Eau de Parfum Discovery Set

The scents are deep and complex, but sadly not for me.

A rich and complex array of scents. Fun and interesting to try. I think out of the whole set only two appealed with first wearing, and a few I was undecided on and will try wearing again. In one instance I got a dense itchy rash on my left forearm in the area I had sprayed the sample onto the previous day. It was only that area and I had nothing else new contact the skin there, might have been the perfume, not sure.
Also I overestimated the amount I would get back toward purchase of a full bottle, between misremembering the amount then realizing it is Canadian $, smaller w exchange rate.

My first purchase from Paraphrase was their full discovery kit.

I really appreciate that there were sniff cards you can use to spray the perfume on before trying it out on your skin. It was also helpful to have the notes listed on each card. The samples were a generous amount to try!

Their choice of fragrances are complex and feels more of an experience (which is what I like about perfume in the first place) in comparison to the commercial fragrances where the aim is usually just to smell good. If you like scents from Aesop or Saje, I would say that you would probably like the scents here.

My favourites are: Eros Fig (just ordered a full bottle), Troubled Spirits, Lucky Days and Sex & Jasmine. The other scents are beautiful and more ‘heavy,’ so I will be revisiting them in the Autumn/Winter (particularly have my eye on Gilded and Grasslands!)

Overall, enjoyed the selection provided and look forward to what the company will do in the future!

You can tell a lot of thought and care was put into pairing/layering the notes to convey the essence they were meant to capture. They also have good silage and longevity (about 6ft, lasting maybe an average of 10hrs)

The only reason it's not a 5 star is because unfortunately my skin chemistry pulls even the smallest hint of powder notes forward, which ruined a couple of the scents for me, even if I liked how they smelled on the tester card.

That being said, I'm really liking Grasslands, Gilded, and Troubled Spirits the most so far!

I found my first impression with Paraphrase perfumes wasn’t how I actually felt about them so I actually gave each 3 separate tries save for Gilded (which sadly didn’t work with my skin chemistry - turned bitter/sour/pickly due to the cardamom, smelled amazing on paper though). I’d highly recommend also not smelling all of them at once (which I frankly did being so excited to receive the discovery set - I contemplated buying it for months).

The only scent I wasn’t struck on was Lucky Days. Smells like a really fresh/green take on Irish spring soap (which was my late father’s favourite) so I can’t picture myself wearing it. Definitely a masculine leaning scent and very crisp/clean for anyone looking to grab something along those lines. Also lasts forever, even after I tried to wash it off it didn’t want to leave.

I wasn’t fussy on Smoked Bloom either. Reminds me of a slightly fruitier version a shoe department store, what a wild scent - really brings me back shopping with my mother and my nan when I was a kid and they’d get me shoes for school. Nostalgic of a scent but not quite me. Didn’t last long on me (but I’m okay with that).

Gilded is going to be gorgeous for whoever skin chemistry it works for. Smelled like syrupy brown sugar and a woody musk on paper. Absolutely delicious, I definitely would’ve bought a full bottle if it agreed with me because it lasts all day.

Troubled Spirits is very boozy, very warm with the mulled fruit and spices and dries down to a woody whiskey/bourbon scent. Not something I’d personally flaunt every day but definitely for a special occasion. Feels almost too rich to wear casually, have to say I’m shocked to see how well capsulated the “liquor on ice” was captured here - probably one of the finest on the market - even nicer than some of the Kilian scents I have in my collection. Really sticks around, I could smell this on my clothes the next day.

Sex&Jasmine I’m a little bit on the fence (I’ll probably save the other half of the sample for when the weather gets warmer to see how it reacts under the heat on skin). The jasmine is definitely forefront and centre on initial spray but takes a little bit of a back seat for the sandalwood on the dry down for me, very incense like. Almost reminds me of the packs of sticks you can buy at some of the local natural shops around town, still fascinates me how a perfume can smell just like them. Brings me back to hot summer days wandering downtown into some of the more eclectic shops with my sister - so good memories for me but definitely no “sex” in this fragrance. It’s powdery, gentle yet somewhat sultry at the same time, also reminds me of sun dresses and hot afternoons in general so that’s partly why I’m saving what I have for the summer. As for staying power, sits around for about 5-6 hours for those who are curious - definitely not overpowering either.

I really love Burrow, my biggest complaint is my skin just eats it up. It might last 2-3 hours if I’m lucky and projection is barely above the skin. If it wasn’t for that I would’ve been sold for more. It’s slightly masculine leaning (more so than Grasslands) and smells just like a crisp fall evening on the forest floor particularly of the tinder for a fire. It’s earthy, woody, slightly spiced/smoky and very much easily layered with other scents - would go really nicely with something slightly fruity or vanilla. It’s something that takes me straight to the forest (one of my favourite places) and lets me get lost in that space. I can definitely see where the inspiration with this scent came from, I love that it was captured nicely in a bottle.

I was on the fence for Soft Woods at first (I have too many rose fragrances I need to use) but it really grew on me. It’s a delicate, slightly powdery yet bright fir/balsam fragrance that becomes somewhat soft thanks to the rose. Reminds me of bright spring mornings when the dew is still hanging onto the trees and the flowers are just beginning to bloom. Spite the very present rose note I would say this very unisex, thankfully the fir/woody notes linger a little more for me than the floral. It also lasts forever and is definitely one that I’ll probably pick up in the future once I’ve panned some of the bottles I currently have from other brands.

Grasslands is gorgeous. It’s slightly masculine leaning but like the description it is a golden spiced hay scent. I did order a bottle of this one, lasts forever and is something I can see myself wearing year spite it’s golden hour in late summer association my mind makes with this scent. Highly recommend.

Eros Fig is my favourite out of all the scents offered in the discovery set. It’s complex with mulled, jammy sun dried fruit, hints of musk and sandalwood in the background. It’s creamy, spiced with a tinge of golden honey and not sickly sweet. I wouldn’t call it gourmand but it is delicious and definitely a scent I’ll wear year round. Lasts all day, I love it!

Overall I r...