What size decant should you buy?

Decants exist for one reason: buying a $130 bottle of fragrance you’ve never smelled is a bad idea. They let you spend $5 instead of $130 to find out whether something works on your skin. But once you commit to that idea, you’re left with a new question — which size?

We sell four. Here’s what each one is actually for, in plain numbers, with no upsell hand-waving.

The spray counts (the only number that matters)

A standard atomizer mist is roughly 0.06–0.08ml. That means:

• 1ml ≈ 12–16 sprays. Enough to wear it on 3–4 separate days.
• 3ml ≈ 36–48 sprays. About two weeks of daily wear.
• 5ml ≈ 60–80 sprays. About a month of daily wear.
• 10ml ≈ 120–160 sprays. Two to three months of daily wear.

Those are real, repeatable numbers — not marketing fluff. We’ve poured thousands of decants and they always land in those ranges.

What each size is actually for

1ml — “Try it once”

This is the testing size. The whole point is to wear something on your own skin, in your own life — at the office, on a date, after the gym — and find out if it actually works. A retail tester at Sephora gives you 10 seconds and a paper strip. A 1ml gives you four wearings in your real environment.

Pick a 1ml when:You’ve never smelled the fragrance before, OR you’re curious about a popular pick (Sauvage, Eros, Acqua di Gio) but not sure you want to commit, OR you want to compare two similar scents side by side.

3ml — “The travel size”

This is the “weekender.” A 3ml fits in a toiletry bag, lasts a long weekend trip, and gives you enough volume to actually live with the fragrance for two weeks. It’s also our pick if you already know you like something in the family but want to confirm before going bigger.

Pick a 3ml when:You’re traveling, OR you’ve tried a 1ml and want more before committing, OR you want a small backup of your current daily for your gym bag.

5ml — “The honest middle”

This is our most popular size, and it’s the one we recommend for most people most of the time. A 5ml is a full month of daily wear at under $10. That’s less than a single Starbucks habit per week — and at the end of the month you’ll know exactly whether to buy a full bottle or move on.

Pick a 5ml when:You already know you like the scent, OR you want to genuinely live with something for a few weeks before deciding on a bottle, OR you don’t want to think about decant size again for a month.

10ml — “The commitment”

Two to three months of daily wear in a single decant. A 10ml is for fragrances you already know you love, or for “forever signatures” you don’t want to keep re-ordering. It’s also the best per-ml deal in our entire shop.

Pick a 10ml when:You’ve been wearing a 5ml for a month and want to lock it in, OR you have a partner who keeps stealing your fragrance and you want backup, OR you just want the cheapest per-spray price we offer.

The cost-per-wear math

Here’s where decants get genuinely competitive with full bottles. Take Dior Sauvage as an example. A 100ml bottle is around $130 retail — that’s $1.30 per ml.

• Our 1ml: $3.49 ($3.49/ml — premium for the convenience of a one-time tester)
• Our 3ml: $6.99 ($2.33/ml)
• Our 5ml: $9.49 ($1.90/ml)
• Our 10ml: $14.99 ($1.50/ml — within 15% of retail per-ml, with no upfront commitment)

The 10ml is the price-conscious choice. The 1ml is the risk-averse choice. The 5ml is what most people pick — and they’re right to.

The two-decant strategy

Here’s the move we recommend most often: buy a 1ml of three or four fragrances at once, wear them for a week each, then buy a 5ml of the winner.Total cost: under $25. Total decision quality: better than any blind bottle purchase you’ll ever make.

Start with the four-pack mindset:

1. Pick two scents you’re already curious about
2. Pick one wild-card from a family you’ve never tried
3. Pick a popular pick everyone talks about (Sauvage, Eros, Le Male)

Wear each one for a few days. The winner becomes your 5ml. The loser becomes a story about why you’re glad you didn’t buy the full bottle.

Ready to start? Browse the full collection — every fragrance is available in all four sizes, and shipping is free over $20.