A signature scent is that fragrance that you want to be permanently identified with. The signature scent is like a unique fashion accessory you wear the most.
As you venture into the world of perfumes, you are bound to discover many perfumes you may fancy for short periods or occasions. But your intended long term relationship with your signature perfume is usually driven by the fact that it is an expression of your sense of style and even personality. Moreover, your signature perfume is well suited to your body and your body’s chemistry.
We discuss a few tips to help you select the perfect signature perfume for yourself.
- Try out only three scents at a time: If you don’t have a particular flavor in mind from the beginning, just smell everything available. But never smell more than three scents in one visit. This is to prevent your olfactory lobe from getting fatigued from trying out so many new scents.
- Start from lighter scents to the heavier scents. Starting the testing with a heavy scent can cause that one smell to overwhelm your senses. Ideally, it may be better to start from musky to fruity, then floral and woods lastly.
- Don’t be discouraged if you don’t like popular scents like oud. Fragrance preference is usually founded on familiarity. So, if you smell an oud for the first time and you didn’t feel any attraction, it may simply be that your nose is still learning how to react to it. Rather you should take note of how the fragrance affects your mood and if it gives you headaches or any sort of reaction.
- Understand the category of scent you are testing. That helps you set the right expectations for the probable results of the fragrance tests. For example, you need to know the common scent factor for each category such as woody, musky, floral, fruity, green, e.t.c.
- Recalibrate your nose: on a day that you are trying out more than three scents, the store assistant may probably tell you to sniff coffee beans with claims that it would help reset your scent indicators. Well, that’s a myth. It’s just another strong scent that will overpower the perfumes you were trying. Rather, some experts suggest that you bury your nose in your unscented elbow instead. Your own scent and ph has a better tendency to help refresh your nose.
- Give it time: The perfume has notes and they will be expressed differently as time passes. So, try observing the evolution of each scent over a minimum of four hours of wear. Apart from the expression of notes, testing over time will allow you see how the perfume reacts with your skin. Fragrances come out differently on each person due to individual diets, sweat, ph, hormones and any other factors that can affect skin chemistry. If you are unable to have a walk-in test, try sample sets. Samples are smaller and cheaper. They afford you an opportunity to test the perfumes before making a long-term commitment.
- Consider how long you want the scent to last. This will influence the kind of concentration of perfume or combination of concentrations to pick. Do not underrate the effect of layering perfumes. Layering your chosen perfumes can help create a totally new scent. What’s better? The unique reaction of your skin with the perfume is highly likely to result in an even more unique scent that will still be pleasant.
- Lastly, you can consider creating your own perfume yourself or ordering for a customized scent. This may take more time and resources but it is bound to have unique results. Just make sure you understand notes, combinations and perfume reactions before you decide on what to create or order.
