How To Know If A Perfume Is Actually Worth Buying, According To A Fragrance Brand Founder

Choosing a signature scent can feel just as intimidating as making a major life decision. We put so much pressure on finding the one—that holy grail perfume that perfectly captures who we are—that we often end up paralyzed by the fear of making the wrong choice. You wander into a fragrance department, and suddenly you're staring at lines of glass bottles, sniffing at those little paper tester strips until your nose can't smell anything anymore.

So, before you drop thousands of pesos on a new bottle, it might be worth changing the way you shop for fragrance in the first place. Instead of fixating on the label, the notes, or where it's made, focus on how the scent actually makes you feel—and, more importantly, whether you actually want to keep smelling it.

If you ask Jun Lim, founder of niche fragrance brand Born To Stand Out (BTSO), obsessing over tiny details can actually sabotage your perfume search. That includes judging a scent by its listed notes, caring too much about the perfumer's prestige, or limiting yourself to fragrances from specific countries.

Jun believes shoppers severely overthink these elements while completely underthinking the actual wear test. "Notes are like a trailer of a movie, and it doesn't actually say anything about the movie," he explains.

Rather than judging a perfume before it even hits your skin, Jun advises to "give it a full wear, live with it, and find your taste." Building a fragrance wardrobe you genuinely love requires the patience to explore beyond that initial spray and the willingness to let the aroma evolve with your own skin chemistry throughout the day.

"Don't just put it on the blotter," Jun urges. "Actually wear the perfume and live with it. And if you still love it? Then that's your perfume."

Many shoppers also exclusively look for perfumes crafted in France or Italy, assuming that because fine fragrance is so predominant in European brands, origin automatically equals quality. Jun is quick to shut down this misconception, pointing out that in 2026, we have global access to premium ingredients.

"Whether you're in the Philippines, Korea, the U.S., or in Europe, you have access to everything," he says. "Don't think about the origin of where the perfume is from."

Having plenty of choices for your fragrance wardrobe is definitely exciting, but it also begs the question: with so many premium options to choose from, how do you know if a particular bottle is actually worth the splurge?

For starters, give the fragrance enough time to develop on your skin. A scent can smell completely different after a few hours than it did on the first spritz, so don't make your final decision based on a quick whiff in the store. If you keep going back to smell your wrist throughout the day, that's a pretty good sign that you've found something you genuinely enjoy.

It's also worth asking yourself whether you actually like the fragrance—or if you just like the idea of it. Maybe the bottle is beautiful, everyone on TikTok is talking about it, or the brand has been on your wishlist forever. But none of that matters if you don't want to smell like it.

For Jun, a fragrance's value ultimately comes down to the emotions and memories it evokes.

"What makes a fragrance worth its buck? Anything that brings me different emotions, different stories," he says. "We will not feel the same emotions smelling the same perfume, right? But as long as it gives you emotions you want to feel, I think that's worth your buck."

In other words, there isn't one universal formula for finding a "good" perfume. The fragrance that's worth the splurge is the one you actually want to wear.

That mindset is at the heart of BTSO. Founded in South Korea in 2022, the fragrance house champions individuality through provocative, unconventional scents that challenge traditional beauty rules. Now, that energy has landed in the Philippines. On September 10, BTSO opened its first Southeast Asian boutique at Glorietta 4 in Makati City.

Filipinos, Jun notes, have really good taste. We naturally gravitate toward wild, challenging fragrances with a distinct personality, making Manila the perfect launchpad for BTSO's unique lineup.

Stepping inside the new boutique means you can finally ditch your safe, everyday spritzes for a lineup that packs some serious attitude. If you're into mouth-watering, unapologetically sexy scents, you'll want to explore the gourmand-heavy "Dirty and Sticky" collection.

Those craving something intoxicating and rebellious can reach for the "Dark and Drunk" collection, and if you prefer a subtle, your-skin-but-better vibe, "Eau Intimite" delivers delicate, cozy blends that melt seamlessly into your skin.

BTSO's Eau de Parfum is priced at P14,350 for 50ml and P20,000 for 100ml, while Eau Intimité retails for P13,750 for 100ml.

If you're still trying to figure out what your signature scent should be, maybe that's the point. You don't have to get it right on the first try—or even stick to just one. As Jun puts it, "Try as much as possible, fail as much as possible, and you'll find your way."