How to make your perfume last longer?

1. TAKE A SHOWER OR BATH BEFORE SPRAYING THE PERFUME

To make your fragrance last longer and brighter, apply it right after the shower or bath. Make sure that your skin is already dry and only then spray the fragrance.

2. MOISTURIZE YOUR SKIN

If you want to make your perfume last even longer, apply the fragrance after moisturizing your skin. You can use an unscented cream or body lotion with the same scent, as your perfume, if you have one.

The well-moisturized skin keeps the scent better.

3. USE PETROLEUM JELLY

If you have too dry skin, apply a little bit of petroleum jelly to the pulse points before spraying the fragrance. It will make your perfume last longer because oily skin keeps the scent of the fragrance better.

4. CHOOSE THE RIGHT POINTS

If you wonder where to apply perfume, the answer is to the pulse points. These are points, where the arteries are closest to the surface of the skin, and where you can feel your heartbeat.

The pulse points are also called warm points. And they help the fragrance to sound brighter and louder. 

There are some pulse points: on the wrists, on the neck between clavicles, behind the ears, on the fold of elbows, behind the knees. You can also apply the perfume on your ankles, calves, cleavage and belly button.

In fact, your pulse points are the best place to apply perfume. But you can also follow an amazing tip of Coco Chanel – apply perfume where you want to be kissed.

5. DON’T RUB YOUR WRISTS

After spraying the fragrance on your wrists, don’t rub it. It can make your perfume sound not correctly and last less because rubbing makes the top notes disappear faster.

Instead, spray the perfume to the chosen points and let it dry on your skin. 

6. A DISTANCE MAKES SENSE

While spraying the fragrance, hold the bottle 5-7 inches away from the skin. It will prevent the large drops of the perfume on your skin.

7. DON’T FORGET ABOUT YOUR HAIR

The hair holds the scent of the fragrance even longer than the skin. You can apply a small amount of your perfume spray on hair, or better on your hairbrush because the alcohol in fragrances can damage your hair and make it dry.

Remember: only to apply the fragrance to freshly-washed hair, because the natural oils of your hair can affect the scent of the perfume.

Personally, I like to spray a little of my perfume on the hair, then make a ponytail and after a while let my hair down. In this way, I always get an impressive scent from my hair.

There is also a lot of hair perfumes, which don’t harm your hair. You can find such hair fragrances among many designer and niche perfume brands.

Some of them are: Chanel, Dior, Narciso Rodriguez, Byredo, Diptyque, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, and other brands.

8. DON’T SPRAY PERFUME ON THE CLOTHES

Spray the perfume directly on your skin, not on your clothes, because the fragrance can leave some stains. Make sure that your perfume dries on the skin, and only then put on the clothes.

You can also apply your perfume to the pulse points, which are not covered with your clothes. This way, your perfume will sound brighter and you will feel it better during the day.

Be warned: do not spray your perfume on jewelry because the fragrance can damage it. 

Your clothes can keep the scent of perfume for a very long time. Of course, if you want you can do it at your own risk. But it is better to avoid spraying the fragrance on the clothes.

As a last resort, you can spray the perfume on your scarf. It will create an additional scented aura around you.

9. KEEP FRAGRANCES IN THE RIGHT PLACE

To make your perfumes live longer, keep them in the dark place without rapid changes in temperature. Do not store them in the bathroom or other damp, warm and too light place.

Store the fragrances in your closet, on the shelf or on a vanity table. But make sure that your perfumes are far from the light.

You can also keep your perfumes in the boxes they originally come in. It will prevent them from damaging.

10. DON’T WEAR TOO MUCH PERFUME

Your perfume should attract people and not the other way around. That is why it is better to avoid to apply too much perfume.

If you wear the same perfume day after day, you can get used to it and don’t feel the scent as much as before. But it doesn’t mean, that people around you don’t feel it also.

From time to time, it is better to change your perfume. This way your olfactory system will not get used to one scent, and you will feel your fragrance at its best.

In addition to that, wearing different perfumes and trying different scents develop your olfactory system and make your fragrance experience better and brighter. 

11. CHOOSE THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF SPRAYS

If you don’t know how many sprays of fragrance should you do, check the perfume concentration of your fragrance.

If you have some light and refreshing Eau de Cologne or Eau de Toilette, make 3-4 sprays without any worries. But if you have some intensive and heavy Eau de Parfum or Perfume, make 1-2 sprays.

