The objective? To ensure that whatever fragrance you wear always smells fantastic…
Give Things Time “Sometimes you have to get to know a scent and
‘live with it’ for a while before fully appreciating it. You can often smell a
fragrance and not like it but if you give it time, it often grows on you and
you eventually end up loving it.”
Always give a new fragrance the benefit of the
doubt – even if at first you don’t like it.
Remove The Clutter Fragrance is just like food: some
things go together naturally, others clash like the Titans. Body sprays and
antiperspirants are one of the main offenders when it comes to clashing, so
ensure your fragrance doesn’t have to fight for precedence with them by opting
for fragrance-free or minimally scented
Anti-Perspirant Deodorant.
Moisturise Generally speaking, the oilier and
better hydrated your skin the longer a fragrance will last on it. So if you to
want to increase the longevity of your scent, use a fragrance-free moisturiser
a few minutes before applying. If you’re skin tends to be on the dry side be
prepared to reapply your fragrance a little more often.
Choose Your Location The wrists and behind the ears may be
the traditional spots to apply fragrance, but according to Dove the area behind
the ears produces a lot of sebum, which can alter the way a fragrance smells. The
burn rate of the fragrance will also be accelerated in these places because
they’re above pulse points, so your scent may not last as long as you would
like. Better places to spray, are the chest
and biceps as your scent will be trapped against the skin in these places but
its presence will still be detectable as you move. For maximum impact, try applying
a little in the dip of the collarbone too.
Spray Don’t Splash Undecided whether to opt for a splash
or a spray? Go for the latter. Not only do spray mechanisms give you greater
control in terms of fragrance application, they prevent the fragrance becoming
exposed to the air and contaminated by bacteria from your hands. There’s no
chance of costly spillages either.
Keep Your Distance Never hold the bottle too close to
your skin when applying fragrance. If you do you’ll just end up with it
concentrated in one tiny ‘puddle’. Instead, hold the nozzle around six or seven
inches away from you and then spray. That way the fragrance will hit a larger
area of skin and coverage will be more even.
Don’t Over Do It “People don’t want to be able to smell you
before they see you,” To ensure you don’t overdo it, apply no more than
three sprays. If you accidentally apply too much dilute the fragrance by
patting your skin with a warm wet towel.
Layer Up Layering – combining products from a
fragrance’s body range to create a more powerful, longer lasting and all-over
scent – is a great way to maximise the impact of your favourite eau de
toilette. Think of these body products as your eau de toilette’s support team. Lots of fragrances
now have ancillary shower products, deodorants and aftershave balms, so if
they’re available use them. There’s no risk of products clashing if you do
either.
Protect Your Assets Opinion differs on how long a
fragrance lasts once opened – from eighteen months to five years to, well,
pretty much forever. Much depends on how you look after your asset. Fragrances
are much like fine wines or priceless paintings: they need to be treated with
respect and stored correctly. To ensure your fragrances stay in tip top
condition, keep them way from extreme temperature fluctuations and strong
sunlight. The best way to protect them is to keep them in their original boxes
and somewhere cool.
Have A Special
Occasion Scent There’s a reason fragrances are so
good at transporting us back to a particular time, place or feeling: our sense
of smell is handled by the same ancient part of the brain that deals with
emotions and memory. So if you associate a fragrance with a particularly good
memory, utilise it to bring back those emotions when you need to and make it
your ‘lucky’ fragrance.
Chill! If you want to maximise the
refreshing qualities, try keeping them in the fridge. It turns them into the
perfect tonic when temperatures soar.
Stay On A Woman’s
Right Side Here’s a crafty trick if you’re
wearing fragrance to impress women: manoeuvre yourself so you’re on her right
side when talking to her. Why? Well, a study by the University of California
discovered that, due to the way the brain is hard-wired, women tend to
appreciate smells sniffed through their right nostril more than the left one.
Take Your Fragrance
With You According to Roja Dove around 80 per
cent of an eau de toilette’s fragrance will have the left the skin after about
four hours, so to keep yours topped up you need to reapply. This is especially
true for colognes which are super-fresh but have even less staying power on the
skin. The solution is to look out for travel sized (usually 30ml) versions of
your favourite fragrance or to decant your favourite into a portable atomizer,
which is pocket sized and easy to fill.
Carry one with you
and you’ll always smell your absolute best – wherever you are, whatever the
time of day and whoever you’re with.
