Let Troye Sivan Show You How To Buy Fragrance Online
December 3 | 2 minute read
Words by Christie Sinclair
With a little help from expert ‘noses’, including world-famous pop star and founder of Melbourne-made fragrance brand Tsu Lange Yor, Troye Sivan – who somehow found a moment to chat between his sellout Sweat tour with Charli XCX and his own Something To Give Each Other tour – we’ll help eliminate the ‘blind buying’ element and guide you to a fragrance that feels like it was made just for you, all without smelling it.
1. Pay attention to the feeling
How do you want to feel when wearing your next spritz? Like you’ve spent a week lounging around on a mega yacht in the Med, or perhaps spent all night on the dance floor? “Literal descriptions can only get you so far,” says Sivan, whose fragrance line conjures special elements of Australian life – the sunscreen-y scent of the local pool in summer, a barefoot walk through the bush, et al. “Always pay attention to the feeling,” he adds. “We try to embed the characteristics of a scent into so much more than the written description, such as the colours, imagery and music we curate in the campaign around the fragrance.”
There are also brands like Vyrao, whose fragrances promote specific emotions and energetic states, explains MECCA’s Fragrance, Hair & Body Education Lead Steven Glyde: “It means you can look for a fragrance that perfectly aligns with how you want to feel.”
2. Consult the Fragrance Wheel
Most of us gravitate to a particular scent family without even thinking about it. So when buying blind, Sivan suggests matching your preferences to complementary scents using the Fragrance Wheel.
Developed by renowned fragrance expert Michael Edwards, the Fragrance Wheel organises perfumes into four main scent families – floral, woody, fresh and amber – making it easier to understand a scent’s overall vibe. “It's like a colour chart, but for scent,” says Sivan. “It helped me better describe my thoughts and feelings about certain notes and ingredients, and I think it can help understand scent descriptions online as well.”
Glyde agrees it’s a useful tool to “build your fragrance literacy.” If you already have a fragrance you love, look at the key notes, then use the Fragrance Wheel to choose something from the same family; if you want something totally different, pick from the opposite side of the wheel.
And if you’re searching for a perfume gift, "ask people for the names of their three or four favourite fragrances; almost invariably, you'll find that at least two of them belong to a single fragrance family,” explains Edwards.
3. Be cautious of online reviews
4. Resist the latest trends
5. Try a discovery set
If the brand you love doesn’t offer a discovery set, or you have your heart set on a specific fragrance, Glyde suggests buying a smaller or travel-sized bottle so you can get a feel for the fragrance. Plus, these adorable Byredo, Diptyque, Le Labo, Maison Margiela minis make great travel companions or additions to your handbag.
6. Stay open minded
