bottle without a lid, and a sticker with the name of the perfume--the stickers are different colors for each scent:
My package was carefully packaged up in a brown paper parcel with plenty of bubble wrap, and came with matching bookmarks for the scents I ordered (but not the free samples):
Sample sizes come in a clear spray bottle without a lid, and a sticker with the name of the perfume--the stickers are different colors for each scent:
Selection:
Imaginary Authors has a small catalog, consisting of 7 authors with a total of 8 general catalog scents and 4 additional exclusives. All their scents are eau de parfum perfumes.
Samples:
Samples are available for the general catalog scents and all the exclusives except for one, the limited edition "An Air of Despair." You can get their 8-scent general catalog "bookshelf" collection for $35, or buy individual samples for $6 each. I ordered 2 samples and received 2 for free with my order!
Quality:
I love the concept of Imaginary Authors but wasn't in love with most of their scents--I have yet to give a couple of them a thoughtful wear, but Yesterday Haze gave me a bit of a headache, and I seldom like piney scents so Cape Heartache is a tough sell.Cost:
Samples are a bit more expensive than I'm used to at $6 apiece, but the catalog is so small that a normal person can purchase samples of everything they sell in one go, which is something that I don't think I'll ever achieve in my lifetime with a company like BPAL or Possets.
The perfumes are quite expensive for the indie world, ranging from $55 for 30 mL for the limited edition An Air of Despair to $95 for 50 mL of all the rest. I think this is quite affordable in mainstream or niche perfume circles, but since I tend to buy indie perfume oils, I'm not used to paying more than $30 for a bottle of perfume.
The perfumes are quite expensive for the indie world, ranging from $55 for 30 mL for the limited edition An Air of Despair to $95 for 50 mL of all the rest. I think this is quite affordable in mainstream or niche perfume circles, but since I tend to buy indie perfume oils, I'm not used to paying more than $30 for a bottle of perfume.
Customer Service:
I have not had to contact customer service. Their only contact information seems to be an email address. Note that they are carried by a number of stockists, including in the UK and Canada, so if you're in one of those countries, that may be a better way to order than directly from the site.
TAT:
Turnaround time was great on my order--it shipped out the same day I ordered it.
Shipping:
Shipping was $3.95 for my order containing only samples. In a sample cart I made, it went up to $6.95 when I added a bottle of perfume, and kept increasing as I added more bottles, up to a total of $22.95--it seems like there's no free shipping option.International shipping to just about every country seems to be available according to the selectable options on the website, if pricey ($9.95 to ship one sample to Canada), but I know shipping alcohol-based perfumes internationally can be tricky, so I'm not sure if there are any restrictions--it might be worth contacting them to confirm the shipping method if you want to make an international order.
Personal Thoughts:
I am very taken with the beautiful packaging, wonderful concept and writing, and interesting perfume notes incorporated in Imaginary Authors' creations (for instance, The Soft Lawn has "fresh tennis balls" as a note, and Mosaic includes "limestone" and "artesian well"). I'm not madly in love with any of the perfumes yet, although I did like Memoirs of a Trespasser a lot. I think I will continue to slowly explore their catalog via samples, in hopes of one day finding a perfume I think is worth $95. (It may be a while--I'm cheap, and picky. And I already have some beautifully packaged book perfumes I love to death...)Have you tried Imaginary Authors? What do you think?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 comments:
Post a Comment