To ask you how you found your 'Signature Scent'?

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I have tried many different perfumes - my current fragrances include Opium, Obsession, Bulgari Jasmine Noir (a favourite), Philosophy Magnolia & Amazing Grace, Liz Earle No. 9 & No. 20, Dior Coco but I still haven't found a special scent. i like musky/spicy/patouli/ types best - what are your favourites, can anyone recommend something a bit more unusual that might be lovely to have as a 'Signature Scent', that doesn't cost the earth?

Olympia by paco rabanne LOVE IT

Years ago, I was looking at one of those magazine articles about things a celebrity likes. Nadia Sawalha said that she uses Clinique Aromatics Elixir and I think she mentioned how people comment favourably on it.
I bought it and it’s been on the go since. I have fads on perfumes and give up on them, but I’ve stayed with the Aromatics Elixir. I think it’s quite a different smell to what has been fashionable for years.

If you’re looking for my affordable options, Victoria‘a secret do some nice ones.

AlsohumanI remember Cabochard by Gres! Had it given to me for my 15th birthday and loved it, thought it may have been discontinued as haven't seen it for years.

Parsley65 I got Blood Orange by Shay & Blue too, I like it but it smells a bit 'off' on me.

Cherrysoup My DH wears Cacherel, I wore this when I was a teenager and often have a sneaky squirt - it takes me back to when I was caught snogging a boy I fancied behind the sofa at a party!

@finallyhere i like eau de givenchy but preferred the old version. I want to smell givenchy III now.

The perfume i always wore was Tresor by Lancome. I still wear it but am not loyal to it, i wear whatever takes my fancy that day.

I like warm, amber, vanilla spicy scents. I also really like The One by Dolce and Gabanna. I like a lot of their perfumes

Davespecifico

Aromatics Elixir is another one of my faves

I have a weird one - i had a teacher in primary school who always smelled amazing. I've often wondered which perfume it was, if it's still available and whether it would suit me. No idea how to go about finding it though - perfume counters give me a headache. The closest i've ever come to the smell is the Body Shop's Milk and Honey range, but that doesn't have as much depth. Any ideas?

A lot of tom ford love on the thread. I have two tom fords which I could never afford as a signature scent because i try and keep for best.

Santal blush, which took me over a year to track down after finding a beautiful lost scarf at carcassonne airport years ago, and couldnt get the perfune out of my head. Was trying to find just the right sandalwoody oudy scent, and then found it one day and of course it was a bloody £200 tom ford. I did eventually get some on ebay for cheaper, but its possibly a fake.
I can only really wear it in autumn and early winter though or it doesnt smell right, but in the right weather , nothing else works. I sometimes wear adam levine perfume as having similar notes but much lighter and Much much cheaper.

My other Tom ford fave is Vanille Fatale which dp got me for xmas one year. Its so so beautiful.

My most commonly used basic perfume is Lush Vanillary and I can wear it year round. I have a few Lush perfumes. My other favourites from them are " smell of weather turning" (discontinued) and " grass"

In spring time I love Jo Malone "french lime blossom" ( discontinued, sigh) hardly anyone uses this note. Its so so beautiful. One of my favourite smells in the world is lime blossom trees. I cant be the only one? Someone else needs to step up.

On sunny holidays I really like a citrus, like the shay and blue blood orange mentioned above.

For posh going out I love Vivienne westwood boudoir. I couldnt wear it every day as too heady.

If you like those scents you'll love etro etra. Liberty London sell it.

I love a lot of replica scents and brydo ones. Very expensive but Replica Whispers in the Library is my fav. Smells a bit like the original Prada one. Musky and not sweet

You very rarely, if ever, see Cabochard in the shops, I buy mine from Amazon. I’ve just finished my umpteenth bottle but won’t replace it until the autumn, it’s really a winter scent for me. I noticed someone mentioned M&S Florentyna, I use that a lot everyday in the summer, it’s a real feel good smell, again indecently cheap.

M&s have a great perfume counter tbh. Some really unusual but amazing scents and mostly affordable.
Most perfume counters depress me as everything smells like sweeties. Really unimaginative

Ruffle, was primary school a long while ago? I only ask because the time frame would help

If it was I'm thinking maybe Givenchy Organza? My aunt used to wear that and it has a sort of rice pudding/nutmeg smell (is lovely though)

Ooh hang on Organza was 90s, I thought it was 80s. You might be a spring chicken though (if you went to primary in the 90s you qualify as a spring chicken).

For my DD's 28th birthday, we chose her signature scent.

We went shopping for a day, kept popping into Boots and trying on a few.

It took all day but when she found 'the one' she just knew! It was Armani Si and she has worn it ever since.

“Signature Scent', that doesn't cost the earth?”

Ah. That’s not going to happen for the simple reason that the more complex perfumes cost more. I found that their top middle and base notes react with your own body oils and it’s that chemical interaction that creates that “signature” scent you’re after. It’s also why the same perfume might smell different on two people after a couple of hours.

I’d go to a proper perfume shop (there are few left and one near Victoria Station in London) and they will give you little samples to try out. Because they know it’s pointless buying something that will smell differently on you in a few hours.

My “go-to” is Frederic Malle perfumes, which use to be found nowhere but Paris but over the decades have now made their way to a lot of upscale department stores worldwide. I have about 4 of their perfumes and one I thought was my “signature scent”. I never loved a scent more and thought I’d never wear anything else ever never ever... and then got pregnant. And the smell made me literally heave and throw up.

I can stomach it now but I still can’t wear it :-(

I don’t think you really ever stick to one scent, for me it’s changed over time and it changes according to time of year. I usually have several on the go but if I had to pick two, it would be acqua di Palma (mandolo) and hypnotic poison. Both remind me of childhood for some reason, I know the hypnotic poison smells of play doh

I thought signature scent meant the one people always associate with you. You certainly don’t have to spend ££££ for that. I really believe that true perfume lovers get their jam in a whole range of price points, it makes me cross when people insist that only niche scents that cost three figures are worth considering.

Evenings- Maxed Out
Day - Rhubarb & Creamy Vanilla Crumble
Anytime - Lightning Ridge

All by 4160 Tuesdays. I'm obsessed with these scents.

I wear a few others too - guess I don't have a signature scent but a signature House.

I also don’t buy the ‘expensive and/or niche = better quality’ spiel.

@cherrysoup yes to the So! Vanilla. I have it in my handbag for a quick midday spritz, it's gorgeous but doesn't last terribly long. There's a heart shaped vanilla and chocolate massage bar in Lush that you might also like, which smells very similar, I 'wear' that on my collarbones and elbows (it's moisturising) that makes my skin feel and smell great.