A lot of us (including me at times) spray perfume on just before heading out the door OR before we have moisturised our skin and that is where we are going wrong.

If you want your perfume to last all day, the best time to apply it is straight after you have showered and applied a moisturiser (unscented or one that is matching with your fragrance) on your body. Damp skin means open pores and open pores soak in the fragrance. The same way oily/moisturised skin retains fragrance for much longer.

3. Know Where to Apply Perfume

I’m sure you all know that perfume lasts longer when applied to pulse points on the body. So ideally behind the ears, on the wrists, inside your elbows and on your neck. The warmth in these points helps to disperse the scent across the entire body. If you want to take it a step further, spray perfume on your hair as well the calves and ankles – this will make your scent rise and float as you walk throughout the day.

Two things to keep in mind though:

• Don’t rub your wrists together after applying perfume. Friction causes top notes in a perfume to fade, so gently dab your wrists instead of rubbing.

• Don’t directly spray perfume on your hair. Instead, spritz some on your hairbrush and run that gently through the lengths of your hair. You can also buy a perfume that is designed specifically for hair.

4. Know Fragrance Types + Potencies

Have you ever mixed scents together to make your own sweet little concoction? If not, then it is something worth trying. One of the best ways to do this is to first spray a stronger fragrance/perfume and then layer a much milder, lighter fragrance on top.

To know which scents go well together, spray different fragrances on fragrance blotters or even business cards and smell them together to see which two perfumes are complementing each other.

• Choose a perfume with strong/heavy Base Notes as those scents typically last longer. You want to ideally look for something with musk, pine, vanilla and patchouli.

• If you have a strong perfume and yet you want to wear in during the day, just spray it in the air and walk through it. Walking through the mist will evenly distribute the scent across your entire body, leaving you with a scent that is not as strong or overpowering.

• Reached the end of an expensive perfume bottle (that almost broke the bank)??? Well, make the most of it and use your perfume till the LAST DROP by simply adding it to a bottle of unscented lotion!

• If you’re trying and testing perfumes in a store, don’t smell it right after you spray it on yourself or the fragrance blotter. Give the perfume a chance to evaporate and dry, because that is when you will get its true scent.

• Following from the above tip, if you ever test a perfume that you don’t like or agree with, simply rub it off using makeup wipes and the scent will go away immediately.

• If you are someone who likes to touch-up their perfume through the course of the day
  (I know I do), then simply carry a miniature of the fragrance you’ve used in your handbag. Majority times you needn’t buy the miniature separately, simply ask for a sample miniature when purchasing perfumes.