The following passages are taken from a wonderful article written by Victoria from her website Boise de Jasmin. Victoria is a writer, journalist and professionally trained perfumer. You may want to pay a visit to her site, where she “…explores the world of senses through art, literature, and history”. As you read try to think of any travel size cologne you may want to try. Or perhaps you’ve seen a commercial for a travel size perfume that caught your eye. There is a great chance we carry it, as we’re adding to our collection every week!
Don’t Rush Into Buying
This is perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned–when starting your perfume wardrobe you shouldn’t rush into buying. Give yourself a chance to learn about your tastes, because a spontaneous purchase today might turn into something you don’t care about tomorrow. Our tastes change dramatically the more we smell.
I know from personal experience that hearing someone wax poetic about the beauty of a particular perfume makes it hard to resist placing an order. Instead, smell the perfume at one of your local stores. If you see a reviewer talking about an expensive niche perfume, don’t hesitate to ask them to recommend something similar that’s available at the local mall. Nothing is completely new in perfumery. Yes, I might rave about Ann Gérard Cuir de Nacre, but you can try Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum and Hermès Kelly Calèche (available at most department stores) to experience a similar iris-leather interplay in action.
Hone Your Nose on Classics
I don’t think that anybody needs to have perfume classics in their wardrobe or that you should even like them. But as you dip your toe into the perfume hobby, smell the classics to learn about perfumes that are considered great. The classics available today are often reformulated. Even so, they were created at a time when perfume budgets were large, so even with the reformulations, the quality is often impressive. Though Chanel has reformulated Chanel No 19, it remains a costly formula, and I know of only a few perfumes on the market that cost as much as No 19 to produce.
Even if your local mall is depressing in terms of perfume offerings, I bet that it has Estée Lauder, Lancôme, Chanel and Dior. Smell Estée Lauder Youth Dew and even as you find it too thick and heavy, notice how its drydown has a warm, chocolate-like sweetness. Or try Dior’s Eau Sauvage, one of the best fresh citrus scents available today.
Don’t feel obligated to love the classics. Revisit them from time to time to see if you find new facets to enjoy, but if you don’t end up in love with Guerlain’s Mitsouko, there are plenty of other perfumes to discover. For instance, I don’t much care for the grand dame Joy (Jean Patou), but if I want to know what an excellent jasmine smells like, Joy is my top choice.
We provide a large selection of fragrance samples, all in handy travel size spray vials. They are perfect to keep in your car, your purse, your gym bag, even your desk drawer at work. You’ll be ready anywhere and anytime you need a quick boost of fragrance. Check out our popular men’s cologne and women’s perfume fragrance samples today!
