FINDING your signature scent is a personal experience and for many people is just as important as finding the right makeup or skin products for your skin. But how do you go about it? Choosing a signature fragrance can take a while, especially considering the thousands of options on the market. And while having a plethora of options is exciting, it can be a relief to streamline your routine for a minimalistic, more intentional fragrance wardrobe.
If you prefer to have one or two signature scents that you’ll go back to time and time again, rather than playing fragrance roulette on any given day, and are stumped on how to pick a perfume that feels perfect, here are some tips for finding your signature scent:
- Start with identifying fragrance families
Some perfumes dabble into more than one fragrance family, but knowing what notes you gravitate toward can quickly narrow down your search for a signature perfume. There are four main fragrance families:
Floral Fragrances
By far the most popular and extensive family of scents, it includes any and all fragrances that retain a sweet and flowery aroma. It includes but is not limited to – sweet-smelling notes, such as romantic, musky rose; intoxicating jasmine; bright, tropical and waxy lilies, and potent, rosy peonies. The floral family is most commonly found in feminine fragrances with notes of soothing, rich lavender; potent, rosy peony; green, rich and honeyed jasmine sambac; or subtle, herbaceous and green daisy, which maintains a sense of freshness and sweetness.
Fresh Fragrances
Citrus facets are the preferred elements in the ’fresh’ family of fragrances. These oils are the lightest in perfumery, and as such, evaporate more quickly than others. Favourites include a mosaic of lush orange; fresh, clean lemon; spicy, complex and pleasing bergamot, and tangy, uplifting grapefruit. Aquatic and green notes, like sea spray, are often added to these formulations, which accentuate their sharp, clean character. Refreshing, zesty and vibrant fragrances are called ‘clean’, and many eau de toilette and cologne versions fall into this category. Fresh scents are the epitome of summer, and they are ideal for carefree splashing within the frothy folds of eternal ocean waves, standing beneath a glorious wind-in-your-hair sea breeze or the joyful feeling of the sun at your back.
Ambery Fragrances
This category of scents is known for its warm, sweet, luxurious and somewhat spicy character. Extremely potent and aromatic, these scents enfold the exotic, indulgent lure of the faraway realms of ancient Arabia and India, the dazzling luxury of precious jewels and the tender warmth and elusive sweetness of unspoken comfort. Notes are more exotic than those found in other fragrance families. The most popular include lush and elegant vanilla; warm, spicy and inviting cinnamon; dusty-violet-nuanced orris; rich, highly sensual and haunting jasmine; powdery, vanilla-like orchid, and fresh, floral and sugary orange blossom. These facets render a family of scents that is most popular for both men and women and favoured for winter or fall evening wear.
Woody Fragrances
Common facets for this warm, mysterious and captivating family of fragrances include green, sensual and slightly sharp vetiver; potent, earthy oak moss; dark, rich and honeyed amber; dry, clean cedar; musky, potent patchouli, and smoky, woody and smooth oudh. Their base notes are often a blend of citrusy and bittersweet elements, which in tandem, provide a redolent tapestry of rich, complex aromas. When woody scents are fused with floral aspects, the results are a more feminine formulation. All woody fragrances are favoured for wear after darkness falls.
2. Take your time
Perfumes smell differently on everyone, thanks to our unique skin chemistry, so how it smells on a sampler paper won’t necessarily be how it settles into your skin. Before you purchase a full-sized perfume, use a sampler or a travel-sized bottle and sit with the fragrance for a week or so. Fragrances lean on the pricier side of beauty products, so you should like the fragrance before making an investment.
3. Consider how you want your signature scent to make you feel
Do you want to come off as playful? Do you want to feel sexy? Consider this as you take turns sniffing between scents of leather accord and peony before settling on the one. Consider who you are and also who you want to be, and ensure that the scent fits these criteria.
- Take into account how long you want it to last.
When you browse through department stores and stumble through eau de parfums, eau de toilettes, and more, it’s important to know the difference before heading to the cash register. These names allude to the concentration of fragrance, which goes hand in hand with its longevity and retail price. Eau fraiche has between 1 to 3% concentrated perfume oil and generally lasts less than an hour. Eau de cologne has between 2 and 6% oil and lasts up to two hours. Eau de toilette can have anywhere between 5 and 15% oil and lasts roughly three hours. Eau de parfum contains between 15 to 20% oil and lasts between five to eight hours. Finally, there’s pure parfum, which has anywhere between 15 to 40% oil and can last up to 24 hours.
If you are still having trouble deciding which fragrance would suit you best, here is a list of three of the top men’s and women’s fragrances at top South African retailer, Edgars:
Top 3 Women’s Fragrances:
Gucci Bloom
Gucci Bloom’s notes of natural tuberose and jasmine create an unexpectedly rich, white floral scent on the skin.
Versace Eros
Versace Eros Pour Femme is a floral, woody musk scent. It features top notes of pomegranate, Sicilian lemon, and Calabrian bergamot with middle notes of peony, jasmine and lemon blossom. Finally, it has bottom notes of sandalwood, musk and woody notes.
Sì by Giorgio Armani
Sì has a top note of blackcurrant nectar, a heart of freesia and Rose of Mai, with a musky, blond-wood base.
Top 3 Men’s Fragrances:
Gucci Oud
Gucci Oud is an amber woody fragrance for women and men. The top notes are raspberry, pear and saffron; middle notes are Bulgarian rose and orange blossom; base notes are agarwood (Oud), patchouli, amber and ausk.
Y Saint Laurent
The unique scent of Y Saint Laurent Cologne combines a woody and earthy fragrance with key notes of bergamot, sage and ginger.
Acqua Di Giò by Giorgio Armani
Acqua Di Giò opens with a splash of fresh, Calabrian bergamot, neroli, and green tangerine. Light, aquatic nuances mix with rosemary, sweet persimmon, and warm Indonesian patchouli to create a fresh cologne for men.
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