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14
Apr
Apr
Everyone wants to smell pleasantly and it’s almost impossible to find someone who wanted to smell badly.
This is why the fragrance industry continues to thrive, catering to people like you, who cannot go on a day without spritzing yourself with a perfume that can make you smell like a million bucks. However, a lot of people feel like the fragrance they are using is too overpowering and many could not even find a trademark scent that matches their taste—or picky nose!—perfectly, while some even have allergic reactions to colognes.
Indeed, the fragrance world is much more complicated that you think.
In fact, the manufacture and production process takes quite a lot of effort and time and there is definitely a lot that you do not understand about perfumes.
So before dropping a heap of money on a bottle of fragrances, check out these 6 facts about perfumes:
1. Expensive price: blame the ingredients!
Have you ever visited a store to buy a perfume, only to find that a tiny bottle exceeds your budget? Don’t worry, you’re not the only person who is despairing over the expensive prices of perfumes.
However, the over-the-top price is actually due to the unique ingredients of perfumes, which includes several essential oils obtained from various flowers and plants that only exist in a particular location. So obtaining the ingredients is among the most costly part of perfume-production.
Packaging perfumes must also be done with utmost care, mostly using fancy glass bottles, since haphazard packing can reduce the quality of the fragrance. The cheaper price of body mists and some colognes is due to the dilution of its essential oils, which allows for relatively lax packaging, so it is released in the market in a plastic bottle.
2. Perfume lasts longer in hair than on skin
When you are spraying a perfume on yourself, you probably sprayed a bit on your hair, and later in the day, you find that the scent definitely stayed in your locks and now you are tempted to just put the perfume on your hair all the time. Please don’t! The alcohol in perfumes can take away the shine in your hair, so spritz sparingly.
But the reason for this lies in the difference in absorption of your hair and skin, our skin would easily evaporate the perfume because it releases oil and sweat, when your hair does not. So if you got a thick and curly hair, you would notice that it can pick up different scents in your surrounding and retains those odors for a long time.
Perfumes activate on heat, though, so apply on the pulse points on your body so make sure to apply a bit of fragrance behind your ears, at the bottom of your throat, both of your wrists, and at the insides of your elbow.
3. The difference between parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, and eau de cologne
The only difference between the four is the concentration, or the amount, or essential oils present in a bottle. Parfums has the highest concentration of the essence, so it could pretty much lasts all day long. They are generally more expensive than the others because it is the pure form of fragrance.
The more common type of fragrance available to the masses is the eau de parfum, because it is less concentrated and therefore costs a little less as well. But they still have a high concentration of essences, so they are still potent and can lasts for a long time. It is the one you mostly use for special occasions!
Eau de toilettes are mostly the “every day” use type of fragrance, something you spritz on for work, for school, or a quick run at the supermarket. It has a lighter odor since it is quite diluted, but it is a cheaper alternative than parfums or eau de parfum. They are also great for hot weather since it is not overwhelming and might be preferable for people who does not like heavy aromas.
Lastly, the eau de cologne is the most diluted type of fragrance that is mostly used by children and babies. It is recommended to them to avoid any allergic reactions to higher concentrations of essential oils.
4. The signature scent of your BFF is going to smell differently on you
Yes, you are dying to smell as good as your best friend, with his/her perfume lasting all day long and keeping her fresh despite the heat and busy schedule you all just have. But you might want to rethink running to the store to get the same perfume, because it might smell differently on your skin.
Everyone has different skin flora and the environment of your skin is totally different from other people. You also emit a really unique biological odor that is yours alone—think of it as your own signature scent, courtesy of biology and nature—and it responds differently to various fragrances. So that scent you love on your buddy might not smell so good on you.
5. Perfume Ingredients: Top Secret
As part of the cosmetics industry, fragrances are the only one that does not completely state all of its ingredients, because it falls under some type of “secret recipe” loophole. There might be anywhere from five to fifty compounds hanging out on your perfume jar and you would have no idea, because companies are not required to record them.
Unfortunately, many individuals have experienced breakouts from fragrances (myself included!) because a bottle of perfume may contain a substance that could cause allergic reactions to them. So If you have experienced this, you better try an organic perfume or a more natural-based fragrance, but they are notably more expensive.
6. Rubbing the fragrance weakens its scent
In every fragrance advertisement, you can see men and women modelling a perfume by spritzing them all over and then liberally applying them on their wrists followed by rubbing their wrists behind their ears. Sadly, the rubbing act completely weakens the scent of the perfume since it could “smash” the fragrance particles, hence, decreasing the potency of its aromas.
So instead of following the example set by the media, just spray your perfume on yourself and your wrists, but never rub! Just gently pat the spot you sprayed on in order to preserve the scent of your perfume and make it lasts longer.
