What kind of women have..."chemistry that eats fragrance"?

My mother has the same problem. She has largely British ancestry; very pale, somewhat dry skin; reddish brown hair. Fragrance is mainly my hobby - scents last moderately well on me, though some disappear almost instantly - but finding even one fragrance that lasts or stays pleasant on her has been incredibly difficult. A related problem that I've noticed is that scents tend to change drastically on her. I didn't believe her at first when she said that Serge Lutens Sa Majesté La Rose smelled like a rubber raincoat on her, but it was true.

It could be your sense of smell, I notice things in fragrances other people don't and they tend to smell stronger to me. It got more sensitive with age. Which one you choose has a lot to do with it, too. You could also try changing what you bathe with to see if that helps, maybe you are using something in the shower that conflicts with your scents or makes your skin dry.

I always thought I had this problem. Fragrance dies if I only put it on my wrists. I've found I have a lot more joy spraying down the centre of my chest and in the crooks of my elbows, and also, I've learned which scents last and which don't. Angel, which some people can't scrub off, doesn't last all that long on me (the EDP is gone in a flash but I have the extrait which, at least, is better) but Poison EDT lasts all day. Now I generally won't buy something I know doesn't last on my skin.

My mom, who is half Dutch and half Indian, has normal skin, very fair indian skin (closer to spaniards colour-wise). And fragrance lasts on her for ages, I bought her Ultraviolet EDT about three years ago, she uses it A LOT, and still, over 1/4 of the bottle is left! Lasts on her for up to 12 hours.

I've got "scent-killing" skin.
I'm of 100% Greek ancestry, light skin with olive undertones, but neither oily nor dry.
Build-wise, I've always been small and thin, and my wavy hair used to be dark brown.
I see that we all have markedly different traits, so this must have more to do with individual skin, possibly on the molecular level, like a "base aroma" that we carry with us that goes without detection (similar to sounds that occur above or below the range of human hearing) and cancels out other aromas.

I run very cold. I've always got cold fingers, toes, nose...When I cycle up a hill suddenly I can smell my fragrance, even if I thought it had faded out hours ago. I think that's part of the problem, just being a cold person. I wear fragrance on my chest under my clothes where it has a chance to heat up.

I think that's my problem too, Stellamaris. I can wear even the most obnoxious sillage monster and no one will complain because I don't have enough heat to let it project. Almost everything is a skin scent on me.

Hmm, interesting! In general, I find that my skin eats fragrance (Shalimar, for instance, turns into a thin lemon-y whimper on me, which frankly is just sad). My skin is not dry, I'm a thin redhead of largely British isles ancestry...I don't really tend to be particularly hot or cold, though my "normal" temp runs a bit lower than average. I have found that while, as a rule, I must wear a beast of a scent if I wish to have project the slightest waft of fragrance, some houses' scents seem to work better for me than others. Caron, Cartier, Chanel---all of these last well and "project" nicely for me, even for scents that reviewers in general have rated as not long lasting and/or having low sillage. Also, almost without exception, if I want sillage I have much better (relative) success with an EdT or EdP, and often with the EdT.

Hey, you're not alone! I spray and I spray and I spray, and when I ask my friends if they smell something -- anything -- they're like, "Hm... you're wearing perfume?" Le sigh...

I'm Chinese, normal to dry skin, dry hair (grr), average size. One thing though is that I don't smell like anything, and I sweat very little. So I never have to use deodorant or anti-perspirant. Which IS a great thing... but lately I've been thinking that this is why I can't hold a scent. Like, I don't have a natural body scent or whatever that fumes can cling to.

Actually I lied. The only note my body can hold onto is WHITE FLOWERS. White flowers blossom on my skin. But since I despise white flowers... it's a problem.

I scent seems to stay pretty strong on me for the first couple of minutes, but after that the scent that I happen to be wearing at the time turns into a skin scent - I don't like to go overboard for fear that I may be wearing too much and not knowing it.
I've posted this in another thread, but I usually use oils in the areas that I'm going to wear my perfume of choice (they are usually unscented, or they have the same notes as other perfumes in my small collection, hehe), and I find that I have longer lasting sillage.

(You may want to check out Divatologist's posts about long-lasting sillage! Thank you Diva!)

