How to choose a perfume for mom, where to start, if you want to become a perfume expert at least on the scale of your apartment, and what to talk about with a sales assistant in a perfume store – we learned the answers from our vanilla perfume experts.
“It is best to start the tasting with the freshest and lightest aromas. For a start, citrus or floral notes, notes of fruit are ideal. Then follow as the aroma is saturated. If you don’t know which scents are more intense, pay attention to the bottle and the color of the liquid. Typically, darker bottles have complex, rich compositions. Recommendation: listen to two scents, decide which one you like best.
Then ask the consultant to show you two more similar ones to determine which of the three or four fragrances of the same direction is closer to you.
You shouldn’t listen to more than three scents at a time – your nose will simply get tired of it, all the scents will merge into a single whole. And in this case it will be problematic to make a choice. Much better than coffee beans, the “sobering” effect is possessed by aromas containing molecules similar to those that our skin exudes. These molecules include norlimbanol. So, you can listen to the scent Not a Perfume, Juliette Has a Gun to unload the receptors a little (or just smell the place where your elbow bends), but it’s better to give your nose a break.
It is best to describe the fragrance to the consultant by associations. Try to think about the emotions that are associated with perfume in one way or another.
If there are no associations, then remember the notes in your favorite fragrance and ask: “Give me jasmine.” Identify which scents you definitely dislike and say, “Not pink.” And then the consultant will give you the opposite scent of the rose. In perfumery, there are certain olfactive families or groups, all fragrances are divided into them, no matter whether it is a mass market, luxury or a niche. Therefore, do not be afraid, name your fragrance, which you use, the consultant will select what you like.
A competent consultant will himself ask you questions and find out your preferences. He asks what is interesting for you, what has been interesting lately. Depending on what you say, the consultant will suggest one or another composition. If you say that you like citrus fruits, then he will definitely try to find such a citrus combination that will seem very non-standard to you.
In the classic separation system, summer scents should be cold and fresh, while winter scents should warm and wrap up. But you have to understand that everything is very vanilla perfume individual. Therefore, try to find your ideal winter and summer fragrances, so that in the future you will already roughly understand what you like in a certain season.
If you want to buy a fragrance as a gift, first of all, I would advise you to describe the image of the person you are choosing it for.
The consultant will try to combine this image with those customers who have already come to buy one or another fragrance, and thus will be able to choose a fragrance that is very close to the person you want to please. But it’s better that you like the scent too. Only then can you present it with the right mood. Still, it would be nice to know well the olfactory vanilla perfume preferences of the person to whom you are going to present this perfume, so that an unpleasant situation does not arise. ”
But if a person himself wants to learn how to talk about scent and smell correctly, then he needs to train his sense of smell and include awareness when choosing smells. This is a long and serious work, and not every person needs it or is interested in it. As such, there is no guide to perfumery for beginners, and there is too little popular and accessible literature on this topic. But as an entertaining read, you can try the guide of Luca Turin. I would not recommend giving perfume to a person whose olfactory preferences you do not know well. There is no universal advice here.
If we talk about why many similar fragrances appear in stores at a certain point. As was the case with the boom of hypertrophied sweet perfumery a couple of years ago. Then the answer is simple: such a fashion. This is for the same reason that similar ideas emerge on the catwalks at the same time. Perfumery is also cyclical, it has its own laws. The issue of trend formation is complex, controversial, and it always happens in different ways. Companies – developers of perfume compositions (Firmenich, Givaudan, Takasago and others) participate in it, perfume exhibitions and presentations are held ”.
How to choose a perfume: tasting rules
How to choose a fragrance, if boutique counters are confusing with a variety, new perfumes appear every month, you want everything at once? We share the advice of aromastilists that will help you not to get lost in vanilla perfume search of the perfect perfume.
- Go shopping during daylight hours, preferably in the morning. When your sense of smell is not yet overwhelmed by surrounding odors. If it does not work out and you have to postpone the purchase until the evening. Do not use perfume that day.
- Do not rush to put all the perfumes on the blotter. It is better to reject the questionable ones right away and test the ones you like. Several favorites will reach the final, and already apply them on the wrist.
- The habit of “adjusting” the scent can destroy the composition, especially if it is not a mass market. But an elite perfumery. Many people think that this will speed up the development of the scent. But due to friction, the alcohol stain takes longer to fade, the smell becomes distorted, and the playing of notes is harder to recognize.
- When it seems that you have found the very same perfume ideal, do not rush to pay for the purchase. It is advisable to leave the store, walk and watch the opening vanilla perfume for 20 minutes.
Scent to match the mood and season
Not all men are limited to one scent, what to say about women. The ideal solution is your own perfume wardrobe.
For example:
- perfume for special occasions and evening outings, plus eau de parfum for every day;
- seductive rich aroma for cool days and light, fresh, flowing in summer;
- several songs that you can alternate depending on your mood.
Sometimes your favorite vanilla perfume violet scent needs to be given a rest and change to a refreshing citrus scent. The weather also affects the sound of perfume. In summer, notes dissipate faster and sound more intense. In the cold season, perfumery will take more time to open and you can safely use a deep, multifaceted scent. For example, with languid chypre accords. Therefore, several compositions for different seasons will not hurt.
What conclusion can be drawn from all this?
It is better not to give perfume to a friend. If she did not ask for it herself, it is not necessary to be ashamed of a consultant in a perfume store. And practice is always better than theory – if you want to understand perfumery, go to stores, ask sellers and train your sense of vanilla perfume smell.