Senses feeling overpowered? Lia Sanders helps us on our search for the signature scent.

Spending lots of money on a product which is mainly water seems alien to both the student ethos and budget. Perfume, in popular parlance, is a term that can cover anything from an aftershave containing two percent of aromatic extract to a parfum with twenty-five percent of extract. Yet the price for your bottle of ethanol with a perfume drop is still very high; a seven and a half millilitre bottle of Chanel parfum, for example, will set you back £77.

It is easy to dismiss perfume as an over-hyped commodity which exists to support failing couture houses and greedy celebs. However, scent is an extremely powerful and evocative tool in triggering a memory or giving an impression of a person, which leads to the quest for that signature scent.

When buying a fragrance it is crucial to make your choice based on how it actually smells. Glamorous brand names will do you little good when you smell like the rear end of a raccoon. Like with music, poetry and men, it always takes me a while to fall in love with a scent. You may consider yourself a "nose" and can instantly decide whether or not a perfume is for you. However, a word of caution: fragrances are like people, revealing themselves as time goes on and reacting differently with different people.

When a sales assistance bangs on about the top, heart and base notes they mean the developement of a perfume as it is worn. Initially the often citrusy or fruity top notes in a scent are the most noticeable, before giving priority to the floral heart and then the generally woody base notes. Basically, take the perfume on a few dates before you commit.

Samples are a great way of testing your compatibility with a fragrance before making that commitment. When I was a sales assistant I gave away samples with zeal, but a recce down town as a consumer proved it was harder than I thought to fill one's pockets with perfume. Nevertheless I did get samples of the new Prada, Lancôme, Givenchy and Guerlain. If there are no samples you can always grab a quick spray (or five) from the tester.

Of course, asking for samples will bring you into contact with the dreaded sales adviser. While they are mostly blagging, they may be able to recommend similar fragrances - if only because working nine till five in a fragrance hall gives you plenty of time to sniff bottles. Although consultants will only recommend their own brands, this can cover quite a few seemingly unrelated scents. For example, the behemoth that is Procter and Gamble (a company that controls among others Ariel, Duracell and Gillette) includes Hugo Boss, Christina Aguilera and Gucci.

However, there's nothing quite like having a good root around in the hope of finding some forgotten but delightful bottle. I found Kenzo Amour that way, a perfume which includes "gentle rice" as one of its heart notes and has comforting overtones of Calpol.

Once you've found your perfect fragrance, all that remains is to find the funds to make it your own. My economic suggestion is that you skimp on all other necessities of life in order to buy it. After all, now you have found your signature scent you no longer require pyjamas - you, like Marilyn Monroe, can just wear a few drops of it to bed.