Can cheaper own-brand perfumes match up to the real deal?

With high-end perfumes costing hundreds of pounds for a tiny bottle, it's no wonder there's a market for cheaper alternatives promising a similar scent for a fraction of the price.

Big online retailers such as The Essence Vault, Noted Aromas and Perfume Parlour sell fragrances 'inspired by' popular scents including Miss Dior, Rabanne 1 Million and more. Budget retailers such as Aldi are known for their own-brand versions of big-hitting scents, too.

As part of our recent perfume test, we asked our testers to blind-smell four big brands alongside a cheaper rival to see how the scents compared when anonymised.

Imitation might be considered the sincerest form of flattery, but in the case of perfumes it may not be very accurate. Only 10% of participants identified that they were smelling similar scents during the test. On the bright side, the pricier picks didn't always win out in the approval stakes.

There was one budget alternative that most testers preferred over the big-brand perfume, and we uncovered a key difference between the cheaper options and their pricier counterparts that's worth knowing too. 

Big-brand perfume vs cheaper alternatives

To find out how discount versions of big brands measure up, we conducted a blind-smell test.

Testers weren't told they were comparing big-brand perfumes with cheaper ones. This was to ensure that any preconceived views on cheap perfumes didn't influence what people said about the fragrances.

We tested budget scents inspired by Miss Dior, Paco Rabanne 1 Million, Jo Malone Peony & Blush and YSL Black Opium against the real deal. Here's what we found:

Perfume Parlour: Realistic for Women vs Miss Dior 

Our participants preferred Miss Dior over Perfume Parlour's Realistic for Women, but it was close.

Miss Dior opens with a bright scent that has well-blended citrus and fruity notes. Some testers found it a bit artificial-smelling, but they were in the minority.

Perfume Parlour's scent is in the same ballpark, but no one identified it as being similar to Miss Dior. People found this one sweet but not as citrussy as the original. 

Several people noted a spicy, sharp overtone, which they found a bit too intense.

You can get Miss Dior (50ml) at Dior (£107) or Realistic for Women (100ml) at Perfume Parlour (£32)

Aldi Hotel Collection Peony Blush vs Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede

Once all was sniffed and done, people in our test slightly preferred Jo Malone's Peony & Blush Suede over Aldi's Hotel Collection Peony Blush, but it was a close-run thing. 

Both were described by several testers as very 'feminine', with floral and fruity openings.

Some people thought Aldi's perfume had a sharper, more chemical hint when first sprayed, but this faded, leaving behind a scent considered fairly complex for the price.

You can buy Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede (50ml) at Jo Malone (£86), or Aldi Hotel Collection Peony Blush (100ml) at Aldi (£6.49 in-store) or Amazon (£14.97) 

Noted Aromas Las Vegas vs Paco Rabanne 1 Million

Most testers preferred Rabanne 1 Million over Noted Aromas Las Vegas. 

With 1 Million, a small number of people described a slight chemical smell when it was first sprayed, but most loved its fruity opener with cinnamon and ginger notes. 

More people warmed to the scent as it aged, becoming deeper and slightly sweeter.

Las Vegas, on the other hand, had a distinct ethanol smell, according to our testers. When faded, it left behind a sweet and strongly citrus scent. 

The spicy notes were much more subtle in Las Vegas, and the overall scent was noticeably weaker after just 15 minutes compared with 1 Million.

You can buy 1 Million (50ml) at Rabanne (£46.20) or Las Vegas (100ml) at Noted Aromas (£20.99)

The Essence Vault 82 vs YSL Black Opium

This was the only pairing in our test where people preferred the cheaper option, favouring The Essence Vault 82 over YSL Black Opium.

As with several of the cheaper fragrances, testers noted a chemical/alcohol opening for The Essence Vault 82. But this faded and left behind a scent most people appreciated.

It smells sweet and slightly spicy. Even those who didn't initially like the scent warmed to the woody, musky notes that emerged as it aged.   

Black Opium was considered more floral and sweet. However, most people didn't like how the scent settled, finding it generic. Some went as far as calling it slightly unpleasant, comparing it with 'old soap'.

You can buy The Essence Vault 82 (100ml) at The Essence Vault (£24.99) or Black Opium (50ml) at Yves Saint Laurent (£95)

Discover our top fragrance recommendations, tested by more than 40 people – best perfumes for women and best perfumes for men

The big difference between own-brand and big-brand perfumes we tested

While there was no clear correlation between a scent being well liked and being from a big brand, we found longevity to be where pricier brands outshone their cheaper counterparts.

All our testers noticed that the cheaper perfumes smelled weaker after about an hour of wear, whereas most of the big brands lasted three or more hours before starting to fade.

Some testers also noted that some of the cheaper alternatives smelled less appealing over time, with the scent becoming more one-dimensional.

Sam Morris, Which? senior researcher/writer and our chief perfume test designer, says: 

'Cheaper alternatives will save you cash upfront, and you may even prefer the scent, but they might not last as well.'

'However, with the cheaper option sometimes costing five times less per 100ml, the savings can be big. If you find a scent you like and are happy to top up more often, you may be just as happy with a cheap perfume as a pricey one.'

How we tested perfumes to find the truly scent-sational picks

A lot of reviews out there professing to tell you the best perfumes to buy are based on just one person's opinion.

But we don't believe one nose is enough. It's not the Which? way. We also didn't want people to be influenced by an elegant bottle or a designer label (or put off by a less-fancy one).

So, to find the best-smelling fragrances, we decanted all the perfumes we bought into unbranded atomiser bottles. We then asked more than 40 participants to try them and rate them, without knowing what they were.

This ensures our recommendations are based purely on each perfume's scent – all to help you pick a top-notch bottle this Christmas.

As well as big brands vs cheaper rivals, we tested a wide range of popular perfumes from the likes of Dior, Paco Rabanne and Jo Malone as well as Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier, Gucci, Tom Ford, celebrity scents from Billie Eilish and more.

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*Prices correct as of 5 December 2025. Cheaper prices may be available