subject: 3 Simple Ways To Make Your Designer Perfume Last Longer [print this page] Once you've shelled out the big bucks for a bottle of your favorite designer fragrance, it's always such a disappointment when it disappears quickly. Some perfumes only last an hour or two, and some unlucky people can't seem to hold on to their fragrances, even if they're supposed to be long lasting. Fortunately, there are some easy things you can do to extend the life of your perfume, and they are either free or fairly low cost.
Spritz a small hankie or cotton ball.
Some people's skin just doesn't hold perfume well. No matter what the claims of the bottle, people with dry skin, exceptionally fair skin (like many redheads), and a hotter body temperature tend to make perfume evaporate too fast. If your fragrance seems to get away almost as soon as you put it on, a small cloth, handkerchief, or cotton ball might retain the fragrance faster than your skin. You can store the scented items in your purse, your sock, or your bra.
Moisturize.
Oily or moist skin holds fragrance better than dry skin. If you don't moisturize already, use an unscented, fairly heavy, body lotion with plenty of natural oils, not just fast-evaporating silicone and water. Silicone lotions do have a nice silky feel and don't sit heavily on your skin, but the silicone oils evaporate in the air quickly.
Apply perfume to the more oily parts of the body, such as the hairline, small of the back, and between the breasts. Wrists are convenient places to apply perfume, but the skin there is thin and dry. There's also the frequent exposure of the hands and wrists to water, fabric, and other elements, which act as perfume erasers.
Many people layer their fragrance with lotion in the same scent, but that is not always available. The extra moisturizing will do a lot to help, all on its own. In addition, do not apply perfume right after a shower. You've just washed all your body's natural oils away, and the perfume will have nothing to grab onto. Instead, try to wait at least an hour.
Combine with musk or amber.
Some perfumes just don't last. In classic perfumery, ingredients are divided into three categories: top notes, heart (middle) notes, and base notes. The top notes come on strong, but their very nature makes them leave in a hurry. Citrus, spices, and aromatic herbs are usually top notes, such as tangerine, coriander, cinnamon, yuzu, mint, neroli, juniper and thyme. Many lab-made scent molecules that contribute to that "modern" impression of designer perfumes are also top notes.
Unfortunately, the top notes create the first impression that people fall in love with, but they're the first to vanish. Perfumers combine "fixative" ingredients to make them stick around longer, musk being the most common. You can do this, too. If your perfume seems to be all top notes, you can try combining it with another simple perfume based on musk or amber. Popular, and inexpensive, layering perfumes are Jovan Musk and The Body Shop's White Musk.
If your perfume is on the sweet side, you can try layering it with a vanilla or amber scented perfume, body spray, or body lotion. Vanilla is also long-lasting and can enhance the other ingredients. To try this before you buy, simply go to a drug store, department store, or beauty store, and use their testers.
