Posts from — February 2010

A few years back one of the big fashion magazines pointed out that the most popular perfumes varied by country.  The results of their findings were interesting.

The three countries they provided information on were the United States, France and China.  They listed the top five most popular perfumes of each country. Only one perfume made it into the top five of each country, and one was a top five contender in two countries.  There the similarities ended.

What’s also interesting is the perfume that made it into all three lists has been around for decades!  It was released in 1921.

What is it?

No surprise here.  Chanel No 5, released in 1921, is the only perfume to make it into the top five popular perfumes for the United States, France and China.  It ranked number 2 in the States and number one in both France and China.  The other perfume that made it into the top five of two counties is Christian Dior’s J’Adore.  It ranked number three in France and number two in China.  This perfume was released in 1999.

So, that leaves the perfume that was ranked as the number one most popular perfume in the United States.  What was it?  Another perfume that has stood the test of time.  Beautiful, by Estee Lauder, was released in 1985, and was the perfume that outsold all others in the United States a few years back.

So, does the fact that a perfume has been around for a long time, perhaps even longer than you have been alive, lessen its appeal?  Obviously not!  According to this data, the buying public has stated quite plainly that they prefer the tried and true.

If you haven’t tried one of these popular perfumes yourself, why not give one of them a try?

Is buying your perfumes online a good idea?  After all, common wisdom is that you should always test a perfume on your skin before purchasing it.  If that’s the case, why are there so many online perfume retailers?

First, let’s address why you should always do a skin test for a perfume you’ve never worn before.  If you think that all you have to do to determine the correct scent of a perfume or cologne is to pull the stopper and sniff the top of the bottle, you are dead wrong.  Because as soon as that fragrance leaves the bottle and lands on your skin, the scent changes entirely.  And knowing you like the way it smells when your friends wear it won’t do you any good either.

Why?  The chemical makeup of the perfume changes as soon as it connects with your skin and continues to change as it absorbs.  And since every person on this planet has their own unique chemical makeup, that scent will change with every person that wears it.  And in some cases, there will be a terrible chemical reaction.  Oh, it won’t harm your skin in any way, but it just might harm your nose, because it could stink on you, but smell absolutely incredible on the next person.  So, never purchase a perfume without testing it first.

Of course, there is no way of doing this when buying perfumes online.  But don’t despair.  If you have a perfume that you already wear, do yourself a favor and buy it online the next time around.  Chances are you can save yourself a bundle.  And when you are in department stores or any other places that sell perfumes and colognes, do some testing at the counter.  Find out what works with your skin.  However, don’t buy it while you’re there at the counter.  Well, you can if you want to, but you’ll pay for the privilege.  Instead, head home and buy your perfume online.  You could save yourself anywhere from thirty to seventy percent, and in many cases you can also get free shipping.

So, while there may be some drawbacks to buying your perfumes online, it’s easy to get around them.