Lipstick is one of those things I feel really polishes up the physical aspects of an outfit. But the physical look of being put together isn't the only element of style, is it? Dare I say it: Our aura has an effect too.
Maybe unsurprisingly, the Fragrance and Perfume Industry is now worth over a billion dollars. It keeps chugging along through the ages, unphased by time- and for good reason: "Everyone wants to smell good" is a truism that can be traced all the way back to the Ancient Egyptians, Persians, and Chinese.
In the modern era, that's hardly changed; scent remains the most powerful of the senses, even if the smells we favor- and the technology around them- have greatly changed over the centuries. Likewise, over the centuries, Perfume has become the quintessential, and timeless, beauty tool- and it's one that can make or break your physical presence in a space, too.
Too much, and you become repulsive. Too little, and it might not have the right effect. None at all, and it can be like something's missing entirely.
For that reason, stylish and fashionable Women the world over are heavily concerned with finding that perfect scent: The one that both represents their personality, as well as solidifies the impression they want to leave on those that encounter them. But the modern industry encompasses thousands of brands, thousands of products, and thousands of individual scents- whether they're body washes, lotions, or (yes) ever proper perfumes.
I've been on the on-and-off hunt for the perfect perfume for around 3 years now, and I know all too well how quickly the sheer volume of choices becomes overwhelming; as Insider accurately wrote:
Walk up to any perfume counter at the department store or into a perfumery and you're hit with dozens of scents all vying for your attention. You may have the idea that every woman needs to have her signature scent, the go-to perfume that people will start associating her with. You are on a mission to find that perfect perfume today — except you also have an overwhelming desire to bolt out of the store cloaked in a flurry of words you pretended to understand like 'musk', 'heart notes', and 'mellow grapefruit'.
While I'm certainly closer than I was last week, I'll admit I'm likely still far off... So with all the choices out there, where the hell do you even start to find that perfect perfume?
Today I want to share a few of the steps I've personally been taking over the years in the hopes that it helps someone else find that quintessential scent of their own. So grab a notebook and your favorite Tea, and let's get to it!
⚶ Think About What You've Owned Before ⚶
Chances are you've owned at least one body lotion, fragrance spray, or other beauty item that you've adored the smell of... And if you have, congratulations! You've already taken the first step; even if it's not a perfume directly, what we've liked in the past can actually give us a great springboard for Perfumes by helping us identify some of the scents we're drawn to- aiding us in cutting through a lot of the initial fluff in a world full of incomprehensible choice.
If you remember the company and the product name, look it up online; great places to do so include Basenotes and Fragrantica. But what you're looking for is the complete scent list- or a list of every scent they put in it to make it smell the way it did / does. Once you find the scent lists for each of these product? Write them down and circle any scents they have in common with one another.
For instance: I really loved Victoria's Secret's Love Spell and Davidoff's Cool Water when I was in High School- along with Breathe Serenity from Bath and Bodyworks. Sadly, Breathe Serenity's actual scent notes aren't listed anywhere online... But looking at the note lists from Cool Water and Lovespell, and cross referencing it with the poetic description of Breath Serenity still tells me that all three have several scents in common: Jasmine, Musk, and Peach. It's also safe to say that Lilly of the Valley could be a contender, too, since at least two of them can be confirmed to share that note. If I want to start looking for scents to try, Perfumes with these ingredients are a great place to start!
⚶ Try A Few Perfume "Personality" Quizzes ⚶
Quizzes might seem childish and juvenile, but I feel like they're an easier option than waltzing into your nearest Macy's and giving everything a sniff.
Companies like Skylar, Pinrose, Define Me, and Victoria's Secret have quizes that will match you to one of their own scents- while Sephora has a gift guide quiz for products they carry in their stores; Total Beauty and She Knows claim to be able to figure out your "perfume personality"; and Buzzfeed and Pop Sugar are just fun. Keep in mind, though, that most require either an account or an email newsletter subscription before they'll give you their results, so it's good to keep a spam email on hand when taking them.
Results from quizzes will help you by giving you a few definitive perfumes to try based on your answers, so keep a list of each result you get from the quizzes you take.
⚶ Search for Similar Products ⚶
After you've collected a decent list of notes you generally like, and perfumes you might want to try, it's time to find more.
Sites like The Perfume Society and Fragrance Finder can help make the process easier by allowing you to look up perfumes by specific ingredient- or by the broader Scent Family an ingredient belongs to. This makes it relatively easy to find Perfumes to test if you already have a basic idea of the types of scents and ingredients you enjoy.
