Find your fragrance
Welcome to the mysterious world of fragrance. We’re here to help you unravel the mystery of your nose and find your fragrance. There are some very good reasons why human smell is so powerful and why our experience of scent is so personal. Those wise Ancient Egyptians revered the nose as the most important of all orifices. Turns out our clever schnozzles can detect 10,000 more smells than the tongue can detect tastes. Smell was the first sense to develop in our ancient brains and it’s wired to the emotional part of our brain that connects to our memory. So, let’s help unleash your nose power.
How to pick the right fragrance?
Choosing a scent for yourself or someone you love can be tricky, but fear not, we’re here to help you train your nose to start matching fragrances to a mood, a person or an important event. First, open your senses to identify your favourite family scent. Smell evokes powerful emotional responses – triggering feelings of happiness, sadness, excitement or calm. Now that you’ve become a perfumer’s nose, it is time to learn the ins and outs of fragrance concentration and pick your preferred fragrance type. Eau de toilette or Eau de parfum will no longer hold any secrets for you. Read our tips to find your signature scent or choose the perfect fragrance gift for a special someone.
Compare by scent
Did you know there are such things as "fragrance families"? Yep. Just like colours, scents can be grouped together according to how closely related they are – and even matched with complementary scents, just like colours. Fragrance families can be split into four main groups – fresh, floral, warm and woody – each having distinct characteristics. You’ll find your schnozzle gravitates towards one scent family over another without much help from your conscious brain. So, go with this instinctual response and sniff out scents that belong to your nose’s favourite family. Have a nose round our Fragrance Finder for some inspiration.
Sensual
Do you dream of awakening your sensuality and self-confidence? Both are powerful, complex, beautiful and ever-changing things that should be celebrated. White Musk® does just that, it’s a sensual musky mix of clean aldehydes, jasmine absolute and lily of the valley. A spritz of its refreshingly light and beautifully floral notes is the reminder we all need that we have the power to define ourselves. Its notes remind us all day of our self-love, self-expression and strength. Your body, your power.
FLORAL
Is your happy place walking into a florist and burying your nose in a bunch of pillowy peonies? Or do you daydream of lying in a field of wildflowers on a summer’s day, just breathing in the sweet, perfume aromas? If either of those are a yes, then that’s a good indicator that ‘floral’ is your family of scents. White Musk® Flora blends uplifting notes of bergamot with a blooming bouquet of roses and lily of the valley for a fresh, modern twist of our iconic White Musk® fragrance. Heaven scent.
FRESH
Does your imagination perk up when you dream of wandering through a lemon grove to find a hidden coastal cove with the ocean lashing against the rocks? If that’s the case, you might find your nose is pointing you in the direction of invigorating ‘fresh’ scents with ‘fruity’ twists. Look no further than our refreshingly light and fruity blend – White Musk® L’Eau. This uplifting megastar has notes of anisic tarragon and lily of the valley.
WARM
Do you shut your eyes and whisk yourself off to somewhere warm that’s full of rich scents, opulence, spices and deep florals? If your nose is twitching, it’s possible you’re being seduced by the warm and spicy fragrance family. Discover our dark and addictive Black Musk scent, with captivating notes of spicy pink pepper and creamy ylang-ylang, combined with fierce musk and a sensuous vanilla base. It’ll leave you feeling empowered and believing your own hype.
Compare by scent
Did you know there are such things as ‘scent families’? Yep. Just like colours, scents can be grouped together according to how closely related they are – and even matched with complementary scents, just like colours. Scent families are broken up into four main groups – floral, oriental, woody and fresh – each having distinct characteristics. You’ll find your schnozzle gravitates towards one scent family over another without much help from your conscious brain. So, go with this instinctual response and sniff out scents that belong to your nose’s favourite family. Have a nose round our Fragrance Finder for some inspiration.
