Frequent Questions: How & Where to Apply Perfume Effectively

How do you apply your perfume? Do you spritz on neck and wrists? Do you spray a cloud and walk through the mist? Do you dab from an old style splash bottle? Is there a wrong way to apply perfume? The method of application influences the way a fragrance smells and projects into the environment much more than what is called "body chemistry". Let's do some myth busting on this proper perfume application guide and suggest new and exciting ways to maximize your chosen perfume's potential, helping it expand at the pace you're comfortable with and last through the day.

Let's start with the most common myth: That perfume smells best on pulse points, specifically the wrists and behind the ears. Though it's a nice spot to bring up to your nose gingerly, you might be doing yourself a disservice. According to renowed perfumer Jean Claude Ellena (current in-house perfumer for Hermès) the Ph of the skin on the inside of the wrists can be a bit acidic/sour, thus subtly swifting the aroma of your fragrance. This is especially crucial with fragrant compositions which present tart or floral notes. Additionally, wrists are the places we often wear a wristwatch, bracelets or other jewelry and use to rest our hand on a mouse pad/handrest (here's a very pretty one!). These are materials which can also influence the scent of your perfume. A metallic watch or bracelet interacts subtle, while a leather band lends its own inherent aroma to the mix (sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way). Not to mention that in the case of a mouse pad the transfering of different perfumes ends up in a haphazard mix-up rather than a deliberate olfactory collage.
A better area to use, if you want to be able to lift up your fragranced body part to your nose at any given time to enjoy, is the upper hand or upper forearm. Not only are these areas with a more consistent Ph acidity with the rest of your body, giving you a truer picture, the existence of slight fuzz (or actual hair for the gents) aids the projection of the fragrance to those around, prolongs its lasting power and aids its wake (what the French call "sillage").

Behind the ear is a rather bad place for perfume, too even if very evocative, immortalised in hunderds of advertisements and films due to its erotic significance of ear lobe kissing & suckling, because at the back of the ears there are glands which produce an oily-smelling substance which distorts your posh perfume. You can judge just how much your own glands produce by rubbing a wet towel behind that spot and sniffing (or giving a long sniff at the sidebands of your spectacles/sunglasses). Heavy consumers of dairy products will notice a curdled milk, butyric note that is rather displeasant (and which prompts the Japanese to consider Westerners as "dirty"-smelling). Those who eat a lot of spice will have a production of sulphurous byproducts which can make their fragrance smell rotten, heavy or sour.
The best practice is to forsake behind the ears application for the front of the neck (assuming you don't wear neck jewelry, especially pearls which get tarnished by perfumes). This also aids the trailing of your fragrance during social hallos, as the scent rises uniformly during being given kisses to the cheeks.

Spraying in a cloud in front of you and then walking through the scent mist to get just the right amount is a technique which began by the launch of Aromatics Elixir by Clinique in 1971. This method was especially divised to cater for the bombastic blast of this superperfume and was then transfered through all of the Lauder Group companies.
It is rather wasteful so best used for anything that has a projection and trail as big as a house (most Estée Lauder scents indeed), so it's perfect for Angel and the like if you're wary of offending but still want to wear such a powerhouse. (In the case of Angel, even waving a Q-tip soaked in it in front of you is enough to transfer enough scent for you to smell of it!). Use it if you're adamant that spraying in profusion is the last resort of luxurious abandon in a rationed age.

Another common myth says you're not supposed to spray on your clothes because that way perfume doesn't get the chance to interact with your skin. Though it is a wonderful, romantic notion, giving every woman the idea that her fragrance is hers alone, because magically the scent is different in accordance with one's skin, this is a marketing technique that was specifically conceived for Chanel No.5. To make the iconic Chanel perfume regain a bit of its individual cachet after the mass popularisation of it, following its exhibition in the army shelves market during the 1950s, some new approach was needed. According to author Tilar Mazzeo, in her book about the venerable classic and its history, the Wertheimer brothers devised this plan to make No.5 not lose its sense of being a precious commodity even though it had become a bit too accessible. (This was a concern after the infamous days of American GIs photographed standing in a long line to claim a bottle of the classic perfume at the Parisian boutique during Nazi-occupied France). The plan worked: The marketing line was added even into commercials well into the 1970s and Chanel never became Coty or Dana. Most contemporary fragrances -excluding all-naturals artisanal perfumes and a few with a particularly high ratio of natural ingredients in them- small exactly the same on most skins. Think about it; this is why we're so quick to recognise their trail on a stranger on the street or across the cinema!

