Purchasing Perfume Tips with Lin

With the holidays coming up, our thoughts turn to the gifts.  One popular gift every year is perfume, either giving one the loved one likes, or trying something completely different.

When purchasing perfume, you need to keep the person in mind.  What do they like, what perfumes would suit them best.  This should give you a little idea of what to look for, in getting the right one for them.

What to Keep In Mind

Keep these tips in mind when going out to test the perfume.  Many times the store associate will give you the little card with the perfume sprayed on it.  By all means smell it straight away, but let it dry then smell it again.  It will have different tones and also sprayed on a card is totally different to being sprayed on your arm or neck.

Another tip when going to try the perfumes if you spray it on your wrist DO NOT rub your wrists together.  This breaks down the perfume, giving you a totally different tone when it dries.  instead, wave your wrists a little to let it dry naturally.  Walk around for a while, especially if you are in a department store.  The scent will be different as it dries on you.

The Inside Scoop

Here is one thing the department stores don’t let you know about when you purchase perfume: coffee beans. If they are good, they should keep a little jar of coffee beans.  When smelling perfumes, after 3 they all start smelling the same.  Ask them if you can now smell the coffee beans.  It clears your nose so that you can start afresh choosing that perfume!  If you wonder how I know this, I worked for a while on the Men’s Fragrance counter in Dillards.

The Notes of Perfume

Perfumes come in three notes:

• Top Notes
• Middle Notes
• Base Notes

The top notes are what you smell as soon as you have sprayed the perfume on.  The scent you smell immediately but it soon evaporates.

The middle notes will begin to come through once the top notes start to evaporate.  This is what most of the scent of the perfume will be based on.

The base notes will have the richer tone to it.  This will come through when the perfume has been on for 20 to 30 minutes.  The base notes give the depth to the middle notes giving the full scent it’s theme.  That is another reason why you need to let it dry and not rush the process of buying straight away.  Go and get yourself a cup of coffee while you are waiting for it to come through!

I hope this helps you choose the right one for your loved ones this holiday season.