My obsessions can be very specific. For example, I don’t own any scented body lotions – except for The Body Shop Italian Fig that I bought by mistake – but I do have extensive experience with scented shower gels. I enjoy that burst of scent you get when using them and unlike lotions, they’ll not interfere with your perfume. Plus they require much less effort.

But what use all this important knowledge, if not shared? So here are my current favourites, by category:

1. Citrus: Hermes Eau de Narcisse Bleu Hair and Body Shower Gel. I generally find citrus bath products boring and unoriginal, but this Hermes one is unique. If you are a cologne-lover and like your showers to smell refreshing, do check out the entire line – everything smells classy.

2. Green: Diptyque L’Ombre dans l’Eau Shower Gel. Green-scented shower products are among my favourites, but they can be difficult to come by. Like the perfume of the same name, this Diptyque one smells of blackcurrant leaves and tomato vines and rose and is my summer favourite. It has a wonderfully strong, dark green fragrance. Unfortunately, it’s also ridiculously expensive. I’ve yet to find a good alternative.

3. Fruity: Byredo Pulp Body Wash. I love this fragrance in all its forms – the perfume, the candle (called Carrousel) and the shower gel. It is extremely fruity and possibly too vulgar for some people, but if you want a serious dose of delicious fruit pulp, this is by far the best option. It comes in a tasteful minimal bottle and with a considerable price tag. Guava by Korres is another good one in this category and more affordable.

4. Fig: Korres Fig Shower Gel. I realize that technically, fig is also a fruit and should have belonged to the previous category, but I must have a separate entry for this. Fig shower gels are my speciality and I have tried quite a few. Diptyque Philosykos is probably the best, but Korres is not far behind and its price/quality ratio cannot be beaten. If I had to pick one shower gel to use for the rest of my life, this would be a strong contender.

5. Floral: Robert Piguet Fracas Silkening Body Wash. Remember when I said that Diptyque was ridiculously expensive? Of course you remember, it was like two paragraphs ago. Well, Piguet’s Fracas is worse and almost impossible to get, too. So I really cannot recommend it to anyone, but as a huge fan of Fracas and tuberose in general, I cannot deny it smells amazing. Still, I hope to have new, much more affordable favourites in this genre soon, as I’m trying to get my hands on Pacifica’s Tahitian Gardenia and French Lilac.

6. Tropical: Yves Rocher Monoi de Tahiti Hair and Body Wash. Some of the shower gels I like are, fortunately, less expensive. I got this one on a sale, so it was almost free. It is a happy, uncomplicated tropical beach scent and I’ve been enjoying it a lot this summer. I believe it might work equally well in winter when you want to pretend you are someplace nice and warm.

7. Iris: L’Occitane Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc Shower Gel. Iris is indeed another flower, but I don’t really consider it to be a floral note. I haven’t found the perfect iris shower gel, but this is a nice starter one – the iris is blended with other blooms and some gentle fruit notes, making it very pleasant, if slightly bland for my taste.

8. Gourmand: (almost) anything Palmolive. If I want something creamy, delicious-smelling and non-challenging, Palmolive body washes are lovely. I tend to like most of their milky options, especially the ones that have “almond” or “honey” in the name. They come out with new variations often and as the products are not expensive, it’s safe to experiment.

9. Herby: Dr Hauschka Lavender Sandalwood Calming Body Wash. I discovered this one by accident and somewhat surprisingly, it’s another of my absolute favourites. Not crazy expensive, wonderfully creamy and smells good. I mostly get lavender from this, but the sandalwood makes it more mellow and somehow deeper than the screechy lavender you sometimes get from body products. Absolutely lovely.

10. Woody: Guerlain Vetiver Shower Gel. Woody is another category I like, but it’s most difficult to find (Diptyque Tam Dao and Hermes Gentiane Blanche come to mind). This shower gel version of the classic Guerlain scent is a cheat for two reasons: 1) vetiver is in fact a grass, although it smells more like wood and 2) (probably more significantly) I haven’t actually tried it. Not for the lack of effort, it’s just not available where I am, but I’m absolutely sure I would love it. Until then, I can recommend Robert & Gallet Bois d’Orange – both affordable and excellent quality, but no vetiver included.