How to choose a fragrance, slowly
A paper strip in a busy shop tells you very little. Here is how to choose a scent you will love for years.
Most fragrances are bought in five minutes and regretted in five weeks. Choosing well takes a little longer, but it is simple.
Skin, not paper
A blotter strip shows you the opening and not much else. Your skin is where the fragrance will live, so that is where to judge it. Use paper to narrow down, and skin to decide.
Two or three at a time
After a few scents the nose tires and everything begins to smell alike. Try no more than two or three in one visit: one on each wrist, one on the inside of an elbow.
Reset with fresh air
Between scents, step outside for a moment or smell the unscented skin of your own forearm. Both give your nose a neutral point to come back to.
Wear it for a day
The real test is an ordinary day: the morning, the heat of noon, the evening. Notice when you catch it, and whether people near you do. That is why we made the Discovery Set: five eaux de parfum in 10 ml, enough to live with each one. And when you choose, the set’s price comes back to you as credit on a full-size bottle.
Questions
- How many perfumes can I test at once?
- Two or three is the comfortable limit. After that the nose tires and scents begin to blur together.
- Do coffee beans really reset your nose?
- They mostly add another strong smell. Fresh air, or the unscented skin of your own arm, is a gentler and more useful reset.