Floral perfume
Is your happy place walking into a florist and sniffing freshly cut lilies up close, (being careful not to get poked with pollen!), or sticking your nose into a luscious velvety rose? If yes, that’s a good indicator that ‘floral perfume’ is your family of scents. Your nose might think it’s been teleported to a pink-petalled paradise with White Musk® Flora blends uplifting notes of bright bergamot, graceful muguet and comforting musk for a fresh, empowering and daring twist on our sensual, cruelty-free musk that’s 100% vegan.
Fresh (& Floral)
Does your imagination perk up when you dream of wandering through a lemon grove to find a hidden coastal cove with the ocean lashing against the rocks? If that’s the case, you might find your nose is pointing you in the direction of invigorating ‘fresh’ scents with ‘fruity’ twists. Look no further than our signature scent that’s been around since 1981 – White Musk® L’eau Eau de Toilette. This uplifting megastar is a floral blend of lily of the valley, jasmine and rose essence, sweetened with succulent pear for a fruity wink.
Compare by fragrance type
For centuries humans have been trying to capture the alluring scents of nature to enhance their own smell. Perfumes combine with our own unique body chemistry and smell slightly different on every person, making choosing your fragrance all the more fun and personal. Once you’ve identified a scent family your nose longs for, next you have to decide how intense you want the smell to be. The word perfume comes from the Latin ‘per’ meaning ‘through’ and ‘fumum’, or ‘smoke’. In the early days perfumes were made from natural oils and then pressed or steamed. Science now allows perfumes to be made in all kinds of clever ways in harmony with the planet. The intensity and how long a scent lasts depends on the concentration of oil it’s made with – ‘eau de parfum’ being higher and lasting the longest, with ‘eau de toilette ‘ being lighter and ‘body mist’ being the most delicate of all three.
Eau de Parfum
Eau de Parfum is super sensual and made with the highest concentration of oil. It’s an intense hit on the senses, lasting up to 6-8 hours. You might go for a perfume on an important day that turns into night, or when you want to draw someone special in close until the early hours. A perfect enchanting perfume partner to give you confidence for big occasions is our White Musk® Eau de Parfum, a firm favourite with you guys since our early days. We were the first people to capture that elusive ‘musk’ scent without harming deer, that’s why it’s famous for being cruelty free. It’s a beautiful light, seductive floral fragrance – you won’t fail to be followed around by an army of admirers with this beautiful scent on your person.
Eau de Toilette
Don’t be bamboozled by the name ‘Eau de Toilette’ – for the French speakers amongst you, know that it’s not a direct translation to ‘toilet water’ (that would be funny but incorrect!). It’s alluding to water you use to prepare yourself for going out. This versatile glamour puss has slightly less oil concentration than perfume so you can pop it on as a light natural addition to amazing you, whatever mission you’re on, day or night. It will leave a trail of subtle gorgeousness about your person for around 4-5 hours. There’s no better everyday partner-in-crime than our White Musk® Eau de Toilette, as ever, cruelty free and the perfect bundle of feminine florals to put a spring in your step whatever the weather.
Body Mist
Body Mist, as the name suggests, is a wonderful refresher that you can take on your daily travels and spray all over your body to liven up the mood. It has a low concentration of oils and lasts up to 1-2 hours. So, it’s perfect if you’re more at ease with a lighter scent, especially in the daytime during summer months, where there are lots of smells mingling in the air. At this time, more delicate fragrances tend to create more harmony with you and your environment. And of course we have our most loved scent ready for you in a Body Mist too, say hello to our White Musk® Fragrance Mist – a heaven-sent welcoming floral spritz. Invigorating enough to have you imagining cartwheeling all over the park with joy.
Perfume Oil
And for one final choice of scent intensity, we have Perfume Oil. This deeply sensuous oil and its scent may develop quicker or certain elements of the fragrance may be more noticeable than with a perfume, plus it lasts for up to 10 hours. It’s really down to personal choice so always try a tester and see how you feel. If it gets to part of your brain never previously reached, it might well be your thing. Our gorgeous White Musk® Perfume Oil helps deliver a rich rounded burst of floral notes that you’ll be delighted to have about your person for the long haul.
