Choosing the Right Perfume

When there are so many types of perfume on the high street, choosing the right one for you can often be difficult. We are spoilt for choice with all the different types of scents out there and sometimes it is trial and error until you find the one that most suits you. Above is my current collection of perfumes and as you can see, I'm a little bit of a hoarder. I have always been fascinated by the different scents out there and how similar notes mixed together can deliver different outcomes.  I'm also a big fan of collecting perfume bottles as there are so many different styles. As someone who has experimented with quite a lot of perfumes, I've decided to give you a rundown of my best advice when it comes to buying perfume.  

Leave the perfume to develop

It's always tempting to buy a perfume there and then when you walk into your local beauty counter. Often there are people giving you samples of the newest launches and there's an endless supply of perfume for you to try at your own leisure. One of the biggest mistakes you can do when buying perfume is to buy it on the spot unless you have tried it before. Some perfumes develop straight away and the scent you smell on your wrist is almost exactly as it would smell in a few hours time, however some perfumes take a while to develop. Whilst perfume is settling on the wrist different notes are unleashed and it's not until at least ten minutes later that you will truly discover what the perfume actually smells like. My advice is to test the perfume then go for a little walk and come back in half an hour. By this time you will have allowed the perfume to settle and have given yourself time to make an informed decision on whether you should buy it.

Check the fragrance notes

Fragrance is made up of 'notes' that release scents at different times. The 'top notes' are the ones that you will instantly notice and grab your attention, the heart notes are those that linger in the back of the perfume and the base notes are the ones that add depth to the scent. The base notes can actually take up to 30 minutes to develop once you apply your perfume. There are so many different scents out there that is it important to check the notes on your perfume as it will help with your decision. If you have had floral perfumes before, identifying the floral notes in your new perfume might influence your decision. Similarly if you pick a perfume with a note you haven't heard before, you could be put off. Although many of us don't realise, we're often drawn to perfumes that have at least one note in common so it's worth identifying this for the future to make your perfume buying much easier.

Don't be swayed by labels

We have all been there. Gucci/Chanel/ Marc Jacobs/Jimmy Choo (fill in the appropriate brand here) releases a brand new perfume and because it's a designer brand we line up to buy it. I'm just as guilty, over half of my collection are big brand names and have cost me a fortune. Don't get me wrong, the reason these products sell so much are because they do release great perfumes, but our budget does not always allow for such extravagance. There are so many amazing perfumes out there from smaller brands and it's important when buying a perfume not to be swayed by the labels - after all, it is all about the scent. Yves Rocher are one of my favourite perfume brands and not many people know about them.

Read reviews

If you have concerns over buying a particular perfume or you're looking for some honest guidance, reading reviews can really help. There are so many bloggers these days reviewing the latest fragrances to hit the stores and most perfume shops have their own review section. I find reviews particularly useful as I like to know how many times people need to reapply their perfumes and how long the scent lasts once applied. These are questions that most people are unable to answer unless they have tried the perfume for at least a few days.

How often do you buy perfume?