Are Those Cologne ‘Discover Your Scent’ Sample Offers Worth It?

I like smelling good and cologne has always been a big deal for me, so it wasn't a big surprise when I started seeing ads for Noteworthy, one of those Find Your Signature scent deals on Instagram. It wasn't a surprise either that I'd try it, so is it worth it?

Fragrances have always been important to me. Whether it was my Aunt Grace and her friend Mary Ellen getting me Drakkar Noir or Polo when they were the hot colognes when I was a teenager. Or the fact that my first fun purchase when I got my first radio job was three different colognes at Marshall Field's in Chicago.

So yeah, when I saw the ad from Noteworthy on Instagram I had to check it out, and it didn't take me long before their promise that a survey on my cologne tastes would help me find my signature scent.

When you take their "test" to help them determine what your signature scent is they ask you a variety of questions. It ranges from everything from your age, to what type of place you call home, to the smells you like and dislike and they give you a profile of the type of scents you might like.

This is where they try and sell you a Discover Kit for $25.00. Now in my hurry, I misunderstood that if you buy the Discover Kit, they'll give you a $25.00 credit towards your first purchase. That part is true, I just thought the discount would go a little further.

I assumed that $25.00 would cover some or most of a purchase. Unfortunately, their colognes and perfumes cost $124.99 for a 3.3-ounce bottle and $59.99 for a travel-size refill and dispenser that's about half an ounce of smell good. If you like one of their scents, you're into spending at least $35.00 bucks on a travel-size scent. Not horrible, but disappointing, especially since you're buying their brand.

Of course, this isn't on them. It's on me getting excited about taking their test and impulsively purchasing their Discovery Kit without doing my due diligence. So what do I think about what they sent me?

I was rather impressed with what they sent me. I got the box on Friday, and between trying a couple of scents on my wrist Friday night, wearing one of them on Saturday, and trying a third on Sunday, they got the fragrance profile right. Of the three, I like them all. There isn't a bad one in the bunch. I'll be interested to see if they came close on the fourth, and it won't surprise me if they do.

I like how they packaged the samples. Generally speaking, it's like most perfume or cologne samples you'll get. The cologne is packaged in a plastic tube, and, like some samples, the tubes come with a plastic spray dispenser to dispense the scent. That's cool because four or five squirts and you're wearing the sample. I suspect you can get two or three applications from each scent sample, which gives you time to decide what you like the best.

Is it worth it? I'm on the fence on this one. From the standpoint that you can get a couple of week's worth of smelling good out of the Discovery Kit, it seems like a fair trade for $25.00. I found it a fun experience.

The  $100 to get a full-sized bottle of the fragrance you like, or $59.99 for about half an ounce, not so much. If I'm getting into spending that much for a scent, I can find something I like at most department store fragrance counters. Additionally, if you know what scents and brands you like there are websites like Fragrance X, where you can get two to three good-sized bottles of name-brand colognes or perfumes for $100.

The bottom line, the Discovery Kit from Noteworthy is a fun experience. If you're still trying to find that scent that you love, or want to experience some very new to you scent profiles, it might be a noteworthy experience.

Yet, having been a cologne wearer for thirty-five years, I know what scent profiles I like, and Noteworthy's Discovery Kit confirmed it. Noteworthy's scents aren't all that different from what I'm already wearing. So I'm better off buying my favorites at a discount from a site like Fragrance X.