Could YOU smell the difference between Chanel and M&S scent?

Is there a more glamorous way to finish off an outfit than a whiff of fabulous scent? The only downside, of course, is that designer fragrances, which cost around £60 for 30ml, are becoming an increasingly unaffordable luxury.

Now, however, the High Street has come up with affordable alternatives that smell remarkably similar. Brands like M&S, Aldi, and Zara have taken notice of our fancy perfume situation and are now upping their game, which could mean that scent is back on all of our Valentine’s wish lists.

So how do cheap products stand up under olfactory scrutiny? Can me and my husband, the fierce restaurant critic Giles Coren, smell the difference between high end and high street in our spritz test?

BLACK PATCHOULI

YSL’s Black Opium (£59 for 30ml, boots.com)

my verdict: My mother used Opium in the 1980s, but this is a totally different beast. The bottle is a striking, glossy black—if I were a person, I’d be a glamorous 1940s nightclub singer. The scent arrives smelling like pear and mandarin orange, with an underlying sharpness of coffee and patchouli.

Giles verdict: Lots of chocolate and vanilla here and very buttery. A little sick.

Zara Gardenia (£7.99 for 30ml, zara.com)

my verdict: There’s definitely a similarity here to Black Opium, but the fragrance is all orange blossom, vanilla, and coffee without the added notes of patchouli and jasmine.

Giles verdict: Very similar. This reminds me of Mr Uppity chocolate yogurt from the 1970s, but it’s less like a perfume and more like a cocoa butter moisturizer or something.

SMELLS GOOD SCORE: 3/5

CLASSIC FLOWER

Chanel No.5 (£65 for 35ml, selfridges.com)

My verdict: I can see why this has been famous for so long. It’s a bit sweet and powdery for me, perhaps because the combination of ylang-ylang and bergamot has been copied too much over the years. It’s a beautiful bottle, simple and with that famous black and white packaging, it has real vanity appeal.

Giles’ verdict: This one smells like talcum powder. It’s a bit of Grandma’s panty drawer or potpourri.

Marks and Spencer Velvet Rose (£5 for 30ml, marksandspencer.com)

My verdict: It smells similar to the world’s most famous scent, but it’s actually more like an air freshener. The bottle is a pretty mauve color, but it doesn’t compare to Chanel.

Giles’ verdict: Yuck yuck, really cheap and gross, although it also manages to smell very similar to Chanel No.5.

SCORE OF SMELLS LIKE TASTE: 5/5

MODERN FLOWER

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb (£59 for 30ml, johnlewis.com)

My verdict: This one has quite sour top notes, almost like licorice, but the olfactory notes declare that it is tea. It’s certainly unique, but if I smell this on someone, I wouldn’t ask them what it is so I could track it down.

Giles’ verdict: It smells good, like an expensive store. It doesn’t make me think ‘wow’, but on the ground floor of a department store. .

Floral love, Aldi (£5.99 per 100ml, aldi.co.uk)

My verdict: I can barely tell the difference. It has the same acidic top notes but a more basic and sugary finish. I’m not crazy about either, but if you liked Flowerbomb you could buy this and not know the difference. Both bottles look like cut glass hand grenades, but the Flowerbomb is more dainty and certainly looks more expensive.

Giles’ verdict: This tastes pretty hygienic. Is it made of Civet wee? Genuinely unpleasant.

SMELLS OF TASTE SCORE: 4/5

FRESH CITRUS

Tom Ford’s Neroli Portofino (£195 for 50ml, lookfantastic.com)

My verdict: This is such an expensive and famous scent that I expected to be really blown away by it, but the neroli smell is so overpowering that the other scents of bergamot and bitter orange are left behind.

Once again, the bottle is beautiful: the deep green of a luxury swimming pool. Impressive staying power – It stayed for days, not just on me but on anyone I knew.

Giles’ verdict: This is soapy, like an expensive French hotel. There is also sugar and lemon, but it smells a bit chemically.

Marks and Spencer Sea Salt & Neroli (£12.50 per 100ml, marksandspencer.com)

My verdict: It has a dusty but not unpleasant smell, like an 80s mint scratch and sniff pencil, but it’s in a terribly sticky little bottle.

Giles’ verdict: Delicious and reminiscent of steamy family baths, strawberries and cotton candy. How Jacob Rees-Mogg’s nanny would smell at bath time.

SORE WITH SMELL LIKE THIS: 3/5

FLORAL MEETS AMBER

Chloe Eau De Parfum by Chloe (£58 for 30ml, boots.com)

My verdict: This is a pretty mild and sweet smell, just like every airport or designer store. It’s not unpleasant, but the collective porridge of lychee, freesia and peony is a bit boring. It’s a shame, as the bottle is elegant fluted glass, with a fancy bow.

Giles’ verdict: This reminds me of mulled wine, cloves, oranges. It smells old.

I can’t think of a woman in my life who would go for that.

Zara Rose Gourmand (£19.99 for 80ml, zara.com)

My verdict: This is very sugary, but it reminds me of the energetic wood in Corsodyl’s original supermarket mouthwash and shampoo.

It’s not a very convincing alternative, but the bottle is elegant and feels heavy and expensive.

Giles’ verdict: There is more vanilla in this. It’s foodie and Christmassy and it smells much cheaper and with more chocolate than the previous one.

This is definitely a perfume aimed at teenage girls.

SMELL-A-LKE SCORE: 3/5