How should a discovery set be laid out?
November 2026
Start with the vial, then decide whether it lies down or stands up. The box follows.
A discovery set gets laid out from the vial outward. Its height, its cap and whether it sprays or dabs decide how deep the fitting runs, and the number of scents decides how long it is. Everything after that is a choice about what the person sees first when the box opens.
The vial comes first
The sizes we fit most often are 3 ml, 5 ml and 7.5 ml. Each step up changes the length of every cradle and the spacing of the row, so the box gets drawn only once the vial is chosen.
Lying down: the row
Laid on their side in one row, the vials show the whole collection in a single look, and the box stays slim enough to slip into a mailer.
A small thumb notch at the cap end can help a fingertip tip each vial up, though a well-cut cradle often does without one.
Standing up: the shelf
Stand the vials upright and the set reads like a shelf in a shop, caps in a line and labels facing out. It takes a deeper box and a fitting that grips each vial below the shoulder, and it suits a set that will sit on a dresser rather than in a drawer.
How many scents
Three to five vials make a curated introduction, and a full collection can run to ten or more. Past six or so, a single row gets long, and the layout usually turns into two rows or a stepped fitting, with the back row raised so every cap stays in view.
The order is a decision
Whichever vial sits dead center gets looked at first, so the order of the row deserves the same thought as the scents themselves. A short printed key under the lid does the explaining, which lets the vials stay clean.
Room for the card
Most sets carry a card, with the notes for each scent and often an invitation to the full bottle. It gets its own slot in the fitting, cut a touch wider than the card, so it stays flat in transit and lifts out on the first try.
Fitted to the real vials
Every fitting is cut around the brand's actual vials, caps on, because two vials sold as the same size rarely measure the same. The first sample is built around those vials and judged with them in place.
Send us one of each.
Tell us how many scents and which vials, and we will lay out the set around them, then build a physical sample on the stock you will actually run. And yes, we will smell them all.
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More questions
Most discovery sets hold between three and ten vials. Three to five works as a curated introduction, while a full collection set includes every scent in the line. Past six vials, a two-row or stepped fitting keeps the box compact and every cap visible.
Lying flat in one row keeps the box slim and shows the whole collection at once, which suits mailing and gifting. Standing upright needs a deeper box and reads like a small shelf, which suits a set meant to sit on display. Either way, each vial needs its own cradle cut to its size.
The sizes we fit most often are 3 ml, 5 ml and 7.5 ml. The vial sets the depth of the fitting and the size of the box, so it gets chosen before the box is drawn.
