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For better or for worse, how you smell can have a significant impact on your confidence, self-perception, and those around you. Unfortunately, hosing yourself down with your fragrance of choice can be t as bad, if not worse, than basking in your body odor. It’s important to apply scent correctly, and although there are a number of application techniques to sift through—from the classic spritz-and-rub on the wrist to the ambitious spray the air and walk through it method—mastering the craft of applying your cologne appropriately isn’t difficult when you know the right steps.
It’s best to apply your cologne on clean, dry skin immediately after you take a shower. When your skin is warm your pores open, which is ideal for fragrance application. Although it’s not necessary for all skin types, you may also want to moisturize at this stage.
If you hold the cologne bottle any closer than three inches, you’re likely going to over-apply the fragrance while also muddling any nuance in the scent profile. A good rule of thumb to keep in the back of your mind is to spray three to six inches away.
Warmth increases the longevity and intensity of your fragrance. Your body emits heat throughout the day, especially in warm pulse points, such as your neck, wrist, and r inner elbows, allowing the cologne to interact with your body chemistry and create a unique, pleasurable aroma.
However, areas with too much friction can cause the scent to degrade, so it’s best to steer clear of the crotch, armpits, and knees. During the initial application, use two to four sprays.
Freshen up your scent at any point with a spray or two on your wrists later on in the day. Remember, too much friction is bad for the scent, so don’t rub your wrists together after spraying.
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Although commonly used to describe a men’s fragrance, “cologne” is actually a term indicating the intensity of perfume oil concentration in the scent. Not all scents are created with the same intensity, and greater intensity doesn’t necessarily mean a better scent. There are five categories of scent concentration.
Each cologne has a unique scent profile, and high-quality fragrances should have nuanced ingredients that come out in layers throughout the day. Scent profiles are usually described in three different levels of notes: top, middle, and base. The top notes are present immediately after application.
Body chemistry and hormones play a large role in determining how cologne will smell on the wearer. If your skin is on the oilier side, your cologne may smell stronger after application than it does when you take a whiff directly from the bottle. On the other hand, if you tend to have dry skin, and are willing to splurge, you should check out Oud Wood, a masculine Eau de parfum from Tom Ford. Tom Ford is known for producing some of the highest quality scents using a high concentration of pure perfume oil. Higher concentrations of natural perfume oil generally means a lower concentration of the kinds of chemicals, especially certain types of alcohol, that cause dry skin.
As you shop for a new cologne, you will soon realize from the differing scent profiles (or from the branding) that scents are created to evoke certain emotions, or to complement specific environments. If you live somewhere warm and sunny, consider light, floral scents that aren’t overpowering. Remember, the heat of the environment will increase the intensity of the aroma. On the other hand, earthy and spicy scents are often preferred for colder months or nights out.
Fragrances aren’t cheap, especially those from brand names. However, beware of companies that try to take advantage of the comparably expensive fragrances to pass off a cheap scent. One key indication of quality cologne is the ingredients: While the concoction doesn’t need to be all natural, the key scent ingredients should be sustainably sourced from their natural environments. One of the most renowned fragrance companies, Chanel, continues to harvest and preserve their natural ingredients by hand to preserve their organic quality.
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Kohl's
$110.00
The last thing you want to do is spray a cologne you end up not liking directly onto your skin. Thankfully, with a blotter and a relatively scent-free environment, you can be testing out fragrances like a professional with a little practice.
Some fragrance aficionados like to create a list of three to five fragrance notes they want their new cologne to contain. Having a few key notes in mind comes in handy when you have a handful of blotters and you’re trying to organize your preferences amongst the competing smells.
Once you narrow down a select few that you like from the blotter tests, you can try the finalists directly on your skin. A key consideration to account for at this point is what experts call sillage, or the scent trail – scents with weak sillage will leave almost no trail, while powerful ones will leave scent in your wake, so choose according to your goal.
Take note of what the cologne smells like as it settles on your body, and how the scent profile evolves. Make sure to leave room to test each perfume in a unique area. Ideally, you can test one on each arm and choose between them.
