Newbie help

Perhaps Burberry London might work for you.

1. Wear whatever you feel like, regardless of season. There's nothing wrong with wearing Burberry London^ (which most consider a winter/Christmas frag) in the dead of summer. All you have to do is adjust your application accordingly. However if you really want to stick to specific types of frags for the cooler months, perhaps getting a few decent sized decants is the way to go.

2. Sample as many as possible. When you find things you like, go online and read the notes, see if you can draw any parallels. Making that 40min drive to test some smells will most likely save you plenty of cash in the future on blind buys gone bad.

Welcome to Basenotes!!

1) I don't classify fragrances as summer or winter, per se... Just go with fragrances that you enjoy wearing without making any preconceived notions of what might be good for a given season. You may find that certain fragrances don't feel right to you in the heat... Just don't eliminate possibilities with preconceived notions to make sure you make the most informed decision. As to longevity when stored properly fragrances can last decades (and usually do). Many of the scents in my collection are over 20 years old and they smell fine.

2) I recommend getting a whole boatload of samples from either Surrender to Chance, Lucky Scent (if you want to try niche offerings) or even eBay. No need to drive 40 minutes a day to try fragrances. Once you calibrate your tastes you can get as broke as the rest of us, amassing a gargantuan collection over the coming years and decades. The key is you will be able to do it with the knowledge of what you are looking for first.

Just have fun and don't worry about doing things "right". Just let your own nose be the driver and you are sure to make the right decisions.

I disagree with people who say you need to buy loads of samples. I almost never buy samples. I love blind buying. Of course I understand why some people think it isn't worth the risk, but blind buying has allowed me to enjoy so many things I never would have otherwise. I suppose in other words I could say that I consider the perfect sample size to be between 20 and 30mls. Moreover it should be in a bottle that's just like the retail version with an atomizer because I find applying fragrance from a decant or phial is less fun, and mood plays a big role in how I react to things.

I'm not saying you should blind buy. That's not good advice. What I am saying is you shouldn't totally disregard the possibility of there being some romance in your new hobby. Wearing the contents of a teensy sample phial and deciding whether something is or isn't for you is like deciding whether you're going to marry someone or never see them again based on one date.


Depends on the fragrance and who, precicely, is making the call about whether it's a winter scent or not. This can go both ways so this applies to summer scents as well: summer and winter arn't the same everywhere. Moreover our individual tolerances are not the same. You need to make up your own mind about what works, and when and how. By all means take advice, but weigh it in light of your own feelings and experiences. I can't wear vanilla in the height of summer here for example but I often see people suggesting fragrances with vanilla drydowns for summer wear.


One thing you can do is take a fragrance type like citruses for example, and smell a handful of citrus scents which are highly lauded or considered to be at the top of their field. It's not very exact, but it can help to eliminate those you find less thrilling. I mean if you smell two-dozen citruses lauded as the greats and arn't doing backflps over one or two at least then it's fairly safe to say that you're probably not going to be a big-time citrus lover. Though that's not to say you should avoid it.

As others have said, "winter" or "summer" are relative concepts, you should get what you like and see yourself wearing. Frags kept in the dark (most important) and in a cold place last for decades.

One has to be patient at first - you should take all the opportunities you have to smell stuff (for instance, if you happen to be in a big town). The scent on the paper strips will keep for a long time if you put each strip in a small ziploc bag (like those for medicines). Bring a pencil so you can write down the name of the frag on the strip, or you'll forget (and it has to be a pencil, pens will smudge). After a while, you'll have explored enough to know what you like.

cacio

Absolutely this. It all comes down to your personal preferences and comfort level. I only own AdG of those two you mention specifically, but I could easily see myself wearing it year-round personally (if I still wore it, that is). Fragrances do not have season assignments... any of them.