how to smell on a BOUJEE U DGET

Whether you’ve fallen out of love with a perfume you once adored, are looking to make it work harder for its space on your shelf, or simply need some new pocket-friendly perfumes, SUZY NIGHTINGALE has practical tips

WITH THE COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS, many might be asking: ‘Can I live without fragrance?’ For those of us who prize our perfumes more than rubies and beyond that, rely on scent to get us through the toughest times and perfume our more playful moods, too, the resounding answer is: ‘NO!’ It’s non-negotiable. We need our fragrant fixes.

But whatever our budget, we all want to get the best out of our existing fragrances, as well as to treat ourselves to new ones when funds allow. There’s a mood of ‘waste not, want not’, of wanting to make the best of what we have – while also enjoying the spirit of adventure from trying new things. We also share some life-hacks that can make a scent last longer – on your skin or in the bottle – or even change its character. It’s all about maximum pleasure, for minimum spend.

1LOCK-IN YOUR SCENT Perfumes evaporate on dry skin, preferring to ‘cling’ to oil. To extend the sillage (lingering trail) of a scent to its maximum extent, prep your skin before spraying perfume with a non-scented body oil or moisture-rich lotion – matching or otherwise.

WHERE TO WEAR?

In her book Fatale: How French Women Do It, Edith Kunz suggests: ‘The artful application of fragrance should take ‘about 15 minutes from bath to blush’, suggesting 18 application points (including in-between toes and under the chin). Those of us looking to get the most out of precious perfumes should concentrate on neck, tops of shoulders and behind the knees (Jane Birkin wore scent here to waft a beguiling trail), as well as the more traditional wrists and neck.

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HAIR TODAY… TO STAY!

Hair is porous and can hold scents far longer than on skin. (If you’ve lighter coloured hair, try a patch-test spritz on a tissue first, as some perfumes use colourings, and you don’t want to unintentionally tint your locks.) Many houses now offer matching hair mists with additional haircare properties, so seek these out, ideally. They tend to be priced far more afordably, so a great way to try a newto-you scent.

Fall in love with layers

Have you a fragrance languishing sadly on a shelf and gathering dust? Perhaps it was kindly given as a gift but wasn’t ‘you’, was an impulse blind-buy, or simply doesn’t suit your anymore, but you’re loath to get rid of it? Before despair sets in, explore the art of layering it with another perfume, to enhance the notes you do like and push the others to be supporting characters, rather than the star.

Add depth

Ramp up a scent you find too wishy-washy by adding one that contains more warmly resinous base notes like patchouli, labdanum, olibanum, vetiver, woods, oudh or musk. These are the ingredients with the greatest oomph per pound you spend, and being comprised of heavier molecules, they take the longest to evaporate on skin –which is why they’re usually found in the dry-down, those notes in a scent that remain with you hours later.

Add freshness

If you find a fragrance is too smothering and ‘heavy’, on the other hand, look for one to spritz on top and cut through the headiness, like a squeeze of lemon in a recipe that zings-up a dish immediately. Play with fragrances that are big on citrus notes like bergamot, neroli, lemon, lime, or ‘green’ notes such as galbanum, tomato or violet leaf, green tea and marine/aquatic accords (synthetic recreations of sea-like, watery smells).

Add opulence

Scent Your Scarf

Putting on a coat, we are often beguiled by a miasma of the last scent we wore, because material absorbs scent and holds on to it for days (sometimes weeks). In warmer months, try spritzing a gauzy scarf (again, test for colour safety on a tissue, first). If you’re one of those who find your skin can ‘turn’ certain scents from yum to yuck, this is also a brilliant way to wear, as the delicious top and heart notes remain truer, longer.

Sometimes you might find a scent too bracing for your taste, in which case, look to layer it with something decadently velvety or lusciously fruity. Rose oils, the sunshine-bottled scent of orange flower, heady glamour of tuberose or ylang ylang, a luminescent jasmine. Also try pairing that crisp scent with fragrances featuring apricot-like osmanthus flower, the fluffiness of mimosa or powdery elegance of iris/orris. All these can also add vava-voom roundness to a scent you find too flat or ‘linear’.

Add sweetness

The gourmand deliciousness of silky vanilla and toasted almond-y tonka bean can ’round’ a perfume, making it swoon on your skin (and addictive to smell), as can touches of notes described as ‘caramel’ or ‘dulce de leche’, ripe fruits, chocolate or even candy floss, if you fancy. Be aware: these can be powerful. Adding more is always easier than taking away, and a little of these can go a long way!

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Perfume Primers

Some houses create scents as ‘primers’ for others you already own – boosting the power and projection, but also transforming it into a whole new olfactory experience. This is a fantastic way to suddenly add several new scents into your wardrobe by merely purchasing one. That’s the kind of maths we can get behind! Check out D.S. & DURGA I Don’t Know What, Juliette Has a Gun Not A Perfume, Veronique Gabai Booster Eau de La Nuit and BVLGARI’s Magnifying range.

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HANG ON!

