We don't think this rule has actually been written down, but we're just going to throw it out there. Once you've graduated from college or entered your 20s, you should say an official goodbye to any perfume that you bought in a drugstore while you were in high school. Ditto for any fragrance bearing the name of a teen idol. (Farewell, Someday by Justin Bieber.)
Once you've jettisoned the cheap teenybopper perfumes of your youth -- and perhaps earned a little money -- the adult perfume world is yours for the taking. And believe us, it is enormous. On one hand, the choices are almost endless, which can be exhilarating. But it can also be pretty overwhelming. You might have a vague notion of what scents you're drawn to, but if you don't know the lingo, it can be hard to know where to start. You don't want to smell like Justin Bieber's girlfriend anymore, but you'd also like to avoid wearing a fragrance that's too old -- there's no need for White Diamonds or Chanel No. 5 just yet.
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In your 30s and 40s, you might be more concerned with finding your "signature scent" and owning an uncommon, striking fragrance that no one else has. But in your 20s, you probably won't mind wearing a popular, well-known fragrance once in a while. Celebrity perfumes are a common entryway into the fragrance world -- some people turn up their noses at fragrances emblazoned with the face of a singer or actress, but quite a few of them are very well-reviewed by perfume critics (yes, there are perfume critics).
To get you started, we picked out five pretty popular, young fragrances -- all with totally different personalities and scent profiles. Three of them are celebrity perfumes, one has been a best-seller (and a critic favorite) for a decade, and one is a fresh scent from a classic perfume house.
