As a personal statement, it would be difficult to find something more unique than the fragrance you wear. It doesn’t just reveal your personality – a high-energy scent can also elevate your mood on a dreary day. Fragrance salespersons can help you pick the right scent, but more often than not, they will also bombard you with options. Shopping online is hardly a substitute for a real-world fragrance-buying experience unless you’re buying a refill of your favorite scent. Our quick guide should help.

The Basics

 Ever wondered why some bottles say EDP, while some have a EDT suffix? Fragrance houses use both these terms to indicate the strength and concentration of their scents and the perfume oil: water/alcohol ratio in the scent. Perfumes derive their scent from the perfume oil. An Eau de Toilette (EDT) typically contains 4 to 10 percent fragrance oil. An Eau de Parfum (EDP) features a higher concentration (10 to 15 percent) and therefore lasts longer on your skin. EDPs also tend to fill up a room with their strong projection, so do use them sparingly, in the interests of those around you.

Have A Plan

Whether it’s a duty-free purchase or a weekend buy at your favorite mall, most fragrance purchases tend to be impulsive. That’s why you need to figure out what your type of scent is – you don’t want someone at a fragrance counter to decide that for you. Knowing your usage patterns helps – if you party a lot, look for quintessential evening or party scents that tend to be more heady and intense. If work scents are your primary driver, then subtlety is the key. Do factor in the weather too. Some of the intense scents don’t work in humid weather, where citrus or aquatic scents with good staying power are probably the best. It’s good to be experimental too, otherwise, you might end up with the same type of fragrances, like all those blue shirts in your wardrobe.

Don’t Go Overboard Checking Scents Out

This is where you need to keep the fragrance salesperson at bay. It’s the same principle as a tasting menu, and numbing your taste buds with sharp flavors. All fragrances start to smell the same if you sniff too many while making up your mind. Even the coffee beans at the counters can only do so much; you’ll find that they don’t work as well as palette cleansers. Sniff the scents on the blotters first. Only allow the salesperson to spritz the scents that you shortlist on to your skin. Try and restrict these to a couple of scents. The same scent may smell different on different people, depending on how it interacts with their skin.

Make The Choice

Give the fragrance some time to settle on your skin. We tend to buy scents based on the first whiff or the top notes, but the notes that usually linger after the dry-down are the base notes of the fragrance. Walk around the airport or the mall for a bit, and then take another sniff. This break gives you time to let the fragrance truly develop, and also lets you check the staying power of the scent – 15 to 30 minutes usually does the trick. Duty-free stores usually have special travel packs and gift packs that combine other products, like shower gels or aftershave, from the same line.