I am not there yet, I am not even in sniffing range of my HG but I find I am perusing and pursuing scents by note and by family. I love chypres best of all and I suspect I will find my HG in this family. For those of you who have found your HG or those of you who are searching....where did you begin?

Just the one I smell that I either like in the shops, or smell on others, that I hope will smell that good on me - what brand/house does not matter.

I have found it in White Linen by Estee Lauder. I feel like this perfume was made for me - and it always rates compliments when I wear it. Sometimes I wonder why I bother wearing anything else. I've worn Destiny by Marilyn Miglin all week and it hasn't rated a mention. (yet)

For me it's a matter of trying different fragrances, and then retrying them after some time has passed. Then I know if I really like them and the affinity deepens or if its really a fragrance thats not for me:-) Hope this helps.

I don't really subscribe to the concept of a holy grail scent--I could never be a one-perfume woman. But I am always looking for the ideal scent within each family. For instance, Ma Griffe is my HG chypre, although there are many other chypres I dearly love. These days I am looking for my oriental HG, and I tend to be guided by notes that I know won't work--lots of fig or vanilla automatically puts an oriental out of the running for possible HG status.

I don't search for an HG (doesn't exist for me; I like variety too much), but I do of course look for scents that will "wow" me and become must-haves. Thus far, I've come to recognize that certain categories of fragrance rarely work for me (white florals in particular), while others do. I had loved chypres for years without knowing such a category existed. I didn't think I liked orientals, but lo and behold, some of my absolute favorites fall into that category. (Venezia!)

Wouldn't it be funny if your HG fragrance came from a category you didn't think you liked? I'll keep sniffing the white flowers, because who knows? Good luck on your search.

I sniffed and sprayed a lot.
In my 20's I was into reading the style stuff like vogue and there would occasionally be a small blurb on who liked what. I would go try it and see what they liked about it.
I was in Chicago for a convention and had some down-time after work. Went to Fields and spritzed the last thing I'd read about....L'Heure Bleue. Didn't pay much attention to it at first...then I began noticing the subtle changes ...beautiful. I think the clincher was when I woke up for work, I could still sniff it on my wrists...soft, hugging powder with a hint of musky warmth.
That was it. I went back and bought the bottle...and have owned it ever since.

My advice is to order loads of samples (some are free), sniff and spray in the department
stores, ask people whose perfume you admire what they are wearing (although it may not smell the same on you!), read lots of perfume reviews, decide certain on notes that appeal to you and try to find them in
scents.
It's a really wonderful journey and it may never end....
At the moment, after a 9 month search I have settled on two favourites:-
Anne Pliska and Cristobal. This is most likely to change as I get through yet more trials!!

Back when I first signed on at POL, susanwinters posted an online quiz about fragrances. I'm not sure I remember much about it except that it suggested that I'd get along well with leather notes. I did some research, and sure enough, some of my long time favorites do have leather notes. I did more experimenting, note-wise, and found some more scents to love.

Overall, I find that if I respond really deeply to a scent from a particular house, and don't have headache-issues with their scents, it's likely that I'll find others from that same company that speak to me as well (Guerlain!). Others I really enjoy, and aren't problematic, but are not quite as deeply 'me.' (Caron, Chanel)

I'm prone to scent-induced headaches, and find that if a scent from a line gives me a terrible headache, that it's wise to proceed with caution when testing the rest of the company's products. (Givenchy, for example. I love Givenchy III, but most of the rest? ack! headache-city.)

I'd say to do some research about scents you already know and love. Find out their notes and fragrance type (chypre, floral, woodsy ... ) and explore other fragrances with those same qualities.

You can search at bizrate's perfume and cologne search engine, by note. (For example, type a few notes you like, separated by commas. Scents with those notes will come up, so long as the descriptions on the sites that respond have the notes listed.) http://www.bizrate.com/perfumeandcologne/

I think I do have a HG perfume, and it has still eluded me. I know it would be a clean scent, with a bit of depth, like maybe a floral musk. You'd think I'd find it easily, there are a lot in that category. There are a lot that are "almost" it. I would take elements from different frags that I love to make my HG. The closest would be Lovely, 212 or VS Heavenly.

When these HG threads pop up, I always reply that I'm against them. Still am, in fact. LOL.

Too many people take pride in an HG and overspray, gassing all in nearby vicinity. Been turned off by this habit - don't wish to be known as, say, oh oh - here comes ... I can already smell her Shalimar ...

I have found some scents that so completely blow me away, I've fallen in love. And I love to wear, on regular basis. There's no denying the powerful pull of such fragrances, and this experience can occur, when you least expect them. I love Light Blue, and ordinarily I HATE fruity florals.

I don't think it's good to get too attached and tied down to a certain fragrance. I will reluctantly admit, it's fine to wear some faves in heavy rotation, but that's it. Also, it bothers me, to restrict myself, from trying out others. This is PERFUME, not a husband, LOL. Too many untried perfume experiences out there, that I wish to sample.

Yeah, an HG fragrance is for the birds, as far as I'm concerned.