Zenyra

Most fragrance finders start from notes, which assumes you already know whether you like labdanum. Zenyra starts from how you want a scent to behave. Ten questions, with no account needed, place you on five scales: warmth, projection, risk, texture and sweetness. Each term is explained where it is asked, and the answers are written as everyday situations rather than jargon. Projection, for example, runs from "close to me on quiet days and evenings in" to "it arrives before I do on a night out". There is also a "hard no" question that rules out a direction entirely, such as anything sweet.

The result is a Taste Map, an archetype that puts it in plain words, and three perfumes: a closest fit, a safer version and a bolder one. Each comes with a sentence saying why it is there. That last part is the reason to use it. A recommendation with a reason attached teaches you something even when the pick is wrong.

Behind the quiz sits a catalogue of 5,283 scored perfumes. Every perfume page shows its five scores, where each sits against the rest of the catalogue, and how much evidence the profile rests on. The same data drives the Fragrance Taste Index, a study of how perfumery changed by decade that shows its working, including a correction to one of its own early readings. There is a separate quiz for choosing for someone else.

It is free, and made in London by its founder, Saif Imran. Some links out to shops are affiliate links.