Perfume has a powerful ability to evoke positive emotions and fond memories. It’s this power that makes choosing the right fragrance so important.
As if that weren’t enough to make you feel under pressure, having to make your way through thousands of scents while deciphering a whole lot of perfumery jargon should do the trick.
Luckily, we’re here to explain how to choose a perfume that suits the occasion, appeals to your tastes, and of course, smells good on you. After all, even if you like the smell in the bottle or on your friend, it can sometimes be a whole different story when you spritz it on your skin.
Keep reading to learn more about choosing a perfume that’s perfect for you.
Determine What Kind of Perfume You Want
The art of how to smell good depends on more than choosing a perfume you like. You also have to remember that there are different types of perfume for different settings, occasions, and even different seasons.
Get this wrong and even the most captivating scent can be off-putting to those around you. For example, while a musky oriental scent might be seductive at night, this same fragrance would be overpowering during the daytime.
With this in mind, consider what types of perfume could interest you. According to https://eliaparfum.com/ if you’re looking for an everyday scent, you could go for something light and citrusy. In winter, you might prefer perfumes with a hint of wood and spice, while heavy florals and musks work well for special occasions.Â
Do Your Research
When it comes to narrowing down your perfume choices, the fragrances you already know and love will be your best source of inspiration.
Start by finding out what notes feature in your favorite perfumes. For example, if you love Chanel No.5, there’s a good chance you’d like other fragrances featuring aldehydes or a selection of the floral notes in this classic scent.
You should also consider the perfumes you’ve taken an instant disliking to as well. Finding out which notes these scents contain will highlight the notes to avoid when choosing a perfume.
Know Your Notes
Before we get too ahead of ourselves and start confusing you, let’s take a look at what we mean when we talk about fragrance notes.
The top note is the scent that hits you first when you spray a perfume. Although it’s strong in the beginning, the top note fades within 15 minutes and then the heart or middle note takes over.
The heart note is the body of the perfume, offering a scent that lingers for a good few hours. The heart note then gives way to the base note, full of rich and heavy scents that last for the rest of the day.
When buying perfume, it’s also helpful to know the main six themes in the world of fragrance notes – floral, fresh, fruit, wood, spice, and musk. While many fragrances combine these themes, having an idea of which general theme you’re looking for can make it easier to choose a perfume you love.
Hit the Perfume Counter
Although it’s likely that you’ll buy your chosen perfume at wholesale prices online, checking out some of your top options at the perfume counter first is always a good idea. That said, there’s a right way and a wrong way to sample your potential favorite scents.
For example, it’s far too early for a skin test, especially if it means spraying lots of different fragrances on various parts of your body. Instead, take a bunch of tester sticks and spray a different perfume on each of them. And remember to bring a pen with you to the store too. This way you can write down which perfume is which on each stick.
Armed with your labeled testers, leave the store. Once you’re outside and away from the mixture of scents lingering around the perfume counter, you’ll be able to get a clearer sniff of your perfume selection.
You should then make a point of checking your testers throughout the day. This can help you re-evaluate the perfumes as they evolve through the heart note and onto the base note.
Spritz it on Your Skin
After a day of constant sniffing, you should have a clearer idea of which perfume is your stand-out favorite.
If so, it’s now time to head back to the store and double-check with one last test – the all-important skin test. Since your skin’s pH, oil levels, and natural scent can all affect how a perfume smells on you, a skin test is far more reliable than sniffing a tester stick.
For the best results, spritz the perfume on your pulse points – your inner elbows, wrists, and neck. And then, whatever you do, don’t rub it in. Although this is probably contrary to what you’ve always done, rubbing your wrists together heats up the perfume and disrupts the chemistry of the notes. Instead, wait for the perfume to dry and try to avoid covering your pulse points with clothing or accessories if possible.
Then, like before, go about your day as usual, while also making sure to check in on your fragrance every couple of hours or so. You’ll then get a better idea of how the top, heart, and base notes mix with your natural scent. Hopefully, these sniff updates should confirm that this perfume is the one. And if not, at least you’ve narrowed down your search a little.
How to Choose a Perfume Perfect for You
You could say that there’s not much more to knowing how to smell nice than taking a shower and spraying on some deodorant. Choosing a perfume that makes you smell and feel great, however, is a lot more difficult.
But, now you have a better idea of how to choose a perfume that’s perfect for you, here’s hoping that you’re a few steps closer to finding your signature scent.
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