In April 2005, Oprah Winfrey talked about Tory Burch on her show, and the brand's website took eight million hits the next day. The store in Nolita had opened a little over a year before, in February 2004, and had sold out on day one. That is a fast climb for a label that started as one small shop in Manhattan. The clothes made the name. It took years for the name to end up in a bottle.

I like that the fragrance side still feels like a founder's project. The first Tory Burch eau de parfum arrived in September 2013, made under licence with the Estee Lauder Companies. Shiseido took over the beauty licence in 2020, and the first line it launched was Essence of Dreams in 2022. Here is the detail that sold me: Tory Burch told Marie Claire that the vetiver in Cosmic Wood reminds her of her father, who always wore vetiver. A tory burch perfume, in other words, is closer to biography than to trend. She also ties each scent to a feeling, and calls them genderless, so borrow freely.

The trick is to choose by the feeling, not the name on the shelf. Start with the two Sublime bottles, the eau de parfum and the eau de toilette, which is a tidy way to compare an eau de parfum with an eau de toilette of the same scent. Signature Eau de Parfum sits beside them if you want the classic Tory Burch bottle. Then the Essence of Dreams five. Divine Moon is the one the brand ties to peace, Electric Sky to freedom, Cosmic Wood to magic, Sublime Rose to love and Mystic Geranium to joy. Pick the emotion you need on a Monday and start there.

Start with a benchmark. Before you commit to a new floral, spray something you already know on one wrist and the Tory Burch on the other. Two wrists, one afternoon, and you will learn more than a whole counter visit.

This grid is the old guard, and it is a good yardstick. Dior's J'adore Eau de Parfum and the richer J'adore L'Or are the ones I would test against Sublime Rose, since all three are dressy florals. Chanel fills half the grid with good reason: N°5 Eau de Toilette Spray is the reference point for the whole category, Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Toilette is the one most people already know, and Chance Eau de Parfum and Chance Eau Splendide make a useful pair for comparing two takes on the same name. Gabrielle Chanel Essence rounds out the Chanel row. Miss Dior Eau de Parfum is the most garden-like of the eight.

A pairing I like: one house floral on the pulse points and a whisper of something genderless on the collar, which is the layering Tory Burch herself suggests for her own scents. Nothing here needs to be worn alone.

What I would skip: testing three florals in a row on paper strips. Your nose tires fast, and everything starts to smell like a wedding. Two at most, then step outside for coffee.

One rule for musks: wear them on clean skin, straight after a shower, and they will smell like you on a good day. Put them over lotion and they turn sweet and sticky.

This is the quieter shelf, and the one I reach for most often. Clean Reserve's Skin Eau de Parfum with Musk and Vanilla is the plain-spoken one, and Matière Première's Parisian Musc is the grown-up musk to test beside it. Kayali's Freedom Musk Matcha 45 is the most modern idea here, and Ruhveda's Mango Muse, made with Sheena Melwani, leans into a vanilla musk. Ouai's Melrose Place is the easy, hair-and-hoodie option. Jo Malone London's English Pear & Sweet Pea and Wild Bluebell are colognes with musk, which means they are light and short-lived, so keep one in your bag and top up at lunch. Chanel's Gabrielle L'Eau Eau de Toilette is the airiest of the lot.

A pairing I like: a musk underneath, and Sublime Rose or Divine Moon on top. The musk holds the scent close to your skin and the Tory Burch gives it a shape.

What I would skip: a heavy vanilla musk on a hot, packed train. It will follow you into the office and stay past the afternoon.

Here is a habit worth borrowing: wear an unfamiliar bottle for three days in a row before you decide. Small batch perfumes change as they settle, and the first ten minutes are the least honest.

This is the grid for anyone who finds the big houses a little loud. Vyrao's Ever 11 Eau de Parfum is the most mysterious of the eight. The Maker's Dream is the soft one, and ST. ROSE's Juliet in White, Liis's Of True Minds and Kismet Olfactive's Wedding in Oaxaca have names that are a decent map of the mood, so pick the one that sounds like your week. Maison Louis Marie sells its No.13 Nouvelle Vague, No.14 Icila and No.02 Le Long Fond as perfume oils, which means they stay close and you dab, not spray. That suits a desk drawer very well.

A pairing I like: an oil on the wrists in the morning, and a Tory Burch spray at the collar for the evening. Different textures make each one easier to smell, and the whole thing reads as deliberate.

What I would skip: spraying a small batch perfume on your clothes before you have tested it on skin. Skin is where they show their true colours, and cloth just holds on to whatever comes out first.

I think Tory Burch perfume makes the most sense when you buy it for the feeling. Sublime Rose for love, Divine Moon for peace, Mystic Geranium for joy. That is a better way to shop than reading notes, and it is a reasonable way to test the whole line on skin.

So start with one Essence of Dreams bottle, wear it for a week, and keep a soft musk beside it for the days that need less. Leave the small batch oils for when you want something only a few people will recognise. Oprah gave the brand its big day in 2005. You get to pick your own, and a Monday will do. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Khadlaj Island Dreams, from a Family Perfume House in the UAE and Coach Dreams Perfume.