Now that we’ve deepened your understanding of perfume in preparation for finding your signature scent (see part 1), it’s time to get down to strategy. Store shelves groan with perfume. How do you choose “the one”?
My guess is that most people duck into perfume shops and department stores and try whatever catches their fancy at the moment, hope they'll be struck will love. That might work. Possibly. Maybe providence will toss a perfume in your path that will grab you and demand to be worn everyday.
But maybe it won’t. A surer path would be to explore the offerings of a single perfume house, then to apply whatever you learn to finding the fragrance that resonates with you most. Most — not all, but most — perfume houses aim to market a line of fragrances that appeals to a broad range of consumers. For instance, Chanel offers Chance for its younger market and Eau Première, No. 19 Iris Poudré, and Coco Noir for its more fashion-savvy customers who might not want to wear the older, fustier Chanels like No. 5 and No. 19 that appeal to those more experienced in fragrance (or with eyes full of stars for these icons). Similarly, Chanel’s luxury Les Exclusifs line encompasses the gamut with a true oriental (Coromandel); an elegant vetiver (Sycomore); the mistress’s fragrance (Misia); a leather (Cuir de Russie); and — well, you get it. By sampling each of Les Exclusifs, you gain a broad experience of fragrance, albeit through Chanel's lens.
If you’re looking to learn about fragrance through exploring a perfume line, one good bridge line is Jo Malone. The fragrances are approachable, nicely made, and easy to find. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, try L’Artisan Parfumeur. You’ll find some fabulous perfumes ranging from earthy ouds to dainty florals, all intriguing. If you have access to niche perfumes, Parfum d’Empire offers a tightly edited but thorough range that will familiarize you with everything from grand florals to rich orientals to dry chypres.1 If you want to make a real study of perfume, plunge in and commit yourself to knowing the work of one of the grand old houses like Guerlain or Hermès.
Maybe you're already sure of the notes that intrigue you. Why not work through different perfumers’ treatment of those notes? If you love tuberose, you’ll want to dip into everything from Frédéric Malle Carnal Flower to Jungle Gardenia. You might want to experiment a bit with jasmine, orange flower, lily of the valley, and lily, too, to see where you fall in this dreamy constellation of tuberose's cousins. Or maybe you love rose. You’ll want to sample a pure rose, a rose chypre, a green rose, and a fruity rose. You’ll want to know what rose does when it’s sprinkled with cardamom or balanced with violet or dosed with incense.
When you test fragrances, be sure to try them side by side. Comparing fragrances is the best way to call out the individuality of each scent. Give the fragrance at least four hours to develop, and keep sniffing along the way. When perfumes start smelling the same, it’s time to stop for the day. You can breathe through your unscented scarf or cardigan to help “reset” your nose.
Don’t buy right away. It’s tempting to buy on the spot when you’re holding a beautiful bottle and a sales associate is cooing superlatives, but insist on a perfume sample. Perfume boutiques are generally wonderful about making samples if they don’t already have trade samples on hand, and some retailers — Sephora and Nordstrom come to mind — will make samples, too. If the store won’t give you a sample, go somewhere else. Perfume is personal. It can take a while to make up your mind, and you'll want to try it at home.
In fact, it’s best to expect that finding your signature scent won’t happen overnight. To me, that’s the beauty of the process. Take your time. Sniff, sample, make an opinion, change your opinion. Broaden your appreciation of perfume.
As you sample fragrances, you might decide to build on your signature scent idea by, for example, having a different formulation for day and evening. Fragrance companies often create an Extrait version of a scent that emphasizes different notes than the Eau de Toilette version. On the other hand, you might decide on a different fragrance altogether for day, one that harmonizes with your evening perfume. For example, you might adore Guerlain Shalimar for evening but wear a sheer lemon or light vanilla for day and dab on Shalimar at night.
Whatever you do, have fun! Finding a fragrance you love is a rewarding adventure.
Perfume lovers, what have I missed? What advice would you offer someone looking for a signature scent?
1. [Ed. note: see Perfumista tip: on fragrance families for more information on chypres and other "fragrance family" classifications.]
Never choose a fragrance based on how it smells on someone else. It will smell slightly differently on you.
If there is something that you really dislike, find out what olfactory group it belongs to. I don’t like Fougères; it’s not an absolute, obviously, but it weeds out a lot of fragrances that probably would not be “the One”.
Similarly, find out which group your “likes” belong to.
