How to Choose Your First Perfume
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Nothing is nicer than to have someone special say, “You smell good.” But selecting the right perfume is not always easy when there are so many to choose from! And what smells great on your best friend may not be right for you. Wearing a scent you love tells the world who you are without using words and you want it to say just the right things, especially if it’s your first perfume. It helps to know your fragrance type before you start sniffing hundreds of bottles at the department store. And it helps to know something about how perfume works too.
What kind of person are you?
If you are the type of person who hangs out a lot with your e-book reader, has only one or two best friends, and likes to watch funny romantic movies, you may prefer a perfume that is soft and quiet. These scents are usually florals and not too overwhelming. But that doesn’t mean they smell like Grandma either – it only means the perfume is subtle, like you.
Perhaps you’re the person who can’t get enough of the beach and you like to be in fresh air as much as possible. In the winter, when everyone else is huddled indoors, you’d rather be snowboarding or hiking through the snow. Maybe you’re outdoorsy and like everything in your life to be natural and easy too. You may find your perfume in the chypre category, which is a French word that just means fragrances in this category have a sweet mossy smell, like the earth.
On the other hand, you could be the person everyone wants to have at their party. You’re easy to talk to, love being with as many friends as possible. People say you’re out there and fun and you may want a fragrance with as big a personality as you have. Citrus scents may speak your language because they’re bolder, uplifting, and like you, they make people happy.
Maybe you’re a bit mysterious and hard to pin down into a category. You like parties but you also like music and showy concerts with your favorite musicians. You’re comfortable in lots of different settings because you’re bold and sophisticated and may seem older to others. You may find your perfume in the oriental group which are generally warm, opulent, and dark.
How to try it out
Remember to test perfume on your pulse points, the inside of the wrist, elbow or just below your ears. These places on your body are naturally warm and will activate the fragrance. The first smell will be what’s called the top note and sometimes it may come on strong. Let it simmer and smell it again in a few minutes. You may find the next layer, which is the most long lasting and called the basenote, is softer. The dry down is the part of the perfume that’s left behind hours after your initial spray blast. Some fragrances really show their colors here and that’s why someone who is sitting very close to you, will still notice how nice you smell at midnight.
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Have fun with perfume and carefully select your first one. But don’t be married to it - sometimes hormones and stress can alter the way it smells to us. Or perhaps you simply don’t like your perfume anymore because you’ve changed or entered a new stage of life. Maybe your outdoorsy self has found a new romance and most of your time is now spent inside in front of a cozy fire. It may be time to re-evaluate who you are because you’ve grown, changed, found a new job, or gotten engaged. Just be sure to think about those wordless “emails” perfume sends out to the universe and make sure they are now saying exactly who you’ve become!
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