M&S shopper reveals bargain dupe for iconic designer perfume that ‘smells identical’ and is £70 cheaper
SHOPPERS have been left thrilled after discovering a bargain designer perfume dupe selling for £70 cheaper than the iconic original.
Bottles of “Velvet Amber” are scanning at tills in M&S for only £10 with customers claiming the amazing scent “smells almost identical” to Mugler’s beloved Alien sprays.
Mugler is a hugely popular perfume brand for women with Alien being one of the best selling scents.
But it does come with a hefty price tag of £89.99 for just 60ml on The Perfume Shop.
Over at M&S the amazing dupe version can be bagged up for £10 and savvy savers will get 100ml in the bottle.
The supermarket describes the fragrance as being made from amber, neroli and jasmine and is part of their discover range.
Mugler advertise Alien as combining jasmine sambac and white amber much like the bargain version.
It also contains notes of cashmeran wood where as M&S have added neroli to their perfume.
Eagle-eyed bargain hunters took to Facebook to share the incredible find with one saying: “I have the alien one and the smell lasts ages always get asked if I’m wearing alien.”
Another elated shopper told her pal: “Ooooo will keep a look out.”
As a third assured their fellow customers that the Velvet Amber “does smell exactly like” Alien.
As with many designer perfumes, Alien is regularly on offer at much lower prices.
Despite the great M&S deal, B&M is seen as the front runner for perfume dupes with a whole range to choose from.
They sell Miss Adore which costs just £3.99 and the bottle even features the iconic bow cap of Miss Dior.
The perfumes has notes of jasmine, cashmere and amber and it’ll leave you with loads of spare cash to spend in store elsewhere.
Another feminine fragrance on offer is Miss Opulent – a dupe for the luxurious Paco Rabanne perfume, Lady Million.
Both the dupe and the pricey original have an opulent scent of raspberry, neroli and patchouli but the high end perfume will set you back a staggering £98.
However, the discount store’s offering is just £3.99 – leaving with you an extra £94 in the bank
For the boys, there are also masculine scents on offer including a dupe of Dior’s beloved Savage (£79).
The bottles of Visage are again just £3.99 but smell almost identical.
Giving another designer perfume a run for it’s money is B&M’s Chase Blue which has a similar bottle and grapefruit scent as Blue De Chanel (£81) but costs less than £4.
Are dupes worth it?
THE Sun asked an independent perfume expert to carry out blind smell tests of popular perfumes and their high street “dupes” to see if the budget versions lived up to the originals.
Noemie Maury is a senior fragrance evaluator who has worked with major fine fragrance and toiletries brands for over a decade.
“High street chains can create perfumes cheaply by buying them from big fragrance manufacturers which grow their own ingredients in-house,” says Noemie.
“Because they use oils from flowers they grow themselves instead of importing ingredients, they save on costs and can create fragrances for high street brands at a discount price.”
It means they can lack the depth and complexity of more expensive brands which use a wide variety of more expensive ingredients.