Are You Making These 12 Perfume Mistakes?
Of all the beauty categories, perfume seems to be the trickiest one
. From shopping for them (after a while, don't they all start to smell the same?) to wearing them (it never smells like it did in the bottle!), fragrances can be finicky. Determined to figure them out once and for all, we sat down with L'Artisan Parfumeur perfumer Stéphanie Bakouche, who unlocked the secrets behind scent satisfaction.
Shopping
- Use blotters. Spray the blotters at a distance of about 15 centimeters. Only one spritz is necessary. "Always wait a few seconds — ideally 30 seconds [before smelling the blotter]," said Stéphanie. This way, the fragrance's alcohol has time to evaporate.
- Keep a good distance. Avoid putting the blotter too close to the nose. "Otherwise, you have some molecules that deposit on the nose," explained Stéphanie. Not only could this be annoying for the rest of your day, it will affect how you smell the other perfumes you're trying. "Waving it in front of your nose is better," Stéphanie suggested.
- Be patient. "Don't forget that when you first spray it, it's not representative of how it's going to smell on you all day long," warned Stéphanie. This is because you're only smelling the top notes, and fragrances have three levels — the top notes, heart notes, and base notes. "So don't hesitate to keep the blotter and smell it again."
- Use coffee beans in between sniffing scents. "Coffee beans have the property of absorbing and neutralizing the odor molecules that remain in the nose after smelling a lot of fragrances," explained Stéphanie. She also suggested drinking water between sniffs — it cleanses the palette. Waiting a few minutes between smelling different scents also helps.
- Stay open-minded. Just because you haven't liked a certain note in one fragrance doesn't mean you'll hate it in all perfumes. "So many people tell me ‘I don't like jasmine — it's too strong,'" said Stéphanie. "But you can like a fragrance even if there's a hint of something that you don't like when it's pure." According to Stéphanie, the average number of ingredients in a perfume is about 25, but it can be anywhere from 10 to 200 — the balance is very delicate in each fragrance, so don't discount certain notes!