Anyone who is a habitual reader of the various perfume forums and blogs already knows that a little scandal erupted over the past few days. To make a terribly long story short, the idea has been floated that one or more perfume bloggers possibly a) accepted payment for writing favorable reviews and/or b) reviewed perfumes favorably because they had been gifted with free bottles from fragrance companies.

The issue has already been adequately covered elsewhere, so I will just quickly state my own experience and policies:

No company has ever offered me payment to review their products. Unless every other perfume blogger I've read is lying through their teeth, the practice does not appear to be widespread, in fact, only one blogger has indicated that she has received such an offer.

I do not disclose when a company has provided me with a small sample of a fragrance to review, because it strikes me as unnecessary. Nobody is likely to sell their soul for a few ml of free perfume.

Very early on, I more than once accepted free bottles of perfume from fragrance companies or their distributors. In some cases these were provided for review, in others, they were offered as a "thank you" after a review. At the time, I saw this blog as a personal hobby and did not give any serious thought to the propriety of accepting such gifts. As the blog grew, I gave it more thought, and decided it was a bad idea. My policy now is to give away any bottles I receive for any reason. But if you're imagining bounteous swag, you are way off base. Most fragrance companies don't even respond to my emails, much less send me product.

I do not accept advertising directly from perfume companies or manufacturers, only from perfume retailers.

Note: the ad image is for Flower by Kenzo, Artist's Edition, and it has no relationship to the post whatsoever. Just pretty.