Every bride wants thier special wedding scent to last as long as possible, especially if you’ve gone the bespoke or niche route for your big day. The wedding scent you choose will remind you of your special day every time you wear it, and you want people to take notice when you waft past. If you want to know how to make your perfume last longer than the first glass of bubbles, there are clever ways to get the most out of your scent.
First, you need to understand the make-up of your chosen scent, where and how to spray it, and if you are marrying abroad there is something else you need to know, which we will dive into in more detail below.
Which Perfume Formulas Last Longest?
When buying your special wedding scent, look for a fragrance with a bigger concentration of perfume oil so it lasts longer. Perfumes come as colognes, eau de toilette, eau de parfum or parfum/extrait de parfum. These formulas contain different levels of perfume oils that will dictate how long they last on the skin. A cologne has 4-6%, eau de toilette (EDT) 7-15%, and eau de parfum (EDP) is roughly 15-21%. A parfum or extrait de parfum has the highest concentration at about 20-30%, which meanst to make your wedding perfume last you should be shopping for an eau de parfum or a parfum.
If that sounds like it might cost a lot more than an eau de toilette, think again, quite a few eau de parfums cost only a few euro more than an EDT of the same size. A parfum or extrait can be considerably more expensive so choose wisely, but they are worth the spend.
Wedding Scents We Love: Jo Malone London Red Roses Cologne, €64/30ml, YSL Libre Eau de Toilette, €100/50ml, and Parfums de Marly Delina Exclusif Eau de Parfum, €280/75ml
Which Fragrance Families Last Longest?
There are four main fragrance families with three subcategories that describe the notes within. The four families are woody, fresh, floral and amber. Within these families, you often see elements mentioned such as fruity florals, aquatic, woody amber and citrus.
More often than not, you are attracted to a particular element or note in a perfume like vanilla or grapefruit for instance, and will be drawn to that, so when choosing your dream wedding scent, go with your heart. But remember it is the base note of your perfume which lasts the longest. So while the top note is what you smell first when you spritz, that only lasts up to 15 minutes, and it is the base note that will last the day.
To make sure you’re buying a new wedding perfume with a base note you love, spritz it on in the store and give it at least an hour to settle. If you still love it, that’s the one for you.
Where To Spray Perfume On Your Body
When it comes to how to make your perfume last longer, it’s about where you spray. To get the best ‘throw’ from your wedding scent, apply it to pulse points on the body. The reason for this is that your blood vessels are closest to the skin at the wrists, inside the elbows, the back of the knees and the neck making them the body’s warmest areas. This heat helps the skin to emit scent molecules in the best way, so spritz on more than one for the best distribution of your fragrance.
Allow the fragrance to dry on its own and don’t rub the wrists together, this disrupts the perfume’s top notes and alters its composition.
Spritzing the air, and walking into a cloud of scent is actually quite wasteful as half of the perfume droplets will land on your furniture or the floor and it’s really not good for your hair or face, as perfume has a large concentration of alcohol as a preservative which can be drying.
If it’s a sunny day, spritz the back of your neck rather than the front. The alcohol in perfume when combined with UV rays can result in sun sensitivity and premature ageing of skin. Use sunscreen on your neck and decolletage and keep your scent hidden under your hair at the back. You will still smell just as sweet.
Wedding Scents Worn By Celebrity Brides
Choosing a Scent For a Hot Climate
Marrying abroad or being a destination wedding guest requires a rethink of the scent you intend to wear. Given that you will be in hotter weather, your skin will be warmer than normal so a heavy wedding scent will be very noticeable.
There are two ways to approach this:
- Either leave your eau de parfum at home and buy a 30ml or travel size eau de toilette version of your scent which will be lighter in intensity and have a shorter timespan on the skin.
- Alternatively, if your signature perfume has a very heavy base note, lighten it with a spritz of something more refreshing and uplifting.
Heavier scents with base notes like vanilla, musk, sandalwood or patchouli are great for longevity but can be a little cloying or overpowering in a hot climate. Citrus and aquatic scents offer that lightness and freshness to ‘introduce’ your regular scent. In this instance, spritz on your favourite scent (just once) and then follow with one or two sprays of the lighter scent. It’s simply layering to adapt your fragrance for a sunny wedding day or even your honeymoon.
Are Scented Hair Mists Worth Buying?
Perfume fans will insist that yes they are! A hair mist is great for extending the throw of your favourite fragrance. They are more an indulgence than a necessity, but they are different from your go-to scent because a scented hair mist will contain a lot less alcohol than your perfume or none at all. This is important for hair health, as spritzing alcohol over your hair is damaging as it has drying effects, so no more walking into a cloud of scent, okay?
There are gorgeous hair mists and some even have hair-strengthening panthenol, camellia or castor oil. If you want the full fragrance experience you can match or layer a scented hair mist with your wedding perfume as a treat for your big day.
Hair Mists We Love
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