Fragrance is both powerful and personal. It has the ability to evoke memories, feelings, penetrate the atmosphere (indoors and outdoors), and even seep into your body chemistry.

Fragrances have the power to make you memorable. That said, choosing the right scent is crucial! As fragrances blend into your body’s natural oils, finding the right scent for your body chemistry can be challenging as one perfume does not smell the same on all people. You may be a fragrance fanatic or a novice at shopping for scents, but a lack of prior knowledge may cause you to make the wrong choice. Hence, to make sure you get the right fragrance for you, we have a guide to help you through.

Are you choosing and testing the fragrance correctly? When out shopping for perfume, your first step is to select a few—we recommend you limit yourself to three at a time. We suggest a “few” because you may get “scent overload” after a while, and everything will start to smell the same. Also, when trying out new fragrances, it is important to remember that each scent will smell different on you than it does in its bottle or on its fragrance card. Picking a perfume solely based on how wonderful it smells on the card or in the bottle is a mistake many make. Remember, we mentioned that a fragrance blends with your body’s natural oils. For this very reason, you should spray a bit of it on yourself to determine the final fragrance it emits on you. If you love how it smells on you, then that perfume is the right choice.

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Fragrance Guide: Picking the Right Scent For You

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Are you taking the time to smell the top, middle, and base notes? Many people are unaware of a necessary test to carry out when they’re new to perfume buying experiences. That is giving a fragrance enough time to sink into your skin. That said, whenever you’re testing a fragrance, you should allow it enough time to absorb well into your skin. This is important because for the perfume to release its true scent, your body’s warmth must have time to interact with it.

Concerning enough time, there are three stages or levels to determine how well a fragrance smells on you. Level one is the top note which lasts for around fifteen to thirty minutes. This is the stage that initially grabs your attention, giving you your first impression of a particular fragrance. But, as these initial fragrance molecules are small, the scent dissipates quickly. Level two, the middle note (or heart), lasts for an hour or so on your body and is considered the “foundation” of the fragrance. The middle note is revealed once the top note subsides. Level three, which is the base note, is the final stage. As the base note molecules are larger and heavier, they provide depth and complexity and thus linger, leaving a lasting impression.

We encourage you to take the time to test the perfume in all of its notes, paying close attention to how it smells on your skin at every stage. If you find all three pleasing to your senses, then the fragrance is a must-have for you.

Which scent category and family suits you the most? No doubt, you’ve most likely heard the terms “Eau de Parfum” and “Eau de Toilette.” But, do you know what these terms mean? It is imperative to be knowledgeable about these titles whenever you go shop for perfumes because they indicate potency and fragrance longevity once you’ve sprayed them on. As fragrances are made by mixing perfume oil with alcohol and water, the higher the percentage of perfume oil, the greater the scent potency and longevity—not to mention, the higher the price.

We can classify fragrances into potency levels and families. Potency levels are based on the percentage of perfume oil each product contains. Hence, whatever fragrance you select, they will be categorized into one of the following levels (these are in order of strength—from least to greatest):

  • Eau Fraiche (1 – 3%, lasts approx. up to 1 hour)
  • Eau de Cologne (2 – 4%, lasts approx. up to 2 hours)
  • Eau de Toilette (5 – 15%, lasts approx. up to 2 – 4 hours)
  • Eau de Parfum (15 – 20%, lasts approx. up to 6 – 8 hours)
  • Parfum/Perfume (20 – 30%, lasts approx. up to 24 hours)

You will find the least amount of perfume oil in Eau Fraiche, while the highest amount is always present in Parfum.

Our body chemistry determines what potency level and family scent suit us ideally. Some prefer to sport stronger fragrances, which are not only more prominent but also last longer. Others prefer a more subtle fragrance surrounding them during the day. It’s also important to determine which of the major scent families you are most drawn to (e.g., citrus, fruity, floral, spicy, aquatic, floriental, oriental, fougère, woody, and gourmand).

Do you wear fragrance according to season, occasion, and time of day? If you’re shopping for a fragrance to wear during the daytime or the spring or summer seasons, it is best to choose a light, fresh and sweeter scent. As for the evenings, you should choose a stronger fragrance that is good for a night out on the town as well as formal events. Heavier scents are also ideal for the fall and winter seasons.

Do you know your skin type? Before you start choosing fragrances to wear, you should determine your skin type. What type of skin do you have–normal, dry, or oily? You will find scents disappear faster on dry skin than they usually would on normal or oily skin. Hence, if your skin is drier, it would be good to look for fragrances with higher concentrations of perfume oil. On the other hand, if your skin is oily or normal, you can choose any fragrance with a lower concentration of perfume oil.

Did you shop at the right time for buying the fragrance? One significant thing to consider when seeking out a good perfume is the time of day you’re shopping. The reason is that our sense of smell grows sharper as the day progresses—in fact, better than how it is when the day has just begun. In her 2017 article, “The Circadian Clock in Your Nose,” Veronique Greenwood writes, “When people tell you, ‘Wake up and smell the roses,’ they might be giving you bad advice. Your sense of smell may fluctuate in sensitivity over the course of 24 hours, in tune with our circadian clocks, with your nose best able to do its job during the hours before you go to sleep, according to a study published last month.” That said, for an accurate idea of how a fragrance will smell on you when you’re wearing it daily, it is best to test it at a time when your nose is at optimal performance.

Are you testing too many fragrances at the same time? Another mistake an inexperienced buyer can make is testing too many fragrances at a time. This is why early on in this article, we recommended limiting your tests for up to three fragrances at a time. This is because your nose is sure to get confused, and soon it will not be able to tell all the scents apart. This may sound like a painstaking and time-consuming process, but it is beneficial to make more than one trip to test out fragrances to find your ideal one. At least you will rest assured that your nose can give complete attention to a particular scent to test its worthiness.

Popular Fragrances for Women

Here are some of our faves to consider this season:

Jo Malone London- English Pear and Freesia Cologne

Maison Francis Kurkdijian Paris- Aqua Celestia Cologne Forte Eau de Parfum

La Vie Est Belle Eau de Parfum

Diptyque Eau Rose Eau de Toilette

Gabrielle Chanel Essence Eau de Parfum

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right fragrance for yourself can be a daunting task. Even so, to find the ideal scent for yourself, it is essential to follow the simple steps noted above so that you give each scent a chance to show you its best performance. So, take your time–we promise it’ll be worth it!