It’s a small price to pay for safer fragrance but, still, a bummer nonetheless. However! A few handy tricks can help your clean perfume last longer; it just may take some more time to get the most out of the juice. And honestly? Slowing down to connect with your fragrance only adds to the transformative experience—so we’d consider it a total win. Cat Chen, founder of clean fragrance brand Skylar, explains further: “All your pulse points are like little radiators,” she tells mbg. “The warmth helps to diffuse the fragrance.” If you would like to blend two fragrances together—or would like to blot away some of the juice—try tapping your wrists together instead of creating friction. You can also dab your wrist up your arm, onto your neck, or anywhere you’d like to deposit some scent without messing with its longevity. Chen also recommends using fragrance in an intention-setting practice: “You can get ready for the day by putting fragrance at your heart, which is linked to how you feel,” she explains. Then whenever you catch a whiff of that fragrance from your heart’s center, you’ll be subtly reminded of those intentions. Of course, you don’t want to spritz on a perfume while your skin is sopping wet. Johnston recommends patting dry, coating your body with a moisturizer to trap in all that hydration, then spritz a little fragrance. “You have this beautiful foundation of clean, hydrated skin,” she says. You can also layer your perfumes, if you choose: “When different scent notes hit together, then you have an even more robust collection of top, middle, and bottom notes. That definitely helps to make the fragrance last,” Chen says. (Although, she recommends layering no more than three perfumes, or else they’ll start to smell very similar.) Perfume oils also typically contain carriers like jojoba or coconut oil, which hydrate the skin simultaneously—and hydrated skin, as we mentioned, can help a fragrance last. Finally, they’re easy to throw into your bag for touch-ups later on, if you notice the scent starting to drift off. Says Chen, you might want to look for gourmand fragrances (which include “edible” notes like honey, vanilla, chocolate, etc.), as these last an “incredibly long amount of time.” Check out our full notes hierarchy guide, if you’re curious. Basically, perfume expires when it interacts with air, heat, and sunlight, and if there aren’t too many alcohols and stabilizers in the formula to keep it fresh (clean fragrances tend to skip many of these), this process can happen quicker. You don’t want to extend the shelf life too much—if it’s expired, there’s a reason—but you can get the most out of your fragrance by storing it in a cool area away from sunlight (note: not your bathroom) and always topping the fragrance when you’re finished with the spritz. See here for more tips on how to keep your fragrance fresh and how to know when it’s time to replace it.
