During my college days, I used to wear this fruity scent that smelt very fresh and stayed on my skin for 8+. One day my friend came and told me that the day before she had gone shopping, and found the scent that smelt like me. She said that she didn’t want to purchase it although she absolutely loved the scent, as it was my signature scent.
A signature scent is the scent by which we recognize someone because of how they often smell. If a person wears the same scent throughout the years, then it’s their signature scent and you associate the scent with that person in memory. Marilyn Monroe is associated with the perfume Chanel N°5 because it was her signature scent.
Why Do People Have Signature Scents?
The reasons why people have a signature scent or signature scents may vary. But here’s what I believe:
- They don’t wear any other fragrance: Most people I know own just about that one fragrance or perfume that they wear wherever they go. They don’t know much about perfumes or scents, and they don’t care about them. They just want to smell not-bad, and one time finding a good fragrance was enough. So, it is likely that they will wear that one particular fragrance throughout the years.
- They want to smell like something in particular: Do you like cherries and wish you could smell them all the time? Or people could smell it on you all the time? I guess, people think if the cherry scent makes them so happy, maybe it will make others as happy as well. So, it is perfectly reasonable to keep wearing that cherry scent you own all the time.
- They want to express themselves with scent: I guess this is me. One of my most favourite scents is Narciso Rodriguez For Her EDT. It just makes me feel like blissful spring is here when I wear it in the mornings and in the evenings, it makes me of think of finding a sweet-smelling flower in a dry and dusty playground where kids spend their time playing.
Not only do I want to smell like that, but also want to feel like being in that playground.
- They are possessive?: Some people own a collection of over 100, or even 500 perfume bottles. They may love them all, or just some. But rarely do even with a huge collection, they come across something that suits them so well, and they end up feeling, ‘This is it. This is me. This takes me to a different realm altogether.’ It can be expensive or can be, in their eyes, the best art ever created. It is perhaps reasonable to want to have that scent that only they wear – not by anyone else.
How Many Signature Scents Does One Have?
Wait, what?
What do you mean by ‘how many?’. Doesn’t one have only one signature scent?
Fragrance enthusiasts might disagree. It’s completely reasonable to have more than one signature scent. Some scents are fit for every season, every occasion or most environments, and then some scents are believed to cater to one season, or one type of occasion alone.
If you like extremely fresh and summery scents, and want them to be your signature, then both Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue and Roses on Ice by Kilian can be your signature scent.
Or if you like to wear scent according to season, you have a signature scent for the summer, and for winter, spring and autumn.
But it also makes sense to have a signature scent which you never wear now. For example, I don’t wear that fruity scent that I used to wear during college summer days. But I guess my friend will still have memories of our time together if she smells it somewhere. It will remind me of my old self too, I am sure.
How Do You Find Your Signature Scent?
Since you have already read why people have a signature scent, I assume you have at least an idea if you want to have a signature fragrance.
But before we go into this guide, I want to say that if you are an expert, this guide is useless to you. If you are a beginner, this will help you get started. If you are a beginner and become more knowledgeable about scent in the next few months, ditch this guide and go with your own guts and knowledge.
- Understanding your scent interest
As a beginner, it is not easy for you to understand fragrance family terms.
Take a look at this table, and try to figure out what kind of fragrance would be your signature fragrance.
| Categories | Smells like | Possible Notes |
| Floral | Flowers, fresh petals, feminine, flower garden, green, leaves, bouquets | Roses, lavender, orange blossoms, lilies, jasmine |
| Citrusy | Sweet, sour, acidic, refreshing, cool repose on a long summer day | Oranges, lemon, lime, grapes |
| Fruity | Fresh, shower fresh, shampoo, fruit juice | Cherries, apples, raspberry, watermelon, coconuts |
| Gourmand/edible | Sweet desserts, vanilla ice cream, candy floss, sugary, fluffy | Caramel, vanilla, dates, chocolate, almond |
| Musk/Animalic | Animals, skin, dirt, fresh laundry | White musk, ambrette, costus, ambergis |
| Spicy | Warm, spicy food when it’s still hot | Cloves, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon |
| Herbal | Forests, green gardens, airy, uplifting, | Oakmoss, fern, herbal notes |
| Woody | Dry branches, pencil, wood – dry or freshly cut, earth, masculine | Sandalwood, patchouli, cedar, oak |
- Making a list
Go to Fragrantica, and then go to the notes section, where you can enter keywords or notes on the search section, and it will give you a list of perfumes that have these notes. Depending on the perfumes, you may or may not find the one that you are looking for, which is why testing is a must I’d say. The Perfume Companion mentions a great list of perfumes under each category if you want a gathered list of scents to explore.
- Testing
Perfume testing is a long process, especially if you are looking for your signature scent. As Jean-Claude Ellena writes in his book The Diary of a Nose, ‘A perfume can only truly tell its story when it is smelled and worn.’, I believe that you have to wear it at least a few times to know if it has grown on you or you just find that its not your scent even though it smells great.
For this reason, instead of visiting stores and smelling on test strips, bring home some decants(small quantities of perfumes), and wear them for a few days. You can test more than one perfume at a time, but of course not on the same day. Use the list of perfumes you made to look for decants of them specifically, or ask someone who knows more than you to guide you.
Depending on where you live, you will find decant sellers. But I should tell you from my experience that the decant sellers only sell decants of popular perfumes.
Things To Remember While Looking For A Signature Scent
- Don’t make others’ signature scent your own: If you like Chanel N°5, go ahead. But if you want it to be your signature scent because it was Marilyn Monroe’s, then maybe you don’t need a signature scent.
- Don’t rely on YouTube reviews: YouTube scentfluencers can be really good at explaining scent to people who haven’t experienced it. They sometimes even match the way you’d explain your favourite scent, but don’t think you have found the one just by watching reviews. Signature scent comes from spending time with a fragrance.
- Longevity: You might have found the perfect fragrance that smells like cherries, and cherries alone – just the way you like it. But does this fragrance last on your skin?
Takeaway:
It’s okay if you haven’t found a fragrance even after you have smelt a dozen of them. I haven’t found ‘the one’ either, even though Narciso Rodriguez For Her does the job quite well. Keep exploring and keep learning!
