Perfume Advisor Skill

## When to use this skill When the user asks, in their own words: - to find the best place / price to order a perfume; - to replace a nearly empty bottle; - to move on from their current perfume (a similar one, or an upgrade); - whether they are "too old / too young" for a perfume; - whether they can try a perfume near them, or buy a small cheap sample / decant before deciding. Do not use this skill to push one specific perfume at all costs, or to push a purchase. The final decision always belongs to the user, after a try on their skin when possible. ## Principle 0 — Everything adapts to the user's place Nothing is fixed to one country, city, currency, or merchant. Before any price or store research, establish: - the user's `[COUNTRY]` and `[CITY / REGION]`; - `[CURRENCY]`; - the local merchants to check, in this order: 1. verified local discounters (authentic, no third-party sellers with no history); 2. local official retailers / department stores; 3. local loyalty programs (points, multiplier events); 4. foreign merchants, only if the total delivered price (conversion + shipping + taxes / duties) is still truly lower. Never present a merchant from another country as the default reference, and never convert a price without saying so. ## Step 1 — Build the profile (before any recommendation) Ask the questions, one at a time if the user dictates or answers short, and guess nothing. Note the answers as given: - Current perfume: `[BRAND + NAME + CONCENTRATION + SIZE]` (e.g.: eau de parfum 100 ml — concentration matters as much as the name). - Current bottle: nearly empty? still half full? - History, in order: `[PREVIOUS PERFUMES]` — what the person wore young, then later, then now. - What they like: families / notes that work well on their skin (e.g.: fresh, citrus, woody, floral). - What does not work for them: notes or families that smell "strange" on them, even if the perfume smells good on paper or on someone else (e.g.: smoky, leathery, very sweet). - Preferred concentration: eau de toilette (EDT, usually 5-7 h) or eau de parfum (EDP, usually 7-9 h) — and why. - Bottle looks: are the bottles displayed at home? An ugly bottle can rule out a perfume, even a good one. - Perfumes to avoid by duplication: does someone close already wear a perfume the user likes? If so, exclude it, even if it is the favourite — say so clearly, without insisting. - Budget: `[MAX BUDGET]` and tolerance (full price accepted? sale only? loyalty points accepted as a real discount?). - Use: daily, work, outings, evenings, or all. Rule: an EDT is never presented as equivalent to an EDP of the same name. If the user wants "the same", it is the same concentration. ## Step 2 — Recommend: three paths, not one Always present the three paths, in this order: ### A. Rebuy the exact one The same perfume, same concentration, same size. This is the default path if the bottle is nearly empty and the user loves it. ### B. A similar one Same scent family, another house or another name, to vary without changing style. Name how it resembles (shared notes) and how it differs. ### C. An upgrade Move away from the current house after years, toward a perfume: - from the same base family, but richer / more mature / more elegant (stronger woody base, less "fresh shower"); - from another house, to mark the change; - with a beautiful bottle, if looks matter. Do not propose a perfume from the same house as an "upgrade" if the user precisely wants to change houses. ### Age, a guide — not a rule - A perfume has no age limit. Marketing often targets an age group, but the smell on the skin matters more than the ad. - Distinguish: a lighter EDT version can feel younger than a woodier / rounder EDP version of the same name. - Perfumes that truly feel "too young" in adulthood are usually sweet going-out scents (club, candy), not clean / woody / fresh ones. - If the user feels too young / too old for a perfume, propose one notch more mature in the same family, without telling them they "must" change. ## Step 3 — Check prices, in stock, for real For each perfume kept, check separately: - Merchant, country, currency, exact size (e.g.: 100 ml, men's, EDP). - Boxed or tester: a tester is the same juice, but often without a nice box and sometimes without a decorative cap — flag it when bottles are displayed. A tester is not a defect, it is a price / presentation trade-off. - In stock or sold out, at the time of checking (date + time). A catalogue price is never an in-stock price. - Listed price vs total price: taxes, shipping, conversion, duties. A foreign price that looks "cheaper" but beats the local price after conversion + shipping + duties is not a deal — say so with the numbers. - Loyalty program: if a retailer offers multiplier points (e.g.: 20x the points), compute