12. LESS IS MORE

Too heavy perfumes can сause a headache not only to other people but also to you. If you don’t want your favorite fragrance to become your worst enemy or you wonder how to wear perfume subtly, the answer is also 1-2 sprays.

If you want to get some light and not intensive scent, you can also try body mists or fragrance body sprays. These are sprays with the low concentration of perfume composition.

They sound not so loud and do not last for a long time. That is why you need to reapply them many times during the day. The price of such body mists is also cheaper than the price of the usual fragrances.

For example, English perfume brand Jo Loves offers its customers the fragrance body sprays called Fragrance Graffiti. You can choose the fragrance body spray with the scent of Grapefruit, Tuberose, Fig or Vetiver. Such sprays have a light and very pleasant scent.

For people who love all creative things, Jo Loves also offers a new way to apply fragrances –  Fragrance Paintbrush. Such fragrance paintbrush contains the fragrance in the form of a gel that dries in second and gives your skin the beautiful and tender scent.

Click here to read my full review of Fragrance Graffiti and Fragrance Paintbrush by Jo Loves.

13. USE MAKEUP WIPES TO REMOVE THE PERFUME

Don’t worry if you have applied too much perfume not on purpose. You can easily remove it using makeup wipes or any other alcohol wipes. Then you can reapply your perfume in the right quantity.

14. REAPPLY THE FRAGRANCE DURING THE DAY

If you feel that your fragrance becomes quieter during the day, you can reapply it 1-2 times. But you need to be careful with it. It is better to ask someone if your perfume does smell loud or not, and if it doesn’t then you can reapply it.

15. COMBINE THE FRAGRANCES

These days, one of the most popular ways to wear fragrances is layering them. You can layer different perfumes in order to receive something new and unique.

Before layering different fragrances on your skin, test how they will sound together on a testing paper. If you like a result, repeat the process on the skin.

To layer the fragrances the right way, you need to spray the heavier one, and then the lighter one. The layering of perfumes has almost the same principle as the composition of any perfume, that has top, middle and base notes.

The top notes are usually fresh, light and they disappear faster, while the base notes are mostly deep, intensive and they last longer.

There are perfume brands that offer the pair of fragrances which are perfect to be layered together. For example, on the website of Jo Malone London, you can find a perfect combination of their fragrances.

Or you can experiment with layering on your own.

Layering fragrances can be not only between two spray fragrances but also between different types of perfumes. You can choose the products with different or the same scent and then layer them.

For example, there are perfume brands that have their fragrances in the forms of perfume spray, solid and oil.

Niche perfume brand Diptyque offers their famous Philosykos fragrance in the spray, but also like perfume oil roll-on and solid perfume. You can apply first oil or solid perfume and then apply the perfume spray.

Such layering of different types of fragrances with the same scent will make your perfume last longer and more intensive.

16. HOW TO APPLY PERFUME OILS?

If you wonder how to apply perfume oil, there are also some tips.

Usually, you can find the perfume oils in the form of roll-on fragrance. In that case, you can apply such perfume oils directly on your skin to the pulse points. Or you can apply some oil on your fingerprint (wash your hands before it) and then to the chosen points.

There are also perfume oils not in the form of roll-on, but simply in the small bottles. Sometimes they have the applicator, but if they don’t, you can apply such oils with your fingerprints or find the convenient applicator.

The perfume oils are more concentrated and will last on your skin longer than the normal perfume spray. That is why it is better not to apply too much perfume oil on your skin. In the case of any fragrance, less is more. 

You can find a lot of amazing perfume oils by different brands. For example, niche perfume brands Diptyque, Byredo, Libertine Fragrance and others offer their fragrances in the form of oil perfumes. You can also check very beautiful and delightful perfume oils by Bootzie.

When you know how to use concentrated perfume oil on the skin, you probably will be interested in how to use perfume oil on clothes.

As in the case with the perfume spray, it is better not to apply your perfume oil on the clothes. It can leave some stains which will not make you happy, even if you smell amazing. Apply the perfume oil on the skin before putting on your clothes.

Interesting fact:

In ancient Egypt, rich people used to wear perfumes made with an oil base. They anointed their bodies and hair to prevent the skin from drying in the hot Egyptian sun.

Egyptians have a special method to keep their skin oiled. They wore perfume cones of scented and solidified tallow on top of their head. In the heat of the day, the cone malted and the scent appeared, covering the body and the hair with the perfume.

