How to Choose a Perfume Online
Choosing a new perfume should be exciting.
Traditionally, you would visit a perfume shop and test a lot of perfumes on pieces of card and your skin. The obvious challenge about shopping for fragrance online is that it can seem to be more difficult to test perfumes. However, we firmly believe that sampling our perfume online is a lot more enjoyable and less stressful than traditional perfume shopping.
Have you ever been in a situation where you've been in a perfume shop and spritzed so many different fragrances on your wrists, arms, neck, you name it, only to wander around and completely forget what you've put where. You then splurge on a pricey bottle of perfume without giving yourself the chance to see if it really suits you.
We're here to show you how, with a little bit of know-how (and a willingness to experiment), shopping for perfume online can be a lovely, relaxed way to discover scents you might never have picked up in a shop.
So, if you’re wondering how to choose a perfume online, here’s where we’d start.
1. Start with what you already like
Before you start browsing hundreds of perfume bottles, have a think about the fragrances you already enjoy.
Do you reach for something fresh and citrusy? Are you drawn to warm, cosy scents? Perhaps you love a classic rose, or maybe woody and earthy fragrances are more your thing.
You don't need to know the exact name of a fragrance family to get started. Think about the scents you naturally gravitate towards.
Perhaps you love:
- Freshly cut grass
- A warm cup of coffee
- Fresh citrus
- Rose petals
- Spices
- Vanilla
- Wood and forests
- Clean, fresh laundry
- The smell of the sea
These little clues can tell you a surprising amount about the types of perfume you might enjoy.
2. Get to know fragrance families
You’ll often see perfumes described as floral, woody, oriental, fresh, fruity, or something similar.
These descriptions are called fragrance families, and they're a useful starting point when you're shopping online.
Think of them as the broad personality of a perfume.
Floral
Florals are, unsurprisingly, built around flowers. Rose, jasmine, violet and orange blossom are common examples.
But floral doesn't necessarily mean light and delicate. A rose fragrance can be dark, spicy and mysterious too.
Woody
Woody fragrances often have a warm, earthy or sophisticated feel. Think sandalwood, cedarwood, oud and patchouli.
If you like the smell of forests, warm woods or something a little more grounded, this could be a good place to start.
Fresh / Citrus
Fresh fragrances tend to feel bright, clean and uplifting. Citrus, aquatic and green notes are often found here.
These can be particularly lovely when you want something easy-going and refreshing.
Amber / Oriental
Warm, rich and often a little bit mysterious, these fragrances commonly feature notes such as vanilla, myrrh, amber, musk and spices.
If you like something with a little more depth, this is a family worth exploring.
Explore our amber / oriental fragrances
Of course, perfumes don't always fit neatly into one box. And that's part of the fun.
A fragrance might open fresh and citrusy before becoming woody and earthy as it develops. Another might combine rose with oud and chocolate.
That's what makes perfume so interesting.
3. Check out the perfume notes
You'll often see a perfume described using top notes, heart notes and base notes. Don't worry – you don't need a degree in perfumery to understand them!
Top notes
These are the first scents you notice when you spray a perfume.
They're often lighter and more immediate, with ingredients such as citrus, fruit or fresh herbs.
Heart notes
Once the top notes begin to fade, the heart of the perfume starts to emerge.
This is where you'll often find floral, fruity or spicy notes.
Base notes
These are the deeper notes that linger on your skin and help give a perfume its lasting character.
Think woods, musk, vanilla, amber, leather and oud.
The important thing to remember is that complex fragrances are built to evolve throughout the day, offering much more than a one dimensional experience.
And this is one of the reasons we always recommend taking your time with a new fragrance.
4. Personality wins!
While notes are useful clues, they shouldn't be the only thing you use to decide whether you'll like a perfume.
Here at Abbey Perfumery, we like to think of perfumes having personalities - soft and romantic, fresh and zingy, dark and sultry. By reading the perfume descriptions, you'll get a great idea of the vibe of a perfume.
5. Look for perfumes similar to ones you already love
This is one of the easiest ways to narrow down your choices online.
If you already have a favourite perfume, look for fragrances with a similar scent profile.
Many perfume websites will tell you which well-known fragrances their scents are similar to. This can be a really useful starting point if you're already familiar with those perfumes.
But don't be afraid to go off-piste either.
