honestly just dive right in and go to a department store/chemist with a big range and start smelling then using the tester cards. when you find one you really like, put some on, leave the store/let it settle for a while and see how you like the smell on your skin. every perfume responds differently to people's skin!! even better, buy a few you love the smell of and see which one you get the most compliments on!
Apr 17, 2024
Related Recs
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echoing a lot of what has already been said…
1. Try on a ton of perfumes. Sephora, department stores, etc have testers. Don’t spray it onto the paper, spray it on your skin and pay attention to how it fades or stays through the day.
2. Think about what you like. Both in general and on you! As you try perfumes you will start to figure out that some notes work and some don’t. I love citrus smells in my house but not on my skin, for example. Gardenia smells awful on me and now I can avoid all those perfumes! Think too about other scents you already like to wear— maybe in hair care or deodorant for example. Looking at the notes in my fave old spice deodorant helped me pick my first perfume!
3. think about the effect you want to have. Do you want the scent to show up when you walk in the room? Do you want it to be a more intimate smell? are there people In your life or workplace with sensitivity you’ll want to pay attention to? Some scents are more piercing, and some have higher sillage Which will make them more noticeable.
4. Dip into social media but don’t take it too seriously. There are tons of perfume tiktokers with huge collections and lots of advice. This can be helpful but ultimately, fragrance is so individualized and you can’t smell it on you nor do most of us have influencer budgets for enormous fragrance collections (also, it’s just not practical imo).
5. If you can afford it, consider buying a discovery set from an independent or niche perfume house. This is a good way to try a bunch of scents and support smaller businesses! if you are interested in more designer mainstream scents, there are a ton of discounted name brand perfumes at tj maxx/marshalls type places, or you can get a rollerball/travel size at sephora to see if a perfume is one you will like wearing daily.
most importantly, have fun with it!! Enjoy!!
Apr 17, 2024
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le labo, ds & durga, and plenty of the other indie perfumers sell samples of their perfumes for like $3 a sample! luckyscent.com also has decants of like any scent you could want. buy a sample pack and try different scents out till you find one or two you really like. then think about what aspect of the scent you like, and buy other perfumes samples with similar notes. once you find one you really love, buy a bottle!
you may find that some scents work best during the night but feel overwhelming for work, or maybe they smell great in the summer but are a little too floral and fresh for winter… half the fun of perfumes :)
Apr 17, 2024
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haha I just posted about perfume! you can start by following some perfume creators - I like perfumerism and eliselovessmells to name a couple. I also recommend you join some perfume facebook groups, as you can often buy samples/decants from people for cheaper than in store. look up the notes of what's on offer, see if they sound good to you, then try them out and take note of what you like and dislike about them. Fragrantica is a wealth of information for finding similar fragrances. best of luck!
Apr 17, 2024