Therefore, unless we're talking vividly coloured juice (such as Serge Lutens Sarassins which is deep purple and stains like ink would), you're quite safe with spraying your clothes (apart from silks). If in doubt, a small secret patch test on an inside corner will convince you. Perfume is retained best on cloth, especially natural fibers (linen, cotton, wool) and rich aroma materials such as vanilla, amber, resins and balsams of the oriental & floriental family (hence the concept of "cashmere wrap fragrances" or "scents on a wool scarf").
One especially neat idea is spraying the flanks of your body, extra handy when wearing a jacket, as the natural movement of your arms brushing off when walking releases and re-releases fragrant molecules as you go through your day. Yet another nice spot is under the jacket lapels, or spraying a handerchief and tucking it in your breast pocket. Spraying your clothes also presents the advantage of extending the perfume progression's arc, making the notes appear in slow motion; especially nice with fragrances with complex bouquets and full-bodied character in which you want to savour every phase.

Skin does play a role into how scent "holds", but not how you think it does! In the movie Chéri (based on Colette's novel by the same name) the older courtesan, played by Cathy Bates, says to her -poignantly coming to terms with aging- peer Michelle Pfeiffer (as Lea) "you retain perfume so much better now that the skin isn't as smooth as it used to be". This very characteristic observation of La Belle Epoque is also confirmed by top  perfumers working today, who add that the same applies to people with big pores; which -I infer- might explain just why oily skin (which often is more "porous"/bigger-pored by nature) retains scent better and longer. It might also explain why some obese people are considered "smelly" by some in the general population (it's not that they don't wash enough, but sweat might get trapped in skin folds).
The fascinating part is it all turns out to be a matter of simple physics, rather than of chemistry!


Hair is a particularly good spot for perfume. Sales assistants might say anything to discourage you from it (from implying your hair might catch fire if a stranger holding a lit cigarette stands close enough, to saying it will completely dry out your hair and wreck it). They're in the business to sell as much products as possible and there are now hundreds of hair mists and hair enhancing scented sprays to buy (incidentally, notably good are those in the Thierry Mugler, Narciso Rodriguez and Chanel ranges, quite true to the actual perfumes). Buy them if it makes you feel all pampered up and you're a completist, but if not, you're just as well with spraying your hair brush or doing a quick spritz/dab on the nape, letting hair pick up the scent and release it with every move of your head. Frederic Malle agrees:

"For a special occasion, apply perfume on the back of your neck. The heat rising up your body and the movement of your hair will diffuse the scent. Also, the oil in your hair is a fabulous fragrance keeper, so you could spray some in your hair too. Just don't do it every day because the alcohol will dry out your hair." [source]

Pop perfume lore handed down by sales assistants tells not to rub your wrists together when you apply perfume "because you'll crush its molecules". Nothing could be further from the truth! Molecules are not that sensitive to physics, otherwise the time-space continuum would have been shattered long ago. The most you're going to do is annihilate the top notes through friction (which generates heat, which in turn will aid the rapid evaporation of the most volatile ingredients in the perfume, the so called "top notes"). You're essentially losing the introduction to your personal fragrance. Given that many modern fragrances are specifically conceived to display a particularly attractive overture so as to catch the attention of potential consumers, it's a shame missing it! On the other hand, this is a quick & practical way to judge the "heart notes" or "core" of a fragrance (the middle stage) you're eager to get into, when pressed for time. It will give you an immediate idea of what it's about beyond the usual 30-minute window frame given for the dissipation of the top notes. Proceed accordingly. 


When not wanting to offend with your fragrance in an office setting or in close proximity with other people or in hot weather, you might want to consider other tricks to tone down your perfume's potency. One simple trick is to spray your calves (not the back side of the knees when it's really hot, as these naturally sweat a lot when we bend them to sit down) and let the perfume rise slowly. Since noses are stuck in the place they are and you're typically not dealing with midgets, most people will get a small amount of rising perfume and not a full blast coming off the neck and decolletage. Another, especially welcome tip for romantic rendez-vous is spraying your belly-button (make sure it's free of lint too!) or under the breasts (or the equivalent spot for men): The belly is warm, the scent rises uniformly and you're guaranteed a restrained sillage that gets more intimate & intriguing as clothes get off....