A fragrance recommendation isn't a guarantee that two perfumes will smell identical. It's simply a useful way of saying, “If you enjoy this sort of thing, you might enjoy this too.”
And sometimes the best discoveries are the ones you weren't expecting.
Explore our summer fragrance recommendations.
6. Sample before committing to a full-size bottle
This is probably our biggest piece of advice when buying perfume online:
Don't feel like you have to get it right first time.
Perfume is personal. What smells incredible on one person might not be quite right for another.
And that's why we created our Discovery Boxes.
Instead of committing to a full-size bottle before you know whether you love it, you can try four of our perfumes from the comfort of your own home.
Our Discovery Boxes are grouped by fragrance families, so you can choose the collection that sounds most like you.
Love warmth, woods and spice?
Try our Luxe Discovery Box.
Prefer fresh, citrus and earthy scents?
Our Earth's Wonders Discovery Box could be the place to start.
More drawn to fruity and floral fragrances?
Try Fruity Florals.
Each Discovery Box contains four miniature spray bottles, so you can take your time, compare the fragrances and see which one really feels like you.
7. Or try the whole collection
If choosing between four perfumes sounds difficult, we have another option.
Our Perfume Library is our best selling product. It contains our complete collection of 12 perfumes in one beautiful box.
You'll get 12 x 2ml Eau de Parfum samples, tester papers, a Perfumer's Guide and an exclusive voucher for an extra treat when you buy a full size perfume.
It's essentially your own little perfume counter at home.
You can try the fragrances one at a time, compare them, revisit your favourites and work out which scents you're naturally drawn to.
It's also a lovely option if you're buying perfume as a gift but aren't quite sure what the recipient will like.
8. Use it well, and allow it to develop.
This is an important one.
Give your perfume time to develop.
Spray it onto a tester paper first if you want to compare several fragrances. Then, if you like it, try it on your skin.
Don't forget to put as much on as you usually would with a large perfume bottle. For example 2 sprays from a large, 50 or 100ml bottle of perfume is the equivalent of about 5 or 6 sprays from a sample vial. This will be more of a true test on whether it's for you.
We'd recommend giving it a few hours and checking in with yourself throughout the day.
Do you still like it?
Has it changed with your skin type?
Which notes are coming through now?
Most importantly: do you want to try it again?
That's often a very good sign.
9. Don't worry about whether a perfume is “for men” or “for women”
We get asked this one a lot.
Our view is quite simple: if you like it, wear it.
Perfume doesn't need a gender label.
You might love a rose fragrance traditionally marketed towards women. You might prefer a smoky oud traditionally marketed towards men. Or you might discover that neither description means anything to you at all.
At Abbey Perfumery, our perfumes are unisex because we'd rather talk about ingredients and how our fragrances make you feel, than who they are prescribed for.
If you like roses, wear roses.
If you like peppercorns, wear peppercorns.
No labels. Just beautiful perfume.
10. Think about when you'll wear it
Finally, think about the occasion.
Are you looking for an everyday perfume?
Something for work?
A date night scent?
Or perhaps a fragrance that can become your signature scent?
There are no hard and fast rules here. You should wear whatever makes you happy, whenever you like.
But as a general guide, fresh and lighter fragrances can feel lovely during the day and in warmer weather, while richer woody, spicy and amber fragrances can feel especially comforting in the colder months.
And then there are those perfumes that seem to work everywhere.
You know the ones.
The bottles you reach for without even thinking about it.
So, how do you choose a perfume online?
Our advice is simple:
Start with what you already love.
Learn a little about fragrance families and notes, but don't get too caught up in the terminology.
Read the description and think about the feeling of the fragrance, not just the ingredients.
And, most importantly, give yourself permission to try before you buy.
That's why our Discovery Boxes and Perfume Library exist. We want choosing perfume online to feel less like a gamble and more like an opportunity to explore.
Because finding a new favourite scent should be fun.
And if you're still not sure where to start, we're always happy to help.
Tell us what perfumes you already love (or what you absolutely hate!) and we'll do our best to point you in the right direction.
Still not sure? Contact us – we'd love to help.
Happy experimenting! x
2 comments
Very interesting article, lots of helpful info 😊 thankies!
Absolutely fantastic article. Very helpful. Very useful. Thank you very much.