Everyone knows someone — a friend, cousin, or colleague — who always smells amazing. It could be a 90-degree day with everyone else melting into a sweaty puddle, but they somehow still smell fresh, like they’ve just emerged from a pile of clean laundry. Is it their perfume or cologne, their shampoo, their clothes? Or a combination of all of the above? With some recent very sweaty days and getting back into the school and work grind with the transition into fall, I wanted to see how I can up my scent game. Here’s a rundown of how to smell incredible within reason.
First up, start in the shower. Being clean provides a solid basis for good smells. And using fragranced body wash or scented soap gives you the clean and the smells. For staying power, fragrance is best applied to moist skin, so follow your shower with a matching body lotion or cream after a towel dry. For summer, I enjoy Native’s Sea Salt & Cedar gentle body wash, but their Peanuts-themed Harvest Moon might just be a contender to switch things up this fall. Dr. Teal’s Foaming Bath in Lavender with Epsom salt calms and perfumes.
And while in the shower, consider exfoliating the underarm. I exfoliate my face and body, but I never considered the benefit of exfoliating armpits until recently. Alongside deodorant, exfoliating the underarm several times a week helps combat body odor. If you are a natural deodorant user, then an exfoliant like Sustain Yourself’s Armpit Detox, formulated with bentonite clay and charcoal, is meant to draw out odor-causing bacteria and can also work as a face mask. I’d suggest masking your face and then your armpit with this organic product. For a less “crunchy” option, there’s Good Molecules’ Pineapple Exfoliating Powder, which is an overall body exfoliate, but its gentle formula works with the underarm to gently loosen dead skin and bacteria versus a harsh full-body scrub. Another overall body product to consider using for underarms is exfoliating and brightening toners, such as The Ordinary’s Glycolic Acid Daily Toner from Sephora. This toner can be used daily on the face and neck, as well as dry scalp and underarms several times a week to combat odor as well as smooth any rough skin texture.
Once you’re clean, exfoliated, and lotioned up then, you can look to layering on scents such as perfume and body mist. Ideally, you’d go for a body mist in the same scent as your bodywash and lotion, like Glossier’s Nourishing Daily Wash and Body & Hair mist both in sandstone, boasting a scent type of “warm woods.” Or combine Salt & Stone’s Body Wash in Bergamot & Hinoki with their matching body and hair fragrance to create an effortless all-round scent cloud that follows you throughout the day.
Perfume placement also plays a role in long-lasting signature scents. There are secret scent spots, or hot zones on the body, to “anoint” with a spritz of mist. Besides wrists, décolletage, and collarbone, apply fragrance behind the ears, the back of the neck, and the back of the knees. Chances are, not many will get close enough for a direct smell, but if wearing scents is for your own enjoyment and confidence, you’ll appreciate the intimate application. And if you have an 8-year-old cuddle bug that still likes to get right on in there, she’ll enjoy it as well.
Another alternative location to consider applying scent is solid perfume on the ends of your hair. With a small amount on your fingertips, gently massage a product like Lush’s Shade Solid Perfume in aromatic sandalwood and olibanum into the ends of your hair to get wafts of scent throughout the day. Be warned: This type of application may cause some unnecessary hair flipping as you realize each time you swish your hair you’ll get a hint of the scent.
Lastly, spray, delay, and walk away for a full body application. Here recently in the hotter days, I’ll actually put a box fan on, stand in front, and spray into the breeze for a refreshing hit of scent. And don’t forget your clothes. You can lightly perfume coats, sweaters, and scarves to give the sense of fragrance wafting and trailing behind you. Oh, and don’t sleep on wearing perfume to bed. Actually, DO sleep on that, especially if wearing perfume during the day is not an option for you. A bit of a bedtime spritz is an indulgent-feeling self-care that you alone will enjoy, as well as that 8-year-old who can’t sleep by herself.
