Trying Perfume for the First Time

To experience perfume for the first time, spray onto the wrist from about ten inches away and wait five seconds before smelling it. As the alcohol evaporates, the Top Notes appear first, making the first impression.

Bring your nose closer a few minutes later as the fragrance settles. The Heart Notes begin to emerge, forming the centre of the scent and blending more closely with your natural chemistry.

Return to the fragrance throughout the day. With heat and movement, the Base Notes draw nearer to the skin and remain the longest.

Between fragrances, smell your own bare skin to reset the nose. Limit yourself to two or three fragrances in a sitting.

Judge a fragrance after ten minutes, again at one hour, and again a few hours on, as it changes on your skin. The right one improves with wear.

Store your perfume out of daylight, neither too cold nor too hot, and it will mature and improve with the years.