What perfume to wear on a date

Most fragrance advice for going out is about being noticed. A date is different. You will spend the evening a table width away from one person, and the goal is to be pleasant at arm’s length rather than obvious across a room.

What works up close

Warm notes read as inviting at close range: vanilla, tonka, amber, soft spice, coffee, musk. Very fresh or very sharp scents can feel clean but a little distant. And anything built to project will be too much across a small table.

For her

For him

For anyone

How to wear it

1. Two sprays, on the neck or chest. Not more.
2. Apply ten minutes before you leave, so the opening has settled by the time you arrive.
3. Choose something you have worn before. A new scent on a first date is one more unknown.
4. Skip it entirely for dinner at a very small restaurant, or go down to one spray.

Match the setting

The same scent behaves differently depending on where you are. Heat and humidity make fragrance feel stronger, so an outdoor summer date calls for a lighter hand or a fresher choice. A cold evening, a cinema or a quiet bar can carry something warmer and richer.

• Summer or outdoors: one spray, or something with citrus on top and a soft musky base.
• Winter or indoors: the warmer scents above suit it, vanilla, spice and tonka come into their own in the cold.
• Dinner: keep it light. Strong fragrance competes with food, and your date is tasting as well as talking.

What to avoid

A brand-new fragrance you have never worn for a full evening. Scents change a lot as they dry down, and discovering halfway through dinner that you dislike the base is a distraction you do not need.

Watch the other scented things you are wearing too. A strongly scented shampoo, deodorant or body lotion can clash with your perfume. Unscented or matching products let the fragrance come through as intended.

If you do not know what they like

Soft, skin-like scents are the safest bet: musks, a little vanilla, gentle woods. They are rarely polarising, and they read as you rather than as a perfume. Save the bold, divisive choices for when you know the person better.

The best date-night fragrance is one the other person only notices when they lean in. If they can smell it when you walk through the door, it is too much.