Lidl’s Suddenly perfume is the stuff of legend. I discovered it years ago while working at MoneySavingExpert – its this incredible Chanel dupe and the readers couldn’t get enough of it. In fact, getting your hands on a bottle still isn’t easy – it sells out as soon as it hits the shelves and goes on eBay for around £8 – £35.

Suddenly Woman 1 smells exactly like super fancy Chanel No.5 and Suddenly Diamonds (my fave) is the same as Boss Orange by Hugo Boss. Both perfumes are priced at £3.99 but are currently on offer at two for £7 at Lidl.

Suddenly Woman 1 – Chanel No. 5 dupe

If you wanted to by an 50ml bottle of Chanel, you’re looking at £75 (ouch!) but hundreds of women swear that’s Lidl’s £4 bottle is just as good.

For me personally, it’s a grown-up smell with bergamot (just Googling that – looks like a lime), rose and jasmine. The reason one is £75 and the other is £4 is because of the way its made.

Expensive perfumes have essential oils in them while the Lidl one will have artificial oils, which don’t last as long on the skin. Seriously, one bottle of Chanel has 1000 Jasmine flowers within it (probably handpicked by beautiful virgins in France or something like that).

I think the packaging is suitably swish, with a glittery sliver lining and a monochrome box like the Chanel one. When opened, the bottle is weighty and wouldn’t look out of place on your perfume shelf.

The bottle is glass and the spray mechanism is metal, which feels expensive. However, I would say that the only thing that lets it down is the plastic lid which just doesn’t feel luxurious – but yeah – it’s £4, so it’s understandable.

So the reality is, it really does smell EXACTLY like Chanel No. 5, but only lasts about five hours unlike the real thing. For me, it’s hard to justify paying out for the real bottle now there’s an incredible alternative.

Suddenly Diamonds – Boss Orange by Hugo Boss dupe

Suddenly Diamonds is more to my taste (or smell), it has a younger and sweeter smell with top notes of orange blossom – I adore citrus. A 30ml bottle of Boss Orange will let you back a whopping £30 while a 50ml bottle of Diamonds costs just £4.

Again, I quite like the packaging for this. It is a flat shiny cardboard, rather than something textured which you may get with the expensive version, but its not ugly in the slightest.

Again, hundreds of women (and me) think it smells exactly like Boss Orange, but just doesn’t last as long – so it’s honestly a no brainer.

Ive had a thought, and bear with because it’s kind of lying… but you can get stunning glass perfume bottles for between £7 – £10 (I’m obsessed with this beauty for a tenner). If you think your partner would be put off the fact its from Lidl, you could just transfer the perfume and they never have to know…. just leaving that idea there….

Do you have any of the Lidl perfumes? What do you think of them?

Oh, also – if you’re trying to do Valentine’s Day on the cheap, check out my M&S meal deal review.