Note Perfect - A Guide To Choosing Your Ultimate Scent

Do you know your ambergris from your orris, your bergamot from your neroli? In the hunt for that ever elusive perfume partner, the answer is all in the notes...

Wearing the right fragrance is just as important a part of our daily routine as picking out an outfit or styling our hair, but for many of us, finding a scent that suits proves something of a challenge.

And with so many perfumes to choose from, discovering the perfect blend isn't an easy task, as top fragrance expert Michael Edwards explains.

"We all are programmed to like certain smells and dislike others. Our response to odour and fragrance, say scientists, is partly learned and partly genetic. We are born with definite likes and dislikes, as well as sensitivity to certain smells."

While our first impressions of a perfume might be positive, as the scent starts to unravel on our skin and the inner notes reveal themselves, it may create a completely different response altogether.

To unlock the scent secrets of these notes, InStyle's Tara Gardner headed to the perfume lab to try to uncover the perfect blend…