5 Tips For Using Fragrance To Make It Last Longer

The fashion legend knew the powerful allure of a beautiful scent. No matter how stylish the outfit, it’s not polished without the right fragrance. The perfect scent makes the wearer feel confident and ready for what’s to come while also projecting an image of glamor and grace that turns heads.

There’s more to wearing fragrances than you think, and there are pro tips that many of us don’t know. (Why you shouldn’t rub your wrists together after dabbing perfume on them is a surprising one-more on that later.)

In this easy-to-follow guide, we will unveil tips and tricks about wearing fragrances the right way. We’ll let you in on the techniques for extending the longevity of the scent and give you recommendations on what kinds of perfumes suit a particular time of day.

So, let’s talk about how to wear perfume.

Know where on the body to apply perfume

As a general rule, you should apply perfume on your pulse points. You can find several pulse points on your body, including wrists, inside the elbows, on the neck, below the midriff, on top of the ears, and behind the knees.

These areas are warm enough to diffuse the scent throughout your body, but you must follow the proper method of applying perfume to your pulse points—and that is through dabbing, as you’ll learn next.

Pro tip: Spray your ankles and calves with perfume, and smell the scent rise as the day goes on.

Don’t rub- just dab

Rubbing wrists after applying perfume is one of the most common mistakes among perfume enthusiasts, unaware that doing so only causes the fragrance to fade faster.

By rubbing perfume into your skin, you’re not allowing the head notes—the top layer of a fragrance that gives it its distinct scent—to settle on your skin. The perfume notes won’t mix with the natural oils on your skin, and you can’t expect the fragrance to last for long periods of wear.

Rubbing is also synonymous with friction, and the heat produced can alter how the scent works on your skin. So, the next time you dab your wrists with perfume, just let your skin absorb the fragrance.

Prep your skin with oil/lotion before application

If you have dry skin, consider applying unscented lotion or oil to lock in the fragrance. The moisturizer creates a layer that perfume molecules can hold on to longer.

Pro tip: If you’ve run out of moisturizing lotion or oil, pressing a bit of Vaseline into your pulse points before spraying the fragrance can work just as well.

Store your perfume in a cool, dry place

Storing your perfume in the fridge is the best way to help it stay fresh, especially during the hot summer months. Sunlight, heat from radiators and changes in temperature can all destroy perfume over time, but when stored in the cool, dark fridge it can last for years.

When sunlight hits a perfume bottle, it breaks down the molecular formula of the fragrance. It gets worse if the bottle is made of plastic. To avoid such a situation where the fragrance can alter the DNA of a fragrance, store your bottle in a dark and cool place.

Apply scent to clothes

We’ve all done it —misting our clothes with perfume on when taking them out of the closet to cover up any odd odors. This trick can help the scent last all day long, but be careful not to spritz on fabric that stains, such as silk.

Don’t be surprised, either, if the fragrance smells powdery on your clothing—it’s the fabric catching the scent differently than your skin’s reaction to perfume.

How to fix this? Go for the inner lining when spraying perfume on clothes, so the fragrance sits next to your skin and lingers longer.