My perfume is stored in a glass cabinet perched on top of my dresser. To guests who only have a bottle or two of fragrance, the cabinet makes a pretty impressive display. After a moment of shock, many people ask, “How do you decide which perfume to wear?”

Little do they know that I choose a perfume to wear not just every morning, but every time I change my clothes — and sometimes more often than that. I wear one perfume when I first get dressed, another one if I go out in the evening, and yet another after my nightly bath. Then there are the “bonus” perfume situations. For instance, I’ve rented Bell, Book, and Candle to watch tonight and am planning something witchy (maybe Lancôme Magie Noire?) to wear while I watch it.

Usually I just tell people who ask that I just wear whatever strikes me. But the real answer is more complicated.

First, my perfume choice depends on the weather. Thicker, warmer, “bigger” perfumes I tend to save for cold weather, and lighter, fresher scents I wear in summer. The bigger perfumes can explode — and not in a good way — in the heat. Lighter scents, on the other hand, can disappear in the cold. Right there, a section of my perfume cabinet falls away…

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