How to use the Discovery Set to find your scent in a week

Wear one Discovery Set scent each day for six days, then use day seven to choose. The Discovery Set perfume samples are six 1 oz jars, one of each obsessed scent, so a single week is enough to meet them all on your own skin.

That is the plan in two lines. The rest of this guide gives you the order to wear them in, what to notice and how to decide. It also links to the other guides we have written for the questions that come up along the way.

What are the Discovery Set perfume samples?

The Discovery Set is six 1 oz sample jars, one of each of our six scents, for $19. The box includes a $15 credit code toward a full jar, so the set is a step toward your first full jar rather than a separate cost.

Each sample is the same pheromone-infused body butter as the full jar: a shea and cocoa butter base that moisturizes and leaves skin soft, absorbs in about a minute with no shine, and carries a designer-inspired scent. Every order is wrapped in a piece of a real coffee sack tied with twine, with a card that says where the sack came from.

Here are the six scents and their headline notes.

• Velvet Lavender: lavender, orange blossom and vanilla. A soft floral for calm confidence, daytime into evening.
• Paris Blush: orange, rose and a little soft patchouli. Bright rose and citrus, for work and everyday.
• Sea Sage: sea salt, sage and grapefruit. Fresh and clean, for warm days and any day.
• Roman Vanilla: bergamot, jasmine and bourbon vanilla. Warm vanilla with a bright top, for dates and cold weather.
• Crimson Amber: saffron, jasmine and amberwood. Warm and sweet, for evenings, and one of our two louder scents.
• Dark Tuberose: tuberose, jasmine and cacao. A deep white floral, for winter and nights out, and the other louder scent.

How does the week work?

One scent a day, in an order that goes from soft to bold. That way your nose is not recovering from something loud on day two. Choose ordinary days, ideally ones without strong food or other perfume around.

Day 1: Velvet Lavender

Start soft. After your shower, while skin is still damp, take one scoop and press it onto your neck, collarbone, chest and wrists. Notice how it opens, and how it feels about three hours later.

Day 2: Paris Blush

Bright and rosy. This is the one to wear to work or a lunch. Ask yourself whether it still feels like you at the end of the day.

Day 3: Sea Sage

Fresh and salty. If you usually choose florals, this will feel like a change. Pay attention to whether you like the change or miss the flowers.

Day 4: Roman Vanilla

The warm vanilla with a bright top. Wear it on an evening, even if the evening is a quiet one at home. Check whether the vanilla feels cozy or too sweet.

Day 5: Crimson Amber

Louder and warm. Save it for a day with plans, a dinner or a drink with a friend. Notice whether people lean in, and whether you like the scent in your own space.

Day 6: Dark Tuberose

The deepest of the six. Wear it on the night you would most like to feel dressed up. If it is too much, that is useful to know.

Day 7: choose

No new scent today. Look at your notes, and wear the scent you are leaning toward. If you are unsure between two, wear one on your neck and chest and the other on your wrists and compare, but do not mix more than that.

How do you judge each scent?

Use three questions, and write the answers on your phone each night.

1. How did it smell in the first ten minutes?
2. How did it smell after a few hours, when the top notes had gone?
3. Would I be happy to smell this again tomorrow?

The third question matters most. A scent you admire is not always one you want to live in. Look for the one you reach for again.

Skin chemistry changes how a scent settles, so what a friend loves may not suit you. The scent also lasts 12+ hours on most skin, longest when applied to damp skin after a shower, so by evening you are smelling the heart and base, not the first impression.

If you want to read more on testing well, our guide to how to test a perfume on skin, not on paper goes through it.

What if your skin is sensitive?

Patch test first. Put a small amount of one sample on your inner forearm and watch it for a day before you wear it on your neck or chest. Our guide to body butter and sensitive skin explains how, and what to do if skin reacts. Our butter is fragranced and contains a pheromone ingredient; the full ingredient list is coming soon.

How do you choose between your top two?

Ask where you will wear it most. For work and everyday, the lighter scents win. For evenings and dates, the warmer ones do. If you want both, that is a good case for a small rotation of two or three scents, which is the way I wear mine.

Avoid wearing two loud scents together. If your favorites are Crimson Amber and Dark Tuberose, choose which gets the nights out and which gets the winter, and give the quieter days to something lighter.

For help narrowing it down, the find your scent quiz and the compare page put the six side by side.

What do you do after the week?

Use the $15 credit code that came in the box toward a full 6 oz (170 g) jar of your winner. A full jar is $25, so the credit makes your first one considerably cheaper. Two jars are $43.38 with a free travel tin, and three are $58.08 with a free mystery gift.

Once your jar arrives, our guide to getting the most from a 6 oz jar shows how much to use and how to store it. If it arrives soft in warm weather, read what to do if your body butter arrives soft: a spell in the fridge firms it back up.

If the full jar is not right, there is a free scent swap within 14 days, and our guide on how to choose again without guessing helps you pick the next one. Reply to your order email to start. If you are still weighing whether to shop for fragrance online at all, read questions to ask before buying a fragrance online.

Can you give the Discovery Set as a gift?

Yes, and it suits the friend who loves to try things. It also works when you do not know someone's taste. She gets six small jars to try and a credit toward her favorite. Our gift page has more ideas, and the holiday gift guide covers seasonal picks.

What should you avoid during the week?

A few small things help the test stay clean.

• Do not wear another perfume, a scented lotion or a heavily fragranced body wash on the same days.
• Do not mix two samples in one day.
• Do not judge a scent in the first minute. Give it a few hours.
• Do not store the jars in a hot place. Butter softens in heat, so keep them in a cool drawer.

If the week is a bad one for testing, a trip, a cold, a stretch of strong cooking smells, wait. Nose blindness and congestion can both change what you smell. It is better to take ten days than to choose on a day you could not smell properly.

How does the Discovery Set compare with buying a full jar first?

A full jar is a commitment to one scent. The Discovery Set is a way to find which one deserves it. At $19, with a $15 credit, it costs little more than the difference. If you already know your scent, go straight to the full jar. If you are choosing between several, start with the set.

Quick answers

What is in the obsessed Discovery Set?

Six 1 oz sample jars, one of each scent, for $19. The box includes a $15 credit code toward a full jar.

How long should I wear each sample?

One day each. Wear it from the morning after your shower to the evening, and note how it changes.

Can I try two samples in one day?

It is better not to. Two scents blur together and you will not know which you liked. One a day gives a clear answer.

What if I do not like any of them?

Reply to your order email. Our 30-day money-back guarantee is claimed that way.

Ready to start? Order the Discovery Set and begin your week.