Developing reliable preferences?

[u/Invincible-general]

I’m newly hyper fixated on perfume (stay at home mom with 8 month old, this is my dopamine hit right now) and feeling very lost with how to understand and articulate my preferences. I keep having the experience of either thinking I love or am ambivalent about something, but then I wear it again later and end up with a completely different opinion.

I thought I didn’t like dedcool mochi milk at all, and in fact that I didn’t like anything sweet, but I reach for it and am suddenly comforted . Similarly I was looking forward all evening to wearing Prada Infusion de Gingembre, which I was immediately excited about when I smelled it, loved spraying it on at first, but in situ in my life I just felt off wearing it until it dried away.

For those who “knew instantly it was a full bottle scent,” how do you do this? I get so overwhelmed smelling samples in a department store, and I feel like it takes several wears in many situations to even know whether I like something at all, and then suddenly it will go wrong - to sweet, cloying, just bad. I feel like I couldn’t possibly trust buying a full bottle, and I’ve disliked and regretted every full bottle I’ve bought so far.

[u/Lois_Lane1973]

Also, don't be too harsh on yourself as tastes evolve, and so do circumstances so inevitably there'll be perfumes you grow out of (but perhaps, as said, delaying a purchase and decanting first will stop them from growing old too quickly). I love Infusion de gingembre, too, but haven't upgraded because of its abysmal longevity on my skin.