Although the bathroom may seem like a logical place to store your cologne, you should keep it in a cool, dark, and dry space, as the humidity and heat caused by steam from hot showers can cause the fragrance to degrade. Similarly, direct sunlight or constant exposure to indoor light can also decrease the quality of your cologne. Best practice is to store your cologne in a drawer or closet. This will also increase the longevity of your fragrance.
Because quality cologne is made of natural ingredients, the strength of the scent will likely decrease after a period between 18 months and two years, so you should take stock of how often you plan to wear your fragrance before buying it. Although cologne becomes cheaper in larger sizes, it won’t do you any good if you end up with half a bottle of leftover fragrance.
In addition to the storage practices described above, you can increase the lifespan of your cologne by keeping the cap on at all times and storing it on a low shelf—dropping your bottle, even from a low height, can cause enough disruption in the fragrance to break the chemical bonds and change the way the cologne smells. In that vein, avoid excessively shaking your cologne or unnecessarily changing its bottle.
If you’re really committed to getting the most out of your cologne, you can store it in an airtight, light-proof container. Although the inconvenience of pulling it out for each use is too much to justify this for most bottles, you may want to employ this method for special or out-of-production fragrances.
Throwing away leftovers or expired cologne is painful, but it’s not as bad as ruining a brand new bottle. Combining expired, or even aged cologne with a brand new bottle will alter the scent profile of both, likely for the worse.
Using cologne that is past its prime can result in an unpleasant odor, skin irritation, or even allergic reactions in rare cases. It’s best to avoid all of these outcomes by properly caring for your fragrance and knowing when to stop using it. Aside from the length of time it has been open, you should also examine your cologne from time to time for discoloration, which is a sign of degradation.
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Two to four sprays after you shower should be sufficient. You can always apply more as the day goes on, so it’s better to err on the side of under-application at first.
Cologne is meant to be sprayed directly onto the skin, and that’s what yields the longest lasting results. Spraying cologne into the air or onto your clothes wastes most of the scent and will wear off much quicker than if you spray it on your skin.
No, rubbing your cologne into your skin immediately after application not only degrades the scent while it’s fresh by forcibly mixing it with your natural oils, it also changes the way the top notes smell. Instead of rubbing, dab your cologne on your wrists and neck after application.
Apply your cologne to areas of your body that are naturally warm, but be wary of spots with a lot of friction. Pulse points and warm areas, such as your neck, shoulders, and inner elbows, will naturally intensify the strength and longevity of the scent.
No, there’s nothing wrong with wearing a good quality cologne! In fact, wearing cologne may be able to help you boost your self-confidence and feel your best.
Most guys are applying cologne incorrectly.
Here's the deal: if you're spraying a $250 fragrance into the air and walking through the mist, you may as well be pouring it down the drain.
The same goes for you guys who spray it on their wrists and then rub them together.
The fact is, most guys aren't taught the best method of applying fragrance. They fall into bad habits and waste their hard-earned money as a result.
I don't want that for you guys. So, I'm here to set the record straight once and for all. In today's article, we're covering the RIGHT way to apply cologne and how you can get the most out of your signature scent:
Here's the deal: the way you apply cologne has just as much of an effect on its longevity as its strength and formulation.
That means two things:
Don't worry – I've got you covered. Once you know the facts, it's actually really easy to get an extra 2, 3, and many 4 hours out of your daily cologne.
Spray perfume on dry skin, preferably right after a shower. Hold the spray nozzle 3-6 inches from your skin and focus on these rules for applying perfume:
When considering where to apply cologne, it's important to pay close attention to your pulse points.
What are pulse points, you ask? In short, pulse points are the areas of your body where you can feel your heartbeat. Typically, these points are some of the warmest areas of your skin.
We're talking about the neck, inner wrists, and behind the ears. The logic behind this is that the body heat created at these pulse points will project the fragrance more effectively.
For me, the following spraying routine works best:
Spraying cologne on your hair can be a great way to get your cologne to last longer.
Hair absorbs liquid and retains it for longer – meaning that a cologne sprayed conservatively in your hair could help extend the longevity of your signature fragrance.
However, be mindful that all colognes contain alcohol which can dry out hair and cause hair loss. If you've got a full head of thick hair, you probably don't have to worry. However, if you're already balding and hair loss is a big problem in your life, stick to applying cologne to your skin.
