The big, wide world of fragrances is a foreign one to me. I just don’t understand the logistics of it all. You know, the whole process of picking out your signature scent, trialling viral fragrances and also detecting what perfume someone is wearing simply by catching a waft of it in the air. Seriously, how do people do that?
I’ve never really even chosen my own perfume. Instead, I gratefully accept the Daisy Dream by Marc Jacobs or Victoria’s Secret body spray I’m gifted at Christmas by my uncles and aunties. If it were up to me, I’d wear ‘You’ by One Direction for the rest of my life. It smelled so damn good, and was definitely the most underrated of the lot (rip that they don’t make it anymore).
Alas, at the ripe age of 24, I think it’s time to grow up. It’s not like I want to be uneducated. I wanna smell like a scrumptious vanilla cinnamon muffin or whatever the baddies are spritzing themselves with these days.
So, it really was like the stars had aligned when I was scrolling on TikTok and stumbled across beauty expert Gemma Dimond’s guide to “how to smell like a vanilla milkshake: after dark edition”. Ooooo, spicy.
This wasn’t just a perfume recommendation video, but an all-encompassing guide to layering lotions and fragrances if you wanna smell like a wildly delicious vanilla treat.
I’ve hardly wrapped my head around single fragrances, let alone layering them. But it seems like the way to go if you want your scent to last, plus be unique, so I went straight to the source for advice (and her recommendations).
“What I love about scent is that there’s a kind of storytelling element to it, so I love the idea of deciding what I want to feel like for the day and building out a fragrance based around that,” Dimond told PEDESTRIAN.TV. “Sometimes a single scent is perfect, but sometimes I want something a little more complex.”
Dimond likened scent layering to solving a puzzle. Instead of one straight answer, like a singular scent, you can slot different ones on top of each other for something bespoke to you.
“What I love about personal fragrance overall is how dramatically it can impact your mood, how you hold yourself, and how you feel within your body,” Dimond said. “I think layering a couple of fragrances really just adds to that, just like how you might accessorise an outfit.”
“It’s all just about building out a bigger picture of how you want to feel and present.”
But how do you even begin to layer perfumes if you’re a complete noob like I am?
Dimond said that the easiest way to start is by looking at what notes are in your chosen perfume, picking out which you’d like to highlight, and going from there.
Say you picked out a perfume with an amber note, and you wanted to emphasise that scent. You’d then find another fragrance with a prominent amber note to spritz over the top. Sounds easy enough, right?
“The same thing applies to layering perfume over a scented body lotion or oil, which is also a great way to improve the longevity and projection of your perfume,” Dimond pointed out.
The beauty expert said that she chooses her perfume combo depending on her mood. If she’s already picked out the fragrance she wants to spotlight after her morning shower, she’ll go in with a scented body lotion to complement it.
Currently staring at your perfume shelf blankly, wondering which scents go with which? Dimond’s given us five of her favourite layering combos give you a head start.
Gemma Dimond’s Top Five Fragrance Layering Combinations
If You Want To Smell Like Honey: Glossier You Doux + DS & Durga Radio Bombay
Together, this smells like milk and honey despite neither perfume containing milk nor honey. They just WORK together.
Image: Glossier / MECCA.
If You Want To Smell Like A Vanilla Milkshake…After Dark: Victoria Beckham Portofiono ’97 Body Oil + Maison Francis Kurkdijan Grand Soir
This is woody, resinous and vanilla-y, like someone has poured a beautiful hot lava syrup over hot coals. Super super sexy.
Image: Victoria Beckham / MECCA.
If You Want To Smell Like A Holiday Along The Amalfi Coast: Maison Crivelli Santal Volcanique + Dries Van Noten Bitter Splash
then Santal Volcanique brings out this kind of mineral creaminess in it. It’s like salted citrus cream.
Image: Mecca.
If You Want To Smell Like Spring: LUI Body Moisturiser + Penhaligon’s Solaris
The perfect sunlit white floral duo. Smells like spring!
Image: Lui / Myer.
If You Want To Mix Masc And Femme: Givenchy Accord Particulier + Givenchy Enflamme
Enflamme is a beautiful tobacco vanilla, and Accord Particulier is a woody rose so it kind of grounds it in something more traditional. These two were made for each other.
Image: Givenchy.
And if you’re still not sure what works for you? Dimond suggests layering your chosen perfume over a “skin scent” like Glossier You ($145). Its versatility pretty much works with everything.
Image Credit: @gemdimond / Instagram.
The post A Beauty Expert On How To Layer Fragrances If You’re As Clueless As I Am appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
