Ask Harry: How to Wear Fragrances
A Guide to Selecting and Applying Cologne and Fragrances
By: Harry Rosen StaffDate: 2023-05-16
Wearing a fragrance is an elegant way to add depth and complexity to an outfit through scent. Wielding the ability to evoke deeply personal memories and emotions from those close enough to smell you, wearing a fragrance comes with great power — and with great power comes great responsibility. Ensure you get it right the next time you wear a scent by following our guide below, featuring expert advice on how to both select and apply a fragrance.
Instead of wearing just one cologne throughout the year, we prefer to segment our signature scents into three categories; Fresh, Loud, and Sweet. Approaching your personal collection like this gives you a much better chance at selecting a fragrance that most appropriately matches the occasion in which you wear it.
This scent is best kept for the daytime, especially in the warmer months, when the sun is out and you want to retain that essence of smelling like you’ve just stepped out of the shower. The fresh fragrance is one that you can look to as your daily wear, which means this should smell light and pleasant to you along with most other people. Easygoing, aquatic notes will help you achieve that.
Your loud fragrance is your ‘special occasion’ scent — the one you might wear out to an upscale event or a date with someone special. This should capture the interest of those nearby and entice them to get closer rather than repel them with overly strong smells. Look for deep, warm, and perhaps spicy notes that show you’re not afraid of big flavours but know how to manipulate the palette with finesse. This type of scent is often best worn during the winter months, when its dark demeanour is more appreciated.
Sweeter scents are by nature also very seductive, and similar to the loud fragrance, also thrive in cooler air. For this reason, sweet fragrances should be worn seasonally and not throughout the year. Notes of stone fruits, refined spirits, and floral accents come alive when included in sweet scents, which offer a comforting yet alluring, lustworthy aroma.
Once selected, apply your chosen fragrance onto the pulse points of your body, which allows the cologne’s essential oils to release their pheromones. We recommend two small sprays on the wrist and two small sprays on the neck. While some may say the secret to a perfectly even application is to spray your scent into space and walk into it, what this actually achieves is a weaker end result due to the scent oxidizing in the air. Spraying it directly onto your skin is a much more effective way to carry the fragrance.