Like I mentioned earlier, don't bother spraying fragrance in the air and walking through the mist. I'm not sure where this practice originated, but I can tell you it's a useless practice and only stands to waste your cologne.
The same can be said for applying cologne to the wrists and rubbing them together. When you rub your scented wrists together, you damage the top notes of the fragrance and make them less potent. This will warp the scent and make your cologne smell strange as it mixes with the natural oils of your skin.
Instead, apply your cologne conservatively and leave it to dry on your skin.
Pro Tip: Apply fragrances soon after showering. The hot steam of a shower opens up the pores on your skin, allowing your cologne to soak into the skin and last longer.
I would say it depends.
Perfumers design and formulate colognes and perfumes for use on human skin. They are not specifically designed to be used on clothing and doing so could cause stains and damage.
After all, cologne contains alcohol and oils. Both of these agents can permanently stain clothing – especially the white collar of a tailored dress shirt.
That being said, as long as you hold the bottle 4-6 inches away from your clothing so that the liquid sprays across a wider area of your clothing, most colognes shouldn't be concentrated enough when they read the surface of your shirt to cause a huge amount of damage.
Spray your favorite cologne an inch away from your shirt cuff, and it'll be a different story entirely.
My advice? Be very careful when spraying cologne on your clothing and ensure the atomizer is at a safe distance from the fabric.
I know, I know – a lot of people say that spraying cologne on clothing can make it last longer. After all, cotton absorbs liquid faster than skin does.
Sure – but that isn't a always good thing! Cologne-soaked clothing might retain the scent for days – but do you really want to mix the smell of old cologne with whatever you choose to apply the next day? Who knows what you could end up smelling like?
When it comes to knowing how to apply men's cologne, it's essential to understand which concentration and scents will have a higher chance of smelling great for longer.
The higher the oil concentration; the longer it should last on the skin:
It's also important to understand the different types of fragrances when learning how to apply men's cologne. The fact is, some fragrance notes and categories will last longer than others.
Fragrance notes breakdown – Top, Middle and Base notes.Each of the three sections of a fragrance's life cycle contains individual scents or ‘notes,' that are belted together into what you end up smelling.
These are the individual building blocks of scent. There are three different kinds of notes that comprise a scent – top, medium, and base notes.
Depending on the ingredients within each layer of a fragrance, they can also be subcategorized into either summer or winter scents.
When it comes to applying these different types of fragrances, I'd say it comes down to a mixture of personal preference and practice.
Typically, you shouldn't apply woody winter scents as intensely as summery floral scents. After all, if a fragrance is made of notes that naturally last longer on the skin, then you can get away with applying less of it at any one time.
I'll be honest – there's very little you can do to increase the longevity and projection of your scent outside of what I've already discussed in this article.
That being said, there are ways you can prevent a fragrance from becoming less potent over time. After all, nothing lasts forever, and a fragrance's strength and projection can become weaker as time passes if not cared for correctly.
The shelf life of the average bottle of perfume is 3-5 years from the date of manufacture. As your cologne ages, it becomes less potent and loses its kick.
It is next to impossible to specify the accurate number of applications from a bottle of fragrance. You can roughly expect the following lifespan from your bottle of perfume:
Extend the lifespan of your perfume by storing it in cool, dark, and dry environments – such as your bedroom. Rapid heat fluctuations (like those found in a bathroom) will cause the molecules in a fragrance to break apart. Sunlight does the same thing as well. Ensure the bottle cap is secure, to prevent the fragrance from evaporating.
This is where opaque bottles have the advantage because they do not let any light in, meaning you can leave it out of the packaging at your leisure. The darker the bottle, the longer the liquid inside will last.
Storing colognes in the bathroom seems natural, but it can damage the quality of the fragrance as well. Steam from hot showers can destroy the particles inside the bottle.
Always keep your bottles stored at room temperature, preferably in places where light isn't a concern. Cupboards and drawers are ideal.
When it comes to learning how to apply men's cologne, there's always more to learn. Click here to discover more about the importance of fragrance notes when choosing a signature scent.