Last but not least, there is "the cotton ball technique" of applying perfume. This does not consist of dragging a perfume-soaked piece of cotton wool on your body to spread the scent. You would be wasting precious juice that way, as cotton wool is so very absorbent. Instead you're supposed to lightly soak the cotton ball with fragrance and then tuck it inside your bra. This provides a subtle scent that you yourself can perceive at all times (a little tilting of the head can confirm it) while it doesn't suffocate everyone around. 

Back in the old days they had a more romantic technique; dabbing from a dab-on extrait de parfum bottle using a silk handerchief which was then used to simply aromatize the insides of a feminine purse. Isn't it totally sublime? That way you're not contaminating the perfume with skin debris from your fingers or through transfering with the perfume dauber/stopper and you have a scented memento you can toss at any aspiring beau....


Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Perfume Myth Busting, How French Women Apply Perfume.

How to Wear Fragrance: On Perfume Etiquette

It might not come from a French-authored source, but in Karen Homer's adorable little book Things a Woman Should Know about Style, a whole chapter is devoted to fragrance use. The cover, sporting the famous opening shot of the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's (based on Truman Capote's story) with an Audrey Hepburn in shades & pearls, hair on a high bun, is predisposing for classical, glamour tips for wearing your clothes with confindence and panache.

Leafing through the book's pages, I come upon such seemingly wise, but ultimately ill-gotten advice as "A bottle of perfume once opened will not last more than 6 months. At least not to a nose that knows".  And I find myself smirking a bit on behalf of all the perfume community's hunt for vintage treasures. But still, there are other nuggets of wisdom, which are charming and harmless, as well as the sound practical tips on opting for classics when in doubt ("Chanel No.5 or anything created by Guerlain before 1930 are your safest bets") or buying the fragrance you like at outlets at a discount.

A few of those hints of perfume etiquette sound like wise precautions in the battlefield of love & romance; even if a little less self-assured or defying as the standard perfumista is accustomed to: The author advises to stop wearing a fragrance if one's significant other doesn't like it. And cautions an even faster elimination of fragrance if it happens to be the same as your significant other's ex. Particularly if said partner is responding positively to its scent! Furthermore a partner's conscious move to gift a current love interest with an ex's fragrance is to be viewed with grave suspicion. For reasons of fairness, one's partner should be met with the same courtesy when choosing a gift for them.

If you're really romantic and happen to be travelling away from your loved one, it's a very poetic gesture to scent a card with your beloved's fragrance and tuck it away in your luggage. Opening up your suitcase upon arrival, a wave of nostalia will tangle its poigant fingers around your heart...

Moving into the realm of choosing fragrance for public wearing, Homer advises caution in the face of unisex fragrances (or masculine scents for women): "When you dress up for an evening, you want to smell feminine and not the same as the maitre d'. That said, for daywear, the classic unisex cologne Aqua di Parma has a fresh, lemony charm perfect for lunching in Tuscan gardens." And where would one be most likely to find a decent substitute for Aqua di Parma cologne, should one want to bypass the sameness factor? The author confirms my own experience that small off the beaten-track toiletries stores in France (and along some of the Mediterranean countries) can provide their local take of toilet water which is often exceptionally good and looks positively "exotic" to most people not native. Homer quips that the trick of "exclusivity" with local toilet waters however is not possible with quite the same subtleness in Spain or Italy, given the predeliction of male patrons for stronger, expansive fragrances:  Therefore, use extreme caution, "unless you want to smell like a teenafer boy's bathroom the night he thinks he's going to lose his virginity".

But perhaps the most controversial and ripe for discussion snippet is the tip on choosing toilet waters: "Rosewater smells of the faded grandeur of old actresses; lavender smells of your granny". Perhaps it's all a game of perfume associations...Or perhaps the greatest tip of them all is to just have confidence in yourself and good manners when applying perfume: less can be so much more.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: How French Women Wear Perfume

How French Women Do It (Wear Perfume, That Is!)

