Editorial policy

Independence

Base Note Club is independent. We sell no fragrances of our own, we accept no free product from the houses we cover, and no brand can pay for a ranking, a score, or a mention. Our only revenue is affiliate commission on links you choose to click, disclosed in full on our affiliate disclosure page.

The no-fabrication rule

This is the line we do not cross, ever:

• We never invent reviews, testimonials, ratings, or review counts.
• We never fabricate prices — every number is pulled live and date-stamped.
• We never claim lab testing, a perfumer credential, or hands-on experience we don't have.
• We never present a "longevity" or "sillage" figure as a measurement. Our scores are clearly labelled judgements from compiled research (see our methodology).

How picks are chosen

Buyer-first, always. A pick earns its place on the merits — how it smells, how it performs by owner consensus, and what it costs — not on how much commission it pays. When a cheaper bottle is the better buy, it ranks higher than the pricier one. On dupe pages, the buy link points to a reliably-stocked, well-reviewed option rather than a counterfeit-risk listing.

Sourcing and accuracy

Factual claims — concentrations, note pyramids, families, market figures — are cited to named, linked sources, and we don't cite a source we didn't read. Where a claim came from someone else's data, we attribute it. Where we couldn't verify something, we say so on the page rather than quietly leaving it out.

Corrections

We make mistakes; when we do, we fix them transparently. If you spot a factual error, let us know and we aim to correct it within 48 hours. Where a correction is material, we note it on the page with the date.

Updates

Prices refresh automatically and continuously. We revisit money pages roughly quarterly and update promptly when a fragrance is reformulated or discontinued — freshness is part of being trustworthy, not an afterthought.