How to Make Your Perfume Last Longer
If you wish your favorite fragrance lasted longer, you’re in luck. There are many things you can do to help your perfume last throughout the day. Here are 15 ways to make your fragrance last longer.
1. Moisturize First
Fragrance tends to stick to hydrated skin for much longer than it sticks to dry skin, so moisturizing before applying fragrance can help longevity. If you apply an unscented lotion, body cream, or oil before you apply your perfume, you should notice it last longer.
2. Spray Onto Bare Skin
When you spray perfume onto your bare skin, it melds with your skin’s natural oils. This not only makes your scent uniquely your own, but also helps it last longer. While perfuming hair and clothes also has its advantages (and you may want to do that as well), don’t skip spraying your bare skin.
3. Apply to Hot Spots
If you want your fragrance to last all day, be sure to apply it to your pulse points. These areas create more body heat and fragrance reacts to heat, helping release more of it as your body temperature fluctuates throughout the day. The most popular pulse points for perfume are the wrists and the neck, but you can also apply inside your elbows, behind your ears, to the back of your knees and at your heart.
4. Try a Vaseline Base
If moisturizing your skin with body lotion isn’t helping your perfume’s longevity, try applying it over a layer of petroleum jelly. Petroleum jelly holds fragrance very well and lasts for a long time on the skin, helping your perfume linger for longer.
5. Never Rub
You may have the urge to rub your wrists together after applying perfume, but fragrance experts will tell you this is a huge mistake. Friction damages fragrance molecules, causing them to break down. This can change the fragrance profile and shorten its duration. So, if you want your perfume to last as long as possible, never rub it after applying.
6. Apply Right After a Warm Shower
Hydrated skin and body heat are excellent for a perfume’s longevity. Take advantage of both by applying your fragrance right after taking a warm shower. Blot damp skin dry, apply a moisturizer, and then apply your perfume.
7. Layer Up
Layering fragranced products can help you create a stronger scent. You can wear two or three complementary perfumes, or wear body products that complement your favorite scent. Many popular fragrances have matching body washes, body oils, or hair mists for this exact reason.
8. Brush It In
Spraying perfume in your hair can help it linger for much longer. If you don’t want to spray perfume directly in your hair due to its alcohol content, try spraying it on your hair brush first instead. Give your brush a spritz and allow the alcohol to evaporate. Once the perfume has dried, brush the fragrance in.
9. Scent Your Clothes
Fabric can hold fragrance for quite a long time, so consider finishing the application process with a final spray on your outfit. You can also spritz your signature scent on a few pieces of tissue paper, then line your drawers with the tissue paper. This will allow the scent to subtly sink into your clothes over time.
10. Don’t Spray the Air
Some people suggest applying perfume by spraying the air, then walking into the cloud of perfume. However, this is one of the least effective ways to apply a fragrance. Much of what you spray will simply drift away, leaving you with a very light application. If that’s what you want (and you also don’t mind wasting fragrance), feel free to spray the air. But if you’re looking for longevity, spraying directly on your pulse points is a much better choice.
11. Store Your Perfume Properly
Perfume is a long-lasting product, but it still needs to be stored correctly if you want it to have a long shelf life. Light, heat, humidity, and air can all interact with perfume molecules. This can weaken or change scents.
To preserve your favorite perfume, store it somewhere cool, dark, and dry (so, ideally, not in your humid bathroom). You also want to keep it in its original perfume bottle to avoid introducing air.
12. Know Your Strength
Some fragrances are stronger than others due to having a higher concentration of perfume oils. For example, two common perfume formulations are eau de parfum (EDP) and eau de toilette (EDT). While these may seem similar upon first spray, an EDP can contain up to three times as much perfume oil as an EDT.
Here’s a list of the concentration of popular fragrance products:
- Extrait de Parfum: 20% to 40%
- Eau de Parfum: 15% to 20%
- Eau de Toilette: 5% to 15%
- Eau de Cologne: 2% to 4%
- Eau Fraiche: 1% to 3%
- Body Lotion: 3% to 4%
If you find a particular fragrance isn’t strong enough for you, consider trying it in a higher concentration. Fragrances with higher concentrations tend to not only have a stronger scent immediately, but also last longer throughout the day.
13. Don’t Shake
If you want your fragrance to remain potent, don’t shake your perfume bottles before applying. Shaking a fragrance can force oxygen to enter its container, which can break up scent molecules. This can cause your fragrance to weaken or change, so remember to spritz without shaking.
14. Pay Attention to Fragrance Notes
Fragrances have top, middle, and base notes. The top notes are what you smell right away and the base notes linger the longest. Additionally, some notes tend to last longer than others in general. For example, woody, ambery, and gourmand notes (like chocolate and vanilla) tend to be very long lasting.
All that’s to say, if you feel like a particular fragrance doesn’t last long enough, take a look at its notes. The particular type of perfume you’re using could have mostly light notes that tend to evaporate quickly, like citrus notes. If that’s the case, you may need to try multiple tricks to get it to last longer.
15. Touch Up On the Go
A foolproof way to ensure your fragrance lasts all day is to simply reapply it. If you don’t have a travel spray and you want to reapply on the go, you can make a DIY touch up solution. Spray a few cotton swabs or cotton balls, then immediately put them in a small plastic baggie while still wet. Squeeze out all the air and seal. This should allow them to stay wet enough to allow you to reapply later in the day.