How to Find Your Signature Winter Scent (The One People Stop You to Ask About)

Cold air dulls smell, so fresh citrus and sea-salt scents are basically gone by 10am. Vanilla, amber, woods and spice hang around longer and actually make it through three layers of knitwear. In short: go warmer, go deeper.

Cosy pub by the fire: smoky woods. Cedar, vetiver, a bit of incense. Maison Margiela Replica By the Fireplace is the obvious pick and it's obvious for a reason. Roasted chestnuts and cashmere, basically.

Would eat your perfume if you could: gourmand. Vanilla, tonka, caramel. Kayali Vanilla 28 is all over TikTok, but Jo Malone Myrrh & Tonka is the grown-up version.

Clean, but expensive: skin musks. Glossier You and Le Labo Santal 33 sit close and smell like you, only better. Very 'just got out of a nice hotel shower'.

Main character energy: rich florals and spice like rose, oud and saffron. Byredo and Diptyque are the places to start.

Spray your skin, not the paper strip. It smells completely different on you.

Two at a time, max. After that your nose gives up.

Wear it for at least four hours before you decide.

Get a discovery set or a travel size first, so you're not £150 down on something you hate by Thursday. Or just ask for samples. The counters at Selfridges are usually lovely about it.

Moisturise first, because scent clings to hydrated skin. Hit your wrists, neck and the ends of your hair, then give your scarf a mist. Wool holds fragrance for days, which is basically free perfume.

And when you find The One, stick with it. There's something so chic about being the person who always smells the same.

Perfume descriptions can read like another language, so here's the short version. Gourmand means foody: vanilla, caramel, tonka bean, coffee. Woody means cedar, sandalwood and vetiver, the smell of a cabin or a freshly sharpened pencil in the best way. Amber isn't actually a single ingredient. It's warm, resinous and slightly sweet. Musk is skin-like and soft. Oud is smoky, deep and very strong, so go easy.

Most winter scents mix two or three of these. Once you know which you like, you can read a description and know straight away whether it's worth a sniff.

Full bottles are expensive, so test properly first. Liberty's beauty hall is the best place in London to smell niche brands you won't find elsewhere, and Selfridges has more counters than you'll get round in an afternoon. Ask for samples. Most counters will happily give them. Discovery sets are the other smart move. Le Labo, Diptyque, Byredo and Jo Malone all sell them, often with a voucher towards the full size.

Wear each sample for a whole day, not just an hour. The first spray is the top notes. The real scent, the one people will remember, comes through after a couple of hours.

Zara's fragrances have a cult following for good reason, and several are made by the same perfumers behind designer brands. M&S has a surprisingly good Apothecary range. And The Perfume Shop and Boots run regular offers on the big names, especially in the run-up to Christmas, so put your favourite on a wishlist and wait.

Once you've found a scent you love, you can make it last longer by layering. A matching body lotion or an unscented rich cream underneath gives the fragrance something to hold on to. Some people spray a simpler scent like a vanilla or a musk underneath to make it their own. Just stick to two. Three scents at once is a department store lift, not a signature.

Keep bottles out of the bathroom. Heat, steam and light break perfume down, and that £150 bottle will turn faster than you'd think. A drawer or a shelf away from the window is perfect. Keep the box if you have space. Perfume does go off eventually, and if it smells sharp or vinegary at the top, it's time. But if you only wear something in winter, it'll last for years.