PassionFile

Department Store Fragrance Sales Staff Often Mis-guide The Client

We're all familiar with the department store fragrance counters and the customer service agents (CSA) that frequently attack you as you try to pass through the multiple brands. They spray the air as you pass through or present you with atomized paper strips to sample the fragrances. Let's be honest here, most of these efforts in an environment that is overwhelmed by scents is not an ideal place to sample a fragrance. Oh and don't bother with the coffee beans to clear your olfactory palate, your nose has a memory and you need to give it a rest.

Some aspects to recognize; don't do back-strokes in your fragrance, especially if it is perfume or eau de parfum, which are stronger than eau de toilette. You also need to recognize that your sense of smell will become blind to the perfume you are wearing after about 15 minutes. Our receptors tend to "fill-up" with the specific scent which is why we often hear from others that they love our scent, while we don't even smell it anymore.

How To Apply Fragrance and Where

As for our lovely CSA's, you needn't educate them, just keep in mind that the best way to wear a scent is directly on your skin. So prepare a small area to make sure that the fragrances oils (synthetics or other ingredients) don't irritate your skin and certainly not your nose (and by extension your brain, since that is where the scent messages are directly sent for a reaction).  Then, prepare a roller-ball and use it on areas of your body that can act as a delivery-system. Heat helps disperse the scent. The more natural oils, the better. The areas on your body that do that most effectively include;

1) The nape of your neck and hairline.

2) Decolletage or chest for men. Right on the sternum where small fine hairs will trap the fragrance oils and the heat from your sweat glands will act as the fragrance activator.

3) Small of your back where there are also fine hairs and a concentration of sweat glands to get the scent out (from behind you so you'll have a 360 degree radius of your special scent. More power to you).

4) If you're wearing aroma-therapeutic scents or pheromones, you should wear some under your nose to positively affect your mood and attitude.

You'll notice that I said nothing about wearing a scent on your wrists, or behind your ears. Sure, your clothing will hold onto the scent longer than dry skin, but as long as you get it on the areas I mentioned, you'll have a long-lasting scent profile. The reason fragrance manufacturers prefer you to atomize a spray on those areas I don't like is because they don't retain the scent. While they may be pulse points, they have no hair, limited sebum and heat. All of the aspects of skin that don't retain scent. Hmmm... Surprised that's why all the CSA's are trained to do just that? Just to perpetuate the myth and sell as many bottles of alcohol laden synthetic fragrances. Sure, spray the air. Waste the fragrance. Or, take some pointers from this article and your fragrance will last multiple times longer. You'll also have a more powerful (not in a bad way) ability to attract others with your limited, but professional use of fragrance.