TIPs on Choosing Perfume

Introduction
 Choosing a perfume that suits ourselves is not easy. First of all we need to know a bit about ourselves. We have to be honest and not just follow trends and fashions. And just because everyone is wearing a certain fragrance, it does not mean that this certain fragrance is right for you, too.
 And with a lot more people selling these perfumes online...it becomes a little more harder to choose as you can't really sample it.

TIP 1 My advice,,,go to a place you can sample the perfumes you like such as, people who already have it, perfume shops, malls, etc... and SMELL and TRY THEM THERE...than make a comparison, if buying online gives more value...than go ahead...make that purchase. It also helps if you can Spray the perfume on a card first. After five or ten minutes, smell it again. See if it still speaks to you. Then and only then, spray it on your skin.

But as  mentioned earlier, choosing a suitable perfume can be confusing. The following are tips that will hopefully make the process easier.

Understanding PERFUME terminology

Here’s a little guide (and some terminology) that will help as you’re choosing a perfume and keep you focused on what you want amidst ever-spritzing aromas!

Absolutes

Pure, natural extracts and oils from flowers and other vegetable materials. Very expensive for a small amount. Example: pure rose oil.

Note
An odoriferous element in the perfume or cologne. When we smell a composed fragrance, we smell different notes within it. When the first scent — or top note — dissipates, we smell the middle note, also known as the bouquet. As that fades, we are left with the basic note, which is the third element of a composed fragrance. It’s like a symphony, right? Secret Number One: Don’t commit to a scent until you smell the final note.

Eau de Cologne
Eau de Cologne is three to five percent oil in a mixture of alcohol and water. It tends to be lighter and refreshing, typically with a citrus oil component.

Eau de Toilette
Containing about the same amount of perfume oil or a little more — somewhere between four and eight percent — than Eau de Cologne, Eau de Toilette is mixed with alcohol instead of water.

Eau de Parfum
A higher percentage of perfume oil — roughly 15 to 18 — mixed with alcohol makes up Eau de Parfum. It is more expensive than Eau de Cologne and Eau de Toilette.

Perfume
Perfume is 15 to 30 percent perfume oil mixed with alcohol. Because it contains such a high percentage of perfume oil, it is far more expensive than Eau de Cologne, Eau de Toilette, or Eau de Parfum.

You’ll also hear other terminology from your helpful scent-spritzer to describe scent families. For a woman, these will be citrus, fresh, floral, oriental, sweet, spice, or wood. Fragrances for men include those and also other more masculine scents like leather, tobacco, musk, and mosses.

TIP 2 Learn which scent family you enjoy the most...as you and other people will probably smell you with your chosen scent for a long time.

Fragrances are classified according to predominant scent characteristics. Let’s get to know the four basic families that make up most feminine fragrances. Dividing them up this way helps you decide which scents you love and which ones you’d rather avoid. As you’ve shopped for perfume, chances are you’ve probably seen the different notes listed for a particular scent; those coordinate with the family to which the composed scent belongs.

There are four basic fragrance families: Floral/Sweet, Citrus/Fruity/Fresh, Oriental/Spicy, and Woody/Chypre. Within those families, there are sub-groups:-

• Floral (Floral + Fresh Notes). Main notes include fresh-cut flowers.
• Soft Floral (Floral Notes). Main notes include aldehydes and powdery notes.
• Floral Oriental (Floral + Oriental Notes). Main notes include orange blossom and sweet spices.
• Soft Oriental (Oriental + Floral Notes). Main notes include incense and amber.
• Oriental (Oriental Notes). Main notes include oriental resins and vanilla.
• Woody Oriental (Oriental + Woody Notes). Main notes include sandalwood and patchouli.
• Woods Main notes include aromatic woods and vetiver.
• Mossy Woods (Woody + Oriental Notes). Main notes include oakmoss and amber.
• Dry Woods (Woody Notes). Main notes include dry woods and leather.
• Aromatic Fougère (Fresh Notes). Main notes include lavender and aromatic herbs. This universal fragrance family includes elements from different families: the freshness of from the Citrus family, floral notes of lavender, the spicy-sweetness of a Floral Oriental, the ambery depth of an Oriental and the Mossy Woods warmth of sandalwood and oakmoss.
• Citrus (Woody + Fresh Notes). Main notes include bergamot and other citrus oils.
• Water (Fresh + Floral Notes). Main notes include marine and aquatic notes, generally from the chemical calone.
• Green (Fresh + Floral Notes). Main notes include galbanum and green notes.
• Fruity (Fresh + Floral Notes). Main notes include berries and other non-citrus fruits.

TIP 3 Keep a few different perfumes from different fragrance families. It’s kind of lovely to switch up your signature scent  according to season, occasion, or mood that day! Floral and Sweet for daytime, and perhaps an Oriental/Spicy scent for date night. In cooler weather, stronger scents can be worn without overwhelming everyone around you. Conversely, lighter scents are better in warmer weather.

You can actually evoke wonderful emotions and memories by creating your own aroma, for example:- 

Floral - Think bouquet of freshly cut flowers. Rose, carnation, lavender, orange blossom, violets, and every other bloom on the front lawn. Floral is the most widely used scent in feminine fragrances. Very sweet and easily recognizable.

Citrus/Fruity/Fresh - Orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, and other citrus fruits. Apricot, apple, peach, etc. Clean, light, and invigorating.

Oriental/Spicy - Warm vanilla, spices and incense resins. Reminiscent of the Far East. Also ambery and musky. Kind of mysterious!

Woody/Chypre - Scents like bergamot, oakmoss, labdanum, and patchouli. Mossy and very earthy smelling.

TIP 4-Take your skin type into consideration. Perfumes and colognes are made up of many different accords to produce a harmonious scent. Because our body chemistry is unique to us, the same perfume will smell slightly different (or completely different) depending on who is wearing it. Further, it will smell different in the bottle or sprayed on a card than it will on your skin. 

So...as mentioned earlier: Spray it on a card first. After five or ten minutes, smell it again. See if it still speaks to you. Then and only then, spray it on your skin.

Take your skin type into account. Is your skin dry or oily, or in-between? If you’re drier, the scent will dissipate more quickly. And so a highly concentrated perfume will have more staying-power for you than an Eau de Toilette.

Where a scent is placed on the body also effects how long it will last. And because fragrances are made up of those different notes or layers that wear away with minutes and hours, the scent you are wearing will change as time passes. As I mentioned earlier, wait until the fat lady sings. Or, more accurately, wait until the fragrance evaporates!

Our sense of smell is keener as the day wears on and also in warmer weather. Shop later in the day so you can truly and best smell the different perfumes.

TIP 5 Don’t try out a bunch of different perfumes or colognes at a time, no matter how persistent your spritzer is! Spread it out over a few different trips to the perfume counter. Have you noticed how perfumeries have tiny jars of coffee beans scattered here and there? Take a sniff. It serves the same purpose as sorbet between dinner courses and cleanses your palate — or olfactory perception — in between scents.

TOO MUCH INFO? than just try it first...if the smell speaks to you and you're feeling comfortable with the scent...it probably is the perfume for you :)

*researched from experience and various sources from the Internet

Click  here   for tips  on choosing the right  glasses/spectacles frames