Have you ever stood shoulder to shoulder with a woman in a bar’s bathroom and they’ve looked at you and said the magical words, “What perfume are you wearing?”
Like being given a gold star on your school report, being told you smell really, really good by a perfect stranger says so much more than just “nice perfume!”. It’s a signal that we had our shit together enough that day to spritz our favourite perfume. It’s a little pat on the back, telling us we have good taste. And if we really want to deep it (we do), it tells the world that we considered all the factors that make perfumes smell unique on each person — such as skin pH, and whether we’re oily or dry — and know ourselves well enough to choose just the right fragrance for us.
The only feeling more satisfying? Telling them it’s not just one fragrance they’re smelling, but two.
Welcome to the art of fragrance layering. It ’s exactly what it sounds like: wearing more than one perfume at once to create a unique scent that ’s almost impossible to replicate. It’s like finding a vintage, limited-edition designer piece in an op-shop that you know no one else can get their hands on — satisfying in more ways than one.
If you’ve found yourself on PerfumeTok and want to embrace the art of p e r fume r y more thoughtfully, allow our tips to guide you through the process.
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How Should You Layer Fragrances?
First and foremost, you should start simple with your scents and layer your perfumes in a strategic way.
Avoid spraying your perfume in a way that physically mixes the two liquids. In simple terms, spritz one on your wrist and the other on your inner elbow. “The cloud of scent around you will create the layering effect without any physical clashes between scent ingredients,” Ethan Archer, Libertine Parfumerie’s national training manager, says.
You’ve probably seen people on your FYP layering a scented lotion with a body mist and finishing with a fragrance. “Body mists, body lotions and perfumed oils tend to be a lot more subtle than alcohol-based fragrances like eau de parfum and eau de toilette,” says Ethan, explaining that the lotion or mist may be lost once you spray.
Two caveats? Slathering a lotion or body oil that’s the same scent as your fragrance may help your fragrance last longer, and a minimalist scent can add a subtle musk to another fragrance.
How Many Fragrances Can I Layer?
When learning the art of fragrance layering, it’s best to ease yourself in before going full mad scientist with your fragrance collection.
“Choose two more minimalistic fragrances to layer with each other, or a complex one and a minimalistic one,” Ethan dvises. Ethan compares fragrance layering to fashion, where combining bold and complex pieces is trickier than mixing and matching basics. “Avoid layering very complex scents with each other, since the composition can end up smelling ‘muddled ’ or ‘cloudy,’” he says.
Which Perfumes Are Good For Layering?
Most perfumes fall into one of the five main families of wood, amber, floral, fruit and aquatic. Mixing opposite families like woody and fresh, or similar families like woody and amber, or floral and fruity, is an easy way to start layering.
Some of our favourite combos include:
- 7 Virtues Vanilla Woods + Glossier You for a sensual combination that is amber, woody and fresh
- Kayali Vanilla 28 Body Spray + BDK Gris Charnel for a spicy and sweet combo that is musky, deep and fresh all at once
- Maison Francis Baccarat Rouge 540 + Billie Eilish Eilish for a sexy scent with a sweet kick
- Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt + Le Labo Fleur D’Oranger 27 for a sophisticated, fresh fragrance
Why Do People Layer Fragrances?
The best thing about layering your perfumes is that it gives you a personalised, signature scent, which is why many beauty-lovers have adopted it.
If crafting a signature scent is your goal, staying loyal may help. The simplest way to find your signature scent’s perfect pair may be to keep it in the family. “Try layering fragrances from a single brand first,” says Ethan. “Each brand tends to have a signature style or ‘DNA’ in their scents, you’ll find that they layer better with each other than with other brands.” Once you’ve gotten a feel for what works (or … doesn’t), try branching out.
A version of this article originally appeared in Issue 05 of Cosmopolitan Australia. Get your copy and subscribe to future issues here.
