How and Where to Spray Cologne?

Have you also always been confused about the amount of cologne to wear and while choosing the spots that it needs to be sprayed on? Well, you need not worry anymore. The information mentioned below would not only allow you to know all the minute details about cologne but also help you pick the perfect one for you and help you wear it, the best way possible.

Tips to Apply Cologne the Right Way!

1. Apply the Cologne on Dry Skin, Right After the Shower

A quick shower allows your body to get rid of any kind of scent, along with opening up your body pores, which allows the cologne smell to absorb. However, do not forget to dry your skin completely before spraying cologne.

2. Hold the Bottle 3-6 inches Away While Spraying

This is the perfect distance that you need to maintain between your body while spraying cologne. Keeping the bottle closer may lead to over-application, whereas, a greater distance will lead to a diluted effect.

3. Target the Heated Areas of your Body

The body heat allows the cologne scent to diffuse in a better way and helps retain the smell throughout the day. The heated areas of your body include:

• Forearms
• Inner Elbows
• Chest
• Neck
• Behind the Ear
• Shoulder Joints
• Nape
• The base of your Throat

4. Kick Start With Only a Light Application

If you are using a cologne for the very first time, do not spray it at once on all the heated areas of your body. You may wish to begin spraying only one of your heated areas and check if the scent fades away quickly. You may even take the advice of another person to help you understand if you need to apply cologne to other heated areas of your body or not.

5. Spray Again Only if Required

Depending upon the type of Cologne that you use, you may even need to top it up with a little dab on your pulse points throughout the day, especially if you are headed out for an outdoor activity, where the scent may fade away quickly.

Common Mistakes to Avoid While Applying Cologne

1. Do not Apply it to Your Clothes

Spraying cologne on your clothes prevents it from mixing with your body oils which provides the cologne with its unique essence. It also prevents the cologne scents to pass through its different stages and provides more of a flat smell. Moreover, cologne may also be harmful to some of the fabrics.

2. Do not Rub the Cologne on Your Skin

Spraying is the best way to apply cologne. However, if you do not have a spray nozzle, just dab the cologne on your skin but never rub it. Rubbing the cologne breaks the molecular bonds of the fragrance and fades away the scent faster than normal. It may even bring about a change in the actual scent of the cologne.

3. Avoid Splashing it on Your Skin

If you have a cologne bottle that lacks a spray nozzle, many people directly splash the cologne on their bodies. More than often, this leads to over-application. The best way to use a bottle without a spray nozzle is to put one of your fingers over the opening, turn the bottle upside down and dab your finger gently on your heated areas.

4. Creating a Mist Cloud and Walking Through it does not Work

Many people tend to think that this might be the best way of applying ascent; however, surely not in the case of a cologne. This method renders the cologne completely useless and ends up most of it on your floor.

5. Do not Apply too Much Cologne

A mild scent of cologne is actually what makes it very special, overdose would completely reverse its effect. Do not be afraid of under-applying the cologne as you can always reapply if needed.

Knowing the Basics

1. What is Fragrance Strength?

Fragrances come in different concentrations and that is exactly what defines their longevity. Therefore, the very first thing that you may need to know, in order to pick a genuine cologne is the fragrance concentration that it contains. To test the strength of your fragrance, you can simply spray it on the back of your hand and allow it to sit for a few hours. You will notice the different notes of the fragrance coming alive after different intervals. However, a cologne is designed to last for approximately 2 hours, ranging from its top notes to the base notes. Below mentioned are all the different types of fragrances based on their strength to help you understand in a better way.

• Parfum: Contains 20-30% perfume oil (Lasts up to 24 Hours)
• Perfume: Contains 15-20% perfume oil (Lasts 5-8 Hours)
• Toilette: Contains 5-15% perfume oil (Lasts approximately 3 Hours)
• Cologne: Contains 2-4% perfume oil (Lasts approximately 2 Hours)
• Eau Fraiche: Contains 1-3% perfume oil (Lasts less than 1 Hour)

2. Lifecycle of a Cologne

Whenever you wear a fragrance, it usually goes through three different stages and effects, before finally disappearing from your body. The fragrance goes through 3 stages of evaporation, in which the top notes evaporate the first and the base notes linger for the very longest time. Below mentioned are the details of these different notes.

• Top Notes: It is the initial set of smells that you are able to make out right after the application of your cologne. The top notes usually evaporate within the first 15 minutes of application.
• Medium Notes: Medium notes are the most important elements of cologne and comprise of bit heavier scents like spices or florals. These scents come into action once the top notes evaporate and may stay up to 2 hours.
• Base Notes: Base notes get developed at the last and are the boldest of all. In the case of a cologne, base notes may last up to 3 hours.

