What’s your rating system?

What’s your rating system? 4

How do you determine what to rate a perfume’s scent? Do you take others into consideration or rate based on your opinion alone

How about sillage, longevity, bottle design, etc?

This is my scent rating system that has been working well for now, and I rate according to my opinion only  

• 1-2.5 stars – horrible, hate it, get this off my skin! It’s a scrubber.

• 3 - 4.5 stars – Not disgusting but below average; off-putting but not horrible. 

• 5-6.5 – It’s smells averagely good, but doesn’t impress me or warrant buying. 

• 7 - 8.5 – I like it quite a lot and can see myself wearing it regularly. Might purchase a mini or decant and revisit. 

• 9-10 stars – It’s a love and must have for me.

0

It's literally the same rating system for me lol. Seems the most accurate tbh

2

Since there is no separate rating for originality/creativity I have to bake it into the scent rating.

1-3.5: Either a) a scrubber that just smells bad or b) a fragrance that is trying to be another better fragrance but failing miserably
5-6.5: Average "meh" fragrance. Not creative, doesn't stand out, but smells decent. Most department store fragrances that aren't outright copies of something better end up here.
7-8.5: Good fragrance that I like, but is missing something. Either is too synthetic, not creative, too strong, etc.
9-9.5: Amazing fragrance I want to add to the collection. If it's not super creative, it has to smell incredible
10: One of the best fragrances ever made. Perfect. Creative, unique, plus smells amazing. 

0

So interesting! I’ve discovered so many that I try fall between meh and like but not love. I used to not give much below a 7 rating because I could see how others like it, but once I laid it out systematically it made my objective rating much easier. 

1

I actually use the traditional U.S. education grading system. A+ to F. 

I don't factor in sillage and longevity too much, unless it's very noticeably short or long. But it has to smell good first, otherwise I don't care. 

And I don't understand bottle design being a factor at all to be honest as far as liking/grading a scent is concerned. Sure some or more pleasing than others, but I don't care about that. It's the scent I am after. 

1

I wrote it out on my wall the other day, because, like you, I figured laying it all out was helpful. Here's what I got: 

0-2: I find something about this actively unpleasant
3-4: This is missing the mark in some way. I'm not mad, just disappointed.
5-6: Mediocre, serviceable. Competently done, but doesn't stand out to me.
7-8: I might not love the whole thing, but there's something about it I really like.
9-10: This impresses me and I love wearing it.

The numerical rating is just my own opinion. I try (key word: try) to be more even-keeled in the text of the review, but at the end of the day it seems silly to rate something highly because other people like it, just like it would be silly for them to rate it low because I don't.

I still wear and enjoy scents I've rated low, though. It's pretty easy for me to find some aspect to appreciate, even if I don't think it holds together.

1
Killsocket

I actually use the traditional U.S. education grading system. A+ to F. 

I'm kind of in the same boat with the grading system. I consider everything below 6 to be a fail. My ratings are like a Bell curve with 7/7.5 as the peak. C average.

2

I decide based on my own opinion. I'll confess, I always set the rating arbitrarily. That's because I don't look at the numerical rating at all. I think it's quite possible that a fragrance that is 10 points for someone else may be 0 points for me.
So my 5 points may be 10 points for someone else, so I decide based entirely on my mood at the time.
The evaluation of the spread of the fragrance, the longevity, and the bottle design can also change depending on the season and age, and sometimes I think a fragrance is 5 points at first but it turns out to be 8 points after all. There is no 10 points forever. There is nothing perfect in this world.

P.S. I said some cool things, but when I looked at my ratings later, I saw that some of them were 10 points. lol
But now I see some that are 9 or 8. Everything flows.

Last edited by Akira1005 on 06/18/2025 - 09:07 PM; edited 1 time in total
2

I rate them based on my personal opinion. I base my personal opinion on a full day of wear of a given fragrance in a controlled environment (and, ideally, with a 3rd party observer present to help me judge sillage more objectively).

I utilize the entire star rating system available on Parfumo:

1 to 2.5 stars is for horrible experiences.

Those are perfumes I scrub off (or only manage to resist scrubbing off through sheer willpower) or get an otherwise viscerally negative reaction to. within this group I reserve the 1 star rating for perfumes that either smell like they are actively trying to kill me or completely fall apart as a product.

For example, Hero Parfum Intense smelled like someone pepper sprayed me, put me inside of a stack of car tires and then lit them on fire. Worst headache a perfume ever gave me.

On the other hand, 501 - Iris & Vanilla was tolerable scent-wise, but it never set. For the first 4 hours I was able to scoop off the oily film from my skin with my fingers. It transferred to clothing if I accidentally brushed against it, and to other people.

In two very different ways, but I judged that both of these were a hazard and rated them as such.

3 to 4 stars is for perfumes that are bad, but at least they're not trying to murder me.

If I get a headache from them – I can fix it with a few over the counter painkillers. It's anything too synthetic, too cloying, too skewed in a singular direction (and yet failing even at that) or on the contrary – feels like it's stumbling over the place without a clear vision... Citruses that smell like cleaning supplies. Flowers that smell like cat piss. Musk that smells like chalk. Any fragrance that doesn't bother saying anything past "look at me, I'm such a sweet feminine woman" or "I'm a manly man"! Anything else that for some reason I despise on a personal level...

Gods, if I didn't need sleep and sustenance, I could go on forever. My reasons to complain about smells I dislike are endless, lol.

4.5 to 5.5 starsis the forgettable pile.

They're not that horrible. They may have some redeeming qualities. Or interesting concepts. Or maybe they're even okay. Maybe even a little bit nice, actually! But at the end of the day once time comes to review the results, my opinion boils down to a variation of "well, that definitely was a perfume".

