Fragrance Cocktailing ~ Chic way to wear perfume

Just picture it... You buy a fancy new dress at the fancy boutique. Get to the party and someone is wearing the exact same dress as you! It's the worst thing that could happen right? Of course, you might have accessorized differently but principle is, it's the same dress. Kinda like perfumes. You buy this exclusive perfume from the elite beauty boutique, only to find out someone else has too! With perfumes you want to smell unique and stand out from the rest. One way to accomplish this, is by layering your perfumes or as some like to call it "Fragrance Cocktailing!"

Basics of Fragrances

Before we start talking about layering your perfumes, lets get a little background work done on how a perfume is composed. Although there is a very complex way of creating fragrances, what we need to know, are the different notes.

Top Notes

Or Head notes are the first scents you smell when you spritz perfume. They are make the first impression. They usually consist of lemon, Black Current, Glabanum, Grapefruit and Sage.

Middle Notes

These are the main body of the perfume. They are released after the evaporation of the top notes. They also hide the unpleasant base notes. Heart notes, as they are known, usually consist of Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Narcissus and Orchids.

Base Notes

These rich and dark notes appear just as the heart notes evaporate. Combined with the heart notes the create the main theme of the perfume. Base notes create depth of a perfume. They usually consist of Sandalwood, Musk, Amber Cedar wood and Leather.

Knowing more or less what notes your fragrance is created from will help you with layering.

How to layer?

There are some people who would highly disagree with layering of perfumes, stating that the perfume is perfect the way it is,but experimenting never did anyone harm. There are 3 ways to layer. I'll break them down for you.

Layering Same perfume with body wash and lotion

This may seem easy enough but did you know that although they have the same fragrance, the one might give off a stronger fragrance of the one note, than the other. Using the one with the other might, will lead to a lasting fragrance the whole day.

Simply Blending Fragrances

This one is for the people who don't want to experiment to much. Maybe just accentuate their normal perfume and make it smell a little more divine. What you will do is to find out exactly what notes your perfume contains. You will then choose one of, either the heart or base notes, then choose another fragrance that has the same note in it. Layering these two will then bring out the other notes.

Extreme Blending Fragrances

This technique is very exciting and scary at the same time. Here you can take any two perfumes that you think will work and combine them. Here there is no right or wrong, as long as it doesn't come off as too strong and you like it, it's all systems go.

Tips

• Always spray the stronger perfume first. Then wait 30 minutes before you layer. 
• Layering is like a cocktail mixture. One part stronger perfume to Two parts lighter perfume.
• Try the combination on thick card stock first. Spray the perfumes on the card stock, then smell the two together. 
• If you try a combination and you don't like it, use rubbing alcohol to remove. 
• Your nose is sensitive. It can only handle so much at once, so you will likely smell the predominant perfume and the added one will add just a little more interest.

Examples

You might be reading this and wondering "where do I start?" Well here are a few examples.

1. Serge Lutens Chergui and Serge Lutens Cuir Mauresque

2. Serge Lutens Clair de musc and Thierry Mugler Angel

3. Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan and Serge Lutens Vetiver Oriental

These are just a few of my favorites. * I used to work for a shop which sells predominately Serge Lutens, so I have acquired a taste for their fragrances.

Now that you know the basics of layering perfumes, why not let me know if you have ever layered and if so what perfumes you used?