17. HOW TO APPLY ATTAR PERFUME OILS?

If you prefer wearing perfume oils, you probably heard about Attar perfume oil or Ittar. It is a natural perfume oil derived from the different botanical sources (flowers and woods). Such perfume oils have been used in the East since ancient time.

Nowadays, Attar perfume oils become very popular in all other parts of the world because these natural perfume oils are highly concentrated and very long-lasting.

So, how to wear attar?

Attar perfume oils can be applied with the applicator stick or with the roller head of the bottle. You can also find some perfume oils in the form of roll-on bottles.

Apply a small drop of Attar to your inner wrist and then dab it lightly on to the other wrist without rubbing. After that, you can press your wrists to the other points on your body, for example, behind the earlobes. 

There is also a tip on how to apply attar on clothes.

Take one or two drops of attar into the palm of the hand and then bring your palms together. Do not rub your palms or do it very gently. It is better to press lightly with one hand to the other. Then the perfume oil is applied over the clothes by subtly touching it with the palms. 

But beware: do not apply the perfume oil with the applicator or roll-on over your clothes. And remember, that like all other perfume oils, attar can leave stains, especially if it is the dark perfume oil.

Before applying attar on your clothes, test it first on a small and non-visible part of a garment.

18. HOW TO APPLY MINIATURE PERFUME?

If you have some miniature bottles with perfumes and you want to use them, there are also some tips on how to use miniature perfume.

Some miniature fragrances have sprays, so you can easily apply them, but others are without sprays. In that case, use the stopper of the bottle, the neck of the bottle pressed to your skin or just apply it with the fingerprint.

19. SOLID PERFUMES

To apply a solid perfume on your skin, use your finger to take some perfume from a jar and then transfer it to the skin to the chosen points.

By the way, you can also use your solid perfume as a moisturizer for hands or for any other dry place of your body if you don’t have any cream at hand, but your skin feels a discomfort.

20. ROLLERBALL FRAGRANCES

Not only perfume oils are produced in the form of roll-on. You can also find the usual fragrances in such form because it makes the fragrance very convenient and easy to take with you wherever you go.

As you can see from the paragraph about wearing the perfume oils, there is nothing complicated about how to apply rollerball perfume on your skin. You can also check this video by Dior, in which you can see how to apply Miss Dior Roller-Pearl.

21. FRAGRANCES WITHOUT SPRAY

If you don’t know how to apply perfume without spray, but you want to use one, there are some useful tips.

First of all, you can use a stopper of a bottle to apply the perfume on your skin. If the stopper is not convenient for applying the perfume, you can just press the neck of the bottle to your wrist and then press the wrist to the other points of your body.

Using your fingerprint, as in the case of perfume oils, will also make the application of the fragrance much easier. Of course, you have to wash your hands before it. And if the bottle has a too wide neck, do not use this method because you can spill your non-spray perfume.

If the bottle of your favorite perfume has no spray, you can decant a little bit of this perfume to a convenient fragrance atomizer with spray or to a perfume sample. In this way, you can apply the fragrance without any troubles.

The same tips can be also used when men do not know how to apply cologne without spray. 

22. CHOOSE THE RIGHT PERFUME CONCENTRATION

Because we have already mentioned the word «cologne», let’s talk about a perfume concentration and how this affects the lasting and the intensity of your fragrances.

The perfume concentration is a percent of a perfume composition (a blend of natural and chemical ingredients) in any fragrance. All perfumes are divided into several types according to the concentration. 

There are such types of fragrances: Eau de Cologne or Cologne, Eau de Toilette, Eau de Parfum and Extrait de Parfum or Perfume.

Click here to read my full perfume guide about the difference between EDC, EDT, EDP, and Perfume.

The fragrances with the low perfume concentration are lighter, fresher and their lasting is not very long. If you want something not too heavy and saturated, choose Eau de Cologne or Eau de Toilette.

But if you want something deeper and more intensive, choose Eau de Parfum or Extrait de Parfum. These fragrances will last much longer and sound more expressive.

There is a myth that Eau de Cologne is a fragrance solely for men. On the market, it is hard to find any designer fragrance with the concentration of Eau de Cologne that is marked as feminine.

But in fact, this designation has nothing about gender, but the concentration of perfume composition in fragrance.

For example, English perfume brand Jo Malone London creates their fragrances in the concentration of Eau de Cologne and Cologne Intense, and they are fully unisex. 

The French perfume brand Atelier Cologne offers their fragrances in the concentration of Cologne Absolues and they are also marked as unisex.

