Finding Your Signature Scent

Start with families, not names. Do you lean fresh and aromatic, warm and ambery, woody, floral, gourmand? Most people already know, even if they have never used the words.

Then narrow by occasion. A signature is something you can wear to work, to dinner and to nothing in particular. Save the dramatic extraits for when they are the point.

Test three at a time, no more. One on each wrist, one on a blotter, and then leave the shop. Anosmia sets in fast; your nose stops registering what it has smelled too much of.

Live with the shortlist for a week. The fragrance you reach for without thinking on day five is the one.