How to Apply Perfume: Why Others Smell It More Than You Do
- , by Shushanik
- 4 min reading time
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Within minutes, your nose gets used to your own perfume. The people around you still smell it. What they smell depends on how you wear it.
Spray your perfume in the morning, and within the hour you can barely smell it. It's still there. Your brain has simply stopped registering it.
The French perfume house Galimard, founded in Grasse in 1747, explains that generally, after 15 to 20 minutes, your perception of your own fragrance diminishes significantly, and after 30 to 40 minutes most people are no longer conscious of it. Olfactory research describes the same thing: prolonged exposure typically lowers sensitivity to that specific smell, and sensitivity recovers over time once the exposure stops.
The people around you haven't been breathing it in continuously, so they still smell it. Which means what they smell depends on how you wear it. Here is what perfumers advise.
Start with skin
"Dry skin is the enemy of perfume longevity," says perfumer Sylvaine Delacourte. Well-hydrated skin holds fragrance molecules better.
Her advice is simple: apply an unscented moisturizing cream to the places you spray, then apply your perfume. Unscented, so nothing competes with the composition.
Spray where it's warm
Delacourte's map: the base of the neck, on both sides near the ears, along the hairline, the center of the chest, the navel, the inside of the wrists and the bend of the elbows.
These are pulse points, where blood circulation runs closest to the surface. They give off more heat, and that heat speeds up the evaporation and diffusion of the scent. In other words, warmth helps your perfume diffuse.
Spray. Don't rub.
Rubbing the wrists together after spraying is a common habit, and perfumers advise against it.
Harry Frémont, a master perfumer at Firmenich, explains that rubbing "rushes the fragrance." It pushes the perfume past its opening straight to the heart notes. The top notes are the lightest, most delicate part of a perfume, and they are the first to go. You skip the opening, which is often the part that made you fall for the scent.
So spray, and let it dry on its own. Delacourte's instruction for the wrists is two words: avoid rubbing.
Fabric keeps it true
Skin and fabric do different things to a perfume. According to Chanel, applying fragrance to the skin intensifies it, while applying it to clothing preserves the integrity of the original fragrance.
The fabric matters. Delacourte is clear: only perfume fabrics made of natural materials: cotton, cashmere, silk, wool and linen. On synthetic clothes, she warns, you risk denaturing the fragrance.
Two cautions. Perfume can sometimes stain delicate fabrics, silk included, and Chanel recommends always applying it to the inside of the garment or to its lining. And on light-colored clothes, Delacourte suggests spraying a mist into the air and walking through it, or spraying from a distance.
Before you spray again
Can't smell your perfume anymore? It is almost certainly still there. Before you add more, ask someone close to you.
If you want to smell your scent fresh again, give your nose a break. Galimard suggests taking a 24-to-48-hour break from a fragrance, and keeping an olfactory wardrobe of two or three fragrances to preserve your perception. Its reasoning is ours too: a wardrobe lets you follow your mood and the season, and your nose stays sharp for each scent.
The short version
- Moisturize first, with an unscented cream.
- Spray the warm spots: base of the neck, near the ears, inner wrists, inner elbows.
- Don't rub. Let it dry.
- On clothes, choose natural fabrics and spray the inside or the lining.
- Before you reapply, ask someone close.
Questions we hear
Why can't I smell my own perfume after a while?
Your nose adapts to a smell it meets constantly. Galimard explains that your brain isn't deleting the odor, it is deciding it doesn't need special attention. Others still smell it.
Is it really that bad to rub my wrists?
It changes how the scent unfolds. According to Harry Frémont, rubbing rushes the fragrance straight to the heart notes, so you skip the opening.
Can I spray perfume on my clothes?
Yes, on natural fabrics such as cotton, cashmere, silk, wool and linen, ideally on the inside or the lining. Skip synthetics, and on light-colored clothes spray a mist and walk through it rather than spraying the fabric.
What about hair?
Delacourte suggests spritzing your brush or comb rather than your hair, so the alcohol doesn't dry it out. We cover alcohol-based and solid perfumes in our next article.
Keep reading
Before this: How to Store Perfume: Lessons from the World's Largest Perfume Archive.
This article is also a carousel on our Instagram, @aromastylists: "Wearing Perfume".
Sources
- Galimard, Why can't we smell our own fragrance after a few minutes?
- P. Dalton, Psychophysical and Behavioral Characteristics of Olfactory Adaptation, Chemical Senses, 2000
- Sylvaine Delacourte, Choose a perfume by skin type
- Sylvaine Delacourte, Where should you spray your perfume?
- Sylvaine Delacourte, Where to apply your perfume
- Harry Frémont, quoted in I'm A Beauty Geek, 2013
- Chanel, Fragrance & Beauty FAQ