[QUOTE=hallospacegirl;1135602]

I'm Chinese, normal to dry skin, dry hair (grr), average size. One thing though is that I don't smell like anything, and I sweat very little. So I never have to use deodorant or anti-perspirant. Which IS a great thing... but lately I've been thinking that this is why I can't hold a scent. Like, I don't have a natural body scent or whatever that fumes can cling to.

QUOTE]

I never thought about it, but that's the way I am too! It sounds weird to most people, but I don't use deoderant or anti-perspirant, even working out at the gym. I just don't sweat very much from my armpits so there's really not much of a point to doing it. I just smell pretty neutral. And when it comes to perfumes, I never really get much sillage. Example: Femme. I've heard of this being a sillage monster, but on me it's very delicate and close to the skin (and this applies to both the vintage and newer versions) But even though my skin eats up fragrances, fragrances don't "turn" on me. My mom has the exact same skin tones and coloring as me, but a lot of fragrances have great sillage, but go really rancid on her and the same fragrances are very pretty on me (pretty but not powerful) Maybe the perfumes have to mix with the bacteria in the skin and some people have less of that type of bacteria?

You all have just touched upon the reasons. Two things, for the most part, affect how strong a perfume lasts on your skin.

1) If you don't perspire much (or with that have cold skin), perfume won't be prompted to leave your body via water vapor evaporation. But remember that your skin is not cold everywhere...

2) If your skin is on the dry side, perfume constituents, being oily, become wicked right into your dry skin just as easily as if it were Oil of Olay or any other type of skin creme or lotion.

Perfumes have a certain amount of neutral oils built into them. Some have more and some have less. These are added as "fixatives" and one of their functions is to apply some oiliness to the skin to give it a protective barrier. Ones that contain less can disappear on you more quickly.

SOLUTION: The best thing to try is "pre-moisturizing" you skin with any kind of bath oil, creme or lotion until it is fairly saturated with the oils in these products. BEFORE applying perfume, apply Nivea creme or anything else (that isn't strong-smelling) to EACH area where you're planning to apply your fragrance. Make sure you put enough on to really saturate your skin and rub it in thoroughly. This will form a very nice barrier, keeping your body from adsorbing the perfume and carrying it off.

Another obvious tip is to apply perfume to the warmest areas of your body and allow it to seep out slowly from under your clothing. Women, your cleavage area is great for this and even down to the stomach, allowing the fragrance to raise up and out slowly through the neckline of your blouse, nicely pre-warmed. The same goes for men. The stomach and chest are great application areas, especially if they have been pre-moisturized with a bath oil or a creme of fairly neutral aroma.

One last word: If you do find that you are always cold and rarely perspire, you might want to get your thyroid checked. It's an easy blood test.

Do report back if this is helpful to you. This is something all fragrance-wearers should be aware of and try. Let other women (and me) know if this was helpful to you!

Michael Storer, perfumer

Good advice, Michael. I just have poor circulation - my thyroid checked out normal in June. I exercise quite a lot which you think would help, but it doesn't.

Yeah, Rochas Femme. Sorry.

Sweet almond or sesame oil (as in the unscented Neutrogena Rainbath oil) will moisturize better than jojoba, which is really better for people with oily skin. Before you get out of the shower, apply the oil while your skin is still wet, then gently towel dry. The oil will absorb in better. If you apply oil while your skin is dry, it tends to lay on top. The same probably holds true for the oils in perfumes, that is an interesting point, Michael. Thanks.

Syracusa thank you SO MUCH for starting this thread which has been a great source of info (and comfort!) to this similarly "afflicted" fragrance devourer!!

Following Ayala's suggestion I had been pre-applying with Jojoba 'til I read Beachrose's comment (checked that out with my massage therapist who confirmed that masseuses use jojoba especially for the "glide"...and also that "cold pressed" sesame and the Nivea are excellent for those of us with dry skin) and Michael's specific instructions.for application. Am awaiting products and will report.

I wear fragrances primarily for my own satisfaction. When I can smell 'em wafting up from between the boobies and neck with back-up sniff at wrists and arms - I am happy. Even my summer clothes (I live at the beach and most of my clothes are summer clothes) that get laundered a lot have traces of my scents. So do my bed linens (actually, bed satins.) If others detect and appreciate (or, in my boss' case, HATE - can you believe LHB?? ) that's icing on the cake.

