How you dress can reveal a lot about your personality, as can your makeup and hairstyle. However, while a power suit and red lip can be spotted across the room, scent is a much more subtle and intimate way of revealing the type of person you are or aspire to be.

 

Choosing a signature scent can take a while, especially considering the thousands of options on the market. But if you prefer to have one or two signature scents that you'll go back to time and time again and are stumped on how to pick a perfume that feels perfect, I’m here to help.

 

Let’s start with fragrance families. It’s nice to know what is floral, fresh, woody, etc. Some luxury perfumes dabble into more than one fragrance family, but knowing what notes you gravitate toward can quickly narrow down your search for a signature perfume. Florals tend to be more feminine and mature, spicy fragrances tend to be warmer and sultrier, woody scents are often earthy and masculine, and fresh perfumes are often citrusy and lighter. Of course, every perfume uniquely blends notes, so while a fragrance may have a woodsy top note, it could also contain fruity ingredients for an olfactory cocktail, but knowing what overarching fragrance family you like is the first step toward finding your signature scent.

Consider trends but be careful! Palo Santo had a big moment a few years ago, and green tea is beginning to make its way into current finds. As with fashion, trends come and go, so consider that when fragrance shopping. Trends are a helpful cue to what is going on, but like anything else, as you learn what you like, you learn to trust your instincts. 

Remember perfumes smell differently on everyone, thanks to our unique skin chemistry, so how it smells on a sampler paper or friend isn’t necessarily how it will settle into your skin. Before you purchase a full-sized perfume, use a sampler or a travel-sized bottle and sit with the fragrance for a week or so. Sampling should be a key part of the experience, so try a few. Allow yourself to live with a new scent a bit before passing judgment. Fragrances lean on the pricier side of beauty products, so make sure you know you like it before you invest in a full-size bottle.

In closing, take your time to become familiar with the scent families. Use samples first, and live with the scent for a week. Make sure before you buy the big bottle of fragrance that it makes you feel like you and enhances your mood. 

I am loving Lake & Skye 11 11 Azure for the daytime and Ambre Blends Solace Essence for the evenings. Both of these great brands are carried right here at Verde Market on Broadway in De Pere. Stop in and see Lori, she’ll be able to help you with scent families and finding your signature scent, tell her JoAnn from Stroll Magazine sent you. Happy “Scent Shopping” neighbors!