Perfume is the cherry on top of a well-coordinated beauty routine. It can elevate your mood, make you feel energized or sexy, and it can also bring back memories and emotions. But when it comes to choosing perfume, many people struggle. According to experts, some common issues include a lack of knowledge about scent notes and not knowing how the smells work together and change while worn; trying too many perfumes at once and experiencing sensory fatigue; or not understanding how to properly wear perfume.
To help you select the right perfume for your skin type, we talked to experts who have a passion for fragrance and know what it takes to create a lasting impression. We asked them about the different fragrance notes, how to choose the best perfume for your body type, and what makes perfume last.
The earliest perfumes used a variety of natural ingredients, including some that may be considered a little gross now—like musk (from musk deer glands), hyraceum (petrified hyrax feces) and ambergris (whale vomit). Today, perfume is mostly made with synthetic chemicals but still incorporates a wide range of scents, from essential oils to natural aromatic plant extracts and synthetic aromachemicals. Modern perfumes also contain fixatives, which are natural or synthetic substances that slow the evaporation rate and help a perfume to stay on longer; and solvents, which are alcohol or another liquid used to dilute perfume oil.
Scents are categorized as top notes, heart notes and base notes—the first smells your nose notices, the middle scents that linger on your skin and the longest-lasting ones. Perfumes also have a layering effect, with lighter scents layered over heavier ones to balance and add complexity to the fragrance.
Aside from choosing the right scent, there are other things you can do to make your perfume last longer:
Applying your perfume correctly is key: “Spritz three to five sprays of your chosen fragrance directly onto your skin, before getting dressed. You want to place a spray on the neck area, shoulder and one wrist. Then, as you go about your day, keep the same routine—two sprays behind each ear, two on the neck and shoulder, and one on your wrist,” says Black Baccara Artisan Perfumer Kalliope Amorphous.
For maximum staying power, opt for a higher concentration of perfume oil in your perfume. An eau de parfum or parfum has the highest scent concentration, followed by an eau de toilette and then an eau de cologne. A perfume oil roll-on is an easy option for on-the-go application, with a similar ratio of scent to alcohol to ensure a long-lasting impact.