Perfume guide
Is inspired-by perfume a fake? What it really is, and 5 straight answers before you buy
You saw the ad. Perfume for R299. Your thumb stopped, and your brain said what any sensible brain would say: what's the catch? Here are the answers, including the ones that don't flatter us.
By Costa, Scentimental's brand ambassador and in-store fragrance consultantLast checked 30 October 2026 · Sources at the bottom
We've all bought something off an ad that looked much better in the ad. So you're right to check. Is it a fake? Is it even legal? Will it smell like the one you love? Why so cheap? Will it last past the parking lot? Will people know?
So what are you actually buying? Read on and you'll know what inspired-by means, how close it really gets, and the one catch we want you to know before you pay.
In a hurry? The short version: an inspired-by perfume is made to smell similar to a well-known designer scent, under its own name, in its own bottle. Ours costs R299. A fake pretends to be the brand, and our bottle says Scentimental. It won't smell identical: in the last 12 months, 36 of 45 reviewers who compared ours to the original said same or very close, and 9 said not close. So start with one bottle. The why, and how sure we are, is below.
Our bias, out in the open: we make inspired-by perfume, and obviously we'd like you to try ours. So every fact below links to where we found it, we show you what unhappy customers said, and where nobody knows the answer, we say so.
Doubt 1 of 5
Is it a fake? A fake pretends to be the brand, and our bottle says Scentimental
A perfume this cheap off an ad sets off the same alarm as a "designer" watch from a man at the robot. Good. Keep that alarm.
Here's where to point it. South African law calls goods counterfeit when, among other things, they are "calculated to be confused with or to be taken as being the protected goods"1. In plain words, they're made so that you, or the people around you, think it's the real brand. Police do seize them here: 751 fake perfumes, worth about R1.2m, in Gqeberha in 20212.
An inspired-by perfume is made to smell similar to a well-known scent, and it carries its own name on its own bottle. Our bottle says Scentimental, so you know exactly who to moan at on Hellopeter.
A fake and an inspired-by are different things
And "dupe"? That's slang for duplicate4. We found no South African legal definition of dupe, clone or inspired-by4. They're market words, so ignore the word and look at the bottle.
And is it legal?
The law on fakes is clear. Perfume that smells similar under its own name is less settled, and you should hear that from us.
What we found:
- A South African law firm, writing about luxury dupes in general, says "inspired by" that copies no marks, logos or distinctive elements is generally lawful. Their line: "Think “inspired by” rather than “pretending to be”."3 The same firm also writes for brand owners, and says sellers use phrases like "inspired by" to reduce their legal exposure4.
- In the UK, a 2010 appeal court judgment says: "It is lawful to make and sell a smell-alike product." The same court stopped that seller's comparison lists. UK rulings don't bind South Africa5.
- In South Africa, we found no court or ad-watchdog ruling on smell-alike perfume. This isn't legal advice.
In every case we read, the fight was with the seller. None was about someone who bought a bottle5,6.
Our own name on our own bottle: one 50ml Extrait de Parfum for R299
R299 one bottle, the scent you pick
Next, you pick your scent. Want two? You can pick 2 bottles for R499 there. Delivery is R99, or free from R799, and it arrives in 2 to 3 working days with tracking.
Doubt 2 of 5
Will it smell the same? It will smell similar, and 36 of 45 reviewers said same or very close
You've got one scent in mind. Of course you do. And if anyone promises you "exactly the same", hold on to your wallet.
A lab machine can list most of the molecules in a perfume. That gets a perfumer very close, but not all the way7. It's weaker on exact amounts, and it misses the grade of the raw materials and how long the mix matured8.
The original moves too. Safety rules have forced perfume houses to change formulas, sometimes without announcing it9. The one you wore in matric may not be the one on the shelf today.
The best outside test we found is a blind panel of 40+ people run by Which?, the UK consumer group. Results were mixed. One smell-alike beat its original, two originals won narrowly, another original was preferred, and nobody linked one smell-alike to its original at all10. Scentimental wasn't in that test.
Here's our own count. In the last 12 months, 45 Hellopeter and Trustpilot reviews compared our smell to the original.
What 45 reviewers said about the smell
That's 8 in 10. And one of the 9, word for word: "products are nothing close to the original fragrances as they claim" (Jayson J. on Hellopeter, August 2026).
What to do: pick a scent you know well for your first bottle, so you've got something to judge it against. If you own the original, spray one on each wrist and decide for yourself.
Doubt 3 of 5
Will it last? We won't print a number of hours, so here's what we can show you
You'll see perfume ads promising 8, 12, even 24 hours. We have no test that proves any number for ours, so we're not giving you one.
