The underrated step that fragrance experts swear by for a long-lasting perfume

Finding that your signature scents fade throughout the day? According to the experts, simply applying moisturiser before perfume can make all the difference...

While the best long-lasting perfumes are guaranteed to leave a lingering, good-smelling impression, we're always looking for ways to push our favourite notes even further. After all, there's nothing worse than discovering that your fragrance has seemingly evaporated from your skin when you're not able to reapply and are still hours from returning home. Even more so, when the best perfumes for women are often the most premium of our beauty buys.  

According to the pros though, there is one simple and inexpensive bodycare step that could help those luxe scent molecules cling to your skin for longer...

Emma South

Emma South is a Fragrance and Lifestyle Expert at Jo Malone, who has shared expertise on the simple trick to making scents last longer.

Michelle Feeney

Founder of Floral Street, Michelle Feeney has shared pro tips on boosting the longevity of your signature perfumes.

The easy and inexpensive trick to lasting signatures

So aside from applying our scents to our pulse points and then refraining from rubbing the perfume into our wrists, how else can we try to boost the lifespan of our favourite milk perfumes and floral fragrances? The answer: moisturiser.

Michelle Feeney, Founder of Floral Street says to, "moisturise the skin well before applying [perfume], as this helps with longevity." This step is especially key in the winter months, as Feeney notes that, "perfume won't cling as well to dryer skin." 

Several iconic brands - from Chanel and Jo Malone to Le Labo -  have actually capitalised on this trick, offering body washes and lotions that are infused with their hero perfumes, to double up on the scent.  As Jo Malone's Fragrance and Lifestyle Expert, Emma South explains, layering our perfume with its corresponding moisturiser can indeed boost its lasting power. "At Jo Malone London, many of our fragrances are available in a lotion or crème, providing a way to layer and intensify the fragrance whilst increasing the longevity." All the while, leaving your skin nourished 

Perfume is known to cling well to damp and oily skin, so it makes sense to prep with a hydrating lotion, before then spritzing yourself in perfume. This also offers the opportunity to slightly customise and experiment with your signatures, as you can layer them with a vanilla-scented moisturise, for example - to create a unique aroma. That being said though, an unscented lotion is preferable (unless you're opting for the corresponding lotion, as mentioned) if you want your chosen perfume to take centre stage - and not risk disrupting or compromising the delicate balance of notes. 

Woman&home's Beauty Writer, Naomi Jamieson is a big advocate of this trick, "Every morning without fail, I cover my entire body in a lightly scented moisturiser. This creates a subtle but good-smelling base, the slight residue of which my perfume can then cling to. My go-to is a cocoa butter and vitamin E lotion (from Boots and under £2) as it smells so soft and comforting - like a skin scent - and pairs beautifully with my preferred woody/floral scents. I really find that this helps my fragrances to melt into the skin and linger."

Our perfume and body lotion staples

And for anyone looking to add a scented or budget-friendly cream into their routine - to push their perfumes to the next level, here are a few body lotion for fragrance options to consider...