When it comes to perfumes, every girl has her own taste. We were curious about what attracts us to certain scents and what they say about our personalities. We chatted with Lobna Hossam, an aspiring perfumer, about the ins and outs of perfumes. Lobna is completely self-taught and mainly inspired by how perfumes can affect our lives, making us feel confident, happy, or other emotions. They can even help create great memories of special occasions and big events in our lives.

After researching aromatherapy and practicing making her own perfumes, Lobna thinks that picking your signature scent can be easier than you think because there are so many choices to choose from. She listed out the main categories for us:

For the quiet and mellow – Pink pepper, patchouli, and vetiver

“If you are a quiet and mellow person, you could opt for something soft and earthy. They include notes like pink pepper, patchouli, and vetiver, and they also usually have this slight masculinity scent which makes it perfect for everyday use and for work as well.”

For the kids at heart – Caramel, vanilla, praline, chocolate, and cotton candy

“If you are kid at heart and still enjoy sweet scents, you’re in luck. Sweet gourmet scents are the biggest thing in the market right now. You can go for the sophisticated floral fruity gourmand scent, they usually include notes like caramel, vanilla, praline, chocolate, cotton candy, and they are great for winter as well.”

For the wild and free – Gardenia, Jasmine, Basil, or Rosemary

“If you’re the type that is wild and free and loves the outdoors, go for something that is floral and green. It usually includes soft floral notes like gardenia and jasmine, and the green factor could be basil, rosemary or tea.”

For the modest ones – Lemon, grapefruit, neroli, and lilies

“If you’re the modest type who likes routine, you would enjoy clean citrusy scents that usually included scents like lemon, grapefruit, neroli, and bergamot. They usually accompany soft flowers like honeysuckle and lilies.”

For the loud and confident – Vanilla, Amber, Benzoin, and Oud

“If you’re the loud and confident who likes to flaunt it, then definitely go for something that is an oriental floral. It usually includes notes like vanilla and amber, benzoin or even oud (the market’s latest obsession). These scents are usually strong and tend to linger longer in the room (my personal favorite).”

As we are welcoming winter season, we took her opinion on selecting the perfect perfumes and she thinks that since perfume is seasonal, in wintertime she tries to look for something that is warm, sweet and spicy. She tries to search for these notes that have the “warm factor” like warm vanilla, Tonka bean, cinnamon, caramel ,benzoin, praline… the list goes on. These notes all have that warm factor that helps you get by in the cold winter nights and they can linger longer on your skin.

When trying out a new perfume, Lobna thinks that “people have to try it on their skin not on their clothes because scents tend to react and change according to your body chemistry. That’s why a specific perfume might smell great on you but not that good on me. You should always apply perfume to pulse points; the heat from your body will help the alcohol to evaporate and release the scent even more. Pulse points are like the backside of your wrists and the hollows of your elbows and on your neck close to your jaw line. If you decided to wear a short dress, you can put it on the hollows of your knees as well. When selecting a perfume, you should spray it on your wrist to see if you like it, then if you do, walk around the store or the mall for a bit (at least 15 minutes) to see if the scent has changed or not and whether you like it or not. As a consumer, you should look for a scent that has a great longevity (staying power) and great silage (aromatic or not …how it spreads in the room).”

In the future, Lobna plans to allow her perfumes to trigger beautiful memories for anyone who uses them. Additionally, she dreams of furthering this career abroad, and starting her own perfumery and make-up line.