Can using a paintbrush make perfume last longer...

THERE’S nothing more infuriating than spraying on your favourite pricey perfume — only to find the scent has faded a few hours later. ‘How long a fragrance lasts depends on its composition,’ explains Edward Bodenham, of Floris London, which has been selling perfume since the 1730s. ‘Years ago we were able to use fragrant mosses and musks in the ingredients — materials with slow evaporation rates.

‘But successive changes to perfume regulations mean that many traditional materials can no longer be used — moss causes skin irritation and animal extracts are now illegal — so these have been replaced with synthetic ingredients, which have been able to replicate the smells, but not the tenacity.’

As a result, perfumiers are always on the lookout for new ways to apply a fragrance to the skin.

Perfume queen Jo Malone recommends spraying perfume on a paintbrush and brushing it on (and has devised a brush dispenser to prove the point), while others suggest layering it over Vaseline, spritzing on pulse points or applying straight after the shower.

To find out what works, with the help of Edward from Floris, we set up an experiment, based on the way perfume houses run their own tests, where perfume is applied, using each method, to two-inch squares of skin on the arms.

Here are the fascinating results . . . ‘THE idea behind applying perfume to a pulse point, such as the wrist, is that it is a warm part of the body,’ says Edward. ‘ Heat encourages a fragrance to evaporate, meaning it rises into the air and you can smell it more strongly.’

And, initially, that was the case. For the first ten to 15 minutes, the scent from the pulse point was the strongest and truest to the fragrance. But, after this, the heat worked against the perfume, causing it to evaporate faster, and after four hours, it was the weakest in both smell and closeness to the original scent. VERDICT: An initial strong hit of perfume, but it didn’t last. VASELinE applied to the skin before a spritz of perfume is said, by aficionados of this method, to give the fragrance something to ‘stick’ to and it isn’t absorbed into the skin. But in our tests the perfume smelled weaker as a result.

According to Edward, this is because the lack of contact with the skin meant the fragrance didn’t warm up and so rise into the air. Vaseline is also easy to rub off and changes the way the perfume smells quite significantly, too. VERDICT: if you want your perfume to last and smell like it should, don’t layer it on top of Vaseline.

TRUTH ABOUT PULSE POINTS DOES VASELINE HELP? A LICK OF SCENT

FoLLowing Jo Malone’s suggestion, we bought a household paintbrush and spritzed perfume on each side before using it to ‘ paint’ the designated square of skin, using four brush- strokes, two with each side of the brush. ‘The bristles of a paintbrush mean that there’s a lot of surface area for the perfume to evaporate from,’ says Edward, ‘so maybe it’s not surprising that initially it was weaker when applied directly to the skin.’

VERDICT: if you want to layer several scents (as is the Jo Malone way), using a paintbrush spritzed with a light dusting of each might be the way to do it, but not if you want your perfume to last for a long time.

SHOWER, THEN SPRITZ

iT’S said that applying perfume to warm, wet skin straight out of the shower can affect how long it lasts, so we held a warm, wet flannel against the skin for about ten seconds before applying the perfume. This was the outright winner.

‘After a shower, or exposure to a damp, warm cloth, it’s possible that the pores in the skin are more open than usual and this may increase the absorption into the skin, meaning it lasts longer and changes less over time,’ says Edward.

A post- shower spritz gives perfume more staying power than simply applying to bare, dry skin. VERDICT: Spray your perfume onto damp skin, avoiding the pulse points if you want it to go the distance.

MATCH YOUR MOISTURISER

MAnY people believe that using a shower gel, body lotion and perfume from the same range makes the fragrance last longer. But could an unscented moisturiser do the same? Moisturiser has a lower oil content so it doesn’t have quite the same barrier effect as Vaseline. However, it did initially dull the intensity of the perfume.

VERDICT: Use a body moisturiser from the same range, or if there isn’t one, choose one that contains similar fragrance notes.