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9.12.2013

Perfumes 101- pt2



Welcome back to the second part of my "Perfumes 101" series- you can find part one here.

I ended part one mentioning how the way you perfume yourself can change the duration of your fragrance. A perfume has to always be in contact with the skin to achieve its full potential, so it is recommendable to apply it right after your moisturizer and before you get dress. If you want to spray it in a piece of clothing like a scarf, make sure that you use cotton. Synthetic fabrics will give you a more aggressive opening and a short lasting effect. 



Now, there are two main ways to apply a fragrance: you can either spray it all over your body- recommended for body sprays and lighter scents- or apply it exclusively in your pulse points such as wrists, base of your throat, behind your ears and in the bend of your arms and knees. These spots give off heat and act like mini diffusers throughout the day, slowly releasing the scent. This last technique works specially good for pure extracts and the more intense eau de parfums. One thing to keep in mind when applying perfume to your wrists is to never (EVER!) rub your wrists together. The friction actually crushes the fragrance molecules and breaks down the scent.




On a completely different note, there are seven main perfume groups with a variety of subgroups within depending on their base notes:
- Aromatic: combination of notes such as sage, rosemary, cumin, lavender and other green plants. Subgroupaquatic, green, spicy, fruity
- Chypre: combination of oak moss, labdanum, patchouly and bergamot. Subgroup: floral, fruity
- Citrusbased on lemon, orange, bergamot, grapefruit or mandarin. Subgroup: aromatic, gourmand
- Floralthe most popular of the fragrance families. It includes jasmine, iris, gardenia, and roses. Subgroupaquatic, fruity, gourmand, green, woody, musk
- Leather: Leather scents in various nuances, from floral, velvety compositions to tart, smoky ones are placed in this group.
- Oriental: contain notes of vanilla, cinnamon, amber, and resins. Subgroupfloral, spicy, vanilla, woody
- Woodyoriental scents with a more forest type smells such as cedar, pine, and sandalwood. Subgroup: aquatic, aromatic, chypre, floral, spicy 

To wrap up this post, I want to give you a few tips and tricks about perfume hunting and testing. Most times it happens that we are out and about and we stop to test this new fragrance that just came out, but if you purposely go on a fragrance trip my first tip is to avoid having any scented products on. My second tip  is to start always from the lighter version of a scented line- this would be the eau de colgne or eau de toilette- and the moving up to the stronger versions- the eau de parfum and the extract. If as your first try you smell something highly concentrated and strong you won't be able to smell anything lighter than that.
My third tip is trying not to smell more than 2-3 different fragrances at a time or your nose will saturate. If that's the case give it a few minutes, go outside or ask if they have coffee beans in the store. Coffee is the one smell that will free your nose from any other scents allowing you to feel again. Thirdly,
Scents change depending on how and where you spray it so for my fourth tip I will recommend giving a first spray of the perfume in to the air to give you an idea of what it is like. Then you can spray the perfume slightly in one of these paper testers and fan the paper in front of you. Be aware that the scent would be stronger in the paper so if you put it too close to your nose you might get overwhelmed. If you have tissue paper in hand you can also give it a few sprays, it would actually made the smell more delicate and it would allow you to feel the different notes. Lastly, if you are interested in that particular product spray it in your skin to see how it develops and how you feel about it. This is a must as not every perfume smells nice in everyone mostly because the different skins pH's make certain ingredients go bad.

If you are looking for a new fragrance and you have no idea where to start, ask for help. Give them as much information as you can about your style, what you normally wear, why you want to change and what type of fragrance you would like. If you have a particular taste in terms of flowers or any other ingredients let them know. But most important in my opinion is to be open minded. You'd be surprise and you might start liking a scent completely different from what you are used to or a smell that you would never thought you'd like. Even if at first try it isn't your cup of tea, give it a second and a third try if necessary. Depending on the day your taste changes. Who knows, you might develop a taste for something completely different.

 Everyone has their own skin chemistry, everyone has certain fragrances which fit their clothes and hairstyles. And every city has its own atmosphere. Perfume will match each figure because they have no size. And any scent will be perceived differently, depending on who wears it and the occasion. 

Hope this was of some use for you. If it help you in any way or you need any advice let me know and I'll do my best to answer! Soon I'll start with reviews of my favourite fragrances, so keep an eye (and your nose) out for that.

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