“Wear perfume everywhere you want to be kissed!” ” said Coco Chanel. Not much has changed today. Wearing perfume is an art. And knowing how to wear perfume well, even more so. When choosing perfumes on the market, how to find one that lasts all day? We put the question to Marine Ipert, Nose and Perfumer at Takasago International.
How to optimize the perfume’s longevity on you?
First of all, it is important to remember that the fragrance evaporates during the day. The amount of perfume applied to the skin does not slow down the evaporation of the perfume, contrary to what one would think. “The greater the amount of perfume, the greater the olfactory volume of the perfume. But this will not help the perfume to last,” says the expert. The secret is knowing how to maximize its hold on the skin. For this, you need to know 5 things before you put on perfume.
1. Choose your perfume carefully
If you happen to change your perfume regularly, then you need to know how to choose it wisely. The strength of a perfume depends on two things: its concentration and composition. “The concentration will be stronger in eau de parfum or extracts and will gradually decrease when it comes to eau de toilette, eau fraîche and finally cologne, which often has a very volatile composition and therefore only lasts a very short time,” reveals Marine Ipert.
In addition, the olfactory universe of the perfume will affect its possession. Fresh citrus scents will be very volatile and last less on the skin, the expert suggests. Likewise, fruitier and floral scents last a bit longer, but the acetate molecules that make them evaporate quickly. On the contrary, the perfume families that last the best will be the amber ones. “Anything that is vanilla, that has musk, woody notes or even oriental scents is known to last on the skin for days, even weeks,” adds the expert.
2. Know where to apply it
Here, she reassures: no mistake is possible, there are no inappropriate places to apply perfume. However, there are places where the body manages to increase its wake. Trick? Multiply the pulse points: “We recommend applying the perfume on the wrists, the back of the neck or behind the ears,” says Huong Mangin, expert in fine perfumery and founder of L’essence des notes. “The warmth of the skin, combined with the blood circulation in these areas, will help increase the scent of the perfume, so you can smell it longer,” continues Marine Ipert. It is also possible to combine these hot spots with clothing (as well as the collar of a coat and a scarf in winter), because the textile fiber has the ability to retain perfume molecules for a long time.
Another tip to give us? Spray on a hairbrush, which we leave on for a minute, then brush it through the hair. Alcohol applied directly to the hair is bad because it dries it out. The brush thus retains only the perfume molecules. However, he doesn’t recommend creating a cloud of perfume to walk through (yes, we all do it). Because in this way of wearing perfume, the perfume molecules settle to the ground and there is very little left on us that we don’t want to smell all day.
3. Store in… the fridge!
Yes, as surprising as it may seem, placing perfume in the refrigerator will preserve the scent molecules of the perfume, which will be frozen by the cold. So it will last longer and its smell will not change. So understand that placing it in the bathroom near the heater or in the bedroom, although the fragrance is aesthetically pleasing, is not a good way to preserve it. “Light and heat are perfume’s worst enemies. This will accelerate the oxidation of the perfume and damage the molecules that make it up,” adds the perfumer.
4. Moisturize the skin well
Well-hydrated skin helps to retain the scent particles of the perfume, the expert reveals. “A skin layer that will be rich in water and therefore less dry will communicate better with the perfume and the skin. Because the fatty substance fixes and traps the molecules on the skin. This allows the perfume to stick more closely to the skin and slows down its evaporation, giving that feeling of scented skin. How to do it ? Just apply a neutral cream (without perfume) and smell yourself immediately after application.
However, there is another way to do it: apply a scented lotion, ideally with the same scent as your perfume. Often sold in a perfume box, it hydrates the skin while prolonging the scent of the perfume. The expert calls this “layering”.
5. Combine two scents
Finally, layering perfumes can be done in another way, but this requires prior expert advice: combine two perfumes together. “You will have to combine a perfume with fresh notes containing white flowers, with a so-called ‘rich’ perfume, with a woody heart and a more amber and oriental base. This combination of materials will stretch the profile of the perfume, make it richer and ultimately give it all-day staying power,” concludes the expert.
Finally, we hope, wearing perfume has no secrets for you.