15 Ways to Wear Perfume And Why You Are Doing It All Wrong
There is more to wearing perfume than just a dab on the wrists or a spritz here and there. To get the most out of your perfume and to activate its bright, deep, or sensual aromas as well as the rich undertones, you need to learn about the types of scents available and how to wear them the right way.
You might be wondering why you should even bother to wear perfume at all? As Coco Chanel once said, "A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future." A carefully chosen perfume can set the whole mood for a night on the town. A bright, crisp fragrance can give you the mental boost you need at work. There are different scents available for every mood, season, and special occasion and each one has the potential to set the right atmosphere for you to work your magic.
When you visit a department store to find your personal signature scent, use the perfume cards available on the counters. Most people can only handle up to three scents at a time, so when you begin your search, talk to one of the perfume experts to discover the scent you are looking for. For example, if you are looking for a vanilla based scent, the expert will be able to find three vanilla scents for you to sample. After you believe you have found the right scent, test it on your skin. For best results, wait a few hours or even a day to make your final decision on whether or not to purchase the perfume.
15 You Only Need 2 To 3 Sprays
When Jacques Guerlain, one of the most prolific perfumers from the 20th century, said, "I felt something so intense, I could only express it in a perfume," he was talking about the subtle tones of a fragrance that can alter moods and even opinions. He was not talking about the overuse of perfume which can fill a room with too much scent or the practice of putting on too little perfume where no one can smell it.
The aroma of perfume should fill your personal space so that whoever you stop to talk to can sense it. This means anywhere from two to three sprays of perfume, applied to carefully chosen spots on the body, and sprayed from a distance of five to seven inches away. When dabbing on perfume, apply it to two to three pulse points where the aroma can develop and manifest its deeper undertones.
14 Dab It On
Perfume should be dabbed on. Whether you have a roll on perfume or a bottle of perfume without a mister, always dab the perfume onto your chosen spots. When you rub the perfume on, the way some do when they dab one wrist and then rub their wrists together to divide the scent, the scent becomes "crushed" or damaged. Perfume releases its scent through evaporation. By rubbing the perfume on, you are increasing the rate of evaporation, increasing the heat, and the perfume can end up smelling different than if you allowed it to naturally evaporate and develop on your skin.
13 Put It On Before You Get Dressed
Your body naturally gives off heat and, like an aromatherapy diffuser, you body warms up and evaporates the perfume, giving off a scent. When you apply perfume to your clothes, you not only risk staining your clothes, but you don't give off the aroma the way you should. Always find a way to apply perfume to your skin. Some people can only apply the perfume to certain areas of their body, while others use the misting technique. Finding a safe and comfortable way to apply perfume to the skin is essential to giving off a pleasing aroma for up to several hours.
12 Know How Long The Scent Lasts
There are different types of perfumes and each one lasts for a different length of time, depending upon the concentration of oils. If you are looking for a scent that will only last for about an hour, choose eau de colognes. Eau de toilette is a common, light perfume that lasts for about two hours. For a dinner date, you might choose a l'eau de parfum that can last for up to four hours. Bottles labeled as a perfume can last the longest, at up to six hours. Fragrances with lower concentrations of perfume oils are less expensive than regular perfume which has an oil concentration of 15 to 40 percent.
11 Keep It In The Family
Fragrances are so much fun that it is very easy to create a confusion of scents, from a fruit scented hair shampoo and conditioner to a coconut scented body lotion that is topped off with a jasmine scented perfume. The experts say that too many different scents at once are a bad thing. Instead, they advise, we should keep our scented products within the same family. Buy matching scented hair wash, soap, and body lotion that go with your perfume. Many department stores will carry perfume sets with matching bath products. If your favorite perfume doesn't have its own bath products, you can also use unscented products in the shower so that all the scents don't compete against each other.
10 Match Your Scent To The Season
Just as your wardrobe changes with the seasons, your perfume can also change. Spring lends itself to gentle, floral or woodsy scents. Summertime goes with bold, fun scents, from flowers to citrus. When the weather starts to cool, you might find yourself naturally leaning towards spicy or deeper fragrances that can carry you through the winter months. Experts believe that you should choose a signature scent for each season, to set your mood and the feel of the atmosphere around you.
