Before you use that perfume, mist or cologne you would want to read this.....

I attended a course in my neighborhood that focused on beauty care. Our presenter, Ms. Pearl Steinkuehler (a Mary Kay Consultant) covered varying topics but the one I want to share in this post is entitled ‘Fragrancing.’ Before defining this process let’s start by closely examining our fragrances. You would notice that most mists and colognes are alcohol based, whilst perfumes are oil based. There are exceptions, where perfumes primarily contain alcohol.

Pop Quiz

Between fragrances that are oil or alcohol based, which scents last longer?
The scents from oil based fragrances tend to last longer in comparison to alcohol based fragrances. Oil based fragrances tend to last 6-15 hours whereas alcohol based fragrances last 1-3 hours (Bishop, 2014). Oil based fragrances are usually more expensive than alcohol based fragrances (Ibid).

Furthermore, be careful when storing perfumes or colognes. All fragrances lose their scents when stored in direct sunlight.
 
Pop Quiz, To Do or Not To Do
After spraying your wrist with a fragrance which of the following options listed below should you do?

A. Rub your wrists together to magnify the scent.   B. Put your nose near your wrist to determine     
                                                                                       if you need additional sprays.
                     

 

C. Leave your wrist alone

The answer is c. leave your wrist alone. Contrary to popular belief, rubbing your wrists does not magnify scents, instead it aids in the evaporation process taking place faster; therefore your aroma would not last as long. It’s better to let fragrances dry and evaporate naturally without any assistance. Always remember you always want to strive to have your fragrance blossom. Fragrancing is the ability to achieve this with your mist, perfume or cologne. One way of making your fragrance blossom is by applying your fragrance to areas of your body where you have a pulse. Your fragrance would bloom with the natural pulsating movements of your body. Your pulses are located: within the arches of your feet, ankles, the back of your knees, your wrists, décolleté, neck, and behind your ears (these are areas where it is safe to apply your fragrance). Fragrances rise so spray your fragrance from the bottom of your body and come up. In that way your scent would last longer.

Another point to note is that you always want to spray your fragrances on your body rather than on your clothes, least your clothes become stained or you cause an irritation due to changing the chemical makeup of your clothes.

The French also use fragrancing but their technique involve using a fragrance in two or more forms to achieve a well-scented body odor. For e.g. if a perfume/cologne has a matching shower gel, lotion, powder, etc. use all or most as directed so your body would be well scented for a longer period of time.

Pop Quiz
How do you detect when you are wearing too much perfume/cologne?
Despite the advantages of fragrancing you don't want to be that person whose aroma is too harsh or overbearing to those who come into contact with you. Sometimes after using a particular perfume/cologne for too long your nose may become too familiar with that scent and you may not recognize its potency. Similarly to a drug addict you may feel the need to get that first powerful scent as when you first applied your fragrance. Always resist the temptation to overspray yourself with a fragrance. To detect whether or not you are wearing too much fragrance you could do the following:-

• After applying your perfume/cologne you could also try inhaling the smell of: coffee beans, swatch of wool or an unfragranced forearm, then try to smell your perfume (Vaughn, 2010). These scents should reset your nasal palate and sensitivity so you could truly detect the potency of your fragrance.
• You could also try applying your fragrance then enter an enclosed room such as a bathroom. If when leaving the room you could still smell your fragrance in the room as strong as when you first applied it this is an indication that your perfume/cologne application is too much (Ibid).

Some other obvious indications are: you cannot keep your nose as long as 30 seconds near to the area/s where you applied the fragrance because your nose is burning, or people are coughing or sneezing when they come into contact with you.

Sometimes how much perfume/cologne you apply may not be the problem as much as the fragrance is just very strong and harsh. You may want to consider trying an entirely new fragrance.

Lastly, God deemed us as His fragrant offering, we are a pleasing aroma of Christ (see Ephesians 5:2 and 2 Corinthians 2:15). So let’s fulfill our description literally but practice applying fragrances correctly.

Sources
Bishop, L. (2014). Leilani Bishop. Fragrance Oil vs. Perfume. Retrieved December 10, 2014 from http://leilanibishop.com/pages/fragrance-oil-vs-perfume

Vaughn, S. (2010, March 29). Examiner.com. Fragrance alert, how to tell when you're wearing too much perfume or cologne. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/fragrance-alert-how-to-tell-when-you're-wearing-too-much-perfume-or-cologne