With the rise of stars endorsing their own lines of fragrances, designer perfumes are some of the most popular fragrances available. Fashion-conscious women are especially drawn to these perfumes, as the star’s involvement in the process generally leads to the perfume being of a high caliber as well as giving the fragrance extra cache. Of course, stars don’t develop the perfumes that they lend their names to, but their endorsement does often mean a higher quality perfume—especially if they are more than the pop star of the minute. Even with high-quality designer fragrances, though, you need to try out the fragrance before deciding that it’s the right one for you.

As you experiment with designer fragrances, realize that there are a number of different fragrance families. One way of understanding fragrance families is to break them down into citrus, herbal, floral, fruity, leather, musk, powdery, spice and woody. In addition to these main categories, modern women’s perfume also includes the fragrance of cherry, chocolate, coffee, fruits and vanilla.

The fragrance you choose should reflect both who you are and the image you hope to project to others. But how do you decide which fragrance reflects this? It can be a question of trial and error. Simply go to any fragrance shop and give a few perfumes a try. Buy a small amount of the one that makes you feel the best and wear it every day—to work, shopping, and socially. Don’t let anyone know you’re trying out the new perfume; just accept their compliments—or complaints—as they come. If they don’t know you’re trying out a new fragrance, they’ll only remark on it if they have something to say.

Relax theres another way: If you want to go about it a little more practically, take a look at our articles and fragrance reviews and get the right scent!