You are what you smell like

By: Kerry Ingram, Staff Writer

The summer season is among us, which means plenty of sunshine, sweat and stink (cue upside-down smiling emoji).

When it comes to beauty, most people tend to overlook fragrance as a vital part of their routine. It seems too simple to think about – you just spritz on some random, 90 percent alcohol body spray (or drench yourself in Axe if you’re truly obnoxious–don’t be that person, please) and go about your day, right? Wrong.

Your scent leaves just as much of a lasting impression on people as a quality handshake or a well-executed conversation. There are so many different fragrances out there that it can be overwhelming to choose from the never-ending list of options, and let’s not forget the fact that we’re all college students who would rather not spend a pretty penny on “fancy water.” Luckily, I’ve discovered some pretty awesome programs and deals that will allow you to smell as fresh as daisy without breaking the bank.

DEAL 1: Scentbird
For only $15 a month, you’ll be able to choose from over 450 different fragrance options and receive a deluxe size travel spray of your chosen scent that will last you well beyond 30 days. This option is great if you’re not sure of which scent you want to try or if you want to own multiple fragrances without going broke.

DEAL 2: FrangranceX.com
This site offers coupons for a large array of popular fragrances. It’s like the Groupon of the fragrance world.

DEAL 3: The mall
Have you ever tried any of the fragrances sold at the counter of your favorite clothing stores? I’ve come to find that these scents actually last just as long (sometimes even longer) than their pricier counterparts. Stores like Rue21, Forever21 and Charlotte Russe have both male and female fragrances that are super affordable and small enough to try out several without the guilt.

DEAL 4: TJMAXX
This store is like the thrift store of beauty outlets. They have a large beauty section, where many top selling products are priced at nearly half off of the original retail value. Their fragrance section includes a lot of designer scents at drugstore prices, so this is a really great alternative to buying full price.

DEAL 5: Sephora
I know this may come as a surprise to you, but even Sephora currently has different ways to hook you up with fragrances. The first way is easy: just ask for samples. Sephora’s policy is not unlimited samples (a lot of Facebook-circulated articles say otherwise), but you can ask for three different fragrance samples per day to try out in order to find something you love. The second option at Sephora is to buy one of their fragrance sampler sets. These sets, which come in both men and women’s scents, consist of up to 10 different fragrance samples and a voucher. The point of the set is to spend around $65 for multiple samples, try them all out and bring back the voucher in order to get your favorite scent in the full-size (for free). This is a major steal if the fragrance you end up redeeming the voucher for is typically more than that price.

If all the previous options are one’s you’ve explored before, and you’re ready to make the leap in buying a full-sized, full-priced bottle of fancy water, the last deal at Sephora is running until May 14. You can get three times the points on your Sephora rewards account for any fragrance purchase. With this, you may still be shelling out a lot of cash for a scent, but you’ll at least be able to redeem for some sweet free gifts in the future because of it.

The scent of summer is in the air, and hopefully your new affordable fragrance will be, too. It wouldn’t make any scents not to be.

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