Since turning vegan, I've found one of the hardest areas of my beauty routine to replace to be perfumes. Of course, there are plenty of own brand scents that are suitable, but I got so used to the likes of Chanel and Stella McCartney that none of them really seemed to suit me. I was starting to think that I'd have to forgo my old favourites and settle on whatever I could find on the High Street, but thankfully Eden Perfumes have stepped in and saved the day!
Boasting a huge selection of scents for men, women and dogs (!), you're bound to find something on the Eden Perfumes website that you like, and best of all they're all listed with the high-end scents that they're similar to so you can find your old favourite. Priced at just £15 per 30ml bottle, they're also considerably cheaper than their designer counterparts, meaning that I no longer have to save my favourites for 'best'. I remember the year I had a bottle of Chanel No. 5 for Christmas and by my birthday in February it was gone, I was so incredibly sad, but now I know I can go out and buy another bottle without worrying about my bank balance.
Eden recently had a special offer running of three for two, so I chose three dupes of my old favourites:
Chanel No. 5 - Eden #7
My all time favourite perfume, and one that I've been using sparingly since I turned vegan so I could use it for as long as possible. I still have a fair bit left so was able to do a proper comparison. Upon removing the lid I could smell the familiar, classy and elegant scent that I've loved since I was in my late teens, I was completely taken aback at how much like the original this smelled. If it was in a Chanel bottle I seriously doubt you'd be able to tell the difference. In fact, I wore this to a party last week and three people asked me "are you wearing Chanel No. 5?", I couldn't wait to tell them that it was a vegan dupe. I'm also pleased to say that the smell lasts just as long as the original too, a couple of sprays in the morning is plenty to see me through the day, and by evening I can still vaguely smell it on my clothes.
New Stella by Stella McCartney - Eden #91
As you know if you've been reading my blog lately, I do love a good rose scented product, so when I first smelled Stella McCartney I was hooked. It's young, sweet, floral yet still sexy, to me at least. When my bottle of this ran out and I knew I couldn't buy another I went on the hunt for something similar, that was a few years ago now and I still haven't found anything that matches up to the original, until now. Number 91 from Eden smells just as I remember Stella to be, it's brought back some lovely memories and is still a firm favourite of mine. I find the scent doesn't linger quite as long as the above perfume, but it's still better than most High Street perfumes, and after all, at £15 per bottle that's what they should be compared to really, though the quality is far better than any High Street fragrance I've ever tried. I'd say that the smell starts to dissipate after around five or six hours, which is still pretty decent in my books.
Dolce Vita by Dior - Eden #421
It's thanks to my Dad that my teenage years were spent smelling of this perfume from Dior. I had it for Christmas when I was around 14 and was hooked, so this is the dupe I decided to get as my free one. Although I don't have the original to compare it to, it smells identical to the memories I have of it and took me back to standing in my kitchen dosing myself with the scent. Although I feel that it's maybe a bit young for me these days, and has been knocked off my top 5 list by some other scents, it's still one that I'm happy to smell from time to time. The lasting time of this scent is identical to the No. 5 dupe with it being around eight or nine hours. If you're looking for something sweet, rich and feminine, you may really like this.
I'm absolutely thrilled with all three of my perfumes and already have a wishlist of other dupes that I want to try in the future. I'm pretty sure that my dressing table is going to be stacked with Eden Perfumes soon enough, and I'm really happy about that.
Every Eden perfume is cruelty-free and vegan, organic, paraben, phthalates and synthetics-free, so you know you're spending your money on something that isn't going to hurt you or anyone else. If I was to pay full price for the three perfumes, they would have cost me a total of £45. However, if I was to buy their high-end counterparts, that would have set me back a whopping £134.50, so not only is it more animal, earth and skin friendly to buy from Eden Perfumes, but it's more purse friendly too!
I'd love to know if you have any high-end perfume recommendations for me, because if Eden don't already make it they're open to suggestions.