Select perfume

Before you can choose a fragrance you need to know the basics. Perfumes fall under several categories of scent and it can be helpful to know what they are before making your next perfume purchase.

Floral: Probably the most popular scent option, floral perfumes contain the scent of either one flower (rose, gardenia, lavender) or a bouquet of several varieties. Floral scents are feminine and romantic.

Oriental: These scents tend to be muskier and small rich and slightly spicy with hints of vanilla, cinnamon and clove.

Chypre: The family of perfumes are characterized by an earthy, woodsy scent, with hints of oak, moss and citrus.

Fougere: Meaning fern in French, this family of scents is stronger and often used in men's fragrances. They contain hints of oak, moss and fresh herbs.

Oceanic: These scents are influenced by the sea and evoke being by the ocean (sandy beach, salty air). Oceanic scents are clean, almost-masculine with hints of spice and citrus.

Wood: Step into a forest and these are the notes you will get with a woody scent. Think pine, cedar, sandalwood - scents that are earthy and musky.

UNDERSTANDING FRAGRANCE NOTES

Chances are the fragrance you choose will also have several "notes". Perfumes often contain layers of scents to create their unique bouquet. These layers are referred to as notes, and rather than noticing only one type of scent (rose or vanilla), you will pick up on several notes that become more apparent over time. So what you smell at the beauty counter will change by the time you get home.

Top notes: This is what you smell immediately upon applying your perfume. It's the scent that first hits your nose, but then evaporates quickly.

Middle notes: The middle notes emerge as the top notes are dissipating and make up the majority of the scent.

Base notes: These notes are richer ans are not often detected until you are been wearing a scent for at least 20 to 30 minutes. These notes provide depth and back up the middle notes to create the overriding theme of the scent.