A Beginner’s Guide to Finding Your Signature Scent

Curating your wardrobe and make-up bag are integral parts of determining your personal style; but there is one element that can’t be overlooked when creating your style persona: perfume.

Perfume has been a part of the culture for centuries and is one of the most intimate details of an individual’s routine. While your man may be wearing Jean Paul Gaultier Ultramale, you are likely to feel overwhelmed when it comes to finding your particular bottle.

To help you out, read on for a beginner’s guide to finding your signature scent.
1. Understand what a signature scent is
There is a good chance that you have heard the term many times before, but if you don’t fully understand what it means, then it is going to be hard for you to find it. How you smell is an incredibly personal thing, as everyone has different preferences when it comes to scents they like and those that they can’t stand. Plus, just because you like a smell, doesn’t mean that you want to smell like it all the time.

Therefore, no one can provide you with your signature scent, apart from you.

Having a signature scent is a way to leave a mark everywhere you go. It is a fragrance that you wear so frequently that it becomes a representation of who you are, and when someone smells it, they think of you.

When someone approaches you smelling lovely or wearing an incredibly powerful scent, you notice it straight away, and that smell (and therefore the person) lingers in your memory – scent is a powerful thing.

That is what a signature scent does. It creates a fragrance that is solely associated with you. It demonstrates to both yourself and the world that you are entirely confident in your style and taste.

2. Practice patience
While finding your “signature scent” doesn’t necessarily mean that you must have a perfume concocted from scratch, or that you have to spend loads of money, it is going to require some patience. Similar to meeting the love of your life, there is a good chance you are going to have to spend some time with other perfumes before you find ‘the one.’

When you are trying on perfumes, you want to make sure you are giving the scent time to settle on your skin and interact with your body chemistry. You need to be patient with the perfume as it takes 15-20 minutes for all the different ingredients to settle on your skin.

Therefore, you don’t want to haphazardly spray and sniff and have it be a rushed experience. Instead, opt to spray the perfume onto a blotter and leave it for a few minutes. Then waft the blotter in front of your face so you can understand what the scent smells like naturally.

In addition to exercising patience when testing perfumes, you also need to have the same approach when it comes to finding the right one.

There is a good chance you are going to smell a lot of different perfumes before you purchase one, and even then you may decide in a couple of months (or years) that this isn’t a lifelong commitment for you.

That’s okay. Just like in actual life, finding your perfume soulmate is a journey.
3. Pay attention to the scent categories that you like
Just as wine lovers develop their knowledge by sampling, critically examining, and then writing down their notes, perfume lovers could benefit from doing the same. Keeping a list of the types of scents you like will help you to hone in on the perfumes that are right for you.

To do this, you need to start with a basic knowledge of the main scent categories: fresh, floral, spice and woody. While each of these families has plenty of sub-categories, these are the four originals that all perfumes can be divided into.

Here are some characteristics of each scent family:

● Fresh: Usually has strong citrus notes and aromatic notes (such as rosemary or lavender). Those who want a fresh scent should try Tiziana Terenzi Cubia, Missoni Wave, and Juliette Has A Gun Moscow Mule.
● Floral: A very feminine category that often incorporates tender ingredients such as rose, jasmine, violet, and berries. If you like this type of scent, try Salvatore Ferragamo Incanto perfume, Narcisco Rodriguez Ambree, or Guerlain Mon Bloom of Rose.
● Spice: A scent family that combines smells such as incense, smoke, warm spices, earthy vanilla, and leather. Some popular options include Givenchy L’Interdit Intense, Versace Eros, and Carolina Herrera Good Girl Supreme.
● Woody: These types of perfumes have ingredients that are generally associated with nature, such as cedar and dry wood. Woody scents for women can be found in fragrances such as Giorgio Armani Si Passione Intense, Mancera Red Tobacco, and Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Intense.

Keep in mind that the difference between eau de parfum and eau de toilette is that they have varying concentrations of fragrance oil and alcohol in the solution. Eau de parfum has a higher concentration of fragrance oil, which means the scent doesn’t diffuse as much as eau de toilette, which has less fragrance oil but a higher alcohol concentration.
4. Ultimately, make your perfume purchases online
Once you have an understanding of the types of fragrances you like to wear and which ones suit your style, personality, and lifestyle (all of which impact how the scent smells on you), it is then highly recommended that you do your perfume shopping online.

By choosing to shop this way, you are giving yourself plenty of time and space to make a decision – without having to worry about a sales associate pushing you to purchase a scent that isn’t quite for you.

Also, shopping online for perfumes means that you can do plenty of online research before making a decision. This provides you with an opportunity to read reviews, research ingredients, and compare scent notes between potential options.

Are you currently looking for your signature scent? If so, what are you finding are the biggest challenges? If you already have one, what was the process like to find it? How did you know it was ”the one”? Would you ever consider changing it?

Let us know your thoughts on scents and perfumes in the comments below!

AUTHOR BIO
Mohammed Ali is the Owner and Managing Director at France Gallery Co., a well-established retail supplier of high-end gift items and accessories in Kuwait. Its multi-product range runs from original French perfumes, bags, and fashion accessories to original leather purses and wallets for both men and women — all quality products and international labels at the most affordable prices.