Finding your signature scent can feel a bit like winning the jackpot. It agrees with your body’s chemistry, can transition from season to season and adds to your essence without upsetting your skin (or pH balance). It’s usually not an overnight process, as it takes sniffing a bunch of weird, firm or soft scents to know what combination works best for you. And you want to capture not just how good it smells but what it says about you. Struggling to find your signature scent? Here’s what experts recommend for the perfect match.
How To Find Your Signature Scent
Chavalia Mwamba, the founder of Pink MahogHany Artisan Fragrances, believes in setting a “scentention” around one’s fragrance of choice. Determining whether the fragrance is for self-care, self-expression or celebration can help the buyer learn their own vibe. If you’re a chill person who enjoys outdoor activities, you might go for something that smells clean or woodsy. If you’re a driven person who enjoys hosting events, then you might want something solid or soft, depending on how you feel about leadership. Whether floral, woodsy or reminiscent of your favorite cocktail, there’s a scent out there. It does take some self-asking to reach that signature scent destination.
5 Starter Brands For the Scent Lover
If you love clean scents, look no further than Maison Margiela’s REPLICA in Bubble Bath. It’s in Sephora’s Fresh Family of scents, which has floral, soap, white musk and coconut milk notes. If you’re more a woodsy vibe person, consider Tom Ford’s Oud Mood, a combination of oud wood, sandalwood and Chinese pepper. If you like sweet scents, try Killian’s Love Don’t Be Shy, which is said to smell like floral marshmallows, a combo for the floral and sweet lovers. For Keta Burke Williams, CEO of Ourside, a luxury fragrance brand manufactured in The Bronx, fragrances can be made and found in the most untraditional ways for both the purposes of luxury and self-connection.
Spice may or may not be popular within the fragrance scene, but if it’s your preference, you’ll enjoy Diptyque’s Eau Deuelle, which combines cardamom, pink cherry and saffron. Last but not least, if you want some combo of the fragrances mentioned above, though more complex or have a different vibe than Love Don’t Be Shy, consider Dossier’s Woody Sage.
What Experts Recommend for the Perfect Match
And then there are trends! Scents made famous by a brand or celebrity that go with a sporty or artistic vibe are all things to consider. However, with the popularity of these scents, it’s safe to wonder if the notes actually speak to each buyer or if they’re snagging them because of brand familiarity. Perfumer and co-founder David of D.S. & Durga, an immersive fragrance shop in Brooklyn, recommends that buyers not consider the trend over their own preferences. He encourages buyers to “learn to trust their own instincts” and take the trends as “helpful cues to know what’s going on.”
Trends come and go, so you’ll want to stick with what smells good and how it makes you feel. What brings you comfort? What inspires you? And how can you incorporate that into your signature scent? How do you want to feel while wearing it, and how do you want others to feel after smelling it? The answers to these questions may need to be taken into consideration. Also, it takes time before a scent blends with your body; over time, a smell develops the potential to become your signature.
Whether cologne, perfume, oil, vanilla, wood or spice, feel free to experiment with opposite ends of the spectrum to find what truly speaks to you. Also, consider accessibility to the scent via price point or where it can be purchased, as these factors can affect your ability to wear it consistently.