9 Keep Your Skin Moisturized
Keeping your skin moisturized is the key to making your fragrance last. Skin that is well moisturized will slow down the evaporation process and let the scent develop its undertones. The best choices for moisturizing your skin are to take a warm bath with olive oil in the water so that it coats your skin as you get out of the tub, use a scentless oil, such as coconut oil, on your skin before applying your perfume, or using a body lotion that is scented with your perfume.
8 Keep Hot Summer Perfumes Light
Hot summer days can change the fragrance of your perfume and make it smell far stronger than it normally does. This is because the extra heat makes the perfume evaporate faster. During heat waves, wear lighter perfumes with citrus or green, earthy scents. Reduce the amount of perfume you use to one to two sprays or pulse points. You can also switch to an eau de cologne which will mellow faster than a strong perfume.
7 Spray It On Your Thighs
In an interview with Conan O'Brien, Halle Berry admitted to putting on her perfume between her thighs. She says that the reason why she does this is because “it heats up and the aroma rises up all day long.” She also said that it was nice because she could hug someone and not leave them smelling like her perfume.
While spraying perfume between your thighs might seem unconventional, it does make a lot of sense to wear perfume there if you are wearing a short skirt. Your inner thighs touch, creating body heat, and in effect, releases the scent of your perfume.
6 A Spritz On Your Hair
Giorgio Armani said, "A perfume is more than an extract, it is a presence in abstraction. A perfume, for me, is a mystique." For many women, creating that mystique is done by giving their hair a light spritz of perfume. Each time their hair is tussled, it releases more scent.
Most perfumes have alcohol in them and some women worry that spraying an alcohol based perfume into their hair will dry out their locks. Instead, mist the perfume in front of yourself and walk through it. This will add a small amount of perfume to your hair and shouldn't cause any damage.
5 Scented Pulse Points
It was Coco Chanel who said, "A woman should wear perfume wherever she wants to be kissed." She was talking about the pulse points on your body where the most heat is generated. These pulse points are behind your ears, your inner wrists and elbows, behind your knees, and between your breasts. Another pulse point is between your legs. Here, women generally spray their perfume onto the front of their under wear to avoid direct contact with sensitive skin, even though the perfume may stain their underwear.
4 Walk Through The Mist
According to Estee Lauder, "If you can't smell it, you can't sell it." Mrs. Lauder was also known for using the mist method to apply her perfume. She would simply mist the space in front of her with perfume and then walk through it. This would give her hair and body a light touch of fragrance all over. People do this either undressed or after they are clothed, even though perfume can stain certain clothes and will not develop as fully as it would on bare skin.
3 Low During The Day, High At Night
According to Christopher Brosius, "Some of the most beautiful perfumes are like a ballgown, but sometimes, you just want to wear a comfortable pair of jeans." This is the basic principle behind where to wear perfume during the day and where to put it on during the night. In an interview on Allure, Sophia Grojsman, a senior perfumer at International Flavors & Fragrances, told readers that they should wear perfume on the lower half of their body during the day so that the fragrance could drift upward. At night, however, wear a fragrance on the upper portion of the body, such as behind the ears and a light misting on your locks so that you can feel more sensual and even provocative.
2 Petroleum Jelly Makes It Last Longer
While moisturizing your skin before putting on perfume helps the perfume last longer, your skin will eventually absorb the moisturizer and your fragrance will begin to fade. An added trick to make your perfume last even longer than your moisturizer is to apply a thin layer of petroleum oil onto the areas where you will dab your perfume. For example, apply the petroleum jelly to your inner wrists and behind your knees and then dab on your perfume. It will evaporate slower than if it were applied onto your bare skin because petroleum jelly is not absorbed into the skin.
1 Let Your Perfume Chill
Believe it or not, perfumes do have a shelf life. If they are stored in a warm environment, such as in the bathroom, the scent will lose its crispness and its fragrance won't last as long on your skin. Perfumes left in the sunlight can change aroma and leave you with a perfume that no longer smells nice.
The best place to store perfumes is in a refrigerator. This keeps perfumes out of direct sunlight and it keeps the aroma fresh. If this isn't possible, try to store your perfume in a cool, dark area, such as in a back room or in a dry basement.