There is a huge market of marketing all things French to Anglosaxons and in that respect the title of today's post is in part taken off a popular "French lifestyle guide" aimed at Americans. Even though I have serious doubts about the factual veracity of both the "glamour puss" image of the French or the "gauche" approach of Anglos on all matters lifestyle (or is it?), there is something to be said about the interest that is generated about the use of perfume the French way in the hearts of fragrance lovers who devour all perfume advice with an insatiable appetite! In that regard I have amassed some excerpts from various sources which I will present to you in installments.

Allure Magazine recently published a beauty article called "French Lessons", by Judy Bachrach, focusing on perfume choosing and application rules. Even though most of the "rules" are field for heated discussion (especially since they rely on a certain national stereotype that seems to perpetuate a humiliating response in the American reader, following the trendy viewpoint of dumping on everything American), we thought it might provide fodder for discussion for our readers.
So here are the 7 Rules on How to Wear Perfume the French Way, according to Allure magazine:
1. There is only one reason, if you're French, to wear perfume. And that reason is seduction.
2. In France the scent you dab defines who you are.
3. A girl who picks a fragrance at 12 doesn't have to remain true to the scent for life.
4. There are times when you simply have to divorce your perfume.
5. Try not to wear the same scent as your mother.
6. Never leave home without it.
7. Never ask a Frenchwoman what perfume she's wearing. They don't want to share their signature scent.

On the other hand, even in books which rely rather on expanding the above mentioned social divide that lies between these two very different countries (and in general between Anglos and continental Europe), there are interesting tidbits about perfume use. The reason probably is that even though it's the French who made perfume the marketable good that it is, cultivating the fragrance industry early and seriously, it's really the Anglos who have a keen interest in fragrance, smelling it, owning it, collecting it and alternatively enthusiastically embracing it or shunning it with just as much passion.
Writes Helena Frith Powell (an author on the subject): "French women use everything they can to seduce men, including perfume. They’re mad about it. Most of them won’t leave the house without it. If you go into a perfumery in France once the sales assistant will offer to ‘perfume’ you. I can see why. Their men are equally mad about the way women smell. I once sat next to a French man at a dinner. Half-way through the starter he turned to me and whispered: “Your perfume is intoxicating.” As an English girl I’m not used to that sort of comment. It half made me want to throw up, but it also made me feel rather, well, intoxicating and seductive."

In Fatale, How French Women Do It by Edith Kunz, the seminal little guide into all things French which spawned a legion of similar style  volumes, (some more serious than others), there is a chapter devoted to French perfume use. In it, the author rightfully demonstrates how the habit of perfume wearing began in France as a temporary cure for a general state of filth and expands into describing the (supposed) French ritual of wearing fragrance for purposes of seduction. Even though the procedure isn't particularly novel ~bath soak in aromatic oils, followed by scented body lotion and scented dusted powder, with fragrance as an end note~, it does present a couple of interesting tidbits: According to Kunz French femme fatales apply perfume to the pulse points with a generously moistened cotton puff instead of fingers or the stopper (My own suggestion of a better way to do that would be to use a small silk handerchief on the stopper, which can then aromatize your handbag). As to where to put that perfume, perhaps the most famous quip comes from Chanel who suggested to a client asking "wherever you want to be kissed". Not to quench anyone's imagination, but there is a plethora of (unusual) key points to consider in your fragrancing ritual:

heels, arches and between the toes
the inner and outer ankle bone
behind the knees
the underside of the derriere
the pubic area and the navel
under each breast and between the breasts
the shoulders and upper arms
inside the bend of the elbow
the pulse points at the inner wrist
the back of the hand and between the fingers
the hollow at the bottom of the neck
all around the collar bone
under the chin
along the jaw line
behind the ears and on the earlobes
on the temples
along the back of the neck to the shoulder blades
around the hairline

If this isn't enough for your routine, I don't know what might be! Surely a loaded, decadent perfuming process, but one which would make one unforgettable. Whether that would be in a positive or negative light remains within the grasp of your actual perfume choice and one crucial detail, in the words of Powell "don’t overdo it, perfume has to give a hint of sweet things to follow, not knock your date out". Eh, bien sûr!

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Drapeau tricolore: Quintessential French Perfumes Selection, Stars & Stripes: 10 Quintessentially American Perfumes.

art illustration via makeupandbeauty.com