How I review a fragrance

Alright so I have posted 13 reviews since I've been a member on this site and I'm sure there are some that thing my ratings are "inconsistent" or there needs to be more clarity. That's what this post is for and I'm going to let you "peer behind the curtain," so to speak, and show you the process I use to rate every single perfume that I have tested/owned/currently own.

The smell is pretty straightforward. This is also one of the most difficult sections to rank because if you're truly trying to be impartial to a fragrance, subjectivity on your part decreases your neutrality. People can easily accuse you of bias which can instantly discredit everything you've just spent that hard work typing/recording a review. What people don't understand is that the smell is the only section of a review where you HAVE to be subjective. I cannot smell using your nose and vice versa. What I smell and what I interpret is my own olfactive experience, therefore my experience is what gets placed in the review. If you notice, I do post what others say my fragrance smells like to add a bit of an "outside looking in" kind of perspective. So for those saying, "You're trying to gas up a fragrance to make it sound like it smells better than it actually is," I would say that this is your opinion. You don't have the same nose, nor the same taste as me and that's a good thing. If everyone agreed about everything, stuff would be stale, boring, and not fun to discuss. The beauty of this hobby is to see what everyone thinks about how something smells.

Projection is our first objective criteria. Between this section and the smell, these two sections take the longest to test and compile findings. Projection, for those who are unaware, is how far away you can smell your perfume. You'll hear it referred to as a "scent cloud" or people smelling it a certain distance away from you. This is what a reviewer means by this particular term. Projection takes such a long time to acquire because you can't base it off of just a few wearings. That is extremely hard to do and doesn't quite paint the entire picture. Was it tested in the heat? The cold? At work? Around friends? Around your date? Those are just 5 instances right there unless you're wearing something for all of those occasions and can take out the proverbial "2-3 birds with one stone." How do you know if it projects better in the heat than the cold? Do you know if the fragrance receives a boost due to testing it in a certain element? These are all things I take into account. Then you have to account for how long did that project. Usually I'll take a note of when I sprayed the fragrance on and when I catch a whiff of it, I'll look at a clock and make a mental note. I repeat this process until it softens. Then I make another note. Then once the fragrance is gone, I'll make another note but it applies for this section and longevity (which I'll discuss next).

Longevity is probably one of the easier sections to score as well as once of the harder sections. I tend to lump longevity and projection together because you need both sections combined to paint the best possible picture of a fragrance testing. Longevity also kind of requires you to have multiple testing sessions primarily because it can last longer during certain climate situations or if you're working out in the gym, the rise in body heat and increased sweat can enhance a fragrance also. I make a note (the same note of application in projection) and will keep track until either a) I can't smell it anymore and smell my skin to determine if it has expired or b) I shower it off. 

Price is an easy one to score. You just do your research. Find the brand's website and just post the numbers. You can also check discounters as well or eBay if it's a difficult find/purchase. I get the price per mL by taking the price of the fragrance divided by the amount of mL I am purchasing. Pretty easy math.

Versatility is one that requires multiple instances of testing as well because here is where you determine when the fragrance has performed the best for you. Did it really perform better in the Fall? Did it seem to die down faster in the Winter? This section is a mixture of subjective and objective information so it's kind of tough to make this one impartial. Just try your best.

Final verdict is self-explanatory. My final thoughts on a fragrance go into this section as well as my final score. My final thoughts are basically a recap and whether I recommend the particular scent for people to try it out or pass on it. I typically (not always) also mention if I really enjoyed the fragrance, that I'll repurchase it. My score is, once again, just using math to compile all of the score of my sections against the total number of points possible in a review, much like how you would get an exam score in high school/university/college. In my case, the total score is usually 50. So if I give a fragrance a total of 45/50, the score would be a 0.9 or a "9" in this case. I always post a "by the numbers" because this is as close to objective as you can possibly get in a review. I will then will go on to give my subjective rating which is just based on my own evaluation of the fragrance and the one people are typically more interested in.

I hope this helped clear the air in a way and give you some insight on how I do my reviews. Until then, see you next time.