Since fragrance is expensive, here are some fun and helpful tips about buying fragrances that will insure that you buy a fragrance that you love!

• Each of us has our own unique odor fingerprint which is the sum total of our heredity (genes), skin chemistry, skin type, hair color, diet, whether or not we take medications, are under stress and the environment in which we live.
• Our sense of smell is not as sharp in the morning as it is later in the day. More upbeat scents can be appreciated at the beginning of the day to sharpen the senses. Later in the day or evening, choose fragrances that correspond with your mood, fashion or the occasion.
• Fragrance layering ensures your fragrance lasts throughout the day. Choose the same scent in a shower gel or bubble bath, body lotion and then the perfume.
• Everyone has a personal ‘scent circle’; no more than an arm’s length from the body. No one should be aware of your fragrance unless he or she steps inside your ‘circle’. Fragrances should be one of the most subtle, personal messages you send to those with whom you come in contact with.
• Be sure that when temperatures increase to choose a lighter scent. Fragrance intensifies on hot and humid days. Save your more exotic fragrances for cooler weather.
• Make it a rule to never try more than three scents at one time when you are shopping for a new fragrance. Your nose will lose its ability to tell the fragrance you tested.
• Apply fragrance directly to the skin when you are testing new scents. You cannot get a true reaction of the fragrance from the bottle or a fragrance test strip. Apply a few drops to your wrist. Allow the heat of the body to develop the fragrance on your skin and then sniff.
• Smell coffee beans while trying different fragrances. Most fragrance counters have coffee bean tins for the customer to use. It clears the ‘palette’ and allows your sense of smell to not be inhibited by the previous fragrance you tested.
• If you are on a special diet it can affect the way you perceive and smell a fragrance.
• Smoking can dull the sense of smell and make you less aware of various smells.
• Medication can change one’s skin chemistry and influence how fragrance smells on the skin.