Other sites like Scentbird and The Perfumer's Society can suggest new fragrances to try based on what you're currently wearing; plugging some of your old fragrances- as well as the quiz results- into features like these can help you find additional fragrances that might be similar.
Adding any results you get from either method helps bulk up your list with more defined options for you to try.
⚶ Buy Yourself Some Decants ⚶
Remember when you'd get a magazine back in the day, or an Avon catalog, and sometimes it would have that tiny glass vial sample of a Perfume? That's effectively what a Decant is: A sample.
While they come in many different sizes now and 10 ml to 100 ml is technically the "true" Decant range... 1 ml Decants remain the most common sample size. These'll usually run you between $1 USD and $10 USD per, depending on a number of factors. So once you have a decent list of options, look around and see if you can't find Decants for them from reputable sources- and there are thousands of places out there!
On one hand, sites like The Perfume Court, My Perfume Samples, and Lucky Scent are more "official" and can occasionally get decants straight from the manufacturers. On the other, sellers on Ebay and Amazon may have Decants as well. Additionally, there's always Decanting Rings- communities of people who will hand decant and swap fragrances; some great communities exist on Facebook-- from company specific ones like BPAL Bazaar (where I got my huge list of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab samples), to broader ones like Fragrance Splits and Decants, and Fine Scents. But Subredits like r/FragDecants, r/FragSplits, and r/FragranceSwap also exist.
Personally: I buy the vast majority of my Decants from The Perfume Court.
Trust me when I say that buying a bunch of Decants for each perfume you want to try is infinitely cheaper than buying any full bottle when you're not even sure if you'll like it- and a 1 ml sample is more than enough to participate in the next step.
⚶ Test Your Decants Thoroughly ⚶
It seems like common sense, but it bears clear repeating: Scents change; they change as as lighter fragrances evaporate and heavier notes develop. They change based on the shower gel you use, or whether or not you've moisturized that day. They change depending on whether they're alcohol based or oil based... And most importantly: They change depending on your own native body chemistry.
For these reasons, it's not enough to just smell a scent in the bottle... You absolutely have to wear it. Testing each and every Decant you buy, then, is the most integral step to finding a perfume you like- even if you're not looking for "the one".
Personally: I do this by taking a batch of 6 Decants at a time and dabbing one on each wrist, one in each elbow crook, and one on each shoulder- all labeled so I make sure I know which ones are which. I keep them on for about 4 hours- smelling them once an hour to see how their scents develop; if I don't like any of them after the first 5 minutes, they get a big black X through them. If at any point I don't like how one's developing as I wear it, it also gets a big black X through it.
It's a simple process of elimination. If I'm left with any that I like by the end of it, I'll wear each of the "winners" individually (one at a time, on its own) for a week to see if they "stick". And if any survive the week without me getting tired of them or winding up hating them, then I actually have a contender!
⚶ Build Your Perfume Notes ⚶
Keep three lists as you test your Decants: Ones you just don't like the smell of (Dislike), ones you feel start to "go bad" on your skin after a while (Sour), and ones you like that smell good on you (Love). Once you're done testing everything, go online and look up the scent lists for each one. Write down their ingredients and look for anything that each group has in common.
For instance: I recently tested a batch of new Decants, and the results showed me a number of scents common in perfumes I liked. These included Orange Blossom / Neroli, Tiare, Lemon Verbena, Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang, Lily of the Valley, Cedar, Musk, and Patchouli.
It also showed me that all of the perfumes that went "sour" on my skin overwhelmingly had three ingredients in common: Ambergris, Moss, and Tonka; except in the very rare case, none of these ingredients were present in perfumes I ended up loving- but they were present in a couple of the perfumes I'd eliminated within the first 5 minutes of my exposure to them.
Ingredients like Rose, Orchid, Peony, Peach, Sandalwood, Orris, and Vetiver, however, were hit and miss Sometimes they appeared in Perfumes I loved. Other times they appeared in perfumes I disliked altogether. Sometimes they even appeared in Perfumes that eventually Soured; these were ingredients I couldn't get a definitive read on, and so were likely neutral.
You can either do this in a notebook, or through something like Basenotes' free member's Scent Wardrobe (here's mine); thought the interfacing is heavily outdated by a longshot, and the sight can be annoying to navigate, I like Basenotes' Wardrobe because it makes it incredibly easy to do both at the same time. Up until I found it, though, I was simply using a notebook to track everything. Any method that works for you is good enough.
⚶ Use Your Results- And Keep Looking ⚶
You won't find your signature scent overnight. In fact, it's very likely you'll have to repeat these steps multiple times. But each and every time you repeat the steps? You get one step closer to finding that scent that's quintessentially you.