The best way to test a perfume is to apply it on the skin, or, if you do not feel like applying it on your skin, smell it from a blotter. When you smell a perfume directly from the bottle, you will mainly feel the odor of alcohol and the top notes scent. Perfume should be allowed to unite with your skin, what takes 10-15 minutes after it was applied. The best thing to do is to take a walk and snuffle the perfumed spot on your skin from time to time. Do not try to test more than three perfumes one after another, as your olfactory sense can not take more than that. After smelling several perfumes you will not be able to capture their essence.
It is best to test the perfume in the same concentration you are planning to purchase – perfume, eau de perfume, or eau de toilette. If you are offered to test the fragrance in a form of deodorant or body oil and lotion, you will miss the richness of the fragrance composition, because deodorant and body care products are not meant to present the perfume, but to accompany it. Bear in mind that sometimes eau de toilette can be different from eau de perfume of the same type, not only in concentration but in composition as well (Allure Chanel, Crystalle Chanel, Coco Mademoiselle Chanel, Narciso Rodriguez for Her).