In honor of Valentine’s Day which is just around the corner, I decided to discuss a topic that people tend to ignore when they talk about love – the language of scents.

You know what they say, scents play a main role when it comes to courtship and attraction between sexes.

There’s a reason that passion and attraction are referred to as animal instincts – just like animals out in the wild are affected by physiological signals of sexuality from other bodies through various scents, humans are also affected by scents that lead to feelings like passion, nostalgia and even disgust.
As opposed to animals, we managed to change the scent attraction to a mechanism that’s a bit more sophisticated, when we started refining our natural body scent by bathing and with perfume.

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There’s no doubt that a good perfume is one of the things that immediately manages to capture the attention of those surrounding us, so it’s very important to choose the right perfume that will compliment your body’s natural scent and that will accompany you for the whole day and night… 😉

Before I present you the complete guide to making your perfume scent last over time, here are a few things you should know about perfumes…

1. Types of perfumes:

• Perfume extract – perfume extract containing between 15% – 40% aromatic compounds. This is a very strong and very expensive perfume, usually a few drops of it is enough to smell good all day.
• Eau de Parfum – contains between 10% – 20% aromatic compounds. The fragrance of these perfumes is usually the kind that lasts longer and therefore are more expensive.
• Eau de Toilette – contains between 5% – 15% aromatic compounds. The strength of this type of fragrance isn’t as strong and it doesn’t last as long as the “perfume”, so it’s cheaper.

2. Storage and preservation of perfumes:

• You can save unopened perfumes up to 4 years.
• The shelf life of the average perfume is 3 years from the time it’s opened.
• It’s important to store perfumes in a cool and dark place with stable temperature.
• Expired perfumes will change their color, their scent will change (not in a good way) and they may disintegrate into particles that will float in the liquid.

3. Matching perfume:

• The skin’s pH level has a big impact on the perfume’s scent, so not all perfumes that smell good on your friend will smell good on you, too – it’s important that you try the perfume on your body before you buy it for yourself.
• Hormonal changes, such as pregnancy and menopause, may affect the skin’s acidity and hence the scent of perfume on your body.
• Changes in lifestyle habits, like diets or moving to a place with a different climate, create changes in the skin’s acidity, so you should check if the perfume is still a good match for you after significant changes.
• If you smoke, you should choose light and fresh fragrances, because the smell of nicotine may alter the scent of perfumes, especially perfumes that have more of a spicy scent.

After we covered the things you need to know about perfumes, it's time for you to adopt these tips that will make you get the best out of your expensive perfumes.

1. Keep your distance – the best way to spray your perfume is from a distance of around 20 cm away from the skin, this way it will spread all over your skin in a better way and won’t create a concentrated “pool” of liquid on one area.

2. Use perfume on a clean body right after a bath – after a warm shower your pores are open and ready to absorb the perfume in the best way. In addition, the perfume’s scent is better on clean skin and lasts longer than if it’s sprayed on dirty or sweaty skin.

3. Apply Vaseline or body lotion on your pulse points before spraying perfume – perfume lasts better on slightly oily skin, so you should apply a little fragrance-free body lotion or Vaseline before spraying the perfume in order to help “catch” the fragrance on your body.

4. Don’t store your perfumes on the bathroom sink – moisture, heat and light may cause the components to disintegrate and can cause a quick decline in the quality which will also affect the amount of time the scent will last on your skin. Therefore, it’s important to store perfumes only in dark and dry places, like your clothing closet.

5. Don’t rub the area after spraying the perfume – rubbing the perfume may be harmful to the perfume’s molecules, which can change its smell and may cause the top scents, which should be released gradually, to disappear too quickly, making the scent last less time on the skin.

6. Spray the perfume on your pulse points – perfumes distribute a more noticeable scent for more time when spraying them on places where the blood flow is strong and the body temperature is warmer, so the key points such as wrists, behind the ears, at the bottom of the neck, the inside of the elbow, the navel area and even behind your knees on days when you wear a skirt or shorts, are ideal places to spray perfume.

7. Spray perfume on your hair – spraying your hair will bring a whiff of fresh fragrance, however many perfumes are based on alcohol and spraying them directly on your hair might dry it, so you should spray some perfume on your brush before combing, which will leave it fragrant without damaging it.