What to Expect When You Order From Velour and Vellum

An honest walkthrough of ordering from Velour and Vellum: choosing a scent, checkout and US duties, how orders are made and packed, tracking, breakage, returns and reaching a real person.

Ordering something you can't smell first takes a measure of trust, so we'd rather you knew exactly what happens before you click. This is an honest walkthrough of ordering from Velour and Vellum, from choosing a scent to opening the parcel, including what to do if something goes wrong and how to reach a real person. Nothing here is a sales promise we can't keep; everything is how we actually work.

Step 1: Choosing a scent

We make six hotel-inspired scents: Thé Blanc, Grand Foyer, Santal Vellum, Ambre Safran, Cèdre Noir and Velours Rose. "Hotel-inspired" means inspired by the style and feeling of fine hotel lobbies. We are not affiliated with any hotel, and we don't sell any hotel's own scent. Our hotel-inspired scent guide describes each one.

A few ways to choose well:

Start with a discovery set. If you're unsure, The Hotel Edit Discovery Set lets you try our scents at home before committing to a full-size piece. It's the most reliable way to choose, because fragrance is personal.
Know which product you need. Reed diffusers scent a room quietly without power. Refills top up a reed diffuser you already own (our guide on how to refill a reed diffuser shows how). Fragrance concentrates, such as Thé Blanc cold-air diffuser oil, are for cold-air or nebulizing scent machines.
Check machine suitability. Not every concentrated oil suits every nebulizing machine. If a concentrate isn't suited to a type of machine, its product page says so. Our article on why diffuser oil clogs scent machines explains why this matters.
Ask the Curator. If you'd like help choosing, email [email protected]. A real person answers, and it's a good way to describe your space and get a considered suggestion.

Step 2: Checkout

Where we ship. We ship across Canada and to the United States, with tracking. Our shipping page has the details.
US orders. US prices are shown in US dollars and already include US duties and import fees, so there is nothing to pay on delivery. Our guide to US shipping and duties for luxury reed diffusers explains why that matters for cross-border orders.
Shipping Protection. You can choose optional Shipping Protection, which covers lost or damaged parcels.
Read the returns terms first. Anything containing fragrance or liquid is final sale (more on why below), so a discovery set is the gentle way to test a scent before you commit to a full-size bottle.

Step 3: How your order is made and packed

What happens between your order and the parcel depends on what you bought:

Reed diffusers and refills are blended by hand in Toronto and rested 24 hours before they are filled.
Each piece is filled and checked by hand in our Toronto atelier before it ships.
Fragrance concentrates for cold-air machines are selected and bottled in Toronto.
Refills and concentrates come in amber glass bottles with black caps.
Discovery sets travel in a gift box with protective foam.
Every order includes a thank-you card.

Our fragrances are IFRA-compliant and made without phthalates, parabens or formaldehyde.

Step 4: Tracking your parcel

Every order ships with tracking, so you can follow your parcel to your door. If anything about your order is unclear along the way, you don't need to hunt for a form: you can reply to any of our emails and your message reaches us.

Step 5: If something arrives broken, leaking, faulty or wrong

Glass travels well most of the time, but not always. If something isn't right when you open the box:

Take a photo of the item and the packaging as it arrived.
Email [email protected] within 14 days with your order number and the photo.
We send a replacement or a refund at no cost to you, usually without needing anything sent back.

If a bottle has leaked, wipe up spills promptly and keep the fragrance out of reach of children and pets. If anyone swallows fragrance, call a poison centre: in Canada, 1-844-POISON-X (1-844-764-7669) (Health Canada, 2023); in the United States, Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 (HRSA).

If you added Shipping Protection, it covers lost or damaged parcels.

Step 6: Returns, plainly

Anything containing fragrance or liquid is final sale. Once a bottle has left us, we can't confirm that an opened bottle hasn't been used or altered, so it can't be returned. This is why we encourage starting with a discovery set.
Make-your-own supplies with no liquid (empty vessels, reeds, caps) can be returned within 30 days, unused and in their original packaging.
Broken, leaking, faulty or wrong items are covered by the 14-day process above.

The full terms are on our returns page.

Step 7: Reaching a real person

Email the Curator at [email protected]. A real person answers.
Reply to any of our emails. Order emails aren't a dead end; your reply reaches us.
Visit our contact page for every way to reach us.
Write to us at Velour and Vellum Fragrances Inc., 2967 Dundas St. W. #2035, Toronto, ON M6P 1Z2, Canada.

What we don't claim

Trust works both ways, so here is what you won't hear from us. We don't describe our products as "non-toxic", "chemical-free" or "safe for pets", and we make no health claims. If you share your home with animals, please use caution and ask your veterinarian. We don't claim any connection to a hotel. And we will tell you plainly if a concentrate isn't suited to a type of machine, rather than let you find out the hard way.

Quick answers

Where are Velour and Vellum reed diffusers made? They are blended by hand in Toronto, Ontario, rested 24 hours, then filled and checked by hand in our Toronto atelier before they ship.

Do US customers pay duties on Velour and Vellum orders? No. US prices are shown in US dollars and already include US duties and import fees, so there is nothing to pay on delivery.

What should I do if my Velour and Vellum order arrives broken? Email [email protected] within 14 days with your order number and a photo. We send a replacement or refund at no cost, usually without needing anything sent back.

Can I return a Velour and Vellum diffuser if I don't like the scent? No. Anything containing fragrance or liquid is final sale, which is why we suggest trying The Hotel Edit Discovery Set first.

How do I contact a real person at Velour and Vellum? Email the Curator at [email protected], reply to any of our emails, or use the contact page.

Does Velour and Vellum have a showroom in Toronto? Not just yet. A space where you can smell the full collection in person is something we're working towards. Until then, The Complete Hotel Edit, with all six hotel scents in 5 ml vials, is the easiest way to try them at home, and the Curator is always happy to help you choose.

Explore: the Scaldera Arch · Shop the collection · Take the Scent Quiz · Membership · Refill subscription