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Do you find that spraying on clothes prevents you from smelling your scent clearly?

post #1 of 21
6/20/11 at 4:05pm
Thread Starter 
Lately I've been experimenting with spraying on clothes/skin or both. I found that if I sprayed on skin only, I'll be able to smell my fragrance clearly throughout every stage of its development. However if I sprayed on clothes only, the scent's sillage seems to die down slowly and not much later, I won't be able to smell it. The scent however stays much, much longer than on skin. For example a few days ago, I wore Apres L'ondee (a low sillage/low longevity scent). I sprayed my clothes liberally, but about an hour into development, I could barely smell it, if even at all. When I got home seven hours later, Al'O was still present, loud and clear on my shirt...just not producing ANY sillage or even "waftage" whatsoever.

What are your takes on the subject?
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post #2 of 21
6/20/11 at 4:14pm
I like to spray on chest just before, or just after, donning clothes so that some of the fragrance droplets get absorbed by the clothing.

I find the top notes linger a bit longer due to the clothing being cooler than skin (causing slower evaporation.) Meanwhile the fragrance on the skin evolves as usual. I get more overlap of top, middle and base notes this way.
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post #3 of 21
6/20/11 at 4:38pm
I spray only on skin but can detect the scent on shirts (on the collar) thrown in the laundry basket days later.
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post #4 of 21
6/20/11 at 4:39pm
It depends upon the frag. With cheap ones, it seems as though if you get them on your shirt it becomes unbalanced. I like atomizers that distribute the frag widely with a fine mist. That way, a small amount gets on the shirt, which seems to be optimal with most frags (I don't wear super cheapos that often these days).
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post #5 of 21
6/20/11 at 5:10pm
It makes sense. Development is faster on skin, and both projection and sillage should be higher. Conversely, on cloth, development will be longer, slower, and overall closer-wearing. This may mean a relatively more stable development (shallower curves), which would presumably mean more olfactory fatigue, less sharply-defined and perceptible transitions, and less experience for the wearer. However, it might mean more frequent and consistent experience for those who you encounter briefly during the day. Less likelihood of a big "blooming" effect gassing somebody out during the first hour, or right after your skin heats up, as well as less chance of the scent disappearing completely later.
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post #6 of 21
6/20/11 at 5:32pm
It's hard to generalize about this because of the wildly different fragrances out there, in addition to what kind of fabric you spray onto, the # of sprays, the area of application on the skin, the concentration of the fragrance (edc, edt, edp).

I almost NEVER just spray on clothes. I think that most of my enjoyment of fragrances comes from the development of the fragrance on my warm skin. Of course, it rubs off my skin onto my clothes - but ultimately my scented skin is what I keep getting whiffs of, not my clothes.
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post #7 of 21
6/20/11 at 5:35pm
Don't be scared to use clothes as a tool. I spray D&G The One on my clothes for extra sillage and longevity and it seems to work better than just spraying on my skin.
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post #8 of 21
6/20/11 at 6:11pm
I spray both, and, as you say, the clothes keeps the smell into the next day. On clothes, I spray under the shirt's armpits, the warmest piece of cloth. Thus I get enough heat for moderate sillage, but longevity as well (though perhaps not the longevity of spraying, say, the fabric on the chest).

In general, sillage is heat dependent. If you're in a chilly air conditioned room, there will be little. As soon as you step out in the heat of a DC summer (or even better in the year-long heat of Saudi Arabia), it'll waft out.

cacio
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post #9 of 21
6/20/11 at 6:30pm
Me too, I spray both. My skin is a little strange, changing quite quickly the colognes, "burning" the way through the drydown. Spraying on my clothes is a form to avoid this, so I gain durability and on my skin I get sillage due to the heat. I think that there are two processes going on both ways, with different peaks of development from top to base notes and so I get the best from both.
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post #10 of 21
6/20/11 at 8:15pm
Nah, I don't.
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post #11 of 21
6/20/11 at 10:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeperez23 View Post

It's hard to generalize about this because of the wildly different fragrances out there, in addition to what kind of fabric you spray onto, the # of sprays, the area of application on the skin, the concentration of the fragrance (edc, edt, edp).