The fairest evidence against us: in that same Which? test, the smell-alikes smelled weaker after about an hour, and most originals after three or more11. We weren't in the test, so it proves nothing about ours either way.
Our 50ml bottles are labelled Extrait de Parfum, about 30% fragrance oil, the top step of the usual strength ladder. That's a good sign and no promise, because oil percentage alone is a poor guide to how long a scent lasts, and no law defines the names12. Woods stay longer. Citrus goes fast12.
So here's the count. In the last 12 months, 80 reviews mentioned how long our perfume lasts.
What 80 reviewers said about how long it lasts
That's 9 in 10 of the people who bothered to write about it. One of the 8: "It smells good but it does not even last an hour" (Ann G. on Hellopeter, May 2026).
What to do: if lasting matters most, pick a scent built on woods over citrus, and judge it on one bottle. Your skin, the weather and the taxi window all get a vote, so our perfume strength guide shows you how to make any perfume last longer.
Test it on your own skin: one 50ml Extrait de Parfum for R299
R299 one bottle, the scent you pick
- Our own name on our own bottle
- About 30% fragrance oil, Extrait de Parfum
- Any scent in our 50ml range. Inspired by designer brands, and proud of it
- Fragrance oils from France, made in South Africa
Next, you pick your scent. Want two? You can pick 2 bottles for R499 there. Delivery is R99, or free from R799, and it arrives in 2 to 3 working days with tracking.
Doubt 4 of 5
Why so cheap? Some of a famous perfume's price pays for things you can't smell
You know what a designer bottle costs. You've turned the box over at the counter and put it back very gently.
The best hard numbers we found come from one listed fragrance maker's public accounts. Of its own sales, 36.1% goes on cost of sales (making the goods, plus some free gifts), 19.3% on promotion, and 8.1% on royalties, the fee it pays to use famous names on its bottles13.
Of every R100 one perfume maker sold for
So why is ours R299? The name on our bottle is our own, so there's no famous name to pay a fee for. Nothing wrong with paying for one. Love the designer bottle? Buy it. It's lovely. We'll be here when it runs out.
We won't tell you we don't advertise. You probably got here from one of our ads, so that would be a strange thing to claim.
Doubt 5 of 5
Will people know? Nobody at the braai is asking to see your bottle
Picture the worst case. Someone leans in and says, "What are you wearing?" So you tell them: Scentimental, inspired by a designer scent, and it was R299. That's the whole nightmare.
The honest version: if your friend owns the original and sniffs your neck, they might notice a difference, because similar isn't identical. And your bottle says Scentimental, so that's what anyone reads on your dresser. Some of our customers are quite relaxed about it.
What to skip: 4 things you'll hear about inspired-by perfume
"It comes from the same factory as the designer"
Why we all believe it: it's a great story, and everyone's cousin knows a guy.
We found no evidence for it, and we don't claim it. "Same oils" doesn't hold up either7,8.
"It smells exactly the same"
Why we all believe it: some happy customers say it, and we'd love to say it too.
The best blind test we found came back mixed10. "Similar" is the honest word.
"Only 2% of the price is the juice"
Why we all believe it: it's the perfect number for the family WhatsApp group.
Sources we read said anything from 1% to 8%14. We found no audited figure, so we don't print one.
"Extrait means it lasts longer"
Why we all believe it: it's on our own label, so believe us, we'd love this one.
Oil percentage is a poor guide to how long a scent lasts12.
How to try it without getting burned: 4 steps
- Start with one bottle.One 50ml is R299, plus R99 delivery. That's R398 to find out.
- Pick a scent you already know.You'll have something to judge it against.
- Read the people who hated us.Go to Hellopeter and Trustpilot and read the one-star reviews before you buy. We would.
- Wear it for a full day before you decide.The first spray isn't the whole story, and our perfume strength guide explains why.
Want the law and the science? How sure we are about each fact
The tag shows how solid each one is. Black: law, a court or public accounts. Grey: a consumer test or the press. Outlined: someone's opinion.
Quick answers, for the skimmers among us
What is an inspired-by fragrance?
A perfume made to smell similar to a well-known designer scent, sold under its own name in its own bottle. It doesn't pretend to be the brand3.
Is inspired-by perfume the same as a fake?
No. A counterfeit is made to be taken for the real thing1, and a 2025 appeal ruling, Barel v Popular Trading, says counterfeiting needs proof of intent to deceive6. Its own name and bottle make it a different kind of product.
Is inspired-by perfume legal in South Africa?
