The feeling of not knowing anything about it, the fear of making a mistake in taste, the contradictory opinions of your loved ones... We know: choosing a perfume can be daunting. Don't panic, Bastille explains it all!
The ideal way to feel good: at home in the morning
To make the right choice, nothing is better than being at home. No salesman's speech that distracts you (we make an exception for independent perfumeries, when their staff is well trained and attentive), no disturbances or heady smells...
Start by making yourself comfortable in a place that has a relatively neutral smell (for example, it is best if you are in a room that is not already scented with an indoor fragrance). Also make sure you are not already wearing perfume. Choose the morning to discover your fragrances: this will allow you to follow their evaporation - and therefore their evolution - over several hours.
There are two ways to try a perfume: spray iton a wipe, or directly on the skin. Spritzes - or "touches" - are the little paper strips you find in perfume shops, or in the Bastille discovery sample kit. They are very practical for testing several fragrances at once. To use them well: spray one end of a paper strip with the perfume (2 pschitts, about 3 cm apart). Place the wipe on a corner of the table, bending the perfume-impregnated part so that it does not come into contact with anything. Don't smell it immediately, otherwise you will only perceive the alcohol, and that will disturb your nose! Allow about 30 seconds to pass before immersing yourself in your perfume.
Get under your skin
The wipes are easy to use, but they will only give you a partial impression of your perfume: it will develop more freely, more deeply on your skin, thanks in particular to the heat it gives off. The scent will be more lively, more personal too, since the perfume creates its own alchemy with each skin according to its temperature and its own particularities. We therefore advise you, when you have a real interest in a perfume, to always test it on your skin afterwards.
The ideal place to spray perfume is on the inside of the wrist. It's easy to smell, and it's a good place to diffuse fragrance as the skin is naturally warmer - and for more tips on how to scent (well), it's here.
Errors to avoid
Avoid putting the perfume directly in contact with a watch or jewellery, and do not rub your wrists after spraying them: this "breaks" the structure of the perfume and prevents it from diffusing.
That's it, you're ready to smell your perfume! And as with everything, the first impression is decisive.
The top notes
Both on the skin and on the wipe, what you will smell first are the top notes, the " start" of the fragrance. It is the most volatile raw materials, usually the freshest, that evaporate first. The most typical top notes are the citrus fruits (lemon, mandarin, bergamot, etc.). These are raw materials that are very present in "fresh waters". There are also aromatic, citrus notes (lavender, rosemary, basil, etc.), spices (pepper, cardamom, etc.), fruits, the famous marine, aqueous notes, and certain floral notes, which have very volatile components (e.g. rose or lily of the valley).
Traditionally and academically, the head of a perfume was considered to be what you smelled during the first two hours. In the last few decades, especially with the internationalisation, the "democratisation" of perfume and our faster pace of life, this definition of the head of a perfume has been shortened a little. We now consider that the head is really the first impression, the impact of the perfume. We have to be careful, because the top notes are now worked on a lot, sometimes to the detriment of the structure of the perfume. In this case, the top notes are like the trailer of a rather disappointing film...
The heart notes
These are the notes that will develop after half an hour, an hour. Typically, these are the flowers. There are also spices, citrus and aromatic notes, always fruity notes. Some woods will also already be perceptible, some notes like vanilla as well. Keep in mind thata perfume is constantly evolving: there is no clear break between the head, the heart and the base of a perfume.
The background notes
The base is the realm of warm notes, woods, oriental notes, musks... Typically, the base of a perfume is what you find the next day on the scarf you wore the day before.
Now you know why it's crucial not to just spritz on a wet wipe in the shop when choosing a fragrance! It takes a few hours of testing to discover the full richness of the fragrance, and who knows, you may receive the unexpected compliment that will make you choose a particular fragrance. We hope you enjoy your olfactory discoveries!
Photos : Jules Theret, ArtyShow
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