How ScentMatch works
A plain explanation of where our information comes from, what each rating means, and how we are funded.
What ScentMatch is
ScentMatch is an independent fragrance discovery guide for Australian buyers. We do not sell fragrance, hold stock, or accept payment for placement in any list on this site. Our catalogue covers 50 of the world’s best-selling and most-requested fragrances across 31 houses.
How the scent quiz scores matches
The quiz is a transparent weighted scoring model, not a black box. Each of your four answers adds points to every fragrance in the catalogue:
- Scent family — the heaviest weight, because family is the single strongest predictor of whether you will enjoy wearing something.
- Intensity — how much presence you want, scored on a sliding scale so an adjacent answer still counts for something.
- Who it is for — marketed gender, with unisex fragrances always eligible.
- Season — matched against the conditions each fragrance actually performs in.
Every fragrance receives a score and we show you the highest. Because it ranks rather than filters, you always get a usable shortlist instead of an empty result.
What our ratings mean
| Rating | What it describes |
|---|---|
| Longevity | How long the fragrance remains detectable on skin, in hours, under mild conditions. Heat and humidity shorten it; moisturised skin and fabric application extend it. |
| Projection | How far the scent travels from the wearer — from soft (arm’s reach) to very strong (fills a room). |
| Intensity | An overall summary of weight and presence, used by the quiz. Subtle, moderate or bold. |
| Best seasons | The conditions the composition suits, judged against Australian rather than European weather. |
| Indicative price | An approximate Australian retail range for the most common size. Fragrance is discounted almost continuously, so treat it as a ceiling, not a quote. |
Why we do not publish star ratings
Aggregate scores out of ten tell you how a crowd feels, not whether a fragrance suits you. Two people can disagree completely about the same bottle and both be right. Instead of a single number we describe what something smells like, how it performs, and who it suits — then let you decide. We also never invent review counts or ratings to decorate our pages.
Why Australian context matters
Most fragrance writing is produced for the northern hemisphere. A composition described as a perfect summer scent in London can be unwearable in Brisbane, and the reverse is true of the heavy ambers recommended for European winters. Our seasonal guidance is written for Australian conditions, and where humidity or heat changes how something behaves, we say so on the fragrance page.
How we make money
When you follow a pricing link to a retailer, we may earn a commission on a resulting purchase at no additional cost to you. That commission never influences whether a fragrance appears on this site or where it ranks in a list. Full detail is on our affiliate disclosure page.
Corrections
Fragrances get reformulated, prices move and our judgements are exactly that — judgements. If something here is wrong or out of date, we would rather know. See the about page for how to reach us.