How To Prep Your Skin For Optimal Perfume Performance
Everyone wants to smell good. Giving off a fresh and pleasing smell is not only attractive, but the opposite of that, emitting body odor, is instantly displeasing to all those around.
It's no surprise that the best way to ensure you smell good is to shower or bathe every day (via Healthline), whether you want to smell naturally fresh without fragrance or prep for your favorite perfume. After bathing, you'll need to use deodorant or antiperspirant to prevent body odor, though you can always choose an unscented version.
Then, consider what you're eating. Julia Zangrilli, perfumer and custom-fragrance company owner, says, if you want to smell good, be thoughtful about what you put in your body. "A diet full of spice, onions, and garlic is good for you, but, boy, does it come out through your pores," she told Refinery 29. "Those three things can come through your skin and breath for up to 48 hours."
Anne Sanford, owner of a natural fragrance company, agrees. "Eating well — lots of fresh food, including fruits and vegetables and clean protein — really keeps the body fresh and running smoothly, thus providing the perfect substrate for fragrance," she said.
So, in the eternal quest to smell amazing 24/7, here's how to prep your skin to make your perfume last longer.
What to do before you put perfume on
Spraying a fresh-smelling scent onto an unclean body is not only nonsensical but can actually make you smell worse (via Perfume News). Perfumes that are strong, woody, or spicy don't blend well with sweat. However, sometimes, being sweaty is unavoidable. If you're unshowered or sweaty, then herby, fruity, and minty scents can be the least offensive.
Whenever possible, always aim to apply perfume when you're freshly showered. One trick to keep your perfume long-lasting is fascinatingly simple. "Apply an unscented moisturizer where you're going to apply your fragrance," beauty content creator Anastazia Dupee told Bustle. Then spray or dab on your perfume, and finish with another layer of moisturizer to seal in the fragrance.
"You want to apply perfume where your body has the most heat," explained Dupee, including your wrists, the back of your neck, and even the top of your head.
Maximize your scent in other ways
Many of us finish our perfume routine with a spray or two on our hair, but that may not be the best idea. Fragrances can dry out and damage your hair. One of the biggest reasons is the alcohol found in perfume. According to StyleCraze, the majority of perfumes contain 60% to 70% alcohol. Regularly spraying alcohol on your hair can cause breakage in the long run, and it also makes your locks dry, brittle, frizzy, and unmanageable as the natural oils are stripped away. As an alternative, hair mists, hair oils, and dry shampoos often contain fragrances that will not damage your hair and may even contain nourishing oil.
Another option to maximize your perfume is to spray a bit on your clothes. Of course, you don't want to spray it on anything expensive that may get stained, so cotton clothing is a good option. Though you may think that dousing your outer sweater or jacket will give off the most scent when you walk by, it's actually better to spray the layer of clothing closest to your body as your body heat will enhance the fragrance even more, via FragranceX.