Great advice! Especially the bit about not judging a fragrance by how it smells on someone else.
Rather than going through the offerings of one house, I’d start by sniffing randomly wherever a person can and as much as possible along with taking some notes. I know it only runs with demand but once someone has notes on 10-15 scents I’d heavily recommend doing the Monday Mail (since they’re reading this article on NST after all) and trying as many of the suggestions as possible.
What a great idea to recommend Monday Mail! I should have thought of that.
This may be heresy — try not to fall in love with a new-for-you vintage perfume because supply and quality may be questionable. And if you happen to find a signature vintage perfume – wear it or run the risk of hoarding perfume that turned while in your possession.
Oh yes. Making a vintage fragrance your signature perfume is akin to falling in love with a dead man. Stay with the living if you can!
Hahaha too funny and too true!
It must be Memorial Day that’s making me so morbid!
This is pretty much covers it all 🙂 When I started out, I sampled both by house and by note and learned a lot from both. Ormonde Jayne was a great bridge line (what a great term!) for me, their sample set was one of the first things I purchased. I would also just smell everything you can (perfume, but also flowers, spices, smells on the street…) and pay attention to what you enjoy and what not. I absolutely agree that smelling things next to each other is extremely useful, but I would add that you should not give up on a perfume that you like only because it suffers in some comparisons. Any jasmine fragrance will pale next to A la Nuit, but you might still prefer a lighter take on the flower as your everyday signature.
Great advice–all of it! I can see Ormonde Jayne being a great house to start out with, too.
Have you ever tried either Norma Kamali’s Jazmin or Bruno Acampora’s Jasmin?
Robin has some great comparisons with A la Nuit:
“it very nearly outdoes Serge Lutens A La Nuit in the buried-alive-in-flower-petals category. Just as I was beginning to question the wisdom of testing it in July, of all times, it started to settle. A bit of stemmy green arrives to temper the floral notes, and then the ylang both sweetens and mellows the jasmine without overpowering it.”
“If what you’re looking for a big huge skanky jasmine, dark and possibly rather scary, you might try Norma Kamali’s Jazmin. I described A La Nuit’s top notes as “as close to being buried alive in flower petals as anything else I can think of”, to which WinterWheat quite accurately commented in reply that Jazmin was possibly even more so — “…like having the petals crammed up your nostrils”. It rivals Bruno Acampora’s Jasmin for a jasmine that might be best left to the true jasmine fanatic. I found it overwhelming the first time I tried it several years back, now it seems just about right.”
You know, I guess these might rather suit you 🙂
You make me crave a dose of jasmine right now! This, even though I’m already wearing the whopper Carnal Flower.
I’ve never tried either of these but I loved the descriptions. I don’t find A la Nuit nearly as powerful in the jasmine department as say Fracas in Tuberose world. But then, Fracas is in a class of it’s own. Though if I remember rightly, you are not a fan?
Carnal Flower is beautiful, I don’t wear it often though. These days if I want some Malle Une Fleur de Cassie it is.
I do like Fracas, but it doesn’t suit me well (Carnal Flower doesn’t really, either, as much as I love it). Une Fleur de Cassie is fabulous.
Thank you for these columns, Angela. They will focus my approach, which has been all over the place. Several years ago, though, I decided on Ormonde Jayne Woman and coincidentally I’m now waiting for delivery of her new samples–I think it’s four. I’m still fond of OJ Woman but wanting something else. Time will tell, and in the meantime your advice will be my guide.
It’s hard to go wrong with Ormonde Woman, but I can imagine that it would be nice to have a fresher complement to it. Have fun exploring!
I did the single house route when I started and used Tom Ford, as tobacco vanilla was one of the first perfumes I tried that blew my mind. The signature lines and the private blends cover a lot of territory and I liked that they had that breadth of styles as I found that some ranges like Hermes were all a bit samey and built on subtle variations. I prefer a range that shouts rather than whispers ! I still have a blast every day playing with the original line up – moss breches, purple patchouli, Amber absolute , Japan noir etc and deciding which to wear as they’re so wildly different
I didn’t even think of Tom Ford, but you’re right! Especially with both the signature line and the private blends.
I would add that, while comparing side-by-side is invaluable, also be sure to sample a fragrance you’re considering all by itself as well. I’ve tested a chypre and a vanillic oriental at the same time, and found that the one smelled bitter and the other cloying to me by comparison.
