A Guide to Finding A Scent That Suits You

A scent can influence the way you feel and even lift your mood. It’s exquisite, intimate, and adds a little oomph to your presence. But finding a fragrance that suits you can be tough. One of the first things you need to know about fragrances is how long they can last. Scents that have the highest fragrance concentrations last the longest, as they contain more perfume oils and less alcohol.

It’s also important to note that personal taste and body chemistry affects how a scent smells on you – what smells great on one person may not work for you. We can easily end up getting it wrong if we aren’t armed with the information and knowledge to navigate potential pitfalls. Here’s what you need to know.

You can distinguish top, middle (or heart) and base perfume notes according to the time that has passed after application of the fragrance. The anatomy of a scent is like a triangle or pyramid, with top notes occupying the smallest top point, middle notes taking up the centre half portion and base notes covering the bottom third of it.

Top notes: they last between 5 to 15 minutes. Top notes are your very first smell impressions of the fragrance. They are also the weakest notes in a fragrance and the fastest to fade. Fresh-smelling notes that are light and citrusy are common perfume top notes; notes like orange, bergamot, lemon, grapefruit, lime, give a fragrance its first fresh, sweet accord. Light-smelling florals, soft woods and green notes are also often employed as top notes.

Middle notes: they last between 2 to 4 hours. Also called heart notes, they form the essence and body of the perfume. They are heavier and warmer and tend to be floral, spicy, musky and even fruity.

Fruity middle notes from blackberry, apple, strawberry adds depth and richness to a scent and give it a sweet and juicy vibe. Spice notes like cinnamon and nutmeg are used to add warmth and power to a fragrance, mixing particularly well with floral notes in the heart of a perfume. Herbal-smelling notes like rosemary and basil can also balance out the sweet initial rush of a too-effervescent top note.

Base notes: these kick in after the second hour of wear and can last more than 6 hours - the longest among the notes. This is also why they are the most memorable notes of the perfume.

Base notes bring depth and solidity to a perfume and give it its lasting ‘legs’. The job of the base notes is to hold and boost the strength of the top and middle notes. Common base notes include cedarwood, sandalwood, amber, patchouli, oakmoss or vanilla.

Sandalwood and patchouli are two popular notes that are often used in a fragrance’s base or bottom notes to strengthen the scent’s lifetime. While most wood notes have an earthy quality, some like cedarwood and oud provide a mildly sweet scent. Woody, musky and spicy notes are also frequently found in the base notes of fragrances because the powerful quality of musk helps to increase the smell duration of a scent.

Perfume families simplify scent classification and naming, as well as shows the complementary relationships between each individual category.

The standard families of fragrances are floral, oriental, woody, fougère, fresh or citrus, gourmand and fruity. Each of the families are in turn divided into sub-groups, with the family of fougère sitting in the middle of this fragrance ‘wheel’ because scents under the fougère family tend to have scent characteristics from some if not all of the other six too. 

Floral: can be soft or heavy, depending on the flowers used to concoct it. It can also be made from a single flower or a mix of several.

Chloe Signature EDP is a true floral fragrance with hints of spicy amber. The scent is a velvety bouquet interlacing the main star, the rose, with floral notes of magnolia and sweet and spicy accents of amber. 

Top notes are pink peony, freesia and lychee; middle notes are magnolia flower, lily of the valley and rose; base notes are cedarwood, amber and honey.

Oriental: tends to be heavy and warm from the amber, spice and vanilla ingredients. Some oriental scents can have a soft edge too, if florals that are less sweet-smelling but lighter and fresher, are added.

The Lab Fragrances Bergamot & Musk Extrait is a rich and sophisticated unisex scent. Its fresh start comes from the early bursts of bergamot and apples at the opening, which leads to the sharp heart of woody birch and warm patchouli, with a hint of deep jasmine and rose. The musky base is even sharper, with oakmoss and spicy amber being laid on a light vanilla base.

Top notes are bergamot, apple and black currant; middle notes are patchouli, birch, rose and jasmine; base notes are white musk, vanilla, oakmoss and amber.

Woody: may be made of sandalwood, cedar, oud, or a combination of mossy and dry wood.

Maison 21 G Eau De Parfum Sleek Sandalwood – Oud Outshine gives you the best of both woods, sweet and otherwise. Sandalwood has a lovely complex scent with creamy, sweet and woody notes, while Oud lends a deep, warm and leathery note to any perfume composition.

Fresh: pertains to citrusy, oceanic, marine bouquets that work best as splash-ons, because these tend to be the lightest concentration of scents. A fresh scent usually has lemon, orange blossom, grapefruit, or moss and hints of salt, sand, sea breeze. This group of fragrances rely heavily on a material called Calone, which brings the impression of a sea breeze, of crystalline waters and supreme freshness.

Bon Parfumeur EDP #001 Orange Blossom/Bergamot/Petit Grain is a zippy wake-up-call in the morning. This cologne hits you with a sparkling bergamot scent at the start. It is then softened out with middle notes like lavender and orange blossom. The bottom note, strong musk, gives it its final oomph.

Top notes are bergamot, citron, mandarin orange and rosemary; middle notes are neroli, petitgrain, jasmine and lavender; base notes are orange blossom and musk.

Fruity: has the potential to be sweet and youthful; on the zesty side, it can be invigorating and refreshing.

Marc Jacobs Daisy Fresh EDT is a fruity, floral fragrance that’s playful and spirited. This fruity and bubbly version of the original Daisy radiates with crisp raspberry, wild rose and warm plum.

Top notes are green notes that smell crisp, like crushed leaves, raspberry, pear and grapefruit; middle notes are violet, litchi, apple blossom, rose and jasmine; base notes are musk, plum and virginia cedar.

Gourmand: smells simply delicious and edible. Notes of fragrances from this family mimic sweet food like chocolate, vanilla, candy floss, almonds, coffee, cinnamon, nutmeg and caramel.

YSL Black Opium EDP Spray is an irresistible gourmand and floral scent with notes of black coffee, white florals and vanilla (for sweetness). These delicious ingredients are bound by a warm undertone of white musk.

Top notes are pear, pink pepper and orange blossom; middle notes are coffee, jasmine, bitter almond and licorice; base notes are vanilla, patchouli, cedar and cashmere wood.

Fougère: it refers to the various notes from the landscape around us. In French, it means ‘fern-like’. This masculine scent consists of diverse notes, with a blend of citrus (usually bergamot) being the top note, followed by floral notes (rose and lavender) and woodier base notes like oakmoss and coumarin.

Singapore Airlines Batik Flora EDT by Scent By Six is an all-encompassing scent that uses flowers native to the island of Singapore. The scent encapsulates a walk amid green foliage in a park after the rain. It’s flora-fruity, green-oceanic and musky-oriental, florals that are beautifully represented in SIA’s batik motif.

Top notes are green foliage, blackcurrant, common dianella; middle notes are magnolia, wild grasses, apple, seashore purslane, utania nervosa, white kopsia; base notes are simpoh lak, ginseng and musk.

There is an art and a science to fragrance layering. But when you get it right, the result can be a stunning bespoke fragrance that’s unique and quite original.

Fragrance layering refers to combining two different scents to create and customise a new one. The general rule is to mix scents with similar notes, whether they are citrusy, floral, or woody. However, you can choose to work against the grain and contrast sweet notes with a fragrance that is spicy and oriental.

Always test the combinations on scent strips first, then let the scents and their notes settle to get the full ‘picture’ before you apply them on your skin. It requires trial and error, as you may not always get right the first few times.  

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