There's no one-word answer. A law firm says it's generally lawful if no marks, logos or distinctive elements are copied3. The same firm also writes for brand owners, and says sellers use phrases like "inspired by" to reduce their legal exposure4. We found no South African ruling on smell-alike perfume. This isn't legal advice.
What's the difference between a dupe, a clone and inspired-by?
In law, we found none. They're market words with no South African legal definition4. The legal word that matters is counterfeit1.
Does it smell exactly like the original?
Expect similar. In the last 12 months, 36 of 45 reviewers who compared ours said same or very close, and 9 said not close.
How long does it last?
We can't give you a number of hours, because we have no test that proves one. 72 of 80 reviewers said ours lasts long, and 8 said it didn't. In one UK blind test of other brands, smell-alikes got weaker after about an hour11.
Is it made in the same factory as designer perfume?
We found no evidence of that, and we don't claim it. The same goes for "same oils"7,8.
Is inspired-by perfume safe?
IFRA, the fragrance trade body, bans or limits certain ingredients. Its rules bind its members and are voluntary for everyone else15. South Africa's detailed cosmetics rules were still a draft in 2017, and we found no final version16. We're not claiming any certificate on this page. Test a small patch of skin first.
Why do designer perfumes cost so much?
One listed maker spends 36.1% of its sales on cost of sales, 19.3% on promotion and 8.1% on royalties for famous names, before the store adds its markup13. One company isn't every brand.
Can I return it?
Unused items only, within 7 days, and R150 plus 10% handling comes off. Sale items are excluded. Once it's sprayed, it's yours. Returns policy
Back to the ad: your 5 questions, answered
So your thumb stopped on a R299 perfume, and your brain asked what the catch was. Here's what you know now:
- Is it a fake, and is it legal? A fake pretends to be the brand1, and ours carries our own name on our own bottle. A law firm says inspired-by with no copied marks is generally lawful3, and we found no South African ruling on smell-alike perfume.
- Will it smell the same? Similar. 36 of 45 reviewers said same or very close, and 9 said not close.
- Will it last? We can't give you hours. 72 of 80 reviewers said it lasts long, and 8 said it didn't.
- Why so cheap? There's no famous name to pay for, and you don't get a famous name either.
- Will people know? If they ask, tell them.
One honest catch before you pick: once you've sprayed it, it's yours. We take back unused items within 7 days, R150 plus 10% handling comes off, and sale items are excluded. That's why we'd start you on one bottle and not six.
Worst case, you're out R398 and your aunty gets a new perfume. Best case, someone at the braai asks what you're wearing.
Make up your own mind: one 50ml Extrait de Parfum for R299
R299 one bottle, the scent you pick
- Our own name on our own bottle
- About 30% fragrance oil, Extrait de Parfum
- Any scent in our 50ml range. Inspired by designer brands, and proud of it
- Fragrance oils from France, made in South Africa
Next, you pick your scent. Want two? You can pick 2 bottles for R499 there. Delivery is R99, or free from R799, and it arrives in 2 to 3 working days with tracking.
Rather smell it first? We have 2 stores and 2 kiosks in Gauteng.
Sources (16) · Last checked 30 October 2026 · General information, not legal advice
- Counterfeit Goods Act 37 of 1997, section 1
- Sowetan, 24 April 2021
- Spoor & Fisher, 5 February 2026
- Spoor & Fisher, "Fragrance duplicates", 27 April 2026
- L'Oréal v Bellure [2010] EWCA Civ 535 (UK Court of Appeal)
- Barel v Popular Trading (Supreme Court of Appeal, 2025), reported in "Laced-Up Logic", Mondaq
- Dazed, 2024, perfumer D-L Jipa-Slivinschi
- Premiere Peau, essay on gas chromatography
- Scento, on IFRA and reformulations
- Which?, perfume tests, December 2025
- Which?, perfume tests, longevity section
- Premiere Peau, EDT vs EDP vs Parfum
- Interparfums Form 10-K, 2024
- Beauty Pie and Premiere Peau (both sell perfume)
- IFRA, IFRA Standards
- CMS expert guide on beauty, South Africa; Government Gazette R.1469 (2017)
Our own facts (bottle label, about 30% oil, oils from France, made in South Africa, price, delivery and returns) come from Scentimental, checked 30 October 2026. Review numbers: Hellopeter and Trustpilot reviews from the last 12 months, same person counted once, counted 27 October 2026.
Scentimental fragrances are inspired by well-known brands and are not linked to or endorsed by those brands. Reviews are quoted word for word from Hellopeter and Trustpilot, and "..." marks where we shortened one. Prices in rand. Shipping policy · Returns policy