How do I choose a perfume that suits me?
Start from the scent family you already like, test on your skin rather than on a paper strip, and wait 15 minutes before you decide. Most wrong buys happen in the first two minutes.
The five steps
- Find your family. Sweet, fresh, floral, woody or oriental? Think about the perfumes you’ve liked in the past: they usually belong to the same family. Explore the perfume families.
- Try three perfumes at most at a time. After the third, your nose can hardly tell anything apart.
- On your skin. A perfume changes on you; on a paper strip it stays the same.
- Wait. Your first impression is the top notes, and they fade within minutes. What you’ll wear all day is the heart and the base.
- Think about when you’ll wear it. The office, evenings, summer and winter all call for different things. See the right perfume for every season.
What not to do
Don’t choose a perfume because someone else liked it: the same perfume smells different on every skin. Don’t rub your wrists. And don’t sniff coffee beans between tries; they don’t “clear” your nose, they just confuse it even more. Smell your own skin in a spot without perfume instead.
If you’re not sure
Take the perfume quiz to see which family suits you. Or try five perfumes at home with the Discovery set and live with them for a few days before you choose a bottle.