Now that’s interesting! And good advice. The side by sides are great, but once you’re honing in on a candidate, wear it on its own.
I completely agree, some perfumes just bring out the worst in each other.
“Don’t buy right away.” Gosh that is just the single most important piece of advice for civilian fragrance shopping, isn’t it?? I realize not everyone will want to make it into an ongoing project, but even just to sniff and buy on two different days I think can go SUCH a long way to making sure you actually like what you’ve committed to…
The other idea I find nice for those who want a signature scent (if not remotely practiceable for myself–I don’t even want to wear the same thing morning to night!) is to think of whatever you pick not as an irreversible choice but as something for the particular period of your life that you’re in at present–so that it’s the scent you wear through college, or in your first year out on your own, or your first year in a new city, etc. etc. That way it’s ok if your first one isn’t the holy grail. Still of course worth doing some legwork to make sure it’s worthy of being worn day after day, but I wouldn’t want anyone to feel like that they had to hold off altogether while they found the perfect thing. A-okay to wear a scent you’re enjoying even as maybe you’re also learning more and refining your preferences–you can always switch to a new signature for a new stage in your life (even if that new stage is just, “Now I wish I were wearing a different kind of perfume!” 🙂 )
That’s a great attitude! I like the idea of choosing “best for now” and letting taste and life evolve to encompass other fragrances.
I love your thinking!
A beautiful continuation of your wonderful guide Angela. 🙂
I completely agree on try not purchasing right away.
It might be daunting in the shop when you are just starting out and less experienced about perfume. The SAs might appear to be “hugely knowledgable and informative”; and this, as I am pretty sure most of us had experienced, makes us feel not unlike students talking to professors/teachers. Oh the pressure. Telling them “I will go for a spin and see how the perfume wears” is like saying “my dog ate my homework”. But don’t be afraid to tell the truth or what you want. Nobody should be pressured into buying something they don’t even like in my opinion and most SAs understand that too!
Regarding my signature scent hunt, I have pretty much given up. I feel that now, perfume similar to choices on a menu. There are dishes that you will always return to because they are comforting, suiting or a no-brainer, but even that you wouldn’t want to eat it everyday (or smelling it for hours everyday… it is a perfume after all!). So don’t feel the need to desperately hunt for a signature. If you experiment enough and take your time, your comfort bottle will come to you. 🙂
I love the encouragement you put out there for people new to perfume! You’re perfectly right. It’s so easy to feel intimidated into making a purchase when you’d benefit from giving it time. Naturally, I agree with you, too, about not feeling like you have to stick to one fragrance–even though the hunt is a lot of fun.
“Your comfort bottle will come to you.” Those words themselves are comforting!
I’ve really enjoyed these articles, Angela, as well as the comments.
The only thing I might add: be open. I mentioned this in the comments section of pt. 1, but I think there’s a great deal of romanticism in finding a signature scent. You want it to be you, sure, but you probably also want it to represent the best version of yourself possible, an ideal you’ve formed in your head.
So you go into the process thinking you want to find a light, green, fresh floral, maybe, with a note of tea, because you feel that’s who you want to be. And then you pick fragrances to sample based on descriptions and marketing and they’re perfect on paper…but they fall flat on you.
So be open. Be open to new fragrance houses and new notes and new noses. It’s important to feel a connection to your fragrance, but don’t try to force a connection that doesn’t wind up being there.
This is good advice for life, really! Don’t try to second guess the outcome, just enjoy the process and follow your gut. Think of how many people you know who ended up marrying someone who was “not their type”?
Excellent advice, and something I particularly need to remember.
Especially love this line: ‘It’s tempting to buy on the spot when you’re holding a beautiful bottle and a sales associate is cooing superlatives…’ Just amazing how they seem to think this will work. Well, not on a seasoned sniffer with financial constraints…!
It just makes me crabby. “It’s beautiful! Made in France! Inspired by the perfumer’s grandmother! Will net me a tidy commission!” I love a good SA, though, who will tell you honestly if the fragrance is “meh.” They’re worth their weight in gold.
Yes, one just wants to smack those that wax on lyrical in reformulated phrases. At the same time I’m not sure an assistant ought to say ‘meh’, even if that’s an honest response… I think if a customer is preferring a particular scent, he/or she should not be discouraged because the assistant is not impressed by it.
True, that wouldn’t be good business. But, if you were truly asking for an honest opinion, it would be nice at least to be steered toward something that might wear nicer.