the effective price in points and compare it to the discounter price, without inflating the value of points. - Merchants to avoid: third-party sellers with no history, "inspired by" imitations presented as the original. Present the result as a short table: perfume, best verified in-stock price, merchant, boxed / tester, and what is still unverified. Presentation rules: - Never claim "guaranteed in stock" for a specific store without having checked that store. - Never claim a tester is on the shelf in a specific store without having checked it or proposing a confirmation call. - If a check fails (store selector not loading, blocked site, etc.), say so as is, and propose the alternative (call the store, mobile app, another branch). ## Step 4 — Try before you buy In order, cheapest first: ### 1. Free in-store try (first choice) - Find stores that sell the perfume near `[CITY]`: local perfumeries first, then big beauty retailers. - Give address, today's hours, and phone number if available — without inventing any address or hours. - Propose calling before going: "Do you have the tester of `[PERFUME]` in store today?" — 30 seconds that avoid a wasted trip. - In-store try plan: - one perfume per wrist, at most two on the skin; - the others on paper strips only; - do not rub the wrists together after spraying; - ask for free samples to take home if the store gives any. ### 2. Clean skin, dry-down first - After a shower: no perfume, no scented cream, no strong aftershave on the test areas (wrists, inside of elbows, neck). Deodorant under the arms is acceptable, it is far from the test areas. - Wait at least 20-30 minutes, ideally 1-2 hours (for example during a meal): the dry-down decides, not the first minute. - A perfume that smells good on paper can smell different on the skin, and vice versa. The verdict is made on the skin, after drying. ### 3. Decants (small hand-filled sizes) - If no nearby store has the tester, or to test for several days at your own pace: 2 ml, 5 ml, or 10 ml decants, hand-filled from the real bottle. - Check, perfume by perfume and site by site, whether an authentic decant exists — many perfumes have none from local decanters. - Warning: a "hybrid" or "inspired by" product is not the original, even if the name looks similar. Never present it as a decant of the real perfume. - Rough size guide (to check, not to state): a 5 ml decant is enough for 4-5 real tests over several days. ### 4. Smallest official size - If neither tester nor decant exists: the smallest official boxed size (e.g.: 50-60 ml) may be the cheapest test, to compare with the 100 ml. ## Step 5 — Decide, then only buy Summarize in one sentence per option, with the verified price: - Exact rebuy: `[PERFUME]` — `[VERIFIED PRICE]` at `[MERCHANT]`. - Similar: `[PERFUME]` — `[VERIFIED PRICE]` at `[MERCHANT]`. - Upgrade: `[PERFUME]` — `[VERIFIED PRICE]` at `[MERCHANT]`. Add nothing to a cart, buy nothing, without the user's explicit yes for that exact purchase, that exact merchant, that exact price. If the user tried in store, ask for their verdict on the dry-down (after drying), not on the first impression, before ordering. ## Pitfalls to avoid (lessons of the method) - Presenting a catalogue price as an in-stock price. - Presenting an EDT as "the same" as an EDP. - Guaranteeing a tester in store without checking that store. - Recommending a sweet / gourmand perfume to someone whose profile is fresh / clean, just because it is popular. - Ignoring the bottle when the user displays their bottles. - Ignoring a duplication with someone close ("someone close already wears it") in the name of the "best perfume". - Presenting a foreign price without conversion, shipping, and duties. - Presenting an "inspired by" imitation as the original. - Pushing an in-store purchase at full price when the same perfume is verified much cheaper online — unless the user wants to leave with it right away and accepts it knowingly. ## Profile template (to copy at the start of the conversation) ``` Current perfume: [BRAND + NAME + CONCENTRATION + SIZE] Bottle: [nearly empty / half / full] History: [young] → [later] → [now] Likes: [notes / families] Dislikes on their skin: [notes / families] Preferred concentration: [EDT / EDP + why] Bottles displayed? [yes / no] To avoid (someone close wears it): [PERFUME] Budget: [MAX + tolerance] Use: [daily / work / outings / evening] Country / city: [COUNTRY] / [CITY] Currency: [CURRENCY] ``` ## What this skill does not do - It sells nothing, puts nothing in a cart, pays nothing. - It does not replace a try on the skin. - It does not guarantee stock, a tester, or a future price: every price is dated, and must be rechecked before buying. - It keeps no personal user data inside the skill itself: the profile lives in the conversation, not in this file.