A Perfume can last four to six hours (or even longer), depending on the ingredients – and how dry your skin is. (Perfumes dissipate much faster on dry skins, or when the air is particularly dry.) From the moment you apply: the top notes, or ‘head’ notes last around 5-15 minutes before they disappear. The middle notes last from two to four hours, and make up most of the fragrance. The base notes(very occasionally referred to as ‘fond’) usually last from four to six hours.

• A If you are really and truly allergic, then we suggest you do not wear perfume. If you experience a rash, redness or itching, coughing or problems with breathing, and you’ve established a link to a perfume (or all perfume), you may have to avoid it altogether, or find a different way to enjoy fragrance. (TIP People who have an allergic skin reaction to perfume might like to spray the inside hem of their clothing, on the underside of a lapel, or spray a cotton wool pad and tuck it into a pocket.)
• If you wish to continue to wear perfume, and your skin reacts to it, you may be able to get a referral to a dermatologist who can run patch tests to establish which common allergen/s in perfume affect you. Today, regulations require manufacturers to list known allergens – linalool, geraniol, methoxycinammate etc. – on the outer box. This does not mean you will be allergic to them – the vast majority of people aren’t – but you might be. This listing does at least allow people to avoid ingredients they know they react to. (Although it’s not hugely helpful because most perfumes do seem to contain many of the known allergens: they are very common ingredients.)

• A. Fragrance certainly doesn’t last forever – but storing it correctly will help preserve the quality and lifespan of your perfume. The key is to keep it away from light and heat – so a bathroom, or a sunny dressing table, is NOT the place for your fragrance stash: higher temperatures affect the top notes of fragrance, making them musty, or more sour.
• If you have a dark cupboard to store perfume in, or a drawer, that’s perfect. (Ideally, keep in the box, or – if you’re using a drawer – wrap bottles in a scarf, or even plastic, unglamorous as that is. Be aware that perfume that’s never been opened and kept in a dark place can last more than 40 years…!).
• If you can’t manage that environment, store on a shelf that doesn’t get direct sunlight, in a not-too-hot room. Then once a bottle is open, you should get up to two years’ life out of it (we’ve had fragrances that last much longer…) Lighter, citrussy scents deteriorate faster than opulent florals…
• You may find you get a better life out of a spray bottle than a splash: if you touch the glass to your skin, and oil from your body gets into the bottle, that can affect the lifespan of your perfume, too: touch your skin to the rim of the bottle – and don’t use stoppers for application, as they are in contact with the contents. NB Dark glass preserves scent for longer than clear versions.
• But don’t hang onto any fragrance for too long…! Remember: perfume is to be worn, and enjoyed

Your own body chemistry affects how differerent notes react on your skin. Anything that affects the “natural” smell of your skin, such as stress, hormonal changes, your current diet or medications, might change how a perfume smells on you. 

Top notes are the ones that are perceived immediately after the application of the perfume. Top notes consist of small, light molecules that evaporate quickly. Fresh notes like citrus, bergamot and mint, some floral and spicy notes are some examples.

Middle notes, also referred as heart notes, form the scent of a perfume that emerges just prior to the dissipation of the top note. The middle note compounds the main body of a perfume and act to mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes, which are meant to become more pleasant with time. A variety of floral, spicy and watery scents along with some woody scents can be found under middle notes.

Base notes form the scent of a perfume that appears close to the departure of the middle notes. The base and middle notes together are the main theme of a perfume. Base notes bring depth and solidity to a perfume. Base notes are typically rich and “deep” and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after application. Most common examples of base notes include woods, tobacco, amber and musk.

For three reasons:

1 – Some of the ingredients may need to be diluted in alcohol or water to fully release their scent,

2 – In pure format, the density of essential oils and aroma-chemicals may be harsh to the skin,

3 – The solvent also acts as a carrier which eases the application and creates a sillage.