You may already have a fragrance that you reach for time and again. It settles beautifully, lingers all day, and you feel incredible wearing it. You’ve gone through bottles of it already, and nothing seems to come close.

But you’re ready to break out of the chokehold it has you in and find something new. It’s no small task to replace a tried and true with a new love. And, perhaps, you’re not even sure why that one resonates with you so well.

Together, you and us, we’re going to look at scent profiles, skin chemistry, layered notes, families and more. The truth is, a real signature scent doesn’t just come from a single bottle; it is the makeup of multiple layers, including you.

What is a Scent Profile?

While we look to the description to tell us what is contained within the perfume, it is better to think about the olfactive families instead. A description might say Rose, but the scent might be more powdery than floral. Let’s take a look at some of the families.

Traditional Olfactive Families

Citrus (Hesperides): Fresh and zesty.

Floral: Dominated by flowers, the largest family.

Chypre: Complex and contrasting, with mossy, woody bases.

Fougère: Green, fresh, and herbaceous.

Woody: Earthy and warm, focused on woods.

Amber (formerly Oriental): Warm, spicy, and opulent.

Leather: Smoky, animalic, and sometimes bitter.

Modern and Expanded Families

Aquatic (or Ozonic): Fresh, clean, and airy scents often described as "watery" or "marine." Notes like calone and sea salt evoke oceanic or rainy atmospheres.

Fruity: Sweet and juicy, focused on non-citrus fruits like apple, peach, pear, and berries and often paired with floral or gourmand notes.

Gourmand: Sweet, edible scents inspired by desserts and food—think vanilla, caramel, chocolate, and coffee. These are warm and comforting. (Ever heard “smells good enough to eat”).

Green: Crisp, herbaceous, and fresh, reminiscent of freshly cut grass, leaves, and stems. Commonly used in "natural"-smelling perfumes.

Powdery: Soft and delicate, evoking the feel of talcum powder or makeup. It often features notes like iris, violet, or musk.

Aldehydic: Characterized by aldehydes sparkling, effervescent quality (synthetic compounds). is a classic example.

Spicy: Warm and aromatic, featuring spices like cinnamon, clove, pepper, and cardamom. Found in both masculine and unisex fragrances.

Animalic: Bold and sensual, using ingredients like civet, musk, and castoreum to create depth and warmth. Often softened by florals or woods.

Metallic: A modern, futuristic category that evokes a "cold," steely, or sharp sensation. Often paired with ozonic or synthetic accords.

Do Scent Profiles Change Over Time?

The scent profile never changes; it will always have the notes it was created with. And, although some fragrances stay the same throughout the whole wear time, meaning they are linear, the majority will change during the wear.

So, in short: the scent profile never changes, but how the fragrance smells to you will change based on skin chemistry, other scented products, and even the detergent you use.

How long the scent lasts comes down to a couple of things, including the fragrance layering you’ve done. We have a quick-fire guide on layering fragrances to help you.

A good thing to keep in mind is that it is the bottom notes that will hug your skin for the longest time. The heart on some fragrances may also hang around for a while.

Will My Fragrance Last Longer on Skin or Fabric?

According to Sable Yong, from the Smell Ya Later podcast, using your fragrance on fabric will give you a ‘whole composition for longer’, while using it on your wrist and collarbone will give you a ‘tiered reveal’. So, do both for lasting power and different scent levels throughout the day.

Which Notes Matter the Most for a Signature Scent?

The true nature of the scent is found in the heart and bottom notes. While the immediacy of the top is most likely to draw your attention, the latter two show off the ‘body’ of the fragrance. The bottom is where your signature scent will start to come through.

Keep two things in mind: mood and personality. While some enjoy bold fragrances all day, others prefer a more subtle approach. And always keep in mind the frame of mind and mood that fragrances have the power to put you in.

How Do You Choose?

Over time, you’ll build what is called a Fragrance Wardrobe. This collection of scents is used for specific occasions and will include your signature—which will be worn daily.

You select your scent based on the mood desired or current mood, activity, season, or occasion.

While it might have outside influences from TikTok or recommended scents, your collection will ultimately be personal to you. What you enjoy in terms of scent is influenced by individual experiences, nostalgia, perceptions, and environment, just to mention a few.

Two people may pick out completely different notes in the same fragrance.

Perhaps you have experienced a time when you and a friend both tried on the same fragrance, and it smelled great on one and awful on the other. This is skin chemistry in play.

Rather than make an impulse buy based on top notes and a paper tester, invest in samples you can use over time. This will allow for proper dry-down and for you to experience the entire composition at your own pace. So, you can make an informed decision.

Take it from the top—but not the top note.

Which fragrance family are you drawn to? If you’re unsure, you can look at the fragrances you wear most often and see what notes they contain. Interestingly, within each family, there are subfamilies, too. So, floral could be soft floral, oriental, or fruity floral.

The Perfume Society Founder, Jo Fairley, recommends training your nose and using free association to help. You can use what you already in the fragrance stash for this bit, and it is a good idea to have a couple of handkerchiefs, too.

Spray a scent on each one, then as you sniff them (slowly), think about what images it conjures up. More specifically, she adds, what would it be if it were music? What would it be if it were a color?

You’re painting a picture of the mood, personality, occasion, and more for each scent. This will help you narrow down what you are looking for in your signature scent.

Brand

The brand is essential because owning limited editions and new fragrances from smaller companies is excellent. However, there is no guarantee that if you select one of these as your signature, you can repurchase it later. Longevity comes with long-standing brands. And, while your eventual signature scent will be unique due to layering and combinations, having a familiar (popular) brand as the base will be a big deal.

Don’t Rush

In your haste to get your signature scent nailed, you might select something that, after a few weeks of wear, you don’t love. And you’ll need to start again. Let your nose get familiar with the fragrance using samples, to avoid making a costly mistake.

Emotions Can Lead the Way

A scent isn’t just a scent. It can remind you of different times in your life, people, experiences and more.

A smell can take you back to baking cookies as a child or wasting long warm days in grassy fields with friends. The right scent can help you time travel through your life.

Five Tips for Purchasing What Will Become Part of Your Signature Scent

If you can sniff the nozzle of the bottle—do it. This is where much of the fragrance has landed and dissipated and will give you insight into the ‘real’ smell.

Bring your own scent blotters or handkerchiefs with you. Keep a note of each of the fragrances that you have spritzed on each one. Try to only do between 2-4.

Leave the store, have something to drink, or do something else for at least 15 minutes, then take another sniff; they will smell different now, so you can start to discard some.

Once you have selected 2-3, it is skin testing time. Put one on each wrist, or if you have three, the inside of your elbow too. Leave the store.

Leaving is very important here and will stop you from making an impulsive purchase before you have the full composition with your skin chemistry. Once you can smell them this way, later in the day, you can select the one you enjoy the most and order a sample size.

How Can You Make It Unique?

Now you have selected your starting point, what comes next? Since the fragrance will react to your skin, it will already smell different on you than on someone else. But you can use other complementary fragrances to enhance the notes you want to accentuate.

And you can layer fragrances through things like body lotion, creams, hair products, and more. Creating something that is entirely unique to you.