Home > Choosing a fragrance

Choosing a fragrance

Choosing a fragrance


Take your time to make a Fragrance selection as it will become part of who you are and everyone will think of you when they catch its scent in the air! And there are so many scents to choose from

The trouble in picking a fragrance is trying to find a pleasant scent for yourself while not having others turn their noses up at you or having small children and animals run away from you.

Our sense of smell:


Our sense of smell is subjective and a fragrance will be described in different ways by different people.

Because our sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than the sense of taste researchers speculate that odor imprinting occurs in the brain. The sense of smell is processed by the limbic system, the area of your brain that controls taste, emotion, and memory. Certain scents will remind us of people, places, things, and events in our memories.

The sense of smell affects us emotionally and can evoke certain emotional responses and memories.

Why fragrances have a different scent on different people:


To put it simply skin chemistry. We all have our own natural smell and skin oils that affect a fragrance but, body temperature seems to have the most affect on a scent.

Body temperature causes different scents or notes in a fragrance to change as it is worn.

Some notes of a fragrance are stronger on one person but not on another. Some notes will come out strong at first but fade into the back ground as other notes become stronger. While some fragrances may only last an hour on one person, it will linger all day on another.

Fragrances will almost always be a little different on each individual and a fragrance isn't going to smell the same on a sample card as it will on you because it doesn't have skin chemistry.

How to pick a fragrance:


At the risk of this next statement sounding like a plug for my Web Store, it isn’t but, I didn’t mind putting it in.

In my research reading through many different Web sites and wading through tons of “Please Help me” blogs the most common theme seem to be “Get the good stuff! Don't buy anything that's really, really cheap” that and “The price of a bottle of expensive fragrance will probably be money well spent”.

To find your fragrance start with the names you've heard of or have smelled and like. You can also look for scent notes that make up fragrances you tend to prefer (for example, maybe you like wood, spice, citrus, floral, peppermint, rosemary, juniperberry, lemon, lavender, ginger, spearmint, clove, vanilla, rosewood, sandalwood, grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime, cinnamon, Pine, rose, etc…..)

You can also talk to your friends, family, coworkers, or that special someone in your life for suggestions but keep yourself in mind as you will be wearing it. Remember the sense of smell is subjective and a fragrance will be described in different ways by different people.

Once you have some idea or know what you want to try, you can go to a department store fragrance counter or (better yet) a perfume shop if you can find one.

Remember fragrances react differently on every person and you need to try the fragrance on your skin! Don't assume that what works for someone else or smells good in the bottle will work for you

These stores will have tester bottles to let you try a small amount at the counter or even better they will have samples that you can take with you. The samples may cost a few bucks but this is better than purchasing an expensive full size bottle to find out its not for you. Sometimes you may run across free samples.

Caution! When trying small amounts from tester spray bottles or samples at a store limit yourself to one at time as fragrances are made up of multiple notes. They will mix and you won’t know which one you like or if you have just come up with a whole new product!

After trying a fragrance on your skin at the counter or using one of the samples go to work, visit your friends, family, or that special person and see if they notice or ask them what they think.

When you choose the right fragrance you will receive compliments from others. People will make it a point to try and be near you where ever you are. That special someone will always want to lean in close to catch your beautiful scent.

Remember the trouble in picking a fragrance is trying to find a pleasant scent for yourself while not having others turn their noses up at you or having small children and animals run away from you.

Appling your fragrance:


Caution! Don't marinate your self in the stuff!

You will find this subject is as important as determining which fragrance to use. There are many different ways people have of applying their fragrance. Your experimentation will determine which method works best for you.

I have not tried all of these methods. I usually spray a little in the palm of one hand, rub my palms together and then rub the sides and base of my neck. To use what maybe left over after that I will rub sides of my face, forehead, forearms, etc… until I am sure every expensive drop I sprayed out is on me somewhere. You can laugh but it works for me!

Here are the techniques I have run across in my research:

Apply to pulse points: A fragrance should be applied to the body’s pulse points. These include the wrist, behind the ear, crease of your arm and knee, and the base of your throat. These are pulse points and give off more body heat as blood vessels pass closest to the skin, continually warming and releasing your fragrance.

Apply to lower body: Spraying a fragrance lower on the body allows it to rise throughout the day. Layering it with the corresponding bath or shower gel and lotion, is another good practice to help your fragrance last longer.

Apply behind each ear and navel: Put a drop just behind each ear and one drop an inch below the navel if you think your going to be with someone special.

Apply to chest and stomach: A couple of spritzes on chest and stomach before dressing has two immediate benefits: First, you can't tell I'm wearing cologne unless you're close to me. Second, the scent diffuses into both your clothes and your skin.

Apply to both sides of chest: (hug theory) Put a some on both sides of your chest where your collar bone meets your shoulder (which is right where the nose of the huggee will be).

Apply to chest, fore-arms, legs: (the hair theory) The scent will last roughly twice as long when applied to areas with hair because hair holds scent better than skin (i.e. chest, fore-arms, legs etc…)

Apply to the air: Spritz a small cloud into the air and walk through it, done! This one seems more like using an expensive fragrance as an air freshener instead of putting it on!

You probably won’t smell the scent a few minutes after you put it on. But you don’t need more it's still there and your fragrance has not gone bad.

If you wear a scent with any regularity, your brain will tune it out. If you apply the scent based on being able to smell it yourself, you'll soon find yourself applying more and more, to the increasing discomfort of everyone around you. This is one reason why some people end up reeking of perfume or cologne.

When you first start using a scent, figure out how much it takes for a nice subtle scent, and then stick to that amount, even if you can't smell it any more.

Take into consideration the environment you will be in as you apply your fragrance. Will you be outside, inside, in an office, a club, out dancing, working out, in a car, in a plane, with just a few people or in a crowd. All will have different effects on your body temperature and on your fragrance.

It may be stronger or weaker, it may not last as long or it may be over powering. You want to be remembered for your present scent not for making everyone around you uncomfortable.

Just remember don't marinate in it!

Appling too much fragrance will have the opposite effect you want. Instead of having a pleasant scent that brings compliments, others will turn their noses up at you and small children and animals will run away from you.