How can I learn to identify the most common perfumes?

May 3, 2017 1:13 PM

I was riding my bike last week and a car drove by that absolutely reeked of a very common perfume. I realized that I want to be a more scent-aware person that can smell a perfume and build a story about the person and their sense of style. What are the 20 most common, mass-marketed perfumes in the US and how can I teach myself to identify them without buying any? Most perfumes annoy me, but I think they will annoy me less if I know what they are. Kind of like identifying raucous bird calls.
posted by oxisos to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (9 answers total)

I was talking today with some co-workers about how hard it can be to casually build wine knowledge. Back when I was really into wine I made it a point to, whenever I opened a bottle, sit down and write some tasting notes. Didn't matter if it was a $5 or $50 bottle, and I never reviewed those notes again afterwards.

The point of the exercise is that it's easy to tell yourself you're thinking about what you're doing (tasting wine) and then get distracted and not concentrate on the task. Making yourself actually write notes ensures that you're present for the all aspects - the nose, the mouthfeel, the flavors, the finish, all of it.

If I were in your shoes and wanted to learn to ID perfumes, I would have to take the same approach. I'd go to the nearest shopping mall and get one or two of those little sampler papers that they will happily douse in stench for you. Then I'd go sit on a bench, smell them, write some notes, and toss the samples.

Do it every time you visit the mall, making sure to occasionally pick up a sample of one you've smelled before and see if you smell the same things, or even recognize it. But write notes every time. Keep the notes, or don't, doesn't matter. Research shows that handwriting (not typing) notes helps us remember things.
posted by komara at 1:24 PM on May 3, 2017

I love perfumes, and love geeking out about them. Fragrantica has been invaluable as a resource for finding scents, similar scents, and developing the vocabulary and language of the industry.
ScentMap was another, but their UI seems to be broken.. a flash-related thing.
There's been a recent trend towards gourmands, which are non-floral, sweet scents like candy, chocolate, caramel, honey, laid over ambers and musks. Citrus-y, fresh scents are also having a moment, taking over from the soapy, clean version of fresh scents.

Sephora is always happy to make people samples of perfumes (especially with purchase and when it's slow) and talk to customers about the notes that build a particular scent. Nordstrom is good about this too, without a lot of hard sell. The paper inserts in magazines don't do a great job of accurately representing all the components of a particular scent, but they're free with your mag (Vanity Fair usually has several if you want interesting stuff to read, too.)
posted by ApathyGirl at 2:37 PM on May 3, 2017

I'd also strike up a conversation with the person selling perfumes at a basic department store (like the Macy's at your mall). If they're clearly in sales mode and it's busy, then just ask for samples and move on. If they're focused on their job (to sell) then you can say you smelled a scent that seemed familiar and ask about ways to help identify what that was (bending the story towards or away from the "because I want to buy some for my mom" type of excuse, as fits the sales mood). If they're not just a sales person but actually into scents, there could be a lot of conversation there about how they learned what they know, what 20 brands/products they'd consider to be staples, whether they can identify scents on people around them, etc.

I'd also read a bunch of articles about smelling perfumes.

One way to approach this would be by learning to peel apart the different notes and then using a finder to try to identify it. But probably best to just be sure you know what some common stuff smells like. Consider though, do you want World's Most Popular Men's Colognes or do you want to recognize Old Spice shower gels, Axe Body Spray, and Right Guard deodorant (and of course the female equivalents) My point is, do you want to recognize the good stuff, or the things that people often wear badly/loudly even if they're not exactly perfume. If your goal is to tell stories about people, maybe you kind of just need to tell the difference between the scent lingering from heavily scented products, the types of scents you buy at Target/Walgreens, and the types of scents you buy at Macy's.
posted by aimedwander at 2:39 PM on May 3, 2017

I'm going to guess that the perfume you smelled was Thierry Mugler's Angel -- so popular that most department stores keep a gigantic refill tank of it in Fine Fragrances, and absolutely cloying enough that it would choke you from a passing car.
posted by apparently at 3:12 PM on May 3, 2017

I hate perfume but tried to get into it because it was a major hobby for an ex. Sephora will have testers out and give you a couple ~2 mL samples if you want. The salesperson I talked to was very knowledgeable - whoever is working the perfume wall will likely be happy to help you out. The dominant notes of perfume will change over time (there's usually a noticeable difference between "drydown" and fifteen minutes later), so just getting 1-2 test strips at a time and sniffing them while you walk around the mall will help you with later ID.

More candidates for the top 20:
- Flowerbomb: exactly what it sounds like
- Black Orchid: "fancy whorehouse"
- Daisy by Marc Jacobs gets shilled everywhere, I assume someone buys it
- Jo Malone makes a line of simple scents that are popular (and sometimes worn layered)

The late XOVain had a lot of perfume coverage, including "classic" perfumes as well as perfumes marketed to men and trendy fragrances.
posted by momus_window at 8:41 PM on May 3, 2017

I went to Amazon and pulled up their best sellers in women's fragrances. They unfortunately lump aromatherapy oils into this category, but you can just ignore those and pull out the actual perfumes from their list.
posted by MexicanYenta at 10:55 PM on May 3, 2017

If you're interested enough for a long article, you might try The Scent of the Nile by Chandler Burr (his book, The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris & New York, covers this and much more). It's talking about the creation of a few big-name perfumes, and at least for me, I've found my nose has improved from reading about the thinking and the approaches taken. Though I must admit, I'd still be much stronger at precisely identifying fragrances I like, or their elements, than perfumes I hate.

I agree with the department store suggestions above, and a brief note or two will help you remember better. If you can tolerate it, try stuff on your skin (so only one or two at a time), or at least take away a swatch stick to smell again later.
posted by carbide at 4:06 AM on May 4, 2017

A couple other thoughts:

This article is really interesting and has some good resources.

Another one about popular scents (some mentioned above).

Other popular scents:
Viva La Juicy by Juicy Couture
Michael Kors by Michael Kors
Nirvana (various versions) by Elizabeth and James
Romance by Ralph Lauren
Chloe by Chloe
Coco Madamoiselle by Chanel
Pink Sugar by Aquolina
posted by ApathyGirl at 8:32 AM on May 4, 2017

What are the 20 most common, mass-marketed perfumes in the US and how can I teach myself to identify them without buying any?

Just to add a few to the list, not sure how you can teach yourself to identify them but they are pretty unique pungent scents and speak for themselves.

J'adore by Dior
White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor
Lola by Marc Jacobs
Sunflower by Elizabeth Arden
Far Away- Avon
posted by Whatifyoufly at 1:03 PM on May 4, 2017