The Telltale Sign Your Bottle Of Perfume Is A Dupe

We all love snagging a good deal. This is especially true when it comes to designer brands whose quality can't be denied but whose hefty price tag leaves much to be desired. If you can get that same quality at a much lower price, it's the best feeling ever.

Welcome to the world of dupes, where deal-finders can get products imitating their favorite designer buys at a price you won't gawk at. Dupes exist for so many things, including clothing and shoes. Right now, fragrance dupes are really taking off, with more than five million videos in the #fragrancedupe tag on TikTok alone. It's no wonder they're so popular. Designer fragrances can cost upwards of a hundred dollars for a single bottle, but a dupe of that same fragrance won't cost you nearly as much (like this affordable fragrance dupe for Marc Jacobs' Daisy).

A good perfume dupe is hard to tell apart from the real deal. After all, their claim to fame is acting as a cheaper substitute for the original. However, there is a telltale sign to fragrances that can quickly clue you in on whether or not your new scent is a dupe.

Don't you just hate it when you spritz on perfume in the morning and an hour later, you can't even catch the faintest whiff of it? You should always try these tips to make your perfume last longer, but if that doesn't make your scent stick around, it's time to call your perfume into question.

Not all perfumes last as long as we'd like them to, and this seems to be particularly true of some dupes, according to L.A. hair stylist and perfume dupe expert Olivia Olfactory. In an interview with Allure, Olfactory, who frequently shares and compares fragrance alts on TikTok, explained that dupes don't always have the same perfume notes or even last as long as the originals. In one video, Olfactory compares a designer brand perfume to the supposed dupe and can instantly tell that the dupe is "sweeter" and "lighter" than the original. If you're already familiar with how the original designer fragrance smells, this is one way to know if your perfume is a dupe or not.

Your bottle of perfume also stands to be a dupe if the phrase "inspired by" is included anywhere on its packaging. This catchphrase is how many dupe sellers are able to attract their audience of shoppers who don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a scent but are still desperately in love with it (or just want to pick up a good deal). Websites like ALT. Fragrances offer a wide selection of dupes with very affordable price tags. At the bottom of each product, you'll find that same attention-grabbing slogan. Many of the fragrances even have a similar name to the designer fragrance; just take a guess at what Desert Phantom is trying to emulate. It's a winning selling tactic — a low price next to a designer brand and your hand starts to reach for your wallet. But, as Olfactory said, "inspired by" doesn't mean it will be the same scent note for note.

Per ABC News, some dupes even have nearly identical packaging to the originals, but there's an easy way to tell the difference. Many dupes have very loosely wrapped plastic around the box while the designer brand will be more securely wrapped. If the packaging looks a little sloppy, it's most likely a dupe.

Staying up to date on what the original perfume looks and smells like is your best bet at spotting signs your fragrance is a dupe.