There are generally two reliable ways of choosing the right perfume nowadays. One, you can go to a real-time perfume counter and go through the process of choosing the right perfume the old-fashioned way (spray and smell.) Or, if you dislike walking in many malls and boutique stores just to find what you want, you could also try going online.

There are advantages to choosing the right perfume via spray and smell at perfume counters of department stores and boutique stores. For one, you really know that the product will smell a certain way if you apply it to your own skin. If the product is for your personal use, there really is no better way than this. If the product is meant to be a gift, this is an even more sure-fire way of making sure you purchase the perfect perfume gift. The second advantage is that you have enough time to test the product scent properly without being rushed. This means waiting for a couple of minutes while the product settles on your skin and is heated up by natural body heat to combine with your body oils. One person may have one type of chemical reaction to the brand, while another person may have a completely different reaction (even if these two people may look similar or the same.)

The other advantage of choosing the right perfume from these retail counters is that most likely there are other perfume brand choices at the other retail counters in the same perfume section. So if you dislike your first option, you can always hop to other retail counters and ask for trials of their products.

Now, the advantage with going online for choosing the right perfume is that you also get to examine a wide range of perfume products from a vast selection of perfume makers without walking around. You can call this the way of the lazy person who dislikes walking through many malls, department stores and retail outlets on the search for the perfect perfume. If you think that even the most obscure types of perfume are worth your while examining, then the online method could be best for you when choosing the right perfume.

However, the online method simply has one potentially fatal flaw when it comes to the process of choosing perfumes: the click-and-sniff method has yet to be invented. Meaning, all you get to experience online is to see the product in its bottle and box (as well as read any blurbs or descriptions about the product contents.) You will also know at once what the product costs. But you will never be able to sample the fragrance of the perfume itself by any known means at present.

So how do you address this problem? You can still use the online method to be able to canvass through a very wide array of perfume choices (which helps minimize wear and tear on your feet and shoes.) Then, you can look through the website to see which real-time retailers do carry the product or products you are interested in. This means combining the two methods for choosing the right perfume so that you do not wind up wasting a lot of time sampling not-so-good perfume and can concentrate on premium choices instead.

This way is very good for those who do not have a lot of time to waste shopping around for perfume. And it still allows you to smell the real thing instead of guessing what it smells like based on a line of text on a website. Plus, you can narrow down your initial set of choices to those which are in a certain price range (without embarrassing yourself by asking the perfume retail staff about the cost of the perfume.) Face it, perfume is a status symbol and for many retailers, to ask about the cost is just a sign that you are not their ideal customer.

Choosing the right perfume is a very personal matter because you alone will know what the best perfume for you will be once you try it on. It is like fitting on a second skin – it may be one of the first things anyone will notice about you, and maybe one of the more lasting impressions you will leave behind.