Do you know your signature scent?
If there's one more thing I am obsessed about is perfumery.
The very first time I got obsessed about it was when I was in Bali a few years ago. I was entering my adulthood and I decided to just wear perfume. I never really do any kind of perfume and if all, it was like the least of my concerns. I first tried store bought perfume from Wardah which has musk fresh scent. Though it was a feminine scent, it was quite masculine and more like an aqua fresh. It was nice and really soft but somehow after a few explorations, I eventually found the perfume that become my signature scent.
When I was traveling to Thailand, I found this scent that I really love and fits me well. Although it was a small vial, I tried finding it home and still can't find any that matched the smell. So, that begin my exploration finding the smell that matches that one. That was the turning point and the start of me, getting more obsessed with perfumery and I never buy convenience store perfume ever again.
Around a few months ago, I visited a perfume store that feels like entering a lab. It has all sorts of smell on display and I was free to sample all the perfume and scent that I like. The staffs asks me a few questions like the kind of smell I like and I said that I was still exploring.
So, it's why as you can see below, there are many strips and I spent about an hour inside the store to explore different scents.
How to find your signature smell
While there are many ways to find your signature scent, I think the best way is always visiting a perfumery lab when you can actually smell each of the perfume that you can. However, in perfumery world there are 5 main notes that you can use as a pin point to find your signature scent.
- Floral
Floral is pretty common scent that are also sold in the market. Typically, if you buy from convenience store/beauty shop they'll have at least one of these. - Fruity
Think of citrus, berries, and apple scent. Much like air fresheners perfume also has smells like that. - Fresh
This is also pretty common sold at the market, typically the smell of water and the bottle is always blue. Sometimes they right away mention something "fresh" - Spicy
For those who love the auntumn/fall scent, spcicy would be like that. Spicy also refers to "spices" smell. Typically, they are often described of having musk scent and spicy notes rarely available on the convenience store perfume especially the lower end - Woody
Like it's name, you can already guess the type of scent it exudes. There are all sorts of wood out there and they have different scent. Typically it is also used for more masculine perfumery. One notable smell is Oud scent.
reference of the 5 notes
After picking one or more from those main notes, you can typically mix and match the smell. Typically, inside a perfumery lab, they will have one single smell or a smell that has been altered and mix and matched with a few perfumery scent. For example this product by Le Amor that they refer as Mon Paris. As you can see below, they have different notes and also mix of fruity and floral scent as well as spicy notes.
FRAGRANCE NOTES
Top notes are Strawberry, Raspberry, Pear, Orange, Tangerine, Calabrian bergamot and Calone;
middle notes are Peony, Jasmine Sambac, Chinese Jasmine, Datura and Orange Blossom;
base notes are Indonesian Patchouli Leaf, Patchouli, White Musk, Vanila, Ambroxan, Moss and Cedar. - source here
If you are still exploring your scent, I would advise to purchase one single note along with a few that are mix of the scent that you're most likely enjoy. For example, at the store I was visiting I got a single smell of coconut and avril which has flower and spicy scent. Then, a fresh smell that I got as a bonus from the store.
I ended up finding that I love a mix of fruity and flora smell, the cherry on top is that I love spicy smell added to it. So it's why I ended up getting Coconut Passion from Le Amor.
Unboxing Le Amor perfume
Buying perfume online is quite tricky but one tip is to buy the cheapest vial that are 20ml to know if their mixology is just right and the smell isn't cheap. There are places where they mix the perfume and it has "cheap" smell. With perfume, you want to smell good and at least, luxurious.
I was running out of my perfume and can't be bothered going to the nearest perfumery lab. So, I was putting my trust to this store called Le Amor on Shopee. They have different type of smell and included the notes of their perfume in the box.
The box looks like this below when it was sent. It has all the necessary information needed for the perfume. Though I was skeptical, when I smell it, the scent was just how I like it to be. It smells like pleasant coconut and makes me remember of a yummy bakery shop but also tropical paradise living.
