How To Smell Perfume: The Best Techniques

Learning how to smell perfume doesn’t have to be hard. Perfume has been around for more than 4,000 years. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all loved the delightful aromas of a good perfume, and this delight has not faded even after all these years. Today, the perfume industry still remains extremely popular, and almost every designer brand has some kind of perfume product.

You might think that you love perfume, but do you really know how to smell it? Smelling perfume is not as simple as taking a big whiff. Picking out the unique notes of a perfume is actually quite like a form of art. Keep reading to learn what to look for when smelling perfume.

How To Smell Perfume

How to smell perfume doesn’t have to be a difficult task. The first thing you should look for is the top notes. The top notes will form your first impression of the perfume at hand. They are initially very strong and can change by the moment before disappearing very suddenly.

The top notes tend to be quite light compared to other notes of a perfume. They are often floral but they can include other aromas such as citrus or freshly cut grass. You can notice the top notes best when you put perfume directly on your skin. The heat of your skin will help the oils in the perfume express themselves better. However, using a scent blotter or smelling directly from a flask of perfume can work well too.

Try to avoid spraying your perfume into the air. This will only waste the perfume and you won’t be able to have time to smell all the levels of complexity. After the top notes, you will immediately start to detect the middle notes. The middle notes are the core of any good perfume.

The middle notes last much longer compared to the top notes. They will remain on your skin for hours after application. The middle notes may still be somewhat light and airy, but not as much as the top notes. Middle notes may include richer aromas such as those of pepper, bergamot, geranium, and so on. The exact scents you find, of course, will depend on the unique aromatic profile of the perfume or cologne at hand.

Perfume for women and perfume for men should both have well-defined aromatic profiles. The best perfume will always make your olfactory senses dance from one aroma to another. A bad perfume will be overpowering and will only have one or two notes.

The Details

Finally, you will detect the base notes. The base notes are also very long-lasting and they tend to be very rich and earthy. Even after several hours of wear, these seductive base notes should still emanate from your pulse points. Base notes often contain hints of cedar, amber wood, pine, and leather. However, these notes should never be overpowering but instead should be quite subtle and warm.

When smelling perfume, always be sure to smell slowly. This will give your nose a chance to adjust to the different notes. If you apply the perfume to your wrists, don’t rub your wrists together as this will interfere with the true fragrance and it will shorten the lifespan of the fragrance on your skin. To experience everything a perfume has to offer, apply it to your skin and notice how the aroma changes over several hours.

Once you do this, you will be on your way to becoming a professional perfume connoisseur. If you would like to try different perfume samples for yourself, click here to get yourself some.