How to Find Your Signature Scent, According to Experts

The founders of D.S. & Durga and Ellis Brooklyn weigh in.

How you dress can reveal a lot about your personality, as can your makeup and hairstyle. And while your style aesthetic can be spotted across the room, your signature scent is a more subtle and intimate way of revealing the type of person you are—or aspire to be.

For some, the fragrance you wear is a subconscious way they'll remember you and how they'll perceive you. To you, it can be a factor in determining what kind of day you're going to have and what type of mood you want to set. However, choosing a signature fragrance can take a while, especially considering the thousands of options on the market — and that's where we come in. We tapped fragrance experts David Moltz and Bee Shapiro for their advice on what to look for when shopping for a perfume.

Keep scrolling for five tips for finding your signature scent, according to experts.

Meet Our Expert

• David Moltz is a perfumer and the co-founder of D.S. & Durga.

• Bee Shapiro is the founder of Ellis Brooklyn, a clean fragrance line.

1. Start With Fragrance Families

"Understanding the families is just like understanding genres in music," says Moltz. "You want to know the difference between hip-hop or baroque when you listen to something — it's nice to know what is floral, fresh, woody, etc."

Some luxury perfumes dabble into more than one fragrance family, but knowing what notes you gravitate toward can quickly narrow down your search for a signature perfume. Florals tend to be more feminine and mature, spicy fragrances tend to be warmer and sultrier, woody scents are often earthy and masculine, and fresh perfumes are often citrusy and lighter. Of course, every perfume uniquely blends notes and accords, so while a fragrance may have a woodsy top note, it could also contain fruity ingredients for an olfactory cocktail. Still, knowing what overarching fragrance family you like is the first step toward finding your signature scent.

2. Consider Trends But Proceed With Caution

Palo santo had a big moment a few years ago, and green tea is beginning to make its way into current finds. As with fashion, trends come and go, so consider that when fragrance shopping. "Trends are a helpful cue to what is going on, but like anything else as you learn what you like, you learn to trust your own instincts," says Moltz.

The same goes for cult classics. While we've all loved Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue and everyone on TikTok is crazy for Bacarrat's Rouge 540, don't let the hype cloud your judgment. While these tried-and-true fragrances have stood the test of time and will continue to reign, there are so many more options to be discovered.

3. Spend Time With It

Perfumes smell differently on everyone, thanks to our unique skin chemistry. So how a cologne smells on a sampler paper won't necessarily be how it smells on your skin. Before you purchase a full-sized perfume, use a travel-sized bottle and sit with the fragrance for a week or so. While we're all for you purchasing an upscale fragrance if you fall in love with it, we also want you to know you like it before you make an investment.

Our skin's chemistry can change from day to day, notes Shapiro. "Sampling should be a key part of the experience, [so] try a few and then see," she says. "Allow yourself to live with a new scent a bit before passing judgment."

Tips

Discover multiple perfumes with sample sets, suggests Moltz. They're also a great way to experience several scents for a few days before deciding to commit, he adds.

4. Consider How It Makes You Feel

Do you want to come off as playful? Do you want to feel sexy? Consider this as you take turns sniffing between scents of leather accord and peony before settling on the one. "It should make them their ideal self—this sense of recognition with a drop of aspiration," says Shapiro. "When you spray on the scent, it should feel not only that this scent is who you are, but who you want to be."

5. Take Sillage Into Account

When you browse through department stores and stumble through eau de parfums, eau de toilettes, and more, it's important to know the difference before heading to the cash register. These names allude to the concentration of fragrance, which goes hand in hand with its longevity and retail price.

Eau fraiche has between one and three percent concentrated perfume oil and generally lasts less than an hour. Eau de cologne has between two and six percent oil and lasts up to two hours. Eau de toilette can have anywhere between five and 15 percent oil and lasts roughly three hours. Eau de parfum, which Moltz says is the standard strength of perfumes, contains 15 to 20 percent oil and lasts between five to eight hours. Finally, there's pure parfum, which has anywhere between 15 to 40 percent oil and can last up to 24 hours.

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