3. What is Fragrance Sillage?

Fragrance Sillage is another important thing that one needs to keep in mind while picking their choice of fragrance. It is the fragrance trail that is left behind by the wearer when they walk by you. It is usually closely related to Fragrance Strength; however, may vary due to other reasons too. To check the sillage of a fragrance, simply spray it in an empty room with closed doors and windows. Leave the room and keep checking the room for lingering fragrance after every few minutes. If the smell persists even after over 10 minutes, it has a really strong sillage.

4. Preparing your Body for Putting on Cologne

If you actually wish to bring out the actual fragrance of your cologne, it is very important to prepare your body the right way to wear it. Taking a shower allows your body to get rid of any kind of foreign odor and also removes any kind of fragrance that you might be wearing earlier, preventing the corruption of your cologne smell.

If you wish to go one step ahead, a hot shower will open up all your body pores, which allows the cologne to merge with your body oils in a better way, allowing the fragrance oils to seep in and have a better effect. Moreover, if you are used to wearing moisturizer just after your shower, make sure that you have a scentless moisturizer, whose fragrance should not clash with the fragrance of your cologne.

5. Testing your Cologne

1. Know about the different Scents: Different Colognes may comprise different sets of scents. It is up to an individual to decide which scents they actually like and would like to wear. Below mentioned are some of the most prominent scents that you may shortlist to pick from.

• • Floral Notes
  • Woody Notes
  • Oriental Notes
  • Woody Notes

2. Use a scent blotter to test the cologne: The scent blotter is essentially a small, white cardboard strip that allows you to test a cologne, without actually have to put it on your body. Make sure that you spray a cologne 2-3 times on the blotter and avoid getting the scent in direct contact with your skin. Once you find the perfect cologne for you, only then apply it to your skin.
3. Test the scent after applying it on your skin: Once you have shortlisted one or two cologne fragrances that you actually like, only then apply them on the back of your wrist to check the chemistry and reaction of the same with your skin. Do not test more than 4 fragrances at once, else they will confuse your smelling sense.
4. Allow the cologne to mix with your body oils: DO NOT BUY THE COLOGNE RIGHT AWAY! Even if you like the smell of a cologne that you tested on your skin, do not buy it right away. Let it stay and developed its notes for at least 30 minutes, while you explore the store or take a walk in the neighborhood. If you still like all the different notes of the cologne that developed after mixing with your body oils, it is surely the right one for you!

6. Make your Cologne Last Longer

Colognes do not have an endless life; moreover, handle them with a little carelessness and they would become useless even quicker. To allow your cologne to last for a longer period of time with its original properties, try keeping it in its original case, which will prevent light exposure and avoid the fragrance from deteriorating. You can choose a dark drawer to store your cologne and make sure that it never comes in direct contact with sunlight.

Rapid fluctuations in temperature, as well as humidity, may also affect the properties of a cologne. Therefore, the best place to store the same might be in a bathroom. Never store your cologne in your car, which experiences the most amount of temperature changes.

7. Wearing Cologne for Different Occasions

A. For Office

A daily wear office cologne needs to be a bit subdued but certainly discernible. You do not want a cologne with strong sillage that might come to notice of every person in your office while you pass by them; however, you surely want to be noticed when you come close to them. Moreover, fragrances have a stronger effect in indoor settings; therefore, pick a cologne with a mind effect for your office.

Ideal Zones to Spray Cologne for Office: 1 Spray Behind each ear + 1 spray on the base of your throat.

B. For a Date

A date is a highly intimate affair; therefore, you wish your cologne scent to be really subtle yet intense and enticing. The fragrance must be able to pull the person towards you, which can be one only by a highly balanced fragrance.

Ideal Zones to SprayCcologne for a Date: 1 spray on the base of your throat/ 1 spray each on your jugulars + 1 spray on your chest

C. For Outdoors

It’s that day of the week that you are willing to get out into the pollution, fight the wind, shop your heart out, or probably head to the beach; you certainly need a cologne that can create a scented bubble all around you and protect you from the foreign odors and pollution. Moreover, you certainly wish for people to notice your aura once you pass by, therefore pick a cologne with a strong sillage.

Ideal Zones to Spray Cologne for Outdoors: 2 Spray Behind each ear + 3 spray on the nape.

D. For a Night Out

You are certainly going to experience crowded spaces, come across various other fragrances, and experience a lot of heat, therefore, your fragrance needs to be absolutely unique and discernible to stand out from all others.

Ideal Zones to Spray Cologne for Night Outs: 2 sprays behind each ear + 3 spray on the nape + 2 sprays on each shoulder

Wearing a cologne, the right way can actually be a huge challenge. However, we are sure that going through all the above-mentioned information would not only allows you to pick the best possible cologne but also allow you to wear it in the best way for each and every occasion out there and create your very own desirable aura.