How to choose a perfume when you test it in a store
A perfume store holds more scents than a nose can judge in one visit. Doing things in a simple order keeps the choice clear, and it works in any store. All it takes is a little patience.
Arrive without perfume on
Come with bare skin. If you are already wearing a perfume or a scented lotion, everything you try will be mixed with it, and you will be judging the mix. Wear short sleeves, or sleeves you can roll up, so your wrists are free.
Paper first, skin second
Start on paper strips. A strip tells you quickly whether you like the general direction of a scent, and it keeps your skin free for later. Hold the strip a little away from your nose and take short sniffs, since long, deep breaths tire the nose faster. Write the name on each strip as you go. Stop at five or six, because after that most noses begin to blur. Then pick the two you like most.
One scent on each wrist
Skin changes a perfume, and the same scent can smell different on two people. Spray one of your two choices on each wrist. Do not rub. Now you are testing the perfume as it will smell on you, which paper cannot show.
Wait for the opening to pass
The first minutes belong to the top notes, the brightest and shortest part of a perfume. What comes after them is what you will actually wear. So leave the store. Take a walk, have a coffee, and smell your wrists again after a while and once more later on.
Give your nose a rest
When scents start to run together, step outside for fresh air. Smelling the clean fabric of your own sleeve also helps, because it is a smell your nose already knows.
Decide later
A good choice survives a little time. If you still like what is on your wrist once the brightness has gone, that is your answer. Ask yourself, too, where you would wear it. A scent you enjoy in the store but cannot picture wearing to work or to dinner tends to stay in the drawer. If you are torn between two, ask someone you trust which one smells like you, and then let your own nose decide.
One more habit
NOTE suggests taking a photo of your named strips before you leave. A week later, the photo remembers which scent was which.