How to wear perfume: where, how much and why you shouldn't rub it in

Everyone knows the gesture. Two sprays on the wrist, then both wrists are rubbed together, thoroughly, as if something needed spreading that would long since have spread on its own. Almost everyone has seen someone do it at some point and picked it up. It isn't wrong. But it costs a fragrance its first impression, and someone took great care over that.

In short: A perfume works best on warm skin that isn't too dry, sprayed from about 15 to 20 centimetres onto the base of the neck, the nape or the inside of the wrists. Two to three sprays are enough for an Eau de Parfum. Then don't rub it in; give the fragrance time, because it changes over the hours.

A perfume is not a state but a progression, a little like a day in the mountains. In the morning everything is bright and clear, around midday it grows calmer, and in the evening what remains is what lay beneath all day. If you know how to apply a fragrance, you get more of that progression.

Where should you spray perfume?

Perfume belongs where the skin is warmest and well supplied with blood. These spots are often called pulse points, even though the pulse itself has little to do with it.

On the neck and the nape, below the hairline, the skin is warm and sheltered, and the fragrance stays close enough for you to still notice it yourself. Anyone you hug in greeting will notice it right there. The inside of the wrists is the classic place, practical because you can smell it at any time, even if a watch strap and frequent hand-washing take some of it away. On warm days the crook of the elbow or the backs of the knees also work well, from where the fragrance slowly rises.

Hold the bottle a little more than a hand's width from the skin, about 15 to 20 centimetres. That way a fine mist settles over a larger area instead of sitting in one spot as a wet patch.

In a perfumery you usually smell a test strip. It shows the beginning of a fragrance, but not how it develops over the hours, and not how it smells on your own skin.

How much perfume is right?

For an Eau de Parfum, two to three sprays are usually enough. An Eau de Parfum contains considerably more fragrance material than an Eau de Toilette. There is no binding standard: the German consumer organisation Stiftung Warentest gives roughly 8 to 12 per cent for Eau de Parfum, and many perfume houses go higher. If you are used to an Eau de Toilette, it is worth being more sparing at first when you switch.

Why you shouldn't rub perfume in

Back to the gesture from the beginning. Perfumers advise almost unanimously against rubbing perfume into the wrists. The friction warms the skin, and the lightest components of the fragrance, the top notes, evaporate faster. Yet they are the first impression: in many perfumes the bright, fresh notes such as citrus or spices, which are only this distinct in the first few minutes.

It is better simply to let the fragrance dry on the skin. If you want it on both wrists, spray both.

On which skin does a fragrance last longest?

A fragrance needs something to hold on to. On skin that has become brittle from wind and dry mountain air, it tends to fade faster. The best moment is therefore shortly after a shower, when the skin is clean and still slightly damp. Many perfumers also recommend applying an unscented cream beforehand.

Perfume on clothes and hair

Wool often holds a fragrance longer than skin. A scarf worn with a particular perfume in winter and taken out of the drawer again the following autumn sometimes still smells of it. But a fragrance barely develops on fabric, because it lacks the warmth of the skin, and on silk or light-coloured fabrics it can leave marks. It is best to spray your skin first and get dressed afterwards.

In the hair, a fragrance moves with every turn of the head. Because perfume contains alcohol, which can dry out hair, it is better to spray once into the air and walk through it, or onto your brush rather than directly into your hair.

Why can't you smell your own perfume after a while?

Anyone entering a stone pine parlour for the first time smells the wood at once. Anyone who lives there barely notices it after a few days, even though every visitor remarks on it at the door. It is just the same with your own perfume.

After a while the nose blocks out a constant smell so that something new will stand out again. Experts call this olfactory adaptation. According to the perfume house Galimard in Grasse, the perception of your own fragrance drops noticeably after 15 to 20 minutes, and after 30 to 40 minutes most people hardly notice it consciously any more.

The fragrance is still there. People nearby still smell it, because they are not constantly exposed to it, and if you spray again now, you will quickly be wearing too much for everyone else. A brief moment at the inside of your wrist usually shows that it has not disappeared at all. It has only changed.

Getting to know a fragrance over a day

A perfume unfolds in stages known as the top, heart and base notes. The top note is the first impression, bright and brief. The heart carries the fragrance through the middle hours. The base is what still lies on the skin in the evening.

With our ARVE Chaleureux, for example, Alpine stone pine, cinnamon bark and lavender come first. Later come fig leaf and cedarwood, and towards evening moss, amber and a cashmere-wool accord remain. If you only smell a test strip, you only get to know the first part.

It is therefore worth smelling a fragrance three times: after ten minutes, after an hour and in the evening. A new fragrance is best worn on its own for a whole day, rather than comparing two at once. Our Discovery Set, with both fragrances in 2 ml each, is made for exactly this: one day Pétillant, one day Chaleureux.

Outdoors, a fragrance smells different. On a cold morning in the mountains it stays close to the skin, almost reserved, because perfume evaporates more slowly in cold air. In the afternoon, when the sun has warmed the slope and the skin, the same fragrance rises and feels far more present. A perfume that seems discreet in winter can be too much in high summer. So if you really want to get to know a fragrance, wear it not only indoors but also where you will later wear it: on a walk, in the air of an ordinary day.

How should you store perfume?

The best place for a bottle resembles a good cellar: cool, dark and at roughly the same temperature all year round. Light, especially direct sunlight, can alter the fragrance materials, and heat speeds up ageing. But constant changes in temperature do the most harm.

That is why the bathroom, despite its mirror, is the least suitable place: steam, warmth and cold alternate there several times a day. A cupboard or chest of drawers in the bedroom or dressing room is better, ideally in the original box. And put the cap straight back on after each use, so that as little air as possible reaches the fragrance.

What remains in the evening

At the end of a long day, taking off your jacket or running a hand across the back of your neck, you sometimes smell the fragrance once more. No longer the bright first impression of the morning, but what lay beneath it all along: wood, something warm, the skin itself. It is often the most beautiful part of a perfume, and the one most easily missed if you rubbed it away in the morning.

Frequently asked questions

Where should you apply perfume? On warm areas of skin: the base of the neck, the nape, the inside of the wrists or the crook of the elbow. There the body's warmth lifts the fragrance off the skin.

How many sprays are right? For an Eau de Parfum, usually two to three. The fragrance should reach about an arm's length, not across the whole room.

Can you rub perfume into your wrists? Better not. The friction warms the skin, and the top notes evaporate faster.

Why doesn't my perfume last long? Often the skin is too dry, or you have grown used to the fragrance and no longer smell it yourself, even though others still notice it. An unscented cream before applying often helps.

Can you spray perfume on clothes? Yes, natural fibres such as wool hold fragrance for a long time. Marks are possible on silk and light-coloured fabrics, and a fragrance develops less on fabric than on skin.

How long does an Eau de Parfum last? That depends on the fragrance and the skin. The base notes of an Eau de Parfum can often still be noticed in the evening if you applied it in the morning.

Where is the best place to store perfume? Cool, dark and at a constant temperature, for example in a cupboard. Not in the bathroom and not on the windowsill.