How to Select A New Perfume

Walking into a shops perfume department can be an intimidating prospect; shoppers are faced with hundreds of different fragrances and many of them become confused and simply opt for the first perfume that they think smells acceptable. With a little forethought however deciding on which perfume to purchase can be a far more straightforward task. There are a few things to consider before, and while, searching for a new fragrance and this article aims to look at and explain these considerations to help ensure that you manage to get the perfect perfume with the minimum hassle.

You should begin considering what you are looking for in a perfume before you even consider stepping into a store. Perfumes are generally split into distinct olfactory groups, such as floral, woody, oriental, citrus or aromatic. The first step when choosing a perfume is to decide which of these groups you find most appealing and feel will best represent your personality. Nowadays many perfumes contain a blend of fragrances from a couple of these groups, by deciding what you are looking for before you enter a perfumery you will instantly be able to narrow the range of perfumes you will consider, making the process far easier

All perfumes are built from different ‘notes’: top, middle (or heart) and bottom (or base). These fragrance notes are classified based on how long they will last once the perfume has been applied. Top notes are those that instantly jump out at you when the perfume is spritzed. Typically they will be strong but very short lived, dispersing within a matter of minutes. The middle note will become apparent as the top notes fade out and are slightly more durable. 30minutes to an hour after applying the perfume the base note will emerge and form the lasting scent of the perfume.

When selecting a new fragrance remember that they react to you both your skin type and your body’s natural scent. As tempting as it can be to purchase a perfume because it smelt great on some one you met this does not mean it will smell the same on you. Different notes within the perfume will be more apparent on some people than others and how the perfume smalls can depend entirely on how the perfume reacts to your body’s chemicals. Many popular designers and cosmetics companies now focus on fragrances (such as Old Spice Aftershave or Jean Paul Gaultier Perfume ) alongside their fashion and makeup lines.

Due to the fact that perfumes smell different on different people (and different again to simply smelling the perfume from the bottle) it is wise to spray a sample of a perfume you are considering onto your skin, ideally the wrist and inside of the elbow. In order to appreciate the different notes as they progress it is best to sample a maximum of two perfumes (one on each arm to avoid them affecting on one another) over a period of a day before deciding on a purchase. This will allow you to smell how the perfumes develop over time and make an informed decision on which both works with your body and reflects the personality traits that you wish to accentuate.