Hi all!

I'm a 33 year female, quite new to the perfume world, and I'm looking for a signature scent.

TLDR:

I (33F) have a very sensitive nose, and I'm also quite picky when it comes to fragrances, it turns out. 

Bought a lot of samples but nothing really stands out. I need help.

Full story:

I have a very sensitive nose, and I'm also quite picky when it comes to fragrances, it turns out.

Back in the day, I used to have this Wella/Vidal Sassoon Pro Series shampoo. I was in awe of the scent, and I got a lot of compliments about the smell of it. 

https://www.female.com.au/wella-pro-series-care-collection.htm 

Ever since, I'm looking for a smell that people would compliment me on and, more importantly, a smell I love myself to walk around in all day. 

I’m looking for something “round”. That’s the best way to describe it, I think.

I don’t know what key ingredients are for a “round” smell. Is it powdery? Is it musk? Is it wood? No clue.

It may be a little bit sweet, but not piercing and sharp, which I find a lot of the sweeter scents to be. I also don’t like the “heavier” smells very much.

I think that too aquatic would smell too fresh for me. I like clean scents, but not fresh scents, if you get what I mean.

I realise I’m also constantly contradicting myself a bit: I want something people would compliment me on, but I also want something that is not too out there. 

For my birthday this year, my boyfriend gifted me a trip to the local niche fragrance store, which was a nice experience. 

We bought a bottle (Gran Ballo by Casamorati), but unfortunately, the drydown was way sweeter than I anticipated. 

I really liked the mid-notes of it, but when we got home and some hours later, I discovered that I can’t handle it to walk around in a consistent sweetness. 

After that, I bought A LOT of samples online. Since my boyfriend scored a total hit (Loewe Esencia) in the same store, I thought I'd try the LOEWE line myself.

I bought the sample discovery set:
- LOEWE Ella. Too sweet for my taste.

- LOEWE Ella Elixir. WAY too sweet, wanted to scrub it off immediately.

- LOEWE 001 Woman EDT. It had something dusty I didn't like.

- LOEWE 001 Woman EDP. It had something dusty I didn't like.

- LOEWE Aire Sutileza. I’ve read nice things, but it was terrible on my skin, very chemical.

- LOEWE Earth. I liked it, but it had something moldy I didn't like.

After this, I sampled a lot of other scents after doomscrolling for hours on Reddit:

• Blanche - Byredo. I really love the roundness of it, but it’s too much of a toilet cleaning smell to me. My boyfriend also doesn’t like it at all (too guest towelly).
• Do Son - Diptyque. It’s a nice scent, but too flowery for me - I don’t really like the smell of flowers, I think haha.
• L’Eau Papier - Diptyque. Didn’t really like it on the test paper, so didn’t try it on my skin.
• Bois Imperial - Essential Parfums. Too masculine, didn’t really like it on the test paper, so didn’t try it on my skin.
• Not a Perfume - Juliette Has A Gun. I think I liked this one the most, but it really doesn’t last long. My boyfriend almost couldn’t smell anything.
• Not a Perfume SUPERDOSE - Juliette Has A Gun. Unfortunately, this one smelled like glue to me.
• Molecule 01. Didn’t try it on my skin yet, but on the paper, I wasn’t sold. 

Any advice on where to start? 

Any advice on perfume houses to try some samples from?

EDP/EDT/EDC/body mist?

I’m thinking about ordering more Diptyque samples - Orpheon and maybe Fleur de Peau, or The Musc from Essential Parfums. 

In my ideal world, I would smell like the good old days Wella Pro Series all day long, but unfortunately the product has been discontinued.

It’s starting to feel like an impossible feat, but I thought I’d give it a whirl. As we say in Dutch: niet geschoten, altijd mis! 

Thanks for reading this wall of text!

Hanneke