I almost NEVER just spray on clothes. I think that most of my enjoyment of fragrances comes from the development of the fragrance on my warm skin. Of course, it rubs off my skin onto my clothes - but ultimately my scented skin is what I keep getting whiffs of, not my clothes.

I agree very much with mikeperez.
Some examples: I usually spray 2 or 3 times extra with the Guerlain extraits for more sillage. Not having smelled vintage Shalimar extrait from fabric 1, 2 or 3 days later, means not knowing Shalimar in my books :-D
Caron is a bit funny... I dab Tabac Blond generously, so that a fair part gets absorbed by my clothes. Contrarily, I dab En Avion the way it mostly remains on my skin only, because firstly it is a high sillage fragrance and secondly it is sweeter on fabric than on my skin.
With EdP and EdTs I usually spray my chest and neck and dress afterwards, so part of the jus gets absorbed by my clothes as well.
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post #12 of 21
6/21/11 at 2:20am
I personally never spray on clothes.
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post #13 of 21
6/21/11 at 3:08am
Same experience here though the results may vary with different fragrances. That's why for every fragrance I experiment to find the combination of skin:clothing spraying combination that works the best for me. For example, Grey Flannel is strong stuff. 1-2 sprays to the chest tends to get some of it on the undershirt & that's all you need. Additional misting over your clothes might sound like a crazy idea but individual taste preference differs after all.
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post #14 of 21
6/21/11 at 3:35am
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Some of my stronger fragrances tend to stay on my shirt collars even after washing them. I often notice that whilst ironing my shirts (yes, men iron too!!), the steam causes the fragrance to evaporate or come out more, even though it may have been sprayed the week before.
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post #15 of 21
6/21/11 at 4:25am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for everyone's responses

Personally, I think some houses are better sprayed on both skin and fabric (Hermes, Chanel, L'artisan, Guerlain), while others really truly need skin to blossom (SL, Tauer, Parfumerie Generale). I'll look into everyone's suggestions and I'll keep experimenting
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post #16 of 21
6/21/11 at 5:20am
From my strictly personal experience and as a belated post, I have actually noticed that spraying on clothes actually tends to delay/decrease olfactory fatigue and increase the fragrance's strength even above the required intensity
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post #17 of 21
6/21/11 at 5:37am
I usually put a spritz on my left cuff (cotton) and find it works really well - holds on longer and also good for seeing the progression in slo-mo.
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post #18 of 21
6/21/11 at 9:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr. reasonable View Post

I usually put a spritz on my left cuff (cotton) and find it works really well - holds on longer and also good for seeing the progression in slo-mo.

No can do - I'm too lanky for that...

Btw, no-one's mentioned the danger of staining clothes. So, if you plan to try this out be very careful.
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post #19 of 21
6/21/11 at 10:02am
I don't spray on clothes unless it's a light, short lived frag like Hermes Eau d'Orange Verte or similar. A frag that would normally last a couple hours can last many times longer when sprayed on my shirt. When I fist got into frags one of my 1st purchases was Varvatos Artisan, which I still like a lot, but it fades on skin very quickly. When I spray this on a shirt it lasts all day and sillage is moderate, on skin nobody ever notices it, including myself.
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post #20 of 21
6/21/11 at 10:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by scent View Post

Thanks for everyone's responses

Personally, I think some houses are better sprayed on both skin and fabric (Hermes, Chanel, L'artisan, Guerlain), while others really truly need skin to blossom (SL, Tauer, Parfumerie Generale). I'll look into everyone's suggestions and I'll keep experimenting

You could be on to something here. The lighter or transparent fragrances or perhaps specifically the smaller topnote molecules tend to perform better on fabric compared to the denser orientals which often need body heat to blossom.
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post #21 of 21
6/21/11 at 10:14am
I will only spray on my clothes with a fragrance that I get poor longevity with.
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Do you find that spraying on clothes prevents you from smelling your scent clearly?