By Katie Johnson

You have probably heard of the standard tips for making your perfumes last long: Apply the spray to your pulse spots, use body lotion etc. However, there’s more that can be done.

When you pay fifty to a hundred pounds or more for a fragrance, you have every right to expect it to last a decent amount of time. You shouldn’t have to reapply before lunchtime.

But there are a surprising amount of elements working against you for the delightful smell to stay in place, from your skin’s hydration level to what, not just where you spritz.

This article outlines some advice given by expert perfumiers who understand the chemistry of fragrance vs skin. Compiled here is a brand new list of useful, practical tips and techniques to help your perfume last longer.

1. Spray Your Fragrance On Moisturised, Clean Pulse Points.

The best way to ensure that your perfume is as effective as possible and lasts as long as possible is to apply it to hydrated skin. It’s a proven fact that perfume lasts longer and smells better on hydrated skin than on dry skin. The reason being skin wetness helps to seal in the aroma, prolonging the evaporation process and allowing the fragrance to last longer.

On the other hand, because there is no moisture to seal in the smell, if you apply perfume to dry skin, it will vanish practically immediately. Perfume acts better on clean skin, in addition to hydrated skin. As a result, if you shower, moisturise, and then apply perfume right away, it will smell better and last longer because the skin will be free of dirt and other contaminants that could interfere with its performance.

Heat also helps to keep perfume on your skin, so it’s a good idea to apply perfume to your pulse points. Because the skin above your pulse points is closer to your blood vessels, it receives more heat, trapping the fragrance and preventing it from dissipating quickly.

Apply perfume to the insides of your elbows, the backs of your wrists, the insides of your knees (if you’re wearing a skirt or loose clothing), the ankles, and the calves.

2. Complement Your Favourite Perfume

When it comes to ensuring that your perfume lasts longer, sometimes applying more is the answer. There is a delicate balance between applying more perfume to last longer and creating an overpowering scent.

Instead, pair your perfume with items that have a similar scent, such as your bath wash, body lotion, and body mist.

Toiletry lines are available from several designs and body care businesses, including Versace, Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors, and even Bath and Body Works. Body wash, body lotion, body mist, and perfume are all included in these sets. 

When you use all of these products on your body, their aroma will remain longer than if you just use perfume and unscented body lotion and shower gel.

If using goods with similar scents isn’t an option for you, there is another choice. You can, for example, use your perfume to scent your hair to enhance the scent. However, do not spritz perfume directly on your hair as this may cause damage.

Top Tip: Spray your hairbrush with perfume before you brush. It allows the scent to get in without making it too overpowering.

3. The Longevity of Your Perfume Is All About the Storage

The way you store your perfume is important. Keeping perfume in inappropriate places can cause the fragrance molecules to break down and the scent power to be lost. For example, storing perfume in a warm and humid environment will cause it to break down and lose its scent.

The perfume will not last as long if the aroma is weak – both in the bottle and on your skin. Instead, keep your perfume in a cold, dark, and dry location. In general, stay away from moist, humid, warm, and anywhere in direct sunlight. Rather than keeping it on your bathroom shelf, keep it in a cool cabinet in a different section of your house. Drawers are a great place to store perfumes.

Leave the perfume in its original box if you want that elegant perfume presentation on your dresser. In reality, the original box provides the ideal storage environment for it. Some people keep it in a chilly refrigerator if there’s enough room. When it’s time to use your perfume, never shake the bottle because this can cause the scent molecules to break down!

4. You Should Be Aware Of Perfume Types 

Knowing the different types of perfumes might help you choose the best one. Parfum, Eau de parfum, eau de toilette, eau de cologne, and Eau de Fraiche/fragrance water are the five varieties of fragrances. Parfum contains the maximum fragrance oil, up to 25%, and can linger for up to 24 hours when applied to the skin.

Eau de Fraiche/fragrance water has the lowest fragrance oil concentration, ranging from 3% to 5%, and lasts for up to an hour after application. Fragrance or body mist is a good example of fragrance water.

Eau de parfum can last up to 8 hours, whereas eau de toilette and eau de cologne only last 4 to 6 hours.

The oils that make up the aroma and the carrier alcohol are the two basic elements of today’s perfumes.

The primary difference between today’s iterations – eau de cologne (EDC), eau de toilette (EDT), Eau de parfum (EDP), and parfum – is the number of essential oils used. The least fragrant oils are found in EDC and EDT, while the most are found in parfum, making the latter the most expensive and the most likely to smell great at the end of the day.

Solid perfumes, on the other hand, have even fewer essential oils in them than EDC and EDT. However, because of the high-fat content, the aroma molecules take longer to evaporate and stick to the skin for a longer period.

A solid perfume’s sillage (the wake or trail that a smell leaves behind you) is more subtle than a conventional perfume due to the lack of alcohol, making it a wonderful choice for persons who prefer a less invasive fragrance.

5. Select The Appropriate Fragrance Profile

It’s also crucial to understand the varied smell profiles or the body of your perfume, in addition to the numerous perfume types. Oriental, musk, floral, fruity, citrusy, aqua, earthy, woody, and many other scent characteristics are common.

Floral perfumes, for example, mix aromas like rose and carnations, whilst woody scents like sandalwood and cedarwood blend scents like sandalwood and cedarwood. As a result, different fragrances have varied profiles that influence how the entire fragrance behaves.

Subtle smells like sandalwood and musk, for example, are employed as foundation notes since they remain longer. Because citrus fragrances like lemon and mandarin are unstable and evaporate quickly, they are commonly used as top notes.

As a result, if you choose a citrusy scent, it will fade faster than an oriental one. So, whether you choose Eau de parfum or eau de toilette, choose a more mild and steady smell profile to ensure longevity.

Final Thoughts

One of the oldest beauty products in history is fragrance. Researchers have traced the origins of perfume, which then was simply a simple combination of flowers and oil, back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia around the 2nd century B.C., based on historical texts and archaeological discoveries. Fast forward a few thousand years, and we’re still fascinated with smelling good.

On the other hand, perfumes are much more than just a scent. They can make a statement without having to say anything. They conjure great memories, and they are one of life’s simplest but most delightful little pleasures that we indulge in just for ourselves.

We all want to smell good all day, but we often discover that our perfume starts to fade around midday. This is because we are misapplying our perfume, and yes, as odd as it may seem, there is a right and wrong way to apply perfume. You can follow the above strategies to keep your scent lasting longer if you spend most of your day away from home and dread taking the bottle with you everywhere you go.

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