Perfume is more than just a fragrance – it can evoke memories and encapsulate your personality. Perfume can also be used as a way to make an impression, and it’s a great choice for those special occasions when you want to impress.
A good perfume can add the finishing touch to your outfit, whether you’re headed to a job interview or going out to celebrate your anniversary. However, it’s important to choose the right scent for you. Not only does the type of perfume matter, but so does how much you apply and when you wear it.
The perfume bottles we use today come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Many of them are made of glass or crystal and feature creative designs. Perfume has become a fashion accessory, with the same cachet that designer clothes and accessories carry.
Modern perfumes contain from ten to hundreds of ingredients. They can contain natural aromatic plant extracts or synthetic aromatic chemicals. They also may contain fixatives – natural or synthetic substances that slow down the evaporation rate of the perfume’s other ingredients and increase their longevity. Perfumes also contain solvents – alcohol-based solutions that dilute the perfume oils and allow them to be sprayed or poured on the skin.
Most perfumes consist of three parts, or accords: top notes, middle notes and base notes. The top notes are the first smells that your nose detects, and they evaporate quickly. The middle notes are the lingering smells that remain from two minutes to one hour after you’ve applied a perfume, and the base notes are the lasting odors that your nose picks up on over time. The accords are further broken down into a group of olfactory categories, which have been likened to musical notes: citrus notes, floral notes and woody notes.
When reviewing a perfume, writers often describe its notes using sensory words, such as ‘crisp’ or ‘fresh’ or’velvety’ versus’sharp’. These words are subjective and personal to the perfumer’s experience, but they are helpful in describing the olfactory qualities of the perfume.
Reviewers might also refer to the occasion or season they think a particular perfume would work best for and offer a note on how it might be worn. They might also use a phrase like ‘light’ or ‘dark’, which refer to how strong or how mild the perfume is.
Some people are allergic to certain smells, and this can be a consideration when choosing a perfume. In addition, the olfactory sense is affected by age, diet and medications.
In addition to the perfume sprays and colognes we commonly associate with perfume, there are perfume pens, wipes, room sprays, reed diffusers and other items that can be used to refresh your scent throughout the day. These products are a convenient way to apply perfume and can be especially useful if you have allergies or if you’re travelling. In fact, the rise of the perfume pen has been attributed to the increased popularity of air travel.