“Have used it for many years and still receive compliments on the scent, even from strangers!”
Pepster56
About White Musk® Eau de Toilette
Our best fragrances for him
Tradition says there are masculine and feminine scents, but in reality, whatever you fancy goes. Our olfactory senses meet the memory part of our brain and it may be that certain fragrances remain associated with people or gender from our past. So, back in the day, granny may have only had floral scents to choose from, meaning we might associate those more strongly with ladies. We want the guys to feel special, so we’ve created special fragrances for him. But ultimately it’s up to you, your noses and how every individual body reacts differently with any given scent.
Woody/Spicy
Next up we have something special for the passionate guy who leaves no stone unturned when fighting for the greater good. He’s everyone’s leader, all heart and all action – whether it’s an elderly neighbour who needs a helping hand or a global issue that needs a smart idea. For him, try our Activist™ Eau de Toilette, it’s the perfect life-enhancing balance of a warm and spicy heart with toe-tingling woody base notes.
Citrus/Fresh
And something for he who’s the life and soul of the party – everyone’s favourite host or guest at the dinner table. Whether he’s got everyone doubled up in laughter or impressing us with his culinary skills, he’s our no. 1 uplifting pal. Say hello to our Kistna Eau de Toilette, an inspiring fresh and aromatic scent, with citrus – grapefruit and mandarin popping through, a herbal heart with tantalizing base notes of cedarwood, patchouli and musk. It’s as divine as he is.
How to apply perfume?
Is there a knack for applying perfume? The answer is yes! There are ways to make sure you get the most out of your scent and help make it last longer. And who wouldn’t want your nose and all the snozzles around you to enjoy whatever gorgeousness you’re exuding for as long as possible. Here are some of our top tips to take you and your nose on a blissful journey into the dreamy world of scent expertise.
Step 1
First up, where’s the best place to spray perfume? You’re looking for your ‘pulse points’ – places where your blood vessels are close to the surface, helping the scent to get absorbed by your body efficiently and where there’s more heat to help it diffuse. So, there’s the obvious places like your wrists and neck, but you can also head to less obvious places like the inside of your elbows and your knees or just below your belly button.
Step 2
When it comes to what distance from your body to spray at, it’s slightly personal and can affect the intensity of the scent. But as a general rule of thumb, or should we say nose, you don’t want your skin to appear wet with the scent. You want to be far enough away so the fragrance arrives on your skin as a fine spray and is diffused over a patch of skin where it can be absorbed easily. This tends to be at least 5 inches (12cm) away from your body.
Step 3
Now for a major myth buster – you may have seen your mum or seductive actors in adverts spray onto their wrists and then dab them together as though sending the scent deep into the body or savouring it for a seductive moment. Wrong! Perfume likes best to be left to settle atom-by-atom on your skin and gently diffuse and reveal itself to you and the world in it’s own time. Rubbing it may encourage it to vanish faster than if you leave it to its own devices.
Step 4
Now this may sound obvious, but in the depths of winter it’s easy to forget. Perfume likes to breathe on your skin and gently immerse itself into the air around you. So, if you squirt behind your knees and then cover up with thick wooly tights, that heavenly scent will stay in your tights and not get to be unleashed on the world. So, you’ve got lots of options where to spray, just choose the places you’re not about to cover up with clothes. Simple!
Step 5
Just like a lot of things with a naturally-derived, where you store your perfume will factor into its lifespan. The heat and humidity of the bathroom may cause it to disperse its scent quicker, as will a sunny bathroom shelf or bedroom window sill. Best places to pop it are somewhere cool, away from radiators and sunbeams. A cool bathroom cabinet or dressing table out of the sunlight will do the trick nicely.
