Spraying perfume on pulse points used to be somewhat of a wives tale, but it turned out to be true because the warmth of these areas speeds up the evolution of the scent. While this doesn’t seem “crazy,” there are other wives tales that seem to be “off the wall” and they cover everything from how to wear perfume to how to store it.

But what is true, what isn’t, and what is just plan crazy?

You’re about to find out.

Old Wives Tales: How to Wear Your Perfume

It seems the ladies figured it out long ago when they started spraying perfume on their hair. Believe it or not, your hair holds fragrance much longer. You don’t have to worry too much about the alcohol in the perfume drying out your hair, as all you need is a mist and the job is done.

Unfortunately, one area where the ladies got it wrong was with rubbing the wrists together after applying perfume. It turns out that the wrist rub can change the performance of the fragrance on your skin by spoiling the top notes.

The molecules of the top notes are so light that friction can mix the oils of the skin with the perfume and “rush the fragrance.” This fast forwards scent evolution and goes straight to the heart of the fragrance. In other words, you’re shortening the life of the scent.

No one wants to do that.

If you want to really get down and dirty when it comes to old wives tales about wearing perfume, check out the history of people using perfume in warfare. They would sprinkle it over clothes, beds, sofas, garlands, shoes, jewelry, or anything their target would touch in an effort to poison them. Yes, this meant there were a few more ingredients in the bottles that you wouldn’t want to be there today.

Old Wives Tales: Storing Perfume the Right Way

Unless it’s the sixth century BCE and you are creating a perfume potion to poison your enemy or sprinkle the earth with it in an effort to cure it of poison, you want to keep your favorite fragrance in a cool, dry place.  

However, women frequently left their perfumes sitting on their vanities in order to show off their collections. This could be a sign of status, but this was actually ruining the scents. If there are rapid temperature fluctuations or a lot of sunlight, the appearance and scent can be compromised.

Fortunately, back when the ice box started being a thing, women would hide their perfumes in the refrigerator instead of out in the open. One reason why they did this was to protect their pricey investment. Interestingly, not everyone realized that they were prolonging the life of their favorite fragrances, giving them more bang for their buck.

What? The Wives Were On To Something?

As you can tell, the old wives tales panned out most of the time. It seems they knew what they were talking about when it came to many things. Perhaps, this was due to a lot of trial and error over time.

What we must consider is that these tales originated in the times when women were figuring out how to best wear and store their perfumes because money had to stretch. Yes, they were wearing their fragrances for special occasions rather than daily like we do today, but they could get by with that when using the right storage methods.

In cases where perfume bottles were darker in color, they could successfully display their favorite fragrances for a while. This and other “tales” like spraying your fragrance on your hair and storing your perfume in the refrigerator are all rules of thumb you can use now when buying perfumes that you want to make last for as long as possible.

Do you have that perfume that you only wear for special occasions? If so, what do you consider a “special day?” There are many people that have that one bottle of perfume that lasts for many years because they only wear it when they feel the occasion calls for it.

What you might not know is that perfume has a shelf life. That means hanging on to that favorite fragrance for years on end is doing more harm than good. Just make every day a special occasion and you won’t find yourself tossing a once perfectly good bottle of perfume in the trash.

How Long Does It Take Perfume to Go Bad?

What most people don’t know is how long a fragrance can live. The truth is that a fragrance can last an average of 3 to 5 years, but that’s not a rule of thumb. Fragrances have many qualities that can affect their shelf life. Some perfumes are like a fine wine that gets better with age, while others simply can’t stand the test of time.

How you store your perfume also comes into play. If you store it out of direct sunlight, you are in business because sunlight is perfume’s worst enemy. You also want to make sure you store it away from radiators and other sources of heat.

In other words, keep your perfume in a bedroom drawer. Some people will keep it in their refrigerator because oxygen, abrupt temperature changes, heat, and light destroy perfume.

That’s a lot of work to preserve perfume.

When Should You Toss Perfume In the Trash?

So, when should you throw perfume away? Just talking about perfume being tossed in the garbage is sinful. Again, make every day a special day so you don’t have to worry about throwing away a favorite fragrance.

But, if you must hang on to one for a while or you already have, here are the three things that will tell you whether a perfume is good or bad:

1. Simply smell it to see if it smells “strange.” Either the scent is “off” or completely gone when it’s bad. If it smells fine, keep it and use it before it goes bad.

• Check out the color to see if it has changed. If the color is darker, this means the fragrance is altered.

• Take a look at the label to see what is inside. If the ingredients include citrus notes, then the shelf life is shorter than a fragrance without citrus because citrus evaporates faster. The notes that last the longest include woody, oriental, cypre, and oud, but those with all natural ingredients with no preservatives won’t last long either.

But What About Fragrances That are Over 100 Years Old?

Yes, it’s true that there have been fragrances recovered that are hundreds and even thousands of years old. It’s obvious that these fragrances were used for special occasions because they still exist in some form. You can’t really knock these fragrance conservators for the fact that perfumes weren’t as abundant in their times.

