The Scent Atlas

Methodology

How We Rank Fragrance Dupes

Every ranking on The Scent Atlas is driven by community ratings, not editorial preference or commercial relationships. Here is exactly what we measure and how we calculate it.

The Five Rating Dimensions

Community members rate each fragrance across five dimensions, each scored from 1 to 10:

Overall Score

The reviewer's overall impression of the fragrance. This is the primary sort dimension on all Inspired By and brand pages.

Scent Accuracy

How closely the fragrance replicates its stated designer inspiration. A score of 10 means virtually indistinguishable from the original. A score of 5 means similar family and character with noticeable differences. Only applicable to inspired-by fragrances.

Longevity

How long the fragrance lasts on skin. Measured from first spray to when the scent is no longer detectable. A score of 10 represents 12 or more hours of consistent wear.

Projection

How far the fragrance projects from the body. A score of 10 is a room-filling beast mode fragrance. A score of 5 is close to skin with occasional drift. A score of 1 is skin scent only.

Value for Money

Quality relative to price paid. A fragrance at £15 scoring 8 overall should rate higher on value than one at £80 scoring the same. This dimension rewards affordable performers.

How Average Scores Are Calculated

Each dimension is averaged across all community reviews for that fragrance. A fragrance needs at least one human review before its scores appear in rankings. AI-generated Atlas reviews are excluded from aggregate rating calculations and review counts shown publicly.

Scores are displayed to one decimal place. Default sort on every Inspired By page is overall community rating, highest first. Users can re-sort by review count, price, longevity, projection, scent accuracy or value for money.

Top Picks Selection

Three automatic Top Picks are surfaced on every Inspired By page:

Best overall dupe

Highest overall community rating with at least one review.

Best budget option under £30

Highest overall rating among fragrances priced under £30.

Best long lasting alternative

Highest average longevity score across all options in the cluster.

Note Verification

Fragrance notes are verified against Fragrantica and official brand sources before being added to the database. Notes are stored as structured top, heart and base tiers. We do not invent or estimate notes.

Where note data conflicts between sources, Fragrantica is treated as the primary reference. Where notes are unavailable from any verified source, the notes field is left empty rather than filled with estimates.

What We Do Not Claim

The Scent Atlas does not claim that any fragrance is an exact copy or legally identical product to any designer fragrance. Inspired-by fragrances are independently formulated products that draw on similar note profiles and olfactory families.

Community ratings reflect personal subjective experience and vary between individuals, skin chemistry, batch variations and storage conditions. They should be used as guidance, not guarantees.

Submit a Correction

If you spot an error in notes, pricing, ratings or inspiration data, contact us at info@thescentatlas.com. We review and correct data errors promptly.