The following is the first of a 2-part post. The second part will follow later this week.
Let's begin!
From the days of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra to today, women and men have been using scents to distinguish themselves from their peers, to attract that special someone, or to simply help them smell great, even under wet and sticky conditions.
Buying perfume that's right for you need not be as complicated and time consuming as it used to be, however, as online stores have made perfume-buying, super-easy!
(Definition: Perfume that's right for you, leaves you feeling refreshed, smelling great - even if you are engaging in strenuous activities and make you a joy to be around.
People will compliment you on your new scent and often ask what you're wearing, as they want to buy it too).
Before the advent of ecommerce and online stores, perfume-buying involved your:
1) Physically going to a store and choosing a perfume based on how popular it was, how often it was being recommended by loved ones or friends, how frequently it was being advertised and whether or not if fit your budget
2) Depending solely on the advice of store attendants re which scents would suit you, based on your purpose for buying the scents and your daily routine when wearing same.
Oftentimes these methods would have disappointing results, as the scent of the perfume you liked either degraded after a few hours, or didn't smell the same way it did on you as it did onsomeone else.
The reality is that:
1) Perfume smells differently on each person, so you have to "wear" it for a few hours to determine how it will smell on you ...we discuss "wearing perfume" in point 6. below
2) Wearing perfume is an art, with just a little needing to be applied, to create subtility in effect...meaning, it shouldn't be so strong that it's evident when you enter a room.
3) Scents can last for a few hours to a full eight (8) hours depending on their constituency and categories:
Perfume is made up of alcohol, essential oils (scents that give perfume their smell) and a fixative - to lock the scent in place.
So, perfumes with a greater percentage of essential oils will more than likely have a stronger smell and/or last longer (for 4 hours or more) than those with a smaller percentage of these oils.
E.g. Most perfumes have at most 30% essential oils and so will last for four (4) hours or more, depending on the reputation of their manufacturer/perfumer or brand.
Colognes have at most 3% essential oils and so will last up to four (4) hours, whilst eau de parfums are lighter scents, that last only a couple of hours.
The best way to choose perfume that's right for you, therefore, is to :
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Go to an online store dedicated to perfumes (e.g. Perfume.com and Shop Perfume Emporium and save up to 70% off on over 7,000 designer fragrances.
)
There you'll get high-end perfume brands (e.g. Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, Kim Kardashian), for much less than you would, had you visited a boutique store
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Choose a scent based on its "newness", popularity, recommendations, and reason for purchase (e.g. work, play, elegant evening out or trying to attract someone you're interested in) or the particular scent you want to radiate
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Read reviews and ratings that customers have left on the above sites re perfumes that you're interested in
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Narrow-down your choice based on customer reviews on at least two sites to ensure you're getting consistency in reviews)
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Use a website like Perfumes for a Buck to have samples of your preferred perfumes sent to you for free, or at a minimal cost.
[Perfumes for a Buck sends you up to five (5) samples for $1 + Free Shipping, but you have to be a member of their club (membership cost is $12.99/year)]
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Upon receipt, wear the perfume for a day: put a dab of one perfume sample on the inside write of one hand and a dab of another sample on the inside of your other wrist; wear them - walk around with them for a day - whilst doing normal activities, repeat this for every two perfume samples obtained
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See which ones last the entire day or suit your purchasing purpose
- Repeat steps 6 to 7, until all your samples are finished
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Choose the right perfume for you based on smell - i.e. how it smelled on you, how it made you feel and how long it lasted
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Order your perfume through one of the online stores described in step 1 above (e.g. Perfume.com and
).
Doing the above should ensure that you get a scent that not only smells great on you, but one that enables you to subtly stand out, when you near someone in a crowded room.
In our next post, we will be discussing buying scents to attract that special someone to you and the category of scents that claim to have this ability.
Please stay tuned!
Gillian
Sources Include
1) Website: Perfumes for a Buck, accessed April 23,2012
2) Article,"So, What is Perfume?", by April Kerr, EzineArticles.com, accessed April 23,2012
3) Article,"Beauty Queen: What perfume did Cleopatra dab behind her ears to impress Mark Antony and Caesar?", by Carla Long, Independent.co.uk, November 8, 2008
