How to Find your Signature Scent - Storytelling with Southern Skies
Discovering a signature scent is like finding a part of yourself – a fragrance that feels uniquely you. Whether it’s fresh, floral or something spicy, a scent that just fits can make you feel more confident, connected and comfortable in your own skin.
Here are some simple tips to guide you on your journey:
1. Identify Your Scent Family
Fragrances generally fall into different categories known as scent families. Spicy oriental, warm and woody, sparkling fresh or romantically floral - with so many beautiful fragrances out in the universe, identifying the scent family you gravitate to will quickly put you on the path to finding that kindred scent that sings to your spirit. Through a little exploration, you will naturally find that you lean towards particular fragrance notes and profiles. Some common scent families include:
- Floral: Soft, romantic, and feminine, perfect for those who love a fresh, garden-inspired scent.
- Woody: Earthy and warm, for people who prefer deeper, more grounded fragrances.
- Oriental: Rich and spicy, for lovers of luxury and exotic tastes.
- Fresh: Clean and crisp, ideal if you want something refreshing, light and easygoing.
Don’t overthink it. When it comes to scent, often your first instinct is the right one.
2. Get To Know Your Notes
A fragrance is built on top, middle & base notes – but what does this mean? Notes are the synthetic or natural oil profiles found within a perfume. Think of these being in order from lightest to heaviest in depth and intensity.
Top notes are the part of the perfume profile that you smell first, these tend to be lighter fruits, florals, herbs and spices that always make the first impression. As the fragrance starts to dry down you are then hit with the middle notes, these are also known as the heart of the fragrance.
The middle notes help add depth to the fragrance and the notes found here tend to be the theme of the fragrance.
The strongest and least volatile notes found in a perfume are the base notes. The most common notes found in the base of a fragrance are vanilla and musk – like our Stellar eau de parfum, Sandalwood and Vetiver – found in our Solar eau de parfum, and Amber and Cedarwood – found in our Lunar eau de parfum.
3. Select Your Strength
Allowing you to dial into your preferred potency and projection, fragrances are also typically available in a range of intensities, most commonly a medium intensity ‘eau de toilette’ and fuller bodied and long lasting ‘eau de parfum’. It’s all in the concentrations. Eau de toilettes usually contain between 5-9% of perfume oil, making them a wonderful option for fans of lighter fragrance strength, while eau de parfums contain 8-14% of perfume oil, for greater projection and longer, more resilient wear. Our new collection Southern Skies are potent eau de parfums that are long lasting and settle beautifully on the skin.
4. Test and Trial
We’ve all been in a situation where a fragrance sounds like something you’d love, or smells amazing on someone else but smells... different... on you. Why? Skin chemistry – and it’s unique to each of us.
Getting a bit scientific here for a sec, a fragrance can react and wear differently on skin for these reasons:
- your skin type
- your skin’s pH
- your diet
So, it’s important to try a perfume or an aftershave on your skin if you can, to accurately gauge how the fragrance is going to settle and wear on your skin. Pay attention to how a scent unfolds over time, beyond the initial impression and through all of its phases.
As you can see, when it comes to connecting to a fragrance, scent family, notes, concentration, longevity and physical reaction to your very own skin all play a vital role. It might sound like a lot, but truly – the process is very instinctive and should be an enjoyable and ultimately rewarding journey.
Discover our NEW Southern Skies eau de parfum collection and find your signature scent.
