It has been going on in my little head that often times, the Perfume / Colonge (no pheromones) I bought home are not as strong and potent as that of the “Testers” in the departmental stores I’ve tested from.
I thought this was something I’ve made up until a friend, who is an ex-perfume salesgirl, told me the same thing!
Has anyone felt the same way? And is this really true?
Seems to me that I found a website awhile back selling colognes and offering retail and tester versions. I didn’t understand the difference at the time, as I couldn’t see why there would be anything like OEM and boxed retail versions as with car and computer equipment. But, your post and the question posed would make sense as to why 2 versions were available. And, I can see the reasoning behind it: let a prospective buyer try out a really strong version that requires low dosage applications, with the additional benefit of tester bottles lasting longer. Then water (actually alcohol) down the retail bottles, so that they don’t last so long and consumers have to come back sooner.
Beside the responses here, you may get some more replies to your question over on the forums at basenotes(dot)com. Good luck.
~Journey
The short answer is No. All these are just gossips, rumours and speculations.
First, watering down retail products constitutes an act of misleading the consumers and thus the company in question would be in breach of various laws and regulations (simply put, you can’t sell something that is clearly not what you claim it to be). Secondly, you can buy a tester at a lower price than a regular retail one; selling something that is more costly to manufacture at a lower price simply defies logic.
I have nothing personal against perfume and cosmetic sales agents. In fact, most of the ones who I have come across are genuinely nice people. However, I personally find some of them are not the brightest around.
You might find that the store tester spray delivers more volume and in a better dispersion pattern than the spray head (if there is one!) on your retail purchase bottle.
i use scentiments.com for all my cologne.
i always buy the testers unless it is a gift because generally the tester comes with no cap or box and is labeled tester on the back. but i compared the same cologne me and my friend both have armani mania tester vs non tester.
we both wore the same amount of sprays and compared after certain amount of time. i have noticed testers seem to be overwhelming at first more and settle more subtly but last longer. because through out the day mine stayed longer but was subtle overall. obv there many other factors in this just a little experiment!!
but i would reccomend testers over reg because u save a average of 10-30 bucks just by not getting a cap and box deff worth it.
Scentiments look like an excellent website.. Seems it’s not for International customers though 
i normally get testers off ebay, same product as retail but its cheaper at the expensive of a box or fancy bottle!