Enjoying the beautiful fragrance of a perfume can be one of life’s most joyous experiences. If you already have a few favorite aromas, well and good. Most people stick to the fragrances that they already know. But what if you are a newbie and do not know where to start? There are so many types of fragrances out there, that it is easy to get overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. Know What You Like The first thing to do when you want to choose a new perfume is to decide on what you like and what you don’t. For example, do you like floral? If you do, there are two kinds – single floral and floral bouquet. The bouquet is of course a combination of a few flowers, resulting in a rather heavy scent. On the other hand, there is the oriental aroma that is quite ‘animalic’, and the woody aroma dominated by woody scents of sandalwood, cedarwood, and several others. There are a number of other classes of smells, and once you know which category you like, it will be easier to focus on your target scents. Finding Your Signature Scent The reason to choose a new perfume goes beyond the joy that the smell brings to your senses. Your perfume is an extension of your personality. It is your signature feature, something you want people to associate you with. That is why it is important that you take your time when you choose new perfumes. At best, you can try only two different scents in a day, and smelling the two should be done hours apart from each other. By trying more than one smell at one time, you might be blending the scents to create a ‘new’ perfume that does not really exist. Your Nose Might Shut Down Your nose is designed with some smell sensors embedded in it. Unfortunately, the sensors cannot handle many smells at any one time. If you force them to smell beyond their capacity to do so, they might just shut off, leaving you not smelling anything at all. It takes more than half an hour in a no-smell environment to get the sensors working again. That is why some shops provide coffee beans for their customers to sniff on when they choose new perfumes. The beans are supposed to refresh the senses so that you can try a couple more smells before they shut off. This works fine on some people, but not on all. So depending on the strength of your sensors, you might not be able to choose your new perfume effectively in just one day. The effort you take to choose new perfumes is well worth your while, because once you have identified the most suitable perfume for yourself, you will be able to enjoy it for many, many years to come.