A new bottle of perfume is a welcome gift to any fine lady of class -or, you know, either of us – so we were very happy when newly-launched site Scent City got in touch with us about reviewing one of their perfumes. Scent City is a niche online perfume retailer that stocks both men and women’s fragrances from around the world. What I love about the site is the unusual layout; first you choose which category to browse based on which persona – or ‘Urbanite’ – you identify with. Are you Mr Classic, Ms Romance, Mr Tough or Ms High Maintenance? Whichever Urbanite you think represents your attitude and personality, there’ll be a selection of fragrances to choose from, including scents from brands such as Ramon Molvizar and Etat Libre d’Orange.

After careful consideration of the scents available, I opted for Early Roses by Teo Cabanel* which falls under the Ms Romance category (don’t laugh; they needn’t know that I’m an ice queen who once signed a Valentine’s Day card with simply Safe x as a ‘laugh’).

I admit that usually I probably have a natural aroma of Batiste dry shampoo mixed with Cool Original Doritos, but when it comes to artificial smells then I’m a big fan of floral scents. Early Roses, as the name kind of suggests, is therefore perfect for me. With head notes of rose and jasmine, this is a delicate, feminine smell that is light enough to be worn every day.

Early Roses is available from Scent City for £77 for a 50ml bottle, or £98 for 100ml (so you need the 100ml really, THAT’S JUST GOOD ECONOMICS).

Overall I was really pleased with the service by Scent City, and I’m sure the site will become a lot of people’s first port of call for a new fragrance. I think categorising the perfumes as they do is a great idea, and is particularly good if you’re buying  a gift for someone else and have a vague idea what they like. Finally, what I think is a really nice touch is the option to request samples by emailing samples@thescentcity.com – this is perfect if you’re not too sure about buying perfumes online (which, admittedly, is a bit like shoe shopping with your eyes closed).

A huge thank you to Scent City for our bottle of Early Roses!

Have any of you tried Scent City yet? Would you buy perfume online?