It is proven that how you form and write your letters speaks volumes about your character. Behavior scientists argue that your handwriting in not about what you learnt in school, but how you apply what you learnt; this is determined by your personality. Well, this is what Christian Dior had to say on the matter “A woman’s perfume tells more about her than her handwriting.”

Most women have several perfume bottles on their dresser top, some because they pick the latest scent as recommended by a friend, others simply cannot throw away used up bottles and a good majority try to sample everything and end up dissatisfied after several attempts. On inquiry, many will complain that it is difficult to get the right perfume one whose smell is a fragrance of oneself. Getting this perfume is not a hard task, nonetheless is it not a piece of cake. The first step in the pursuit of fragrance is to have some background information about perfumes.

One’s meat is another’s poison

We all know that perfumes are a unique mixture of different aromas and oils. Each person reacts differently to each of the constituent oils and the whole mix as a whole. As a person without a perfume, you have a unique body scent maybe not perceptible to us but animals such as dogs get this scent easily. When you add another scent, it reacts to your natural one creating an entirely new fragrance. This is the main reason why you can purchase the same scent with a friend all other factors similar yet get different results.

Temperature differences

Perfumes have an alcohol base in them and we know that alcohol is volatile. Therefore, the same perfume can have different reaction according to temperature due to the differing evaporation rates. A perfume will smell differently during the day from the night and some are manufactured for specific times of the day.

Perfume families

Fragrances also have families and the categorization depends on the chemicals and the extracts that make up the scent. The categorizations differ as some place them into four groups others into six or eight. I will go through the 8 family list, according to smell to give you a more comprehensive selection:

• Aldehydic – the perfumes have a fresh and pure scent. The main constituents are from the aldehyde group of chemicals.
• Floral – the scent is sweet  and the main constituents are flower extracts such as lavender, jasmine or rose
• Aromatic – gives one the fresh scent reminding one of the outdoors and the main extracts are herbs such as rosemary
• Fruity – the scent is fresh and has a fruity smell similar to the main fruit extract. Most of the perfumes are extracted from citrus fruits.
• Aquatic – the smell evokes memories of the sea, fresh linen or clean mountain air. The constituents are synthetics designed to evoke aquatic scents.
• Chypres – these perfumes are extracted from green matter such as oakmoss or labdanum. The scent is a mixture of floral and woody
• Gourmand – extracted from chocolate, vanilla or caramel the scent is simply edible and delicious.
• Woody – the perfume is made from wood extracts such as cedar or sandalwood. It has a particularly masculine yet strongly earthy scent
• Oriental – also known as the warm perfumes, the scent is sensual and extracted from musks and exotic plants.

Getting your handwriting right

Knowing all the above factors, the main question is how to choose the fragrance for you. Take a sample bottle; spray it once on the pulse areas (the wrist or the neck). Do not touch the area but cover it up with a sleeve or collar. After three minutes, smell the perfume and let the fragrance linger. Do not apply another perfume immediately if not pleased but allow that one to evaporate completely and you olfactory sense to clear of the previous smell.

Do not try more than three in one trial, as the scents will be mixed up. If you are looking for a night scent, look for it at night. The same goes for a day scent. The worst place to try out scents is in the shop as they are all in the air. After squirting, cover up then go outside to get the scent. A pointer to remember is that our perfume tastes change as we age and scents are affected by our monthly cycle. It is all about body chemistry so have fun in the pursuit of fragrance!

This guest post was written by fashion blogger Erica McPherson. Erica’s company has a great collection of Scarlett Black London dresses that could be used as both day and evening dresses; you should still be choosing your perfume according to your taste.