Seeking a Signature Scent

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The time has come, now in my upper 20s life, to adopt a signature scent.  This topic has come up in TWO conversations recently, and I just can't avoid it anymore.

NOTE: I know the word "scent" sounds more like something that a dog seeks out, but I'm big on alliteration.  :) I'm looking for... how do you say it (imagine French accent here)? A fragrance.  Perfume.

Via

Let's lay out all the facts first:  I do not hold scents well.  I do not hold good scents well.  In fact, I tend to actually ATTRACT smells like cigarette smoke and greasy diners, but REPEL $80.00 smells that can be purchased at fancy department stores and sampled on small paper sticks. 

My sister smells good.  Even if she's worn the same shirt for three days and not showered (and sometimes she does this), she still smells nice.  Jeff always smells good too.  Truly, always.  (This isn't normal for a man, right?) I have a legitimate fear that one day my children will like snuggling with their dad and their aunt more than their mother because I smell like onions or burned popcorn.  You get the idea? 

We have a minor crisis on our hands here folks...

SO, I'm enlisting your help on this oh-so-important quest for a signature scent.  What do you wear?  What are your favorites?  I'm not looking for something "cheap" necessarily, but I want to be able to afford to wear it everyday.

Additionally, I keep hearing people say that different scents work for different people.  I get this, but I'm still not really sure how to identify what actually smells GOOD on me.  So far, honestly, I'm 0 for about 17. (And, yes, probably 13 of those are Bath & Body Works body sprays - so what if I never stopped being a middle school girl.)  I feel like this trial and error method could be quite costly and time consuming.  Any tips there?

And, finally, how in the world do I get that blasted scent to stick around?!?  I don't want to be one of those women that walks by and people begin to wheeze and have allergic reactions, but it would be nice - just once - for someone to say "oh, you smell so good, what are you wearing?"  Is there hope for me?

Help please!