How to Choose Your Perfume? The Complete Guide by Criteria

Choosing a Perfume According to the Occasion

To Give as a Gift

Deciding to give a perfume as a gift is delicate because you must necessarily know the tastes of the person you wish to please. Either you know the perfume to which they are faithful, or you do not know its name. In any case, giving a perfume as a gift is an excellent idea provided you conduct a little investigation beforehand to truly please the interested person.

• Giving an Eau de Toilette or an Eau de Parfum
• Giving the perfume or a derivative of the fragrance
• Giving a perfume for Mother’s or Father’s Day
• Giving a perfume for a birthday

For a Wedding

It’s the big day, your wedding day, what perfume will be worn for THE big day? The choice of your wedding perfume is of course very important. Its goal, as always, is to reflect your personality, your olfactory identity.

It is your signature, and all your life you will remember the perfume you wore on your wedding day. Victor Hugo understood this well, “Nothing awakens a memory like a smell”.

For a Date

To choose a perfume for a date, you must first know yourself. Some people hide behind a perfume or want to assume a personality that is not theirs.

A perfume that will have the power to seduce must be in agreement with the person; it should not hide them, nor try to pass them off as another person. Engaging with a perfume is above all being sincere and authentic, being oneself. A perfume must tell the story of this person. If one is comfortable with oneself and with one’s perfume, then the power of attraction will be infallible.

Where to Buy Your Perfume?

You have the possibility today to buy your perfume either in store or on the internet.

In Store

There are now several choices for buying your perfume in store:

• In department stores like Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, Sephora, Marionnaud.
• In classic traditional multi-brand perfumeries, rather with a choice of international perfume brands.
• In perfumeries that only offer confidential or so-called niche brands.

On the Internet

Here too, we will distinguish several types of brands from which you can choose a perfume online:

• On the websites of major retailers like Sephora.
• On the websites of traditional and confidential perfumeries.
• On the brand’s website like Chanel, Guerlain, or Dior.
• When possible, on the website of confidential brands like Delacourte Paris.

Choosing a Perfume According to the Seasons

We speak of a signature perfume or olfactory slogan, when a person is faithful to the same perfume and wears it all year round, whatever the season. On the other hand, other people will be more sensitive to seasonal changes and will adapt their perfume according to climatic conditions. This is moreover very common in European countries or in Canada where the seasons are particularly marked.

• Spring: how to choose a perfume for spring
• Summer: how to choose a perfume for summer
• Autumn: how to choose a perfume for autumn
• Winter: how to choose a perfume for winter

Choosing a Perfume According to Gender and Age

Choosing a perfume is delicate; a perfume is not like a garment, it is less superficial than one thinks. It is truly an extension of personality. Perfume participates in the definition of self; it is a signature, the olfactory slogan of this person.

Children choose a perfume simply because the scents attract them. Adolescents will sometimes choose a fragrance to identify with a celebrity or to conform with their circle of friends, or to follow a trend. For babies, it is the parents who choose the fragrance.

• Perfumes for men
• Perfumes for women
• Perfume for children and adolescents
• Perfume for babies

Other Ways to Choose a Perfume

Perfume, when well chosen, is like a second skin and its notes change, among other things, according to the pH of the epidermis. We do not know in advance how a perfume will evolve. It may very well suit you, you become one with it, and if you often receive compliments, it is an excellent sign, it proves that you have found the right one.

By Skin Type

Many criteria come into play (cf. Choosing by skin type):

• Skin pH
• Texture
• Activity
• Food
• Medications
• Diseases
• Hair color
• Skin color

By Personality

This classification is the result of a study on customer behavior regarding perfume, on the correspondences between perfumes/odors/flavors regarding the choice of perfume. It is also the fruit of long observation with a perfume clientele.

By Look

Sometimes fashion and perfume echo each other; one can change look depending on the day and the evening (cf. Choosing by look). Logic would dictate that daytime perfumes generally associated with a work look would be lighter and would not disturb those around. A more sophisticated evening look would call for a more marked and diffusive fragrance.

By Notes

When choosing a perfume, many factors come into play; some choose their perfume based on advertising, others by attraction to the bottle, or to this or that brand. The customer who chooses their perfume by notes is an informed customer.

• Hesperidic or citrus family
• Floral family with all sub-families
• Chypre family
• Woody family
• Fougère family
• Oriental or amber family

If they are even more educated and knowledgeable, they will be eager to know more and may look for specific notes:

• Solar notes
• Musky notes
• Leather notes
• Aromatic notes
• Aldehyde notes

Once the Perfume is Chosen, How to Apply It?

It’s done, you have chosen your perfume (perhaps one of the Delacourte Paris creations), and you now wish to know how to apply it, make it last, or even preserve it? Discover our dedicated articles.

Where to Apply Your Perfume?

In common parlance, we say that we wear a perfume, with the aim of smelling good, for oneself and for others. But upon reflection, isn’t it also the perfume that carries us? let’s put our nose to the question starting with a bit of terminology before discovering different methods and tips to apply your perfume well so that it is your best ally (cf. Where to apply perfume).

• Differences between tenacity and sillage
• Skin and perfume alchemy
• How to choose your perfume?
• Where to apply perfume? Eight strategic points
• Perfuming your clothes
• Tips to perfect the sillage

Making Your Perfume Last

You have found your perfume. It is your scented slogan, your olfactory identity, it translates your personality and leaves your memory in the minds of those you meet. So that it accompanies you all day or all night, it is up to you to offer it optimal conditions (cf. Making perfume last).

• Its conservation
• Its application
• Importance of well-hydrated and nourished skin
• Tenacity and olfactory families
• Skin and perfume alchemy
• I can no longer smell my perfume
• Habituation

How Often to Apply Perfume?

Everything will depend:

• On the olfactory family: a hesperidic perfume will last less time than a woody or oriental perfume; in this case, the operation will have to be repeated several times a day.
• On the concentration: Eau de Cologne, Eau Fraîche, Eau de Toilette, Eau de Parfum, Extract.
• On the more or less perfect orchestration achieved by the perfumer.

How to Preserve Your Perfume?

Your perfume is your intimate ally, you have chosen it, alchemy has taken place. Just like you, it is complex, evolving, it changes. Even if it gives you confidence, it remains an ally that must be taken care of (cf. Preservation guide).

• What about extract?
• How long does an Eau de Toilette or Eau de Parfum last?
• Tips to better preserve your perfume.