Close your eyes and take a couple deep breaths. Take a few moments to relax. Try to clear your mind of any superfluous thoughts, anything that requires critical thought or consideration. Try to focus on this moment alone, as if nothing else matters. Once calm, allow your thoughts to drift. Think about a place where you feel serene, perhaps it’s a calm, cool oasis or a dim, quiet, forest. Now gently inhale through your nose. What do you smell?
Give yourself a few minutes to really think about it.
Most people have at least one scent that they absolutely love. It could be the smell of newly printed paper or the scent of grass after a light spring rainfall. Maybe it’s the smell of strong coffee or of freshly washed linen. Whatever scent or scents you are drawn to, discovering your signature scent will be a much easier process if you can identify what smells you already love.
Even if you have never really given much consideration to which smells you like– because let’s face it, the sense of smell is often severely underappreciated– finding a great cologne is still possible, albeit, it may take a little more effort to find.
I’m going to break this topic into four parts; the first two will be discussed in this post and the last two in my next post:
First, I’m going to explain what a signature scent even is.
Next, I’m going to tell you how to keep track of which scents you prefer.
After that, I’m going to go talk about the discovery process; that is; how to find a scent you love. Note: I've added a new section about the discovery process during Covid-19.
And last, I’m going to help you buy your first bottle. This last part includes my top five best fragrances for beginners.
Let’s get to it. So…
First Off: What is a Signature Scent?
A lot of other people talk about finding or having a signature scent without really explaining what it is. Before I really get into helping you find yours, I want to explicitly define it.
Sure, it may seem obvious, but it’s a bit more than simply a scent you frequently wear. It’s actually a potential part of your identity.
Think about it: the sense of smell is so important in the wild because it is used by animals for a plethora of reasons including to distinguish friend from foe, mark their territory, and find a sexual partner.
Fortunately, for us humans we need not rely so much on smell because we have superior intelligence; however, be that as it may, the sense of smell still influences what/how we think and who/what we remember.
Some actually consider it to be the most powerful of the five senses. That’s why it is crucial that you find the perfect signature scent for you. If people begin to associate your image with a particular scent you will become that much more memorable to them.
Some actually consider it to be the most powerful of the five senses. That’s why it is crucial that you find the perfect signature scent for you. If people begin to associate your image with a particular scent you will become that much more memorable to them.
According to Madison Moore, “A signature scent is your way of leaving a mark everywhere you go…[it] is associated with you. People remember you for it even when you’re not in the room…[not only that but] it’s totally romantic if not erotic to smell like a particular thing”. I definitely agree with Moore, however, taking it a step further, I believe having a signature scent is a sure-fire way to boost your own confidence, and as the results of my poll in the last post suggest, most people wear a fragrance for their own reasons.
Me?
Confidence is a huge factor for me wearing a fragrance, but I definitely appreciate the attention it gets me from other people.
Being able to smell the cologne I applied a few hours after putting it on is a huge confidence boost for me. I know that if I can smell the fragrance other people surely can as well.
Before I continue into how to begin keeping track of the scents you like, I want to provide a clear definition of what a signature scent is:
A signature scent is a scent one frequently wears which people begin to explicitly connect with the wearer; it is a potential piece of one’s identity and makes them more memorable.
I should also say that you will probably end up having more than one signature scent, so don’t feel like finding a signature is akin to marriage. You’re not committing to anything. You simply are picking a scent that you love to wear frequently, but sometimes after a while, that attraction diminishes. What you thought was the perfect scent may get redundant and old. If that happens, don’t feel like you’re stuck. Simply get back out there and find another fragrance you love.
I swear, I’m talking about fragrances here!
How to keep track of scents?
There are myriads of different potential notes that can be used in the creation of a fragrance, but I consider there to be six major fragrance families. These are earthy/woodsy scents, clean/fresh scents, citrus-based scents, blue (i.e. aquatic) scents, spicy/oriental scents, and gourmand/sweet scents. These categories are not official and other people may think there are more, but to me it makes the most sense to use these six.
Belonging to each family are specific notes or scents. Some of the most popular used for men’s fragrances are ambroxan, bergamot, cedarwood, lavender, leather, marine notes, musk, oud, pepper, patchouli, sandalwood, tobacco, tonka bean, vanilla, and vetiver, just to name a handful.
To make matters even more confusing though, a fragrance often consists of notes from different families, and depending on the combination of notes, this results in different scents.
In fact, I have never encountered a fragrance in which all the scent notes were detectable. For example, the tobacco in Burberry London has a completely different smell than the tobacco note in Dolce and Gabbana The One because of the composition of each fragrance, and the lavender note in London, which I didn’t even know was present until researching for this post, is not very detectible, whereas lavender in Coach for Men is one of the most noticeable in that composition.
So how do you figure out which notes you would love wearing in a signature scent?
I would recommend keeping a list. Assuming at first you don’t have any idea of which notes you like, writing them down and keeping track of each one you smell could be incredibly helpful. Here’s what I recommend doing:
Start by making a list of all the notes you have smelled on the left side of the page [A]. These could be notes you’ve experienced in a fragrance or body spray or they can be something you’ve smelt throughout the course of your life (e.g. you love the smell of ocean water). This list will grow over time as you smell more notes, so don’t worry if your initial list is small.
Next, give each scent a rating [B]. Any rating system will work, but I always find ratings from one to ten to be the most insightful. In addition to each numerical rating, give each scent a letter grade to help quickly discern your favorites. For example, my letter grades are as follow: 1-3 is an F or a scent I dislike, 4-5 is a D or a scent which I mostly dislike but with some exceptions, 6 is a C or a scent I’m neutral about, 7-8 is a B or a scent I mostly like, and 9-10 is an A or a scent I almost always love.
You want to keep track of the As. Put a star next to each one [C]. After you have discerned your favorite notes, begin a list of which ones are your favorites [D]. This list will be helpful in finding a signature scent later, and of course, it will continue to grow as you experience more scents.
So for me, both cedarwood and vanilla received an A rating which means I probably will always like a scent that includes one or the other.
Lastly, after you create a list of your favorite notes, make a list of good combinations that you’ve experienced [E]. This will likely be a little more difficult and will require a bit more time to figure out, but it is potentially the most useful information in helping you find your signature.
Keeping a physical list isn’t compulsory though. If you’d rather keep track of notes in your head that works as well. Ultimately, you want to get to a place where you can browse through a catalog of fragrances and identify which ones you will likely enjoy based on the composition of the fragrance.
Well, this seems like a good place to end today’s post, but before I do, I want to give you a warning of sorts. At this point in the post, you may feel ready to go out and buy your signature scent or head to the store and work with a salesperson to find something you like. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Unless you have $100 to spare, which most people I personally know don’t at the moment, avoid putting yourself into a sales situation. Just focus on building your list of scents for now. Trust me, you’ll thank me later when you find something you love that makes you feel great!
-Ryan S.
No comments:
Post a Comment