How do you use a fragrance finder to find a good perfume?

If there is no opportunity to sample the perfume personally and consult with a retail associate, visit a fragrance-finder website. Follow the company's prompts to input the requested information, and then select one of the fragrances that it suggests. Using a online fragrance-finder may prove disappointing because it doesn't take into account the perfume's rate of evaporation, or how the fragrance blends with the skin's natural oils and moisture.

Bath & Body Works has an online fragrance-finder that guesses the customer's mood and personality, then suggests some of its products. The customer selects some icons and drags them into a virtual perfume bottle. These may include a butterfly, a candle, a tube of lipstick, or a high-heeled shoe. Next, the website explains what those icons symbolize when combined. It then prompts the customer to choose their activity or special occasion, such as a yoga class or a wedding. Then it displays fragrances that it deems appropriate for the customer's mood and activity.

Nordstrom's website is much simpler. It prompts the customer to choose from a list that includes four choices: floral, fresh, oriental or wood. It then displays all the fragrances in its inventory that are similar. Selecting floral from the list brings back a list of floral fragrances, such as Daisy by Marc Jacobs and Orange Blossom by Jo Malone.

Some online fragrance-finders are playful and others are straight-forward, but the end result is the same: promotion of the company's inventory to the curious consumer.