Having a signature scent can be a great way of feeling put together, confident and assured in your personality. Scent is one of our most powerful and evocative senses, and the way you use perfume or cologne can speak volumes about you. However, finding the right fragrance that says just what you want it to about the kind of person you are can sometimes be hard, especially when there are so many different types to choose from. To help you make the right pick for you, read on for some useful tips to look out for:
See how long the fragrance lasts for
When you’re choosing a fragrance, whether that is in a store or from a perfume subscription, one of the first things you should check out is how long you can smell it for. It’s always worth trying it on your skin before you make a commitment, as there can be a real difference in fragrance as it changes over time on your body, as opposed to a sampler on a piece of paper.
Ideally, over the course of time, you should not actually be able to smell the fragrance you’ve tried at all. While this might seem counterintuitive, it actually reveals that this is a well-balanced fragrance that will not overwhelm your senses. If you’ve ever had a migraine or felt unwell as a result of someone’s fragrance, the chances are that it would have been something that was far too strong.
Understand the structure of a fragrance
When choosing a perfume, you’ll want to wait a while so that you can experience all of its various notes. These can be classed as top, middle and bottom notes. The top note is the initial fragrance you experience when you first spray it, and it can often be attention-grabbing but soon fade away to reveal the next part. The middle note then emerges, and this will have a different tone to the first part of the scent as it merges with your own natural body scent. It will also linger for a lot longer. Finally, you’ll smell the bottom note, which is often a richer scent that you can pick up at the end of the day.
All three different notes will shape how you react to a perfume, so it’s worth reading the description closely, or better yet, trying a scent on for a few hours to make sure you’re completely happy with it.
Avoid trends and go with what you enjoy
While you’ll often come across celebrity-endorsed new fragrances that come out every season as part of a new trend, it’s better to treat perfume as something timeless. Look for something that you personally enjoy, rather than something poorly created, that has been advertised by a popular persona on a commercial. After all, each fragrance reveals a distinctive part of your own unique personality, so it is always worth choosing something that reflects who you are in the best way.
