How to find your perfect perfume: The only guide you'll ever need

Choosing a new perfume can be tricky. Do you go with floral or fruity... EDP or EDT... and how do you actually test a fragrance? 

To help you discover your perfect match, here are some of our top tips and tricks of the trade. With this guide, you'll find your signature scent in no time!

1. Go with your nose!

Think about the smells you already love, then look for fragrances that contain those perfume notes. If they’re all quite similar (like flowers or spices), then you’re definitely drawn to a certain group of scents, which is known in the perfume world as a ‘fragrance family’. 

There are six main women’s fragrance families to choose from. Don’t know your florals from your fruits? Here’s a little summary to help you out:

Need some inspiration? Look out for:

• Floral: Marc Jacobs’ Daisy Eau de Toilette
• Citrus: Calvin Klein’s CK One Summer Daze Eau de Toilette
• Woody: Gucci’s Bamboo Eau de Parfum 
• Amber: Thierry Mugler’s Alien Eau de Parfum
• Fruity: Dolce & Gabbana’s L'Imperatrice Eau de Toilette
• Chypre: Clarins’ Eau Dynamisante Eau de Toilette

2. Decide on a budget

Perfumes can cost anything from £15 to a whopping £500, so it’s a good idea to set a spending limit. Psst, you can use our handy price filters to keep you on budget, or shop by brand to find great deals on your favourites!

Here are some brands we love: 

• Designer labels: Tom Ford, Chanel, Paco Rabanne and Guerlain
• Affordable favourites: Calvin Klein, Joop, Yardley and Avon

3. Choose the best scent for the event

Are you looking for an everyday perfume? Or something a little special for the evening? Whatever you're up to, finding the right fragrance for the occasion is essential!

First, you need to choose the right type of perfume:

• Eau de Parfum (EDP): Lasts all day and night, irresistibly intense.
  Best for: Nightwear, special occasions
• Eau de Toilette (EDT): Lasts all day, lighter than EDP.
  Best for: Daywear, office, casual events
• Eau de Cologne (EDC): Lasts for 4-6 hours, refreshing.
  Best for: Catch-ups, coffee mornings, lunches
• Eau Fraîche (EF): Lasts for 2-4 hours, delicate in scent.
  Best for: On-the-go top-ups

• To stand out: Look for unusual ingredients with a bit of ‘bite’, like green tea, pink pepper and musk.
• To blend in: Try subtler notes like powdery florals, woods and aquatics.

4. Try before you buy (but do it properly!)

We all know the drill... To test a perfume, you spray it all over, have a bit of a shimmy to ‘let the air get to it’ (whatever that means...), and decide there and then whether you love it or hate it, right?... 

Actually, no… According to the experts, there’s a proper way to test perfume, and here’s how you do it:

If you love it, you’ve found your match! But if it smells sour, acidic or bitter, chances are it doesn’t complement your body chemistry.

Don’t worry though, there are loads of other fragrance notes to try - and you can find out all about them in our perfume guide!

Hints, tips and tricks

Do:

• Try layering a few different scents to create your own unique blend. Then, when people stop you in the street to ask what you’re wearing, you can tell them it’s all you! 
• Keep an eye on expiry dates. If your perfume was light in colour when you first bought it, but is now a darker shade, it's out of date (it’ll probably smell a bit funky too!)

Don't:

• Try too many fragrances in one go. Ever been to the perfume section in Duty Free? It’s a lot for one nose to take in! 
• Rub the scent in. As tempting as it is to keep rubbing your wrists together, the heat will do more harm than good! Let the scent sit to enjoy its true reveal.
• Follow the trends. Love what you love and stick to it!