6 to 6.5starsis for interesting and generally likeable things that still fall short of my expectations for some reason.

I appreciate them for what they are. I often enjoy them while they last. They do their thing relatively well, whatever that thing is. I'm impressed by their vision, or by the well-rounded composition, or by the concept, or by any other part of them. They're fine. I am also generally not interested in ever touching them again.

7 to 8 stars is for stuff that I personally find neat!

They do something I find really cool! They're unique, they're well made, they're very tasty. They make me feel good while they last, and at the very least make me consider wearing them again. Even things I end up deciding against buying/keeping, I can easily recommend to other people who might be more interested in that sort of thing. If they promise a specific concept – they deliver on it. If they surprise me – it's a lovable surprise.

It's the smells that make my day better by being a part of it.

8.5 to 9.5 stars is for the Loewe pile scents I personally love and must have.

Perfumes I've tried and went "woah, you understand me so well". Perfumes I would kiss on the lips and with tongue. Perfumes that I've tried and just went "yeah, I gotta have this one".

10 stars is for favorites.

We're long past any semblance of objectivity here. Who cares how good these are, THEY ARE MINE. MY PRECIOUSSSsss ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

TL;DR: looking back at the whole thing and keeping it simple, I consider 6 stars a kind of cutoff point. Above 6 – it's generally nice perfumes that are ranked higher or lower based on my personal taste. Below – is my personal hell that I engage with because I'm addicted to having opinions, lol.

When it comes to sillage, longevity, bottle design, well...

Longevity is easy. It's hours. 1 to 9 stars are for 1 to 9 hours it stays on my skin. If a perfume lasts 10 hours or longer – I note it in the review and give it a 10.

Bottle design is also easy. 5 is the "its certainly a bottle that holds perfume" middle ground. Anything more – I liked it more than the average. Anything less – I liked it less.

Sillage is more difficult. It's hard to judge it alone, and it's hard to judge it objectively. To me, anything less than a 4 is for perfumes that stay close to the skin. Depends on how close they stay, how weak the scent is overall, if I can feel the trail if I move my arms or if I have to smell them directly. 4 to 5 – the perfume cloud is present and can be felt in my immediate vicinity, but once you leave my personal space – you're safe. Your coworkers at the office shouldn't hate you. You aren't likely to give anyone a headache outside of very tightly crowded spaces. 6 and above are for perfumes that can be felt an arm's length away from the wearer (and more!). The higher the number, the larger the cloud. But it's hard to judge from the number alone if the cloud fills the whole room. Does it leave a thick lasting trail? Does it enter the bar before you do and suffocate half of the regulars and at least three employees? So I tend to just specify those details in my reviews.

I'm lucky to have a partner who's willing to smell me and give his unbiased opinion on how large my presence is, so I can be a bit more objective with this particular stat. If he's in the mood, sometimes I also get to spray it on him once the air is clear and cross test the fragrance to see how it behaves on a different body.

I am also unable to shut up once I start talking about an interesting topic. Gods, this post is already too huge, I wonder if it'll send, lol.

0

Mine is similar;

<4 id never buy/avoid even smelling ever again

4-5 is not the worst but easy fogettable

6-7 can appreciate the smell but not my type

8-9 i like them but id buy decants or on sale

10 immediate must-have

0

Scent rating:

1 - 5: I don't like the scent

6- 7: I appreciate the scent for what it is, but I'm not thrilled

8: Interesting but unsure if I 'need' it

9 -10: I want a full bottle!

Sillage rating: It is interesting to read the above ratings because I always think a score below 6.2 is not worth it Smile (I'dont want to offend people with my perfume, but I like to be smelled Smile) so I often skip trying scents with ratings below 6.2. Maybe I should realize others rate differently than me.

I - 6 for low sillage when others won't smell it.

7 when it can be smelled by people that come really close to me

8  when others can smell it from arm lenth

9 - 10 when people smell me entering a room.

Longevity rating: 

1 - 5 for a scent that disappeares within a few hours

6 - 7 when a scent lasts 4 to 6 hours

8 when a scent lasts a whole working day

9 - 10 when I smell it the morning after. 

1

My rating system is quite simple. I either like it or I don't like it. And, somewhere in between is just not interested. 

0

Mine:

(Kind of using your system somewhat)

I will give examples.

• 1-2.9 stars – Stinks

Terre d'Hermès Eau Très Fraîche

• 3 - 6 stars – Not disgusting but varying degrees of average or cheapness

Versace Man Eau Fraîche Eau de Toilette

• 6.1 - 7.9 – It’s smells averagely good, but doesn’t impress me or warrant buying.

Bleu de Chanel Eau de Parfum

• 8 - 8.9 – I like it quite a lot and can see myself wearing it sometimes

Terre d'Hermès Eau de Toilette

• 9-10 stars – It’s a love and must have for me.

Reflection Man

1

How I rate -

0-1 - Detest it! (Or just so weak it’s not worthy of a rating) 

2 - Hate it 

3 - Really dislike it

4 - Dislike it (but don’t hate it) 

5 - Boring (or just not really my taste, don’t understand why people would like it) 

5.5 Little less boring Very Happy 

6 - Average 

6.5 - It’s ok (I can appreciate it) 

7 - Quite like it (I can appreciate why people would really like it) 

7.5 Like it (Could understand why people could perhaps even love it) 

8 - Truly like it

8.5 - Nearly love it 

9 - Love it

9.5 - Absolutely love it 

10 - Deeply Love it! 

Simple but rather affective Wink

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