You’ve chosen your perfect scent – now discover how to wear it and make the most of it with these simple yet effective tips from Creed fragrance expert, James Craven.
Once you’ve invested time and money into a perfume, it’s only natural that you want to make the most of it – which means more than just a quick spritz on the wrist and neck. Here, we tell you how to honour your fragrance by wearing it in the most beautiful and long-lasting way.
Hot spots
A good opening strategy for applying fragrance is to recognise your pulse points. Much is said about these concentrated zones, but why are they significant and where are they all? “Spraying pulse points will cause perfume to radiate more strongly from the extra blood heat in those areas,” explains James Craven, Creed fragrance expert at Les Senteurs. Theoretically, they’re at the epicentre of major vessel networks: the temporal arteries above the ears, carotid arteries in the neck, radial vessels on the wrist, brachial artery at the inner elbow, femoral artery at the groin and popliteal vessels behind the knee. Or as Craven advises more succinctly: “spray behind the ear, around the neck and on the throat, wrists and ankles.”
Hair & there
Should you spray your hair? Trichologists advise not to because the alcohol in perfume might dry your cuticles. We say YES, do it, because life’s too short and scented hair is fabulous. Plus, there is method to the madness: hair is porous so fragrance molecules permeate for longer than on skin. “But never, ever use fragrance as a substitute for washing!” says Craven. “Spray on clean hair only for great tenacity and diffusion.” This goes for the tops of your wrists too; while the underneath is indeed a warm pulse point, the forearms have porous hairs that cling onto fragrance very well, and you’re less likely to rinse it off that area when you wash your hands.
Clothes show
There is something so comforting about your own lingering perfume released from the weave of a light summer shawl – a long, deep inhalation can be quite the foil to the hectic world around you. And, reassuringly, it’s not as damaging to the fabric as one might think. “It’s fine to spray on garments,” says Craven, “but try to limit this to clothes that are regularly laundered, such as readily washable cotton and linen. Always do a patch test first and don’t over-spray – keep it light and fresh.” Any brides-to-be amongst us today? Spray the under-layers of your wedding dress to disperse your bridal scent as you twirl around the dancefloor.
Layer up
The most effective way to draw out the longevity of your perfume is to intensify it with an affiliate bath or body product. “It’s not just an add-on sales shtick,” says Craven. “Shower gels, lotions, body oils and soaps really do promote the tenacity, projection and sillage (the trail) of a fragrance.” Here, Craven delves deeper into how this cunning trick works.
“There would be no point in simply building up one identical smell on the skin, like the mattresses in The Princess and the Pea. A skilled perfumer will vary his original formula according to each product. Take Creed Green Irish Tweed, for instance: the soap is richer in the musky woody accords, the gel more predominantly green and minty, the lotion has a touch more violet. The fragrance is always essentially the same, but each product will emanate a different version of it. It would be like hearing many different covers of the same song played on different instruments.”
Shake it out
Lasting impressions aren’t necessarily about looks. A beautiful, interesting fragrance can stir more permanence in other people’s memories than clothes ever can. So we’ll leave you with this farewell trick: “Spray your palms,” suggests Craven. “It add a personalised
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