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How to buy a perfume you’ll actually wear

Most disappointing bottles were judged too fast: in the first minute, on a paper strip, in a shop full of other smells. Here is what your nose and skin are doing, how to test before you pay, and a short checklist.

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What your nose and skin do

Five things the research supports. Each one’s source is listed at the end of the page.

  1. Your nose tunes out a smell that doesn’t change

    Smelling the same odour for a while lowers your sensitivity to it, and it comes back once the exposure stops. So after a while you notice your perfume less than the people around you do. Don’t spray more for that: step away into fresh air for a while, then smell again. 1

  2. Some people can’t smell some musks

    Not being able to smell a particular musk at all is documented in smell research. If a friend says your perfume smells of nothing, it may truly be so for them. Ask more than one person. 2

  3. Each material leaves your skin at its own speed

    How fast a fragrance material evaporates from skin depends on how volatile it is, how well it dissolves in the skin’s oils, and on air flow and temperature. The top, heart and base on a box are a simplified picture of that. Judge a perfume after its opening, not in the first minute. 3

  4. Skin isn’t a paper strip

    Skin is warm and carries its own oils; a paper strip has neither, so the same perfume can smell and last differently on you. Use strips to shortlist, and decide on skin. 4

  5. Formulas change

    In the EU, atranol and chloroatranol, natural parts of oak moss and treemoss extracts, may not be in cosmetics placed on the market from 23 August 2019, so formulas that relied on them had to change. If an old favourite smells different, check when your bottle was made. 5

How to test before you buy

Not lab findings: a routine that follows from them.

  1. Shortlist on paper strips, then put no more than two perfumes on skin per visit, one on each wrist.
  2. Ignore the first minutes. Leave the shop, smell your skin again later, and again a few hours on.
  3. Before a full bottle, wear a sample or a decant for a whole day, on a cool day and a warm one if you can.
  4. Ask someone else to smell it on you, and check that the name, the concentration and the size are the ones you tried.

Before you pay

If any answer is no, buy a sample first.

  • Has it been on my skin for a full day, not just on a strip?
  • Did I smell it after the opening, away from the shop?
  • Did someone else smell it on me?
  • Is it the same name and concentration I tried, not a flanker or another version?
  • If it’s a rebuy, do I know when this bottle was made?
  • Do I trust the seller, and have I compared the price?

In the app

Do it in NozeDex

The app keeps this routine in one place, from the first smell to the bottle check. Free, in beta.

  • Nearby shops that carry Chanel: CHANEL Raffles City 1 km, BHG Bugis 1.1 km, Metro Paragon 1.2 km, each marked Carries this brand, check stock, with Directions.Where to smell itShops near you that carry it.
  • The Journal: 91 entries, Log a wear, Recently worn, 10 wears this month, 26 compliments, and Baccarat Rouge 540, worn 3 times this month.Log each wearSamples and decants too, with your notes.
  • Check batch code for Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille: code A47, Made January 2024, could also be January 2014, with Freshness signal, not proof of authenticity, and Saved to this bottle.When was it made?Date the batch code before a rebuy.
  • Bottle check on Tobacco Vanille: When was it made?, What to look for, and Legit check, where Le Nez compares your photo.Bottle checkWhat to look for, and a legit check with Le Nez.
  • Angels’ Share by By Kilian, its Deals tab before a search: shop prices in Singapore, Malaysia and France, and Find deals.Find dealsPrices at shops for a perfume on your wishlist, when you ask.
  • Le Nez’s picks: 8 from the catalog for your answers, starting with Hugo Boss Boss Bottled Night, each with its reason, Add to To try and Open.Find with Le NezNot sure what to try? A few questions, picks with reasons.

The screens show a sample collection.

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Sources

  1. Pamela Dalton, “Psychophysical and Behavioral Characteristics of Olfactory Adaptation”, Chemical Senses 25(4), 487-492, 2000. doi.org/10.1093/chemse/25.4.487
  2. D. Whissell-Buechy and J. E. Amoore, “Odour-blindness to musk: simple recessive inheritance”, Nature 242, 271-273, 1973. doi.org/10.1038/242271a0
  3. G. B. Kasting and P. Saiyasombati, “A physico-chemical properties based model for estimating evaporation and absorption rates of perfumes from skin”, International Journal of Cosmetic Science 23(1), 49-58, 2001. doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-2494.2001.00079.x
  4. “Insight into how skin changes perfume”, International Journal of Cosmetic Science 18, 237-246, 1996. doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-2494.1996.tb00154.x
  5. Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1410 of 2 August 2017, amending Annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products. eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/1410/oj

Written by the NozeDex team from these sources; titles are as published. Where the guide gives a routine instead of a finding, it says so. Spot a mistake? Write to us and we’ll fix it: hello@nozedex.com

General information

This guide is general information about perfume, not medical advice: if a perfume irritates your skin, stop using it. NozeDex isn’t affiliated with any perfume house; brand and perfume names belong to their owners.