Choosing the right fragrance that suits your style isn’t as difficult as it sounds. All you need is a little knowledge from our ultimate guide to choosing the right perfume. Read on to find out!

We all love to smell good. After all, the sense of smell is a rather ignored trait of the human race that plays a very important role in impressing people around you. Some of us recognise the importance of smelling good and buy scents that linger around making people around you feel a little good by the sweet fragrance that you spread. Here’s a short guide to choose the right perfume, that will not only make you stand out in the crowd, but will also help you decide what goes best with you.

What is perfume or Cologne?

The word perfume or cologne is a name given to different scents that men and women wear to enhance their beauty. Being a social species, we all tend to impress people with our looks, and talks. At the same time, smell plays an important role in socialising too. That part is taken care of by a perfume or a cologne.0

There are hundreds and thousands of fragrances all over the world. Each one of them has a distinct smell, flavour and purpose. And that’s what may cause us to be confused as to which would be the best for u s. However, once you know what you like, it becomes very easy to find out which particular scent would be the best for you. But before you venture out in the quest, always remember! You are the one to choose your perfume. Others opinions are not very effective here. Wear the fragrance you find yourself the most comfortable in.

What are perfume Notes?

Every scent has three notes. The high note, the medium note and the base note.

• The High Note or Top Note lasts typically from 15 minutes to 2 hours and hits right after application of the scent.
• The medium note is what will stay for a longer duration after the top note has faded away. The medium note takes charge once the top note has faded away and lasts for three to five hours.
• The base note is the faint fragrance that’s left when all others have subsided. This scent lingers on even after four or five hours. Some typical base notes include flavors such as sandalwood, moss, vanilla, leather, musk etc.

Different Types of Scents or Perfumes

Depending upon the quality and concentrations, fragrances are broadly classified into five types. This doesn’t include any deodorants and body sprays.

• Eau de Fraîche: This is the most diluted version of the scents. With just 1 to 3 percent essential oils, Eau de Fraîche literally translates to fresh water. They are the cheapest perfumes in circulation and don’t stay for long.
• Eau de Cologne: The Eau de cologne has a concentration slightly more than Eau de Fraiche and is also a little more pricey. Lasting about two hours, the cologne perfume is 3-5% essential oils mixed in water and alcohol.
• Eau de Toilette: Not to confuse with the literal toilets, the Eau de Toilette is more concentrated than Eau de Cologne and is also more expensive than others. Eau de Toilette perfumes typically last a couple of hours and then the base note kicks in, lasting through the day at most.
• Eau de parfum: This literally translates to ‘water of perfume’ and is closer to true perfume than any other fragrances. The Eau de Parfum is pretty expensive though and contains nearly 15-18% essential oils. This much concentration easily lasts through the day, and you’d stay at the center of attention even after a long time.
• Perfume or Parfum: With 15-30% essential oil concentration, the Parfum surely lasts long with the base note sometimes sticking even to the next day. Naturally priced premium, the perfume has the best quality of all the fragrances of the world.

Flavors of the perfume/ Scent Family

Coming down to choosing the perfume for yourself, there are many flavors of the perfume. They can be classified into four different types:

• Floral: These scents smell like flowers, as the name suggests. They are typically comprised of flower oils. Popular scents include roses, jasmine, lavender, orange blossom etc. Floral scents are highly popular among women.
• Citrus/Fruit: Going by the name, they contain fruit extract oils, citrus fruits in particular. Most common are orange and lime, but you also find flavours such as apple, grapefruit or even peach.
• Oriental: These flavors smell a bit darker and complex. E.g. cinnamon or musk. These flavors are more popular with men than women.
• Woody/Chypre: These flavors contain an essence of the earthy smells like oakmoss, sandal etc. They are highly popular among all masses. The tones of such flavors also tend to last longer than others.
  
  

Different For Men & Women

Though perfumes are collectively supposed to be used for making you smell nice, different smells suit different people. To categorise generally, there are some flavors best suited for women and may not be good for men. Same is true in the vice-versa situation. However, there is no thumb rule as to which scent is suitable for men only or women only.

For men, it is best that they consider woody scents such as oakmoss, sandalwood, cannabis etc. But again, there’s no rule that says so. Men comfortable with floral scents like lavender can wear them as well.

As for women, floral and citrus flavors go best with them, but again no rules.

As said earlier, it is you who’s to choose what suits you. Always remember the environment you’d be going into and the people you are going to meet. Occasions also, to some extent, decide whether a particular fragrance is suitable or not. At the end of the day, it is best that you choose what goes best for you.

How to Choose?

The best time to go shopping for perfumes is the evening. During the morning or the day, the sense of smell isn’t as strong. By the nightfall, the smelling capacity increases as we depend less on eyesight. However, don’t go out shopping late in the night as the day drains your energy and you may start feeling sleepy.

Also, while deciding, don’t finalise the scent till you’ve smelt the final notes. The best way to do it is using a blotting paper; spray some perfume on a blotting paper and let it fade slowly. If the smell still appeals you when it’s grown faint, then it is good to go. Also, as a hack, carry some coffee beans with you while taking a trip to the store. Sniff once you’re done with one sample. This will take away the remnants of the smells of the previous sample and you’d be able to judge the scent better.

Pricing

The price of a perfume largely depends upon the composition. Eau Fraîche and Eau de Cologne are the cheapest of them as they contain very less concentration of the essential oils that make the perfume smell great. Also, they don’t last long. Naturally, they are considered to be ‘economy’ quality items.

Eau de Toilette is priced slightly higher than Eau de Cologne as the concentration of the oils is better. Also, the fragrances and flavors of the products under the Eau de Toilette are uncommon compared to the first two types.

Eau de Parfum and Parfum are priced heavily and are considered to be the best fragrances out there. They’re the most expensive items in the market and the flavors and smells are quite rare all over the world. Most famous brands such as Ferrari, Dolce & Gabbana, Bvlgari etc. make the top quality perfumes in the world and are renowned for their quality scents and rare blends of flavors.

Conclusion

Whenever going for a purchase, remember, everyone has a different taste and preferences. There’s a reason why gifted scents rarely ever make it to the wardrobe. Also, contrary to popular belief, sense of smell is our strongest sense as it connects directly to the memory. So it is always a great advice to choose a fragrance that will leave an impression lasting.