The Beginners Guide on How To Choose Perfume

If you’ve never really chosen a perfume before, or are bewildered by your choices when selecting a fragrance gift, you might find help below in our beginners guide on how to choose perfume. Perhaps you have never really found a fragrance that suits you, or maybe you are only just reaching the age when wearing perfume is the done thing, either way we hope the information below will help you make the right choices. 

Choosing a perfume can be a difficult task, with so many options available, including everything from well known brands to niche scents. Where do you start? The first thing to do is not put yourself under pressure. So you haven’t found your signature scent, this doesn’t matter as sometimes having a few favourites is better than relying on one perfume, especially if ‘the one’ ever goes out of stock! 

Here are a few top tips from our team to help you choose a perfume for yourself or others. 

How to Choose a Perfume That Suits You 

1. Always try before you buy – whilst the internet provides the fastest and most convenient way to shop for perfume, it’s not the ideal place for beginners to start their purchase. We’d always recommend visiting a fragrance store or two to spritz and spray the samples on offer or take away testing strips to see how the fragrance develops.
2. Don’t buy straight away – if you’ve sampled fragrances and found a favourite or two, don’t just buy them straight away. Fragrance always smells different as it develops, so if you have spritzed a little on your wrist, take note of how it smells initially, after twenty minutes have passed to allow the scent to warm on your body and then again a few hours later. If you’re out shopping for the day, do your perfume sampling first and then come back later once you’ve had a chance to live with your shortlisted fragrances.
3. Think about when and where you will be wearing the perfume and ask yourself whether the scent would work for the occasion. When you are trying out different fragrances from the tester bottles, imagine yourself wearing it for a night out, a special occasion such as a wedding, for everyday use at work, or any other scenario that you think you might want the perfume for, just to make sure it feels right.
4. Take note of what you like and don’t like – when you find a fragrance you like, even if it’s not the one you are buying today, write down the main notes or the category the fragrance falls into – i.e. woody, floral, fruity, spicy or citrus – that way you can look for other perfumes in the same category in the future. 

How to Choose a Perfume For Someone Else 

1. Don’t spray on you, use a testing card – when shopping for someone else, who might have scent preferences that are very different to your own, it’s best not to spritz the perfume on you, but use a testing strip instead. Otherwise, you might be stuck with a fragrance that doesn’t suit you all day!
2. Think about when and where your recipient will wear the scent – will it be for special occasions, everyday use or something seasonal? Smell the testing cards and see if the scents conjure up images and emotions associated with the occasion to determine if you’re choosing the right fragrance.
3. Ask others what their favourite scents are before you go fragrance shopping – this will give you a point of reference if you really don’t know where to start. Try the scents that others have recommended and see if you can imagine your recipient wearing them. 

Now that you have followed our top tips on how to choose a perfume that suits you, or how to choose a perfume for someone else, it’s time to look at a few popular contenders, to give you a place to start your search. 

Great Perfumes for Beginners 

Citrus Scents 

• For him – try BVLGARI Man Wood Essence Eau de Parfum with its Italian citrus opening notes and woody base. 
• For her – try BVLGARI Omnia Pink Sapphire Eau de Toilette with its zesty, sweet combination of pink grapefruit and pink pomelo. 
• For anyone – try Atkinsons Scilly Neroli Eau De Parfum bursting with notes of orange and lemon. 

Floral Perfumes 

• For him – try Cerruti 1881 Riviera Eau de Toilette that captures the zesty, floral aromas of the French Riviera. 
• For her – try Giorgio Armani My Way Eau De Parfum which is bursting with the floral freshness of bergamot, orange blossom and jasmine. 
• For anyone – try DSquared2 2 Wood Eau de Toilette which blends bergamot, violet and mandarin with a woody, musky base. 

Woody Fragrance 

• For him – try Jean Paul Gaultier Scandal Pour Homme Le Parfum Eau De Parfum Intense for a super sensual, warm woody blast of sandalwood and addictive tonka bean. 
• For her – try Chopard Wish Eau de Parfum with a sweet opening and a woody oriental base of caramel, amber and sandalwood.
• For anyone – try ZarkoPerfume Buddha Wood Eau De Parfum a simple, woody fragrance dominated by the buddha wood, sandalwood and cashmere. 

For anything else, click here and browse our full range of fragrances. Don’t forget you can spread the cost at the checkout by choosing one of our buy now, pay later options to spread your purchase into a series of affordable payments using Clearpay, PayPay Pay in 3, Zip or Laybuy.