How do I know what kind of perfume I like?

[FunkinEll]

I keep reading about undertones and top notes etc. How do I know what ones I like and what ones I don't? Do I just have to go around smelling loads of them?

In short, yes. It's entirely personal. if you like it wear it. Try it on skin, wear one at a time and don't worry about getting it right or wrong.

Thanks, how to I know where to begin though, there are just so many perfumes.

I like Narcisso Rodriguez for her, Ralph Lauren romance (is that a bit naff now). I dislike things like angel and poison.

You do just need to try, because perfumes smells totally different on different people. On the bright side, I find that if one perfume in a brand suits me, the others do, too. So I can take a punt on anything Balenciaga because I know they smell good on my skin. Anything by Chanel, however, is a no because it all just smells like variants of cat piss. I completely adore narcisso Rodriguez for her on others but it smells like farts on me.

I bought a sampler kit of tester size fragrances from a website called 'surrender to chance' which I really enjoyed. Was lovely to sniff my way through and find the things I enjoyed, and make mental notes about particular scents and notes that appealed to me.

Its worth doing a bit of reading around 'fragrance families' to try to work out what family or families you are most drawn to as a starting point, and then getting free or cheap samples (there are loads of sample websites you can order from online).

Different perfume houses have slightly different ways of classifying fragrance families but roughly you have: fresh, floral, oriental, 'floriental', gourmand (foody smells - vanilla, chocolate, almond, coffee notes etc), chypre (warm, dry, a bit woody/mossy...my favourite!), woody and fougere (quite herbal, things like lavender and bergamot).

Fragrantica is a useful website for reviews and also 'if I like this perfume what else will I like?' type suggestions - they have a good search facility.