If you’ve tried all the layering options on p.35 and still don’t like the way it smells on your skin, don’t throw the scent away. Instead, buy a ceramic disc (many craft shops or websites supply these very cheaply), thread a ribbon through it and spray. Hang the disc on a radiator to scent – the heat diffuses the (usually more universally pleasing) base notes, scenting your room. 8

Scent Your Letters

Spritzing your stationery with scents you might otherwise not use is an amazingly glamorous way to correspond (and how much nicer it is to receive actual missives from a loved one rather than junk mail?)

Last month, we sadly said farewell to our friend John Bailey, artisan perfumer and former president of The British Society of Perfumers. Though he may be resting in peace, our treasured memories of his lavishly scented letters will last forever.

Table scentscape

Another way to use up scents that might otherwise stare guilt-inducingly at you as they languish on the dressing table is to consider scenting table linens, dried flower or fabric floral displays for a dinner party. It’s particularly lovely if the theme of the scent is carried through to tablecloth and napkin colours. Classy, yet a sneaky way to use up that not-quite-righton-your-body perfume: winner, winner, scented dinner!

Savvy splurging

We all have birthdays and other special occasions. If you’re asking for fragrance, put in a request for an eau de parfum, elixir or fragrance oil, rather than the eau de toilette or Cologne. These actually linger for longer on the skin, because of the higher concentrations of fragrance oils – around 25% in an eau de parfum, against perhaps 3% in a Cologne.

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Luxe for less

Cultivating a love for niche fragrances is a thrilling exploration of what those independent houses are creating, and often using the world’s most luxurious ingredients and top-notch noses. But it can become somewhat injurious to one’s wallet if you want to try several all at once (and we always, always do!) The answer? Samples are your saviour! The Perfume Society Discovery Boxes and the many sets curated by niche perfume houses are a way to wear ultra-luxe scents for way less; find them at perfumesociety.org, of course.

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Pocket-friendly

We’re huge fans of travel and mini sizes; not only are these handy to have on-the-go in your pocket or a handbag for topping up during the day, but they are also airport restriction-friendly (oh, the horror of having to abandon one to a banned contents bin!), and an ideal way to ‘try before you cry’ by splashing out on a full-size bottle. Happily, many, many houses now offer smaller sized perfumes for just such purposes, from as little as 10ml.

Stop killing your scents

No matter how carefully you cultivate your fragrance wardrobe and assiduously wear each one, if they aren’t stored correctly, you will literally be watching them disappear in front of your eyes (and nose!) Perfume reacts to light, particularly those heavy on the essential oils, and to heat, which rapidly evaporates the juice from the bottle. Much as we adore displaying, they should be kept in boxes, preferably, and definitely well away from steamy bathrooms, direct sunlight, and radiators.

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Access All Areas

Having your collection neatly stored, rather than jumbled on dressing tables and rolling around randomly in drawers, ensures you can see what you’ve got rather than reaching for the same old ones and letting the others go to waste. Have a spring clean and gather all those sample vials, put them in an empty candle container, or upcycle a pen stand/wooden box so you can see them all at a glance. Why not keep that on your desk, for regular perfumed pauses…?

Improve Your Sense Of Smell

Everyone can benefit from this – we’ve had people from normal perfume-lovers, complete novices to industry professionals telling us how trying these techniques have changed the way they smell for the better (for good). Take a few minutes each day to smell something and ask yourself: what colour or texture is it? Where or who does it remind you of? If it were music, is it jazz, rock or classical? This boosts your smelling ability – and as a result you don’t need to spray as much, to be aware of your fragrance. (Which is what it’s all about.)

THROW A ‘SCENT-SWAPPING’ PARTY

Five affordable favourites:

1 FLORAL STREET CHYPRE SUBLIME

A modern take on this sophisticated fragrance family swirls incense-infused damask rose with violet, pink pepper and geranium on a resin-soaked base. From £28 for 10ml eau de parfum floralstreet.com

2 SHAY & BLUE BLACK TULIP

A mouthwatering fusion of Oriental plum, simmering beside white chocolate and woods. Keep it in your desk drawer and hey, presto! Day segues into night. From £25 for 10ml eau de parfum shayandblue.com

3 MAYA NJIE POCKET PERFUME LES FLEURS

Crisp citrus sings through the air to sweet fig and sunshine-warmed neroli; a ruffle of magnolia caressed by feather-soft musk atop supple, green wood. From £25 for 7.5ml eau de parfum mayanjie.com

4 4711 COLOGNE

The classic lemon, rosemary, lavender and neroli notes never disappoint – it’s like wearing sunlight filtered through unfurling leaves. Splash with abandon. £18.69 for 100ml eau de Cologne escentual.com

5 YARDLEY LONDON APRIL VIOLETS

If you’ve tried absolutely all of these tips and still can’t bring yourself to love a scent you were gifted, why not throw a party where everyone brings a perfume they’ve fallen out of love with and can swap with another they may form a lifelong relationship with. Hey, it’s an update (and more socially acceptable) than the notorious ‘car keys in a bowl’ partner-swapping parities of yore! (Just remember not to invite the gift-giver.)

A joyously luminescent abundance of dewy violet leaves and rose petals with delicate white peach, all becomingly dusted with orris and honeyed, luminous mimosa.

£16.99 for 125ml eau de toilette yardleylondon.co.uk