Perfume - A Few Buying Hints

Perfume lifts our mood like nothing else and is also indicative of our personality. Many times a particular perfume becomes a signature of who the person is and its whiff is always associated with that person. So many celebrities have made a particular brand of perfume their very own that it is difficult for anyone to use that perfume and not think of that celebrity. A case in point is the famous one-liner of Marilyn Monroe who claimed that she wore only Chanel No.5 to bed!

The common mistake which most of us make is in thinking that what smells good on another person will smell as good on us. But, it`s not necessary that if Monroe was partial to Chanel No.5, it would smell equally tantalizing on us! The fact is that the body chemistry of each of us is unique and each fragrance reacts differently to the individual chemical make up of the body. A certain fragrance on someone else may smell quite different on us. So, it`s necessary to try out the perfume first before blindly buying it just because your best friend wears it.

While testing a perfume, allowing a wait of ten minutes or so before taking a decision will help the perfume react to your body chemistry. You must smell the perfume after the first application and then again after the wait. This lets you smell both the top and middle notes of the fragrance and gives you a fair idea of how the scent will linger on your body through the day.

Fragrance blotters are also available on which your chosen perfume is sprayed and you can then smell it but be aware, this will not show how exactly the perfume will smell on your skin.

The next step is not to be greedy and try out as many perfumes as there are in the store! This will over burden your olfactory senses and you will not be able to distinguish from one perfume to the other. Stick to only three or four in a day and ask to smell some coffee beans between each application to clear the sense of smell. Many perfume manufacturers offer sample vials of their perfumes and you can take advantage of this offer to try out the perfumes at home.

People with a history of allergies or who are simply concerned about a possible allergic reaction should wait for an hour or so after testing the perfume. If no reaction happens by that time, it can be deemed safe to buy that perfume.

Perfumes should be applied directly to the skin or hair and not on clothes as some of them may cause discoloration of certain fabrics. Parfums and eau de parfums may react more strongly since they have a higher concentration of oils. If you do like to spray some perfume on your clothes, spray it on concealed areas of the clothing like the inner lining.

A common sense but often overlooked aspect of using perfumes is changing the perfume according to the season. Most of us stick to one favorite perfume and use it faithfully, come winter or summer! But, during the hot summer months, it is advisable to go in for lighter perfumes as they will keep you feeling cool and fresh. It is a mistake to douse oneself in heavy scents during summer. The heavier scents should be reserved for the cold winter months when the strong fragrance will not overpower the senses. To break it up even more microscopically, keep light scents for the day and slightly heavier ones for the evening.