How To Perfect Your Fragrance Shopping Technique

1. Preparation is important

As when shopping for anything, it is important to prepare yourself, firstly so you don’t get overwhelmed with the amount of choice you have and secondly so you don’t end up buying something you don’t really like or want.

It may sound silly, but it’s actually a really good idea to go fragrance shopping armed with a pen and notepad. There are so many perfumes available, there’s no way you’ll remember every single one you’ve tried, hated or loved. Therefore why not take notes and make a favoured list as you try them out? It also helps to have a list prepared in advance of perfumes you think you want to try, as this helps you maintain focus.

2. Don’t spray yourself with scent before going fragrance shopping

If you have a plan to go out and buy new perfume, the worst thing you can do is spray yourself with a perfume you already have, as this will just mean the scent you’re wearing will interfere with any others you spray on top. The same goes for body lotions and shower gels, as your body will have absorbed these and the scents will skew anything you try and smell whilst out shopping.

3. Take your time

This tip makes it sound as if choosing a fragrance is the most important decision of your life. But whilst choosing a perfume isn’t all that important, if you want to choose the right one, this tip needs to be followed. Too often do salespeople rush us into making quick decisions and too often does this result in us making the wrong choice.

Take your time as you go round choosing scents to try. Read the back of the boxes and study the ingredients and what the description says about the fragrance before spraying it on you or a perfume card. When you smell, make sure the perfume is dry since the smell will differ between being wet and dry.

4. Remember to label your sample perfume cards/ blotters

Tip 4 goes hand in hand with tips 1 and 3 since it requires you labelling your perfume cards so you don’t forget which perfumes you’ve smelt and liked (or hated) and also taking these cards away from the store to give yourself time to make the right decision.

It’s good to compare the scents on your body and cards after a few hours, as smells develop and what you thought you liked in store, you may actually now hate. It is also good to smell these scents away from the fragrance store, since you will never be able to get an accurate idea of what the scent is like inside a store where hundreds of other people are spraying and testing other perfumes.

5. Remember to take samples!

Any store should be willing to provide you with samples, provided you’re not asking for hundreds. If they want to make a sale, they will see no harm in giving you the samples you require, so if you are in any doubt, just ask for a sample. Then, you can take your samples home and test them in your own time and really get a good idea of which scents you really like and want to buy.