Perfumery disaster would love to get some tips/ personalitytied fragrance

I don't know any perfumes to recommend as I am not familiar with the Lacoste one, but I think you need to worry less about offending sales people. If the salesperson is not showing you perfumes that suit you, you can simply say, "None of these are what I was looking for. Thank you for your time, but I won't be buying any of these today."

Or if that is too difficult for you, say "I want to walk around a bit and see how this scent develops on my skin." Then leave. Personally I think it's always better to let a fragrance develop before buying anyway. I avoid buying immediately-- it isn't possible to judge the fragrance fully until all the notes have developed. You can always return to purchase later if you like it.

Don't part with your money if you aren't happy with what you are buying!

Don't feel bad about buying something that you find you don't really like. I'm sure many of us have been persuaded by a SA, only to regret it later.
Looking at Lacoste pour Femme, I see that it has pepper in the top and woody incense in the base. You may be enjoying those elements, which balance the floral notes.
I can't give any advice on specific women's scents, because I don't know many. But I can say something about a shopping strategy. You did well to do research ahead of time, and to try and figure out what you might like.
Sales associates will always try and push the latest scent. You need to tell them, "Thank you, I am interested in trying X, Y, and Z."
Also, in any shopping trip, limit your sniffing of paper strips to no more than 6, and skin tests to 2. Any more and you will get confused and tired.
Finally, you also are doing well to leave the store, saying that you want the scent to develop a bit. Wear it all day, and think about if you like it. Go back and do it again, if you like it. You may like a scent one day and then not like it the second time. You rarely need to buy a scent on the spot.

Look upon trying scents as a way to learn about yourself. That is a great thing to do! And you are a complex person, so there will be many things to discover. No need to rush!

Best wishes!

If you go to the bottom of the Basenotes Community page you'll see the last link in the Miscellaneous category is the Missing Fragrances List, where you can post the details of fragrances that are missing from the directory.

I also worry, perhaps excessively, about the feelings and attitude of the salesperson, but I generally manage to keep this from making me feel obligated to buy.

Some details:

I usually avoid a conversation at all, because I've come to sniff on my own. So there's nothing wrong with, "I'm just on a sniffing expedition today, thanks."

Even if you ask a simple question ("Could you point me to the Guerlain counter?" "Do you have a tester of Vol de Nuit?") it's fine to then disengage. ("Thank you. Oh, that's a nice selection. I'll just wander and sniff for a while." "Great! I'll just wander off and see how this develops, thank you.")

If I do have questions, or the salesperson is persistent in starting a conversation, I'll often work in a statement along the lines of, "Today I'm just sniffing and not allowing myself to buy anything." (I say this even if it's not necessdarily true.) And I don't tie them down with a detailed question immediately after that, because I want to leave them an escape.

At that point, some of them make a polite remark and flee in pursuit of the next customer, and others stick around to chat and offer advice. But I consider that they were amply warned, so I don't feel guilty not buying anything.

I also find that it can be helpful to state a specific goal, even if you could be interested in a number of things. For example, "I'm looking for something with a cedar note" is likely to cut out a lot of the fruity florals and get the conversation more focused. There's no rule that keeps you from chasing after a different note later.

If a salesperson seems to be pressuring me to buy, or ignores my stated tastes, I'll leave the conversation. ("Thanks! I'll just see how this one develops, and look around a little more.")

On the other hand, if they're helpful but not quite getting my tastes, I may need to repeat my preferences more than once. ("I generally dislike powder and florals." "It's very pretty, but I still read it as floral." "No, I'm afraid even this one is still too floral. I should mention that tend to prefer unisex or even men's fragrances.") If they don't get it at that point, then I assume that they (1) don't know their fragrances or (2) feel pressured to push certain fragrances irrespective of customer tastes, at which point I again politely end the conversation.

If I dislike a fragrance that the salesperson is eagerly and happily presenting to me as a Delightful Thing, I'm often more comfortable finding a specific reason for rejecting it, such as "It's lovely, but tuberose just never works on me." or "I think that I'd love this in the summer, but it isn't working for me now." or "It's nice, but I'm already over quota on citrus fragrances." The reason may provide potentially useful information, but mainly, it enables me to reject a fragrance without feeling like I'm kicking a puppy.

Even if the salesperson is helpful, they spend some time, and they find me what seems in the moment like the perfect thing, I'm likely to repeat, "I love it, but I never allow myself to buy anything the day I sniff it." If I'm fairly serious about the fragrance, I may ask for a sample. Either way I'll often ask for their card so that if I do return to buy, whether that fragrance or another one or even a non-fragrance item in their department, they can get the credit for the sale.

I also really like the way that Sephora works. I can wander and sniff, everyone seems perfectly happy to leave me alone at the slightest hint, and I never feel that I have to lead up to a sample request with a lot of conversation - I walk up to a salesperson and ask, "Could I have a sample of <whatever>?" and they happily make one on the spot. They also don't appear to be on commission - when I buy, they just point me to the checkout. The only down side is that they mainly carry the designer stuff, so almost anything that I'd want to buy would be available at a deep discount online. So I bought exactly one full price bottle from them recently, just so that I can feel guilt-free about continuing to use them as a sample station for the past and coming several months.

Crayfish