Fresh, floral or woody? Find your scent family

Most people love one or two families of scent and rarely stray from them. Once you know yours, choosing a new perfume gets much easier: you can skip whole shelves and go straight to what you're likely to enjoy. Here are the six families we use across our shop, with an example of each.

Fresh & Clean

Sea breeze, lemon zest, a crisp white shirt. Fresh scents are built on citrus, aquatic and green notes. They feel light, easy and clean, and they're the safest choice for hot weather and the office.

Try Afnan Supremacy Collector's Edition (pineapple, bergamot, oak moss) or Calvin Klein Eternity Aqua. See all fresh scents.

Floral & Elegant

A garden in bloom. Rose, jasmine, peony and white flowers sit at the heart of these perfumes. They can be soft and powdery or bold and heady, and they're the largest family on our shelves.

Try Versace Dylan Purple (pear, freesia, cedarwood) or Maison Alhambra Delilah (rose, lychee, vanilla). See all floral scents.

Fruity & Sunny

Juicy fruit, bright and playful. Think watermelon, berries, peach and pineapple. These scents feel cheerful and young, and they shine in spring and summer.

Try Dolce & Gabbana L'Impératrice (watermelon, kiwi, pink cyclamen) or Xerjoff Erba Pura (orange, fruity notes, amber). See all fruity scents.

Sweet & Cozy

Vanilla, caramel, a little dessert. Perfumers call these gourmand scents: warm, edible notes like praline, cocoa and tonka bean. They feel comforting and they last well, especially in cooler months.

Try Carolina Herrera Good Girl (almond, coffee, tuberose, cacao) or Billie Eilish Eilish (red berries, vanilla, cocoa). See all sweet scents.

Warm & Spicy

Amber glow, cardamom, cinnamon. Warm scents mix spices with resins and amber. They feel confident and a little dressed up, which makes them a natural choice for evenings.

Try Afnan 9 PM (apple, cinnamon, vanilla, amber) or Burberry Brit for Him (cardamom, ginger, tonka bean). See all warm scents.

Deep & Woody

Smoke, leather, oud, candlelight. Woody scents are built on sandalwood, cedar, vetiver and oud. They're deep and grounding, and they're usually the longest-lasting of all.

Try Guerlain Samsara (sandalwood, jasmine, vanilla) or YSL L'Homme La Nuit (cardamom, lavender, cedarwood). See all woody scents.

How to find yours

Start with what you already own. Look up the notes of two or three perfumes you've loved, and you'll usually see the same family again and again. The candles, foods and places you're drawn to are good clues too: people who love the beach often end up with fresh scents, and people who love autumn often end up with warm or woody ones.

Short on time? Our scent quiz asks a few simple questions about the places and moments you love, then suggests perfumes from our shelves that match.