Stuck in a rut? Has your skin seen better days? Get confused with beauty jargon?
Top Tips for Choosing your Scent
Choosing a scent is a very personal task. What suits one person will smell completely different on another, which is due to different skin types. Oilier skins, such as Mediterranean will "hold" the perfume for longer, whilst paler skins with drier skin tones will find that the scent evaporates much quicker. Buying for someone else, is even harder, its often a good idea to ask them what perfumes they already wear, so you can get an idea of what "family" their favourite fragrances belong to.
Scent comes in different strengths and is made literally of essential oils, water and alcohol. The most expensive is Parfum, with the highest amount of pure essential oils, (22% or more) and not so many synthetic ingredients are added. Eau de Parfum has approx 15-20% of essential oils, whilst Eau de Toilette, Eau de Cologne and Eau de Fraiche have the smallest amount of pure essential oils and are therefore the cheapest. Its worth getting the pure perfume and paying out that bit extra as it will last much longer on the skin. Eau de Parfum and Toilette will need regular re-spraying.
Here are some easy step by step guides to testing and choosing your perfume: -
• If you love the outdoors, smell of freshly cut grass then you are "Green".
• If you are a romantic, girly girl at heart, then you are "Floral".
• If you are a sultry seductive, more mature lady, then you are "Oriental".
• If you love the fresh smell of the ocean and the fresh air, then you are "Oceanic".
• If you love masculine smells, woody, earthy and smoky smells then you are "Woody".
• If you love lemons, citrus and sharp fruits then you are "Citrus".
Once you have found your scent type, its much easier to shop around and narrow down the vast amount of fragrances on the market to one which will suit you.
Here are some extra fragrance facts to consider about any fragrance: -
• Perfume develops in "notes", top note - the first scent, middle note, after about 15 minutes and finally your base note which will develop after an hour or so. It's the base note which will linger and what is most important.
• Layering fragrance. Its worth buying the shower gel and moisturiser and using this in the day. Otherwise too much can be overpowering. Then use just the perfume for a night out.
• Too much is not nice for the person next door. A simply dab on the collarbones or behind the knees (scent rises), is enough for that person to want to get closer without choking the person next to you. Don't apply behind your ears, the sweat and fragrance can mix and cause strange odours!
• Be careful spraying scent if you are wearing jewellery, sometimes the metal and oils can react and cause irritation on the skin. UVA rays can also cause a skin reaction with some perfumes, so don't apply before hitting the beach, or if you do, not where the sun will catch your skin.
• Do store your fragrance as its states on the box, in a cool dark place. Sunlight will make the essential oils evaporate and your perfume will go off.
• If your perfume has gone darker (usually dark yellow) then it has gone off. Once unopened try to use the scent within a year.
• Do choose a lighter version for the summer. Open pores in hot weather soaks up perfume, making it stronger, therefore a lighter version is ideal for the summer. Many companies stock a summer version of their best selling fragrance.
• Its worth saving money and buying a coffret. For these you often get a freebie shower gel or moisturiser thrown in.
• A great tip is to apply a couple of drops of your favourite scent with a teaspoon of massage oil such as grapeseed or Vitamin E oil, thus making your own body oil!
• Finally saving the best tip until last and whilst a bit sneaky, find your favourite perfume then buy it at a huge discounted rate from www.directcosmetics.com
Scent comes in different strengths and is made literally of essential oils, water and alcohol. The most expensive is Parfum, with the highest amount of pure essential oils, (22% or more) and not so many synthetic ingredients are added. Eau de Parfum has approx 15-20% of essential oils, whilst Eau de Toilette, Eau de Cologne and Eau de Fraiche have the smallest amount of pure essential oils and are therefore the cheapest. Its worth getting the pure perfume and paying out that bit extra as it will last much longer on the skin. Eau de Parfum and Toilette will need regular re-spraying.
Here are some easy step by step guides to testing and choosing your perfume: -
• If you love the outdoors, smell of freshly cut grass then you are "Green".
• If you are a romantic, girly girl at heart, then you are "Floral".
• If you are a sultry seductive, more mature lady, then you are "Oriental".
• If you love the fresh smell of the ocean and the fresh air, then you are "Oceanic".
• If you love masculine smells, woody, earthy and smoky smells then you are "Woody".
• If you love lemons, citrus and sharp fruits then you are "Citrus".
Once you have found your scent type, its much easier to shop around and narrow down the vast amount of fragrances on the market to one which will suit you.
Here are some extra fragrance facts to consider about any fragrance: -
• Perfume develops in "notes", top note - the first scent, middle note, after about 15 minutes and finally your base note which will develop after an hour or so. It's the base note which will linger and what is most important.
• Layering fragrance. Its worth buying the shower gel and moisturiser and using this in the day. Otherwise too much can be overpowering. Then use just the perfume for a night out.
• Too much is not nice for the person next door. A simply dab on the collarbones or behind the knees (scent rises), is enough for that person to want to get closer without choking the person next to you. Don't apply behind your ears, the sweat and fragrance can mix and cause strange odours!
• Be careful spraying scent if you are wearing jewellery, sometimes the metal and oils can react and cause irritation on the skin. UVA rays can also cause a skin reaction with some perfumes, so don't apply before hitting the beach, or if you do, not where the sun will catch your skin.
• Do store your fragrance as its states on the box, in a cool dark place. Sunlight will make the essential oils evaporate and your perfume will go off.
• If your perfume has gone darker (usually dark yellow) then it has gone off. Once unopened try to use the scent within a year.
• Do choose a lighter version for the summer. Open pores in hot weather soaks up perfume, making it stronger, therefore a lighter version is ideal for the summer. Many companies stock a summer version of their best selling fragrance.
• Its worth saving money and buying a coffret. For these you often get a freebie shower gel or moisturiser thrown in.
• A great tip is to apply a couple of drops of your favourite scent with a teaspoon of massage oil such as grapeseed or Vitamin E oil, thus making your own body oil!
• Finally saving the best tip until last and whilst a bit sneaky, find your favourite perfume then buy it at a huge discounted rate from www.directcosmetics.com
