You may be a signature scent kind gal, or a wear what you feel type of guy. Either way, choosing a new scent can be daunting. With thousands of fragrances to choose from, and hundreds of different brands, where do you even start?
We’re here to make choosing easier, with five tips to help you find a perfume you’ll adore.
USE A FRAGRANCE FINDER
Some online retailers and brands offer a scent finder - a quiz-type scenario that helps you define what you really want to smell like, and narrows down your choices significantly. You can find our Scent Selector here.
WHEN YOU’RE SWITCHING TO NATURAL, DON’T EXPECT LIKE FOR LIKE
The following may be a day-dampener, although it’s important to note: there’s no natural equivalent that will perfectly match your go-to synthetic scent. See, thanks to limitations forced on the industry by the EU Allergens List (and the fact that naturals cost a LOT more to make), most commercial fragrances are created using chemically-derived ingredients. (Yup, even the high-end brands you pay through the nose for.) This means they are virtually impossible to recreate using pure botanicals, particularly since we can’t yet extract a scent from many fruits (citrus being the exception).
And what about longevity? You know how biology insists all living things break down over time? The same goes for natural perfume, which makes sense considering they’re comprised entirely of plant essences (flowers, seeds, roots and woods.) On the other hand, man-made molecules (like the ones you’ll find in synthetic fragrances,) have been engineered to linger around for longer. Ever gone to put on your jacket and noticed it smelled like the night before? This is likely due to phthalates - chemicals that enhance the strength of an aroma and essentially act like a liquid plastic by sticking it to your skin!
Natural perfumes are designed to evolve slowly throughout the day as the heat of your body activates the oils and fragrance notes. Take lemon, for example. As a top note, it has a low molecular weight meaning it dissipates in the atmosphere quickly (5-15 minutes tops.) Middle notes, like lavender, last for 2 to 4 hours, while base notes such as sandalwood unfold over 4 to 6 hours. Our recommendation? Don’t dismiss a scent after a single spritz. Allow up to a week for your senses to adjust (and avoid wearing any strong-smelling moisturisers in the meantime!)
GO WITH WHAT YOU KNOW
If you like a particular genre of scent, like bright and sunny fragrances, for example, you can simply look for a scent in the same, or similar, genre. Have a look at the full description of the scent on the brand’s website, and what notes they have listed. If it sounds like something you’ve loved before, you’ll probably love it again.
SMELL WITH YOUR GUT
We’ve seen it time and time again - you think you’ll love a certain scent based on the notes, but in fact you fall in love with something completely different and unexpected. It happens all the time! Be open-minded, and go with your gut. Just because you’ve never tried a musk perfume you’ve loved before, doesn't mean you never will. Allow your nose and your instinctual responses to guide you, rather than a familiar description, or a list of notes you recognise.
SAMPLE FIRST
It’s a fact that the same fragrance smells different on everyone, and this is especially true with natural perfumes. The way a fragrance smells on your skin depends on many factors, including your hormones and diet. So don’t just pick a fragrance based on the fact you love it on your bestie - try it for yourself. You can buy all ONE SEED perfumes in a 2ml sample form, with around 20 sprays in each atomiser, giving you a week’s worth of testing.
The perfect amount of time for your olfactory system to adjust and your heart to fall in love.