There are even recovered perfumes that have never been opened, which are sought after by collectors. Unfortunately, your Burberry perfume will most likely not become a collector’s item in your lifetime, so you might as well enjoy it before someone does in 150 years in which it would lose its scent and never leave the bottle.

There is a degree of sadness in a bottle of perfume that wasn’t thoroughly enjoyed by its owner.

Enjoy Your Perfume Today, Tomorrow, and Every Day

So, don’t hang on to your perfume like Scrooge McDuck does the cash in his money bin. Find fragrances that you love and wear them to your heart’s content. They are here for you to enjoy every day rather than once in a while.

Be known for smelling nice all the time rather than only smelling nice on certain days. You won’t regret it.  

Choosing the right perfume involves more than simply finding a scent that you like. It also entails finding a scent that goes well with your body chemistry. Fortunately, there are many fragrances to choose from so you can find one or dozens that work.

As for why chemistry comes into play, skin moisture and temperature can affect how a fragrance smells. It can smell great in the bottle, but it can change once it is on the skin. For example, a fragrance travels better in warm weather, which is why there are summer and winter fragrances.

The condition of the skin is another factor. If the skin is moisturized, a fragrance will last longer than it will if it is applied to dry skin. That is why it is commonly recommended that you apply Shea Butter or Vaseline to your pulse points before applying perfume to those areas.

Always apply your favorite fragrance to your pulse points instead of on your clothes or other places on the body because you’ll get more bang for your buck. Fragrances never last long when applied to clothes because there is no body heat to work with.

Consider Fragrance Note Classes

Something else that you need to know when choosing a fragrance is the classes of fragrance notes. They are:

• Head/Top Notes – These notes are the first ones you smell in a fragrance because they are the first to evaporate.
• Heart/Middle Notes – After the top notes evaporate, these are the notes that you smell. These notes hide the base notes as the base notes’ fragrance improves with time.
• Base Notes – These notes are what you smell hours after applying a fragrance. The composition of these notes determine how long a fragrance will last.

From there, you have floral, oriental, woody, and fresh categories. Which category a fragrance fits in depends on its notes. Your body chemistry is going to help you determine which class of fragrance works best for you.

Using Skin Type to Find the Right Scent

One major component of your chemistry is skin type. If you have oily skin, perfumes are going to last longer on you. This makes a citrus or light floral scent best on you because you won’t smell too strong after applying the perfume. If you like the muskier, darker scents, use a small amount.

If you have dry skin, you need a stronger perfume because the scent won’t stick to you very well. A woody, musky fragrance will work well because of fragrance strength. You can even choose fragrances with a more aromatic note or floral head note unless you like lighter scents, which will require you to moisturize your pulse points.

Pay Attention to Your Body Heat

In addition to skin type, body temperature plays a huge role in how well a fragrance lasts or doesn’t last. A person with a higher basal body temperature will get a better pay-off from the perfume because it will linger longer. A person with a lower basal body temperature will need stronger fragrances.

If you aren’t sure about your basal body temperature, think about times you have “run a little hot” when everyone else has been cold. Then again, you might be the type of person who is always colder than everyone else.

Don’t Buy On a Whim

One last and very important buying tip is that you shouldn’t buy a fragrance just because it smells good on someone else. Consider your skin type, body heat, and preference so that you can choose a fragrance that fits your unique body chemistry. Keeping these things in mind will help you choose a fragrance that fits you.

A fragrance is a fragrance, right? Well, not really. You’ve probably noticed when shopping for something that appeals to your nose, there are different fragrance types to choose from. This can make it difficult to determine which is right for you if you don’t know the difference between them.

For instance, you have eau de parfum and perfume. You know they are different, but what are those differences? How are they the same?

To answer this, it is best to look at them as cousins and, just like cousins, they have their similarities and differences that can influence your choice.

The good news is that you are going to get to learn about the fundamental differences between the two so that you can make a fragrance decision that works for you. There’s a good chance that you’re going to be very surprised at what sets them apart and how that influences your fragrance choice.

1. Differences In Concentration

The primary difference between eau de parfum and perfume is the concentration. Perfume is the most concentrated, which means it is usually 20% to 30% pure perfume extract. Basically, a single application is going to last up to an entire day, which is why you want to take it easy on how much you wear.

There are some perfumes that will contain as little as 15% perfume extract or as much as 40%. How much it contains depends on the type and brand.

Eau de parfum is second to perfume in that it contains between 15% and 20% perfume extract. This means it lasts up to 8 hours versus perfume’s up to 24 hours. It’s also not as oily as perfume, which has to do with the difference in concentration.

This oilier, thicker consistency of perfume is why it is mostly sold in stopper bottles rather than sprays. Spraying a perfume would also result in too much being put on at once. Eau de parfums can be found in spray bottles because they have a thinner consistency and a single spray can distribute the right amount.

