“What’s the Next Step in Your Fragrance Adventure?” This is the pivotal question that arises after you’ve started exploring various scents and perhaps discovered a few favorites. But where should your journey lead your nose next…?

With an overwhelming array of new scents launched each year, along with the vast collection of perfumes already available, how can you pinpoint your next ‘fragrant milestone’ in your olfactory exploration? Without a structured approach, it can feel like leaping off a mountain into the unknown, unsure of what lies ahead!

While our theme this month focuses on ‘endeavour’, we understand that the uncertainty of choosing your next fragrance can be daunting. To alleviate this, we have crafted a scented roadmap for you to follow…

The solution we present is based on a sophisticated algorithm that was first introduced by Perfume Society Co-Founder Lorna McKay years ago in Liberty’s fragrance department. This innovative system was designed to assist customers in selecting their next fragrance. Fast forward to today, and the Find a Fragrance tool has undergone numerous enhancements, and now exists as a highly intelligent scent-suggestion algorithm available on The Perfume Society Website.

Consider our Find a Fragrance section as your personalized perfume guide – a simple yet powerful tool that prompts you to enter the name of a fragrance you already adore. In return, it offers six new scent recommendations that vary in price, come from different fragrance houses, and represent a range of styles. The selections are not random; they are based on detailed information provided by the fragrance houses, including the perfumer’s inspiration, key ingredients, the fragrance’s character, and the emotional response it evokes. This method ensures a far more accurate recommendation, increasing the likelihood that you will discover your next signature scent.

Here’s a Step-by-Step Guide to Using Find a Fragrance:

2: Take Your Time to Discover

Now that you have your curated shopping list of scents to explore, we strongly encourage you to allow yourself ample time to experience them on your skin before making any hasty decisions. The initial whiff? That’s just the top notes – often bright and citrusy – which can quickly fade within minutes due to their rapid evaporation.

We recommend waiting at least an hour to truly understand how a perfume transforms on your skin. Should you prefer not to apply it directly, consider using a blotter or ‘spill’ (a long strip of paper) to gauge the scent. However, keep in mind that this will only provide a glimpse of the final fragrance experience. Perfumes are crafted to be warmed and interacted with on your skin, often revealing different and more enchanting facets. Moreover, your mood, the weather, and even your meal can significantly influence how a fragrance interacts with your body chemistry, so it’s ideal to revisit and test each scent multiple times.

3: Capture Your Impressions

It’s fascinating how your imagination can wander when you encounter an exquisite scent. Perfumes are designed to transport us to different places, so where might your six selected fragrances lead you? Close your eyes, inhale deeply, and then pose reflective questions such as:

• If this scent were a fabric, would it evoke the richness of velvet, the softness of suede, the ruggedness of leather, or the lightness of linen?
• What color palette does the fragrance conjure in your mind?
• If this fragrance were transformed into a piece of music, which instrument would be playing the melody?
• How does this scent make you feel? Does it evoke happiness, excitement, relaxation, or romance…?

The more you engage with these reflective thoughts, the deeper your connection will be with each fragrance you explore. By following these three simple yet effective steps, you’ll likely uncover a brand new fragrance that gently expands your aromatic horizons, encouraging you to be more adventurous with your scent choices. And from this point forward… a whole new world of fragrances awaits your exploration with renewed enthusiasm!

Written by Suzy Nightingale