I just LOVE smells (are you ready for - say - hot tar? Fresh horse manure? And who mentioned when the radiators first go on at the beginning of winter?) and have surrounded myself with them since before I can remember. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

You GO, girl!!! Douse yourself if that's what it takes!. We're behind you 100%

Taolady,

I love what you wrote about reveling in all kinds of smells. As a perfumer I truly can appreciate that. I love the smell of mud and hot tar. One of my favorites ever since I can remember is the smell of a wet sidewalk. At age three or four I remember actually licking cement just to enjoy that smell.

I just quickly want to add to what I wrote earlier: Some fragrance ingredients are actually solids and not liquids at room temperature. This means they aren't evaporating and giving off their scent. These things don't melt (= smell) until about 98 degrees F. or 37 degrees C. Examples are resins like labdanum, crystals that are in tonka, vanilla resin, many delicious wood saps, etc. This is why when you breathe a warm moist breath on your skin where you've applied perfume you often get an entirely different set of glorious notes. Phooey with wrist "pulse points".. it's a crock. Go for the hottest areas of your body ...and a little perspiration there helps too. People with higher metabolisms will also emanate perfumes more generously.

I too have skin that eats up fragrances.

Maybe it's my low body temp combined with dry skin due to iron deficient anemia, or maybe it's just me...

I've found 2 products that help me in that area though:
1)Keri Advance Extra Dry Skin Lotion (they recently changed the name & the bottle to a black bottle)
2)Johnson's Baby Oil Gel with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E

The Keri is less greasy, but the Baby Oil Gel works better for sillage.

I suspect that my skin absorbs the more natural & moisturizing lotions easily which also makes it easy to absorb the perfumes I apply as well. These 2 moisturizers make barriers which prevent my skin from absorbing the fragrance.

The Keri I can apply all over after a bath or shower.
The Gel I only apply where I'm going to apply fragrance because it's greasy and doesn't really get absorbed well - so only on my forearms and the front of my torso.

I find spraying fragrance on "pulse points" doesn't do much for me. I apply on my chest & stomach area and my outer forearms because fragrance gets rubbed off when applied on the inside. If it's an especially weak fragrance I'll also apply to the back of my neck, my back, and in between my thighs if I'm wearing a skirt. So far, no one has ever said anything about me wearing too much fragrance...

Taolady - include me into the "smells" club - gasoline is one of my favorites. Tar is good too - until it gives me a headache. lol I find if something actually smells *bad* I can't stop sniffing it.

I'm no expert, but a week or so ago, when I asked the woman in the perfume shop why some scents last and others don't on my skin, she said that it depends on one's chemistry (of course) and also on the amount of spices and oils one consumes! She said the more spices/oils I ate, the longer a fragrance might last. So, show me the way to the good food!
Don't know if that falls under the "old wives' tales" category, but thought I'd throw it in !

I do not know if this has already been discussed, but what is being used for soap? The reason I ask this is because, many times when people have trouble with their fragrance lasting their are a few different reasons. One of the reasons is their skin is too dry, more oils needed to make scent last. The next is, the fragrance is too light. BUT, one of the most overlooked reasons is this on, which is many times the culprit. It is the soap one uses. In the states, most of the commercially available soaps are deodorant soaps. This is all fine and dandy, not very good for the skin, but deodorant does not differentiate between body odor and fragrance. It tends to neutralize both equally. So if you are using one of the commercial brand soaps, or even ones with sodium tallowate (boiled animal fat), which leaves a film and dries out skin, you should switch to a vegetable based soap. L'occitane, pre de provance, and any soaps found in Whole foods or Trader Joe's will work well. Also, immediately after a shower, you should moisturize and wait 20 min until you apply fragrance, unless it is an "eau fraiche" type of scent. This gives the body time to replenish the hydro-lipidic mantle, so the scent has something to adhere to.
Good luck

Deodorant SOAP! OMG I didn't know! Is this also the case with liquid hand soaps and shower gels?

I agree with whomever above said that it helps to eat/ingest more oils. For health/beauty reasons I take flaxseed and primrose oil pills. These are pure omega fatty acids (oils good for the body). Now I'm not saying to go to your nearest Walmart and pick up a cart full of oils, but I do know that these oils lubricate the body from the inside out, contributing to overall health, and in my case more moisturized skin and better sillage.

Also, nothing beats drinking lots and lots of water.

Anything that has deodorizing agents in it will affect fragrance. It cannot differentiate between bad odor and good odor.