2. Which One Costs More?

As for which of the two costs more, it’s probably a given that perfume is more expensive because of its concentration and how that contributes to its wear time. You can use less and get more mileage out of it, which can require re-application more than once within a 24 hour period.

Of course, there are many eau de parfums available that smell wonderful and, if 8 hours of fragrance is all you need, that might be exactly what you need. However, there is more to it than that, which you are going to learn.

3. Gender Specification

Perfume is typically associated with women’s fragrances, while cologne is used to identify masculine scents. Eau de parfum is genderless. That’s why you’ll see both feminine and masculine scents described as “eau de parfum.”

4. Is There a Difference In Quality?

This one is very tricky for the fact that eau de parfum doesn’t necessarily mean the fragrance is less than a perfume. There are some essential oils that you don’t want on you in large concentrations, so they aren’t included in perfumes like they are eau de parfums.

If you want a real musk or ambergris, you’re looking at a high cost for something that isn’t always very pleasant smelling in its pure form. An eau de parfum can be the answer to this because it can use less of something while also being more.

However, eau de parfums tend to have more alcohol and water in them, which means a lighter scent. Again, this can be a blessing in disguise when it comes to certain types of fragrances.

Choose What’s Right for You

All in all, what it comes down to is choosing what’s right for you. Perfumes can have specific qualities that you prefer, while an eau de parfum in a certain scent can be exactly what you need. Think about your preferences, apply that information in your search, and use what you learned here to make the right decision.

Crisp air and colorful leaves are two of fall’s most prominent features. But did you know that it’s the perfect time of year to choose a new fragrance? The change in seasons is the ideal excuse to switch from the summer scents to those with woodsy and citric undertones that complement the unique feel and air of those cool fall days.

In fact, you want something that goes well with the aesthetics that are offered by the boots, sweaters, and jackets in your wardrobe. Some popular scents include lavender and various types of musks. Then again, you might want something that’s not as heavy on the floral side but a bit spicier, which is a common choice during the colder months.

What it comes down to is that the change in season can justify your desire to change your perfume. That is why it’s important to introduce you to the six best perfumes for fall.

Your Fall Fragrance Lineup

When evaluating the following scents, keep your personal style and tastes in mind so you are sure to find a fragrance that stimulates your senses and your confidence.

Here’s the breakdown:

1. Jadore In Joy by Christian Dior

While the dominant detail of the scent is floral, it has sandalwood and mandarin undertones with a little white musk thrown into the mix. Of course, the sandalwood is what makes it perfect for fall, but the floral detail is there for those that want to hang on to that summer feeling just a little longer.

This is a scent that says “I love life and I want everyone to know it.” Even the bottle has personality.

2. Beautiful by Estee Lauder

Beautiful is a fragrance that has been around since 1985. It’s longevity is owed to its light floral scent and citrusy and woodsy undertones. The top floral notes include lily tuberose, marigold, and rose mandarin. There is something very warm and elegant about this scent. Perhaps, this is owed to the presence of vetiver and sandalwood.

3. Burberry Brit by Burberry

A popular brand, Burberry introduced the Burberry Brit fragrance in 2003. It contains a number of fresh notes that include Italian lime, icy pear, and lemon grass. However, the heart of the scent is comprised of lush peony, sugared almonds and a mahogany amber base with a touch of vanilla.

Even the bottle suggests, “I’m a great scent for fall,” as it reminds you of the warm plaid shirts that are popular during the cooler months.

4. Illicit by Jimmy Choo

If you like a modern floral that has a warm honey-amber base, Illicit by Jimmy Choo fits the bill. The composition is opened with bitter orange and Ginger, but the heart of the fragrance is in the jasmine sambac and rose. This is another scent that lets you hang on to those warmer months while transitioning into the cooler ones.

5. Kelly Caleche by Hermes

The Kelly Caleche scent by Hermes is very unique, as it is in a good position to become a person’s signature scent or one that is only used when in demand of a scent with leather undertones and floral notes.

This scent has many fall details, such as grapefruit, but it also has a hint of yellow mimosa, rose, and iris gourmand. This is a perfume that was once dedicated to famous Grace Kelly and the famous leather Kelly bag, but it is also one that has been dedicated to all ladies and young women.

Even the bottle is very beautiful and charming with a small lock around the neck of the bottle, which is symbolic of all three versions of the perfume.

6. Tiffany Co by Tiffany

While this perfume isn’t exactly a rarity, it is a great scent for fall because its top notes consist of lemon and mandarin orange bergamot. Rose and iris black currant peach make up the middle notes. However, the base consists of musk and patchouli.

Launched in 2017, this is fairly new fragrance by Tiffany & Co.

Let Your Nose Be Your Guide

All in all,  let your nose be your guide. Think of the scents that you like and review this list to find what is going to appeal to you the most. For instance, a preference for a leathery scent to go with that fall leather jacket is going to most likely lead you to Kelly Caleche by Hermes. Then again, a desire to hang on to summer while migrating to fall can lead you to Jadore in Joy by Christian Dior.

The options are practically endless.