Important Tips Before Buying Perfume

Some people choose their favorite perfume based on their age, gender, or the season. There are also very few people who know the details about the type, scent, and even the color of the perfume. Among these people, there are some who do not know the difference between cologne and perfume and use both terms interchangeably. Some people even think that perfume is only for women and avoid buying it.

Today, people expect the products they buy to meet their preferences and that the money spent on them is fully utilized. However, these days, counterfeit brands have become so similar to the originals that few people can distinguish between the genuine and the fake. Even cologne importers sometimes cannot tell the real from the counterfeit. In this section of the fashion world, we want to talk to you about choosing perfume, types of perfume, and how to distinguish between genuine and fake perfumes.

Fragrances are made up of several primary scents. The four main scents that are used in all perfumes include wood (which also includes spices), floral (which also encompasses fruits and leaves), fresh, and Middle Eastern scents, each with a wide range. Perfumes are created by combining these four primary branches, but one of them dominates in each fragrance. Each of these four primary scents is suitable for a different season: for example, fresh fragrances for summer, floral for spring, Middle Eastern for winter, and wood for autumn.

Important Tips When Buying Perfume

We do not recommend that you base your purchase of perfume solely on the ingredients and knowing the extracts used. It’s better to visit a store in person when buying perfume and test it to ensure you're making the right decision. This way, you’ll feel more comfortable knowing whether it’s really worth the cost.

Sometimes, after testing the perfume, it’s important to wait about 10 minutes before deciding. Walk around the store to let the fragrance settle, and you’ll then be able to detect the final scent. After the alcohol in the perfume evaporates, you will understand the scent more clearly. Some perfumes even reveal their main scent after an hour.

If you have smelled a perfume on someone else's clothes or skin and liked it, make sure to test it on your own skin before buying. The natural oils on your skin or even your body’s natural scent can affect how the fragrance will smell on you.

If you don't know exactly which perfume suits your personality or lifestyle, there are online resources and tests available that can help guide you in discovering your preferred scent—whether it’s sweet, bitter, sour, or fresh. We hope this information will help you choose the right perfume.

Another important thing to consider when buying perfume is that it should remind you of good memories. Perfume is one of those things that can take you back in time and become a nostalgic reminder of the past. So, at least for your own sake, keep this in mind when choosing a fragrance.

Frequently Asked Questions

After using perfume, be sure to close the bottle and store it in a cool place away from sunlight. Warm environments and sunlight can ruin the fragrance or darken it.

For the best use of perfume, it’s recommended to spray it directly on your skin. Especially with perfumes and Eau de Parfums that have more essential oils, spraying them on clothes may leave stains. If you do spray perfume on your clothes, make sure to apply it on dark, inconspicuous areas and maintain a certain distance from the fabric.

In general, to extend the longevity of your perfume, it’s best to spray it on pulse points on your body, maintaining the recommended distance. If you spray perfume too closely, the concentration will be too high in that spot, and it could make the fragrance feel too strong or even bitter. You may have seen people rub their wrists together after spraying perfume, thinking it will spread better. But doing this only ruins the fragrance.

If you've used moisturizer or lotion on your skin, avoid spraying perfume on those areas. Creams usually have their own scents, and the fragrance you smell after spraying perfume may not reflect the true scent of the perfume. As a final tip, if your perfume has low longevity, bring it with you to parties or meetings and spray it on your body a few minutes before you arrive. Remember, the perfume you apply right before meeting someone may not show its true scent during greetings or hugs.

Other Tips

- Do not test more than 3 or 4 perfumes at a time.

The human nose is not like a supercomputer that can process smells for long periods without error. After testing several perfumes, the likelihood of making mistakes increases. After testing 10 perfumes, you might think you’ve found the perfect one, but when you get home and try it, you may be disappointed because the scent doesn't match what you expected. This could be because the strong scents of the other perfumes you tested mixed with each other and led you to make the wrong choice.

- Go to the perfume store prepared.

Considering the above tips, price plays an important role because you can’t test a huge number of perfumes in one visit. Set a budget for your perfume and ask the salesperson to recommend perfumes within that price range.

- Don’t smell the perfume immediately.

A common mistake made by 90% of people is sniffing perfume right away. Most perfumes contain over 80% alcohol. When you spray perfume on your skin or paper, wait at least 30 to 60 seconds before smelling it to allow most of the alcohol to evaporate.