Last Updated on December 2, 2024 by Eve Dawes
Your fragrance guide to finding the perfect signature fragrance for you.
What is a signature scent and how to find yours. If you’ve been asking how do I find my signature scent? I have you covered with how to find your signature scent in this fragrance guide with 8 fun and easy steps that avoid wasting your money. These tips will help you find the perfect signature scent for you whatever your budget. There are lots of ways to find your signature scent, whether you’re looking for a men’s, women’s or unisex fragrance, so I’m going to share a few of the most popular suggestions from the fragrance pros including some fun signature scent quizzes.
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What is a signature scent
A signature scent is the one that makes you feel the most confident and the one others associate with you. Your signature scent should be the one you want to keep reaching for out of your fragrance collection.
I find it hard to keep to my 2 signature perfumes as I try so many, as I’m always trying to review more for you. However, Penhaligon’s Empressa is my spring/summer signature scent. It’s very feminine, floral and elegant. Coco Chanel is my winter signature scent. It always reminds me of my Mum as she wears it, so it feels like home as well as making me feel confident.
How to find your signature scent
Finding your signature fragrance should be fun. It’s a bit like fashion, as it’s a way to express yourself without words, make you feel a certain way, and that people remember you by. When trying to figure out yours there are a few options.
1. Take a fragrance finder quiz
Lots of fragrance brands offer scent quizes like Molton Brown, Penhaligons, Maison Margiela and Jo Malone. The idea is that you answer lots of questions about yourself in short questionnaires that normally take about 2-5 minutes and their smart system selects the scents they think are most suited to you. They’re not perfect but they’re fun and a good starting point.
2. Ignore reviews that say a scent is good or bad
I don’t mean ignore fragrance reviews entirely! Reviews are great for learning about a fragrances notes. However, we all like different fragrances and react to them differently as we all have different body chemistry and you’re the one who has to wear it. It’s not about a perfume being good or bad but personal preference. How boring would it be if we all liked and wore the same scent!
3. Go shopping in the right mood for your signature scent
It’s hard to shop for something that should make you feel confident and keep you in a good mood if you’re already in a bad mood. Fragrances are a mood booster not a miracle potion. We tend to associate smells with a time and place and they’re very emotive. So you don’t want to associate a beautiful new fragrance you might have otherwise loved because you were in a bad mood when you first smelled it.
4. Shop by the fragrance notes you like
Finding your signature scent is a bit like playing investigator. If you’re not sure what your favorite notes are, as well as your dislikes, I definitely suggest going into a major department store or even Sephora and starting to try different scents with a sales assistant. They should be able to help you identify the notes you like by the perfumes you like and dislike so that you can start to narrow your search down.
The 1st 2 questions Penhaligon’s asked me when I went into their Covent Garden store to find my signature scent was what my favorite perfumes are and what fragrance notes I like. Which is how I ended up with Empressa.
If you can’t get to a store, some of the key fragrance notes to think about and that most of us are familiar with are:
- Vanilla
- Coconut
- Rose
- Citrus
- White flower
- Wood
- Fruit
That way you can start narrowing your search down by notes you already know and the price point you’re comfortable with.
You might find you want to blend a couple of fragrances to create something unique to you and that incorporates all of the notes you like. A few companies that are good for this are Jo Malone, as her fragrances have only a couple of notes so they layer well together.
Scent Pairing is part of the Jo Malone London philosophy. It simply means layering more than one scent to create something personal to you. Experiment to find a new compelling combination, or take your favourite fragrance and layer with another for a scent that’s you, with a twist. Jo Malone
Tom Ford even offers a Private Blend Sampler kit, as does Creed.
5. How to find your signature scent by price
This often gets overlooked but once you know the fragrance notes you like you can narrow down your search by price point. There’s no point splurging on a luxury fragrance you can’t afford as you’re never going to feel good wearing it. You’re going to feel bad having spent more than you wanted and that’s not the way you want your scent to make you feel.
6. Sample scents
You can also ask for samples at a lot of stores to be able to try them and see how they change on your skin over time. If the brand or store doesn’t offer free samples, they normally sell sample gift sets.
When trying fragrances, don’t go off of your 1st impression when you spray it or off of how it smells on cardboard. Give the fragrance at least 30 minutes to adjust to your skins heat and chemistry. This is one of the reasons the same perfume can smell very differently from person to person. Also make sure you’re spraying it on you and not your clothes so you can understand and see how the fragrance works with your body chemistry.
7. Consider when you’ll wear your signature scent
Are you looking for a day, night or a fragrance you can wear for both? That will come into play on the intensity of your perfume. The same goes for seasons. I like to have a lighter more floral perfume for the summer, and a spicier, richer perfume for the winter.
8. How does the fragrance make you feel
This is probably the most important factor! You can check all the fragrance notes boxes you like and still not feel an attachment to a perfume. To me, there are some perfumes I like, but that just don’t feel like me.
Perfumes are emotive and a form of self-expression, so they should make you feel a certain way, remind you of a certain memory or have significance to you. It’s a bit like wearing a great outfit, your perfume should make you feel confident and express who you are or how you want to feel, not just smell good.
How to find your signature scent | Conclusion
At the end of the day it’s going to come down to instinct, experimenting and seeing what makes you feel the happiest and most self-assured. Your signature scent should compliment your style and how you want to feel. Don’t feel limited to just one. Like I said, I have 2. A lighter one for the day and summer and a more sensual, intense one for winter and nights out.
I’ve linked a couple of signature scent quizzes below as well as some of my favorite perfumes. I’ll warn you now though, it does become addictive. I nearly bought more Penhaligon’s perfume as they had a Black Friday sale on when I was getting the link to their quiz for you, so don’t blame me for your perfume addiction.
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If you need more inspiration for finding your signature fragrance:
