Turns Out, We’ve Been Spraying Perfumes All Wrong – Dermatologist Reveals the Most Effective Way
The favorite perfume in the closet is always saved for special occasions because you do not want to exhaust it sooner. While it is a sustainable practice, experts have recommended using an old-school beauty hack to keep your fragrance from evaporating within an hour of getting out. Many people speculate that frequent reapplication is the only way to go but the duration of a fragrance can be reasonably extended with Vaseline. This hack has been followed for years and a dermatologist has weighed in on the subject, per a report by Real Simple.
Alexandra Bowles, MD, DO, a board-certified dermatologist at MONA Dermatology, explained that the properties of Vaseline or any other petroleum jelly help to lock in the moisture on our skin and prevent the perfume from instant absorption. “The concept behind this is that Vaseline is an occlusive, meaning it forms a moisture-sealing barrier on the skin,” she said. Therefore, applying a smear of Vaseline on the pulse points prior to spraying your perfume reportedly slows down the rate at which the skin soaks up the perfume. This allows the perfume molecules to stay on the surface of the skin and retain the smell for longer periods as the warmth of the skin will “diffuse the scent.”
The occlusive properties of Vaseline will protect the fragrance retention. Hence, spraying perfume immediately after applying even a minimal amount of Vaseline is ideal. “A minimal amount should stay on the skin without noticeable transfer or greasiness,” Dr. Bowles noted. Perfumes are made of a mixture of 15% to 25% fragrance oils with a base of alcohol and water, according to expert Darryl Do. He is a senior perfumer in New York City and revealed that the alcohol and water easily evaporate after application and leave a layer of the fragrance oil as residues on the skin, clothes, and hair. When dry, the fragrance oil is absorbed by the skin. Therefore, the goal is to try and prevent the complete evaporation and eventual absorption of the perfume.
Do added, “Since you cannot increase the strength or concentration of the fragrance oil, the only option is to delay the evaporation from your skin.” The rate at which any chemical compound is absorbed into the skin depends on its properties like lipophilicity, molecular weight, and volatility, as per a study published in the journal PubMed. The expert confirmed that mixing perfume with even a little amount of Vaseline will “definitely slow down the speed at which it wears off from your skin.” This hack builds a temporary waterproof barrier that sustains despite the risk of sweating the perfume off.
Regular body lotions could also be used as a potential substitute for Vaseline. Yet somehow, Vaseline petroleum jelly forms a thicker and more stable barrier than body lotions and effectively retains the fragrance of perfumes for extended durations. Aquaphor and other unscented balms also work in a similar way, per Southern Living. Even pop singer Jason Derulo vouched for this Vaseline hack by sharing a viral video on his YouTube.
However, the 2007 study explained that aromatic consuming products are made of a complex mixture of chemicals meant for distinct purposes like odor production, solvent and fluidizer, perfume stabilizer, preservative, denaturing agent, and antiperspirant. It is suggested that many of these compounds have a negative effect on health and are thus, called contaminants. Researcher Steinemann A identified 42 out of 150 different volatile organic compounds in perfumes that were classified as toxic or hazardous pollutants in the U.S.