The scent last almost daily and since I am inside an air-conditioned room, it sticks a lot longer. Even the next day, I can still smell it. Somehow, these days living without a perfume is incomplete. It's such a mood booster when I smell good and ready to do crush the day.
If you feel a little out of the blue,try smelling good! It's a mood booster.
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
How I wish I still have my sense of smell, for sure, I am still using a perfume till now. I used some during High School, but I stop when I started losing my sense of smell. Even though I know what's my favorite smell or brand, but I know too that overtime, those scents we got used to will eventually change. Maybe they change a few ingredients to it or what. But I experienced before how my favorite perfume change. It becomes too strong, the smell I mean. Anyhow, I really missed putting a perfume or just a cologne. Until now I still have no idea about the scents I like the most, I just couldn't explore more when it comes to that.
ooh, I am sorry to hear that. Sometimes perfume also changes because the perfumer changes too. They have to be made exactly at a certain measurement, otherwise the notes and the scent can significantly change.
I am a lover of good scents
I love feminine scents alot, like those floral scents are my favourites.
I recently started selling perfumes to fellow students in my school as a side hustle.
They'll always ask for recommendations on the which scent to choose. I'll tell them to feel free and choose the one they are comfortable with and suits their personality.
If you are girlie girlie kind of girl i will recommend floral or fruity scent
Do you also give samples like on the strip scent? I think if you do that would also help them smell the perfume and help them choose the one that suit them the most. But you're right, usually feminine women typically loves a mix of floral and fruity notes.
Some perfumes smell good on others, but not on another. LOL. I think it has something to do with the chemical composition of the wearer's skin?
For me, I personally like just fresh, subtle cologne scent. Though depending on the occasion, and where I would go, I could wear something stronger.
I do have different perfume for different events. It's just make sense that way, I guess. I wouldn't smell like bakery going to a wedding🤣that would be funny.
I am not sure about how our chemical composition affects the smell. I suppose there's something about it too. Personally,I only use them on my shirts and never really my skin. I saw some people use them on skin too and maybe their natural body odor might have alter the smell, will have to read more on that 😊
I still remember a scent of a perfume that I was given a lot of years ago, I have been trying to get it again and I have not been able to, by the way I have a very bad sense of smell so I feel that I can not distinguish the scents at all and it frustrates me a little, however I still use one or the other because I like to smell good, but I do not love the ones I have, I think I will start a new search as you recommend.
It is 100% true what you say about the change of mood with Mac perfumes, when I went through depression, for the death of my sister 14 years ago, it was one of the recommendations I followed at that time from my psychiatrist, when I knew nothing about mental illness, and I was impressed by how good it made me feel just putting on some nice perfume.
It is something completely proven, even aromatherapy in general is highly recommended for mental illnesses, btw I did a post about it a while ago, but with Anxiety.
Loved your post Mac, I will start my search again thanks for reminding me 💕.
Right? like I found out about it just recently and how it uplifts my mood in general when I am smelling good. It's probably the simplest thing to do that I would recommend anyone to try.
You have to find something that suits you! I am sure there has to be something. My tips would be you know, getting those strip scent and tried each of them. Most importantly, maybe finding the main notes that you like to smell.
Also, have a great weekend ahead😊
Thank you for the tips. I love the idea of mix and match, I don't know but sometimes there's a phase where I really like how a specific perfume smell and use it for sometime then suddenly it smell not pleasing to me 😂. But I really love the scent of Jo Malone inspired perfumes.
Jo Malone collection inspired has some amazing scent. It's more mellow at least to me and I love it more than Adidas/dior and even channel inspired. I used to have the original channel N°5 and hate it haha. I don't know why it was so popular but just not for me. I typically cycle once a month and if i am bored, I'd change it, are you like that too?
Yes 😂, I'm also like that.
I'm wondering too why I wouldn't like the scent the seller will tell me is popular. But at the end I will always choose what's okay for me 😊