When perfume shopping, don’t spray on the first thing you see, and don’t let anyone spray a tester on you at the entrance to the perfume counter. Smell the tester by spraying it on a slip of paper, and use this first test to rule out fragrances that don’t appeal to you. Chances are, if you don’t like it on the paper, putting it on your skin won’t increase your enjoyment of it.
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When you choose a perfume, you are expressing something about the way you want to see yourself or your “fragrance personality”. Do you want to feel fresh and clean? Exotic and energetic? Youthful or woman-of-the-world? You’d think it would be an easy thing to find a new perfume—just pick the scents you like, right? Sure, that’s where you should start, and you should also make an effort to consider scents you dislike.
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To apply the perfect amount of scent, put it on when you are just out of the shower and before dressing. Dab perfume on pulse points (no more than six if you’re applying it on the backs of knees or ankles) or three sprays of eau de toilette or eau de parfum right after drying off. The scent will become a part of your skin, easing through your clothing rather than sitting on top of it. Scenting before dressing also prevents sprays from staining or fading clothing.
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Perfume has always been a vital part of human culture: people have perfumed their hair and bodies with oils, resins, flower and herb extracts and animal scents since earliest history. Wearing scent is pleasurable; it is an expression of individuality; it attracts mates and makes us nice to be close to. Perfumes are more for the wearer: they make us feel wonderful.
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When the Emperor Napoleon of France was about to return from battle, he sent a message to Josephine. “Am returning in three days. Don’t wash.” While modern-day noses may not agree with Napoleon’s sentiments, there is some evidence that lovers are attracted by each others’ natural smell above and beyond the scents of soap, perfume, fragrance, cologne and chewing gum. That we are influenced by naturally-emitted scents called pheromones, so subtle and yet so powerful that we can be drawn to or repelled by people for reasons we don’t even understand. (History doesn’t record whether or not Josephine obeyed Napoleon’s order.)
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