What “inspired by” means at Perfume X Market
Some of our scents are inspired by famous fragrances. What that means, what it doesn't, how we name and credit them, and why they cost less.
By Perfume X Market4 min read
Under some of our scents you will see a short line in italics — under Fateh, for example, it reads Inspired by Creed Aventus. People ask us about it often, so here is exactly what it means, and what it does not.
What it means
An inspired-by scent is our own blend, built to share the character of a well-known fragrance: the same family, the same mood, the same kind of opening and dry-down. We name the fragrance it takes after so you know what to expect before you smell it. The credit is a description of the scent, in the same way that fruity chypre or woody aromatic is.
What it doesn't mean
- It is not the designer's bottle. It is not made by, bought from or connected to the house that created the fragrance it takes after, and we never sell it as if it were.
- It is not endorsed. Perfume X Market has no affiliation with any of the houses we credit, and none of them has approved or endorsed our scents. Their names and trademarks belong to them.
- It is not identical. A blend can share a character without being a copy. Ours may open differently, sit closer to or further from the skin, and wear for a different length of time. If you need the exact fragrance that inspired it, buy that one.
How we name and credit them
Every PXM scent has its own name — Fateh, Sahra, Neel, Gulzar — and that is the name we sell it under. The credit sits beneath it in small italics and is never part of the name itself.
Many of our scents are not inspired by anything at all. Oud Ameer, Kashmiri Oud, Musk Rizali and every one of our house attars are entirely our own, and carry no credit.
Why they cost less
An inspired-by bottle costs a fraction of a designer one, and people sometimes wonder what is missing. Mostly it is everything around the scent: no designer licence, no global advertising campaign, no department-store margin. We buy perfume oils, blend them at parfum and extrait strength, and fill and check every bottle by hand at our store in Bahraich. What you pay for is the fragrance and the bottle it comes in.
Comparing one fairly
If you own the fragrance that inspired one of ours and want to compare them, do it on skin rather than on paper strips, one on each wrist. Smell both in the first minute, again after half an hour, and once more in the evening. The opening is where two blends tend to agree most; the dry-down, hours later, is where they show their own character. Heat and humidity change both, so a fair test is a whole ordinary day, not a minute at a counter.
Remember too that our sprays are made at parfum and extrait strength, which can wear closer to the skin than an eau de parfum. Our guide to perfume concentrations explains why a stronger perfume is not always a louder one.
How to choose one
If you already love a famous fragrance, its inspired-by counterpart is an easy way to wear that character every day. If you don't, ignore the credits and choose by the notes and the family — our guide to fragrance families explains them. Either way, start with the 8 ml size from our House Parfum line.
Questions, answered
Are inspired-by perfumes the same as the designer fragrance?
No. They are our own blends, built to share that fragrance's character. They are not identical, not made by the designer house and not affiliated with it.
Are your inspired-by scents fakes?
No. A fake pretends to be someone else's product. Ours are sold under our own names, in our own bottles, with the inspiration credited openly as a description of the scent.
Why name the designer fragrance at all?
Because it is the clearest way to describe a scent before you smell it. The credit tells you what to expect; the name we sell it under is ours.
You can read more about who we are, and how the house began, on our About page.
