HI,

I recently discovered niche and luxury perfumes. I am happily discovering this world, but I've found a couple of issues... I keep ordering samples and decants online. However, I've found that for every 10-20 scents I try, I only really love 1 or 2.

What I'm hoping to do is form a sample share and swap group where we buy decants and samples together, only keeping what we like and swapping what we don't fall in love with.

I recently visited "The Perfume Shoppe" in Vancouver's West Hastings. They sell samples and decanted perfumes, so we can get some of the world's finest perfumes, right here in Van.

I've always been very sensitive to scent, but have always felt a little limited with commercial perfumes. Now I know why. There is a whole other world out there in cult fragrance. I have been buying samples and decants online, but I felt frustrated waiting for samples and decants and was never 100% certain if I was going to end up with the real article, properly stored and decanted. Plus, I really wanted to learn about what I was smelling. That's where "The Perfume Shoppe" came in, with an incredible selection of niche and luxury scents combined with the expertise of Nazrin - the shop's owner. Most of the perfumes you will find in "The Perfume Shoppe" can't be found in major retail shops like London Drugs - or even Holt Renfrew's and the Bay. Making the trip to the Perfume Shoppe is your best bet (and, I think in Vancouver it may be your only bet) for finding the world's best perfumes. Another advantage to visiting the shop as opposed to ordering my perfume decants and samples online is that I get to see many of the actual perfumes in their exotic and beautifully designed packaging.

I planned to spend about 20 minutes buying samples, but I was there for hours learning about the finest perfumes in the world. I walked out with over 80 samples - all far more reasonably priced than I'd found on the Net - and my girlfriends and I had a hey-day sampling these incredible scents and learning about so many perfumes you will never find in stores. I had a great time and I know exactly where to send my husband for my birthday . Plus, I found out "The Perfume Shoppe" ships so I don't need to wait weeks for samples and decants to clear customs to get to me anymore... Now I order online from http://www.theperfumeshoppe.com/default.asp where I also go to learn more about the world of perfume.

Now I'm looking to share my love of sampling with other Perfume lovers.

contact me at [email protected]

Janice