PERFUMES:THE RIGHT WAY!!!

Living

I am very sensitive to smell. A single whiff of a strong smell and my system launches spasms of headaches. This is probably something you have no particular curiosity of knowing and you don’t really care. But let me finish….despite of having a long term love-hate relationship with scents, I just can’t stop being madly in love with perfumes- all kind of perfumes. And my devotion has taught me quite a bit about the fragrances that might interest you.

Perfumes have always been an elegance and panache enhancer. Some women own as many bottles of scent as other women have handbags or shoes. The average woman, however, is likely to have no less than 3 fragrances. An everyday perfume, one for a special occasion or evening wear, and a signature scent that is her absolute favorite. When perfumistas seem to be on rise, a basic know how about perfumes never hurt.

My obsession of perfume has gotten deeper with the time but in the process I’ve had my share of fragrance faux-pas. During my teen years my ultimate favorite was floral ones, but of course, with my over the top teen ways, I used to wear way too much and ended up smelling like a crazy old lady. Then there were the times when I chose the wrong perfumes which were just too strong or not strong enough and sometimes extremely inappropriate for the occasion. I have learnt from my smelly mistakes and my sole interest lies in helping you avoid being the “perfuminator”.

First things first! Always remember to select a lighter perfume for the daytime and stronger perfumes for the evenings. Wrong choices will lead to scrunched up noses all around you. Dousing yourself with the fragrance is also not very wise. Most people won't tell you that your perfume bothers them, but more people are affected by scent sensitivities than you think. Here is the correct way of applying perfumes.

- Apply perfume on your skin preferably after a bath/shower since your skin is nice and clean and can absorb your favorite fragrance more thoroughly.
-Apply it to your pulse points- the wrists, crook of the elbow, back of the knees, cleavage and neck. Be careful to dab or spray lightly, not crush the smell (for example by rubbing your wrists together).
-If your perfume comes in spray, squirt a small amount of perfume into the air in front of you and walk through it so your whole body is immersed in a light spray of scent.
- Allow the scent to dry. Many people put on perfume and immediately dress, which rubs some of it off and prevents the fragrance from really being absorbed. It takes about an hour for the perfume to develop with your natural scent.

There are different types of scents; Rich and spicy, boldly floral, sweet and fruity, fresh and elegant, sensuous or sexy and musky. The choice may depend on many things, like the purpose. Consider the situation and the impression that you want to leave before spraying on the perfume. It is advisable to skip perfume for small events in a closed room for it may affect others negatively.

If you take public transportation consider applying your perfume after you arrive at work. Leave the perfume off if you have a doctor or dentist's appointment, surgery or X-rays. Skip the perfume at a job interview. You don’t want your alluring scent masking your skills. You will want to pick stronger perfumes for occasions like wedding and evening parties while a mild one will do for the day time events. Avoid spraying perfumes with clothes or jewelry on. Some fragrances do tend to stain cloth, metals and pearls, ruining your favorite apparel. Also, you are perfuming yourself, not your clothes.

Expand your perfume wardrobe because overuse of a same scent will lose its fragrance. There are thousands of types to choose from. Explore, experiment and SPRAY AWAY!!