Interesting fact: 

The first Eau de Cologne was created in 1709 by a perfumer Johann Maria Farina. It was named after the city Cologne in Germany, where Johann Maria Farina lived and worked.

Click here to read about a perfume workshop in Cologne with the perfume Use Manasse.

This original Eau de Cologne was the favorite fragrance of Emperor Napoleon and he used a lot of this Eau de Cologne throughout his life. 

23. THINK ABOUT AN OCCASION

Choose a fragrance according to your goal. If you need a perfume to wear at work or just throughout the day, choose something light and not too saturated.

But if you want to find the fragrance for going out, feel free to choose something deeper, warmer and more sensual.

24. AND ABOUT THE SEASON

The same can be said about choosing the right fragrance for a certain season. The heavy and intense perfumes are not very suitable for summertime, but they will warm you during the coldest winter days.

In contrast, some light floral and citrus fragrances will make your summer days fresher and your mood better.

25. LEARN THE FRAGRANCE FAMILIES

If you have never worn fragrances before, but you want to start doing it, the understanding of fragrance families will make your perfume journey easier.

All fragrances are divided into certain families according to the notes. There are aquatic, aromatic, citrus, green, fruity, floral, fougere, chypre, woody, gourmand, leathery, oriental perfumes. One fragrance can also belong to different families at the same time and be, for example, floral-oriental. 

More perfumes you try, faster your taste evolves. After a while, you will know which fragrance family or families you prefer most of all.

26. DEODORANT + PERFUME

If you wonder how to use deodorant and perfume together, there are also some tips.

First of all, try to choose the deodorant with a neutral scent. Such deodorant will not interrupt the scent of your fragrance. Apply the deodorant first and then apply the fragrance on your skin. 

You can also find and use the deodorants with the same scent as your fragrance. There are great deodorants by such brands as Tom Ford, Chanel, Acqua di Parma, and others. Such deodorants smell after the perfumes, so you can easily combine wearing both products.

27. USE THE SCENTED PRODUCTS WITH THE SAME SCENT

Try not to combine the scented products with the different scents at once, especially when the scents are very strong. It is better to use different products (shower gel, soap, deodorant, body spray, fragrance) with the similar or the same scent.

28. HOW TO WEAR PERFUME FOR MEN?

If you don’t know how to apply men’s perfume, just use all fragrance tips described in this post. There are no special rules on how to apply cologne for men or how many sprays of cologne to make.

The rules of wearing fragrances for women and for men are the same. 

In short, apply the fragrance after the shower to the chosen pulse points, but not on the clothes. Don’t overdo with the number of sprays, because in the case of the fragrance, less is more. Don’t rub the fragrance, instead let it get dry on your skin.

Interesting fact:

In the 19th century, the perfumed handkerchief was an indispensable accessory of any gentleman. Such handkerchiefs protected their owners against the bad odors from the streets.

In 1904, inspired by this tradition, Guerlain launched a new perfume called Mouchoir de Monsieur, translated as the handkerchief of the gentleman from French.

29. TEST THE PERFUME BEFORE PURCHASING

Before purchasing and wearing perfume, you need to test it on the skin. If you have found the perfume that sounds great on the testing paper, apply it to your skin and give the fragrance time to show its all beauty.

It is very important to test the fragrance on your skin because some perfumes can cause an allergy.

30. THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP

The last and the most important tip on how to put on perfume the right way is – to do it with love.

You have to wear only those fragrances, that you love and that make you happy every second you wear them. It doesn’t matter if you have only one perfume for all occasions and for all seasons, or if you change your fragrance two times a day.

Just make it with love and enjoy your favorite perfumes.

Of course, it is also important to think about people who surround you. Working in the office, you need to remember that some heavy and saturated fragrances can cause a headache and distract the people. The same can be said about wearing such perfumes in a gym or other places like this.

In any other instance, the choice of the perfume depends only on you. 

There are no perfumes for a certain age, as well as there are no perfumes for different hair color. In fact, there are no fragrances for women and for men.

You are free to choose the perfume that suits your personality in the best way, no matter if it is marked as feminine or masculine. The price of your fragrance is also not important. The only thing that means a lot is how do you feel wearing the perfume. 

Life is so fleeting to limit yourself in choosing the fragrance. 

I hope that all these perfume hacks and tips on how to wear perfume and make it last longer will be helpful for you, and they will make your journey into the world of fragrances easier and better. 

Of course, you can find many perfumes that last all day. But if your favorite fragrance is not one of them, these tips will help you to enjoy your perfume for a longer time.