Not just a whiff

Abha Chaudhary

A good fragrance can work wonders, provided it is worn at the right time and keeping in mind the right place.  It can boost your confidence, revitalize your senses and help create the perfect romantic mood. 

Like your other attributes, your perfume should be a pleasant experience for those you interact with. It’s amazing how the right fragrance on someone can be so pleasant and how the wrong smell can be totally distracting and annoying!

  There’s no reason why you can’t wear fragrance to work. All you need is to abide by the etiquettes of wearing it.  Big, punchy, sensual fragrances containing notes of wood, vanilla or musk might not be appropriate (you want to come across as professional, remember, not passionate) but light, citrus-based ones are great at ensuring you smell clean, crisp and fresh. 

While at work, mind your sprays 

Ensure your fragrance is light and ‘work appropriate’. It should be noticeable but not overly obtrusive. We’ve all been there—stuck next to a colleague who has sprayed far too much perfume. It gets obnoxious to attempt to cover up an unpleasant scent, such as body odour, alcohol or cigarettes with too much perfume and leave perfect strangers attacked by a cloud of scent that they cannot escape! 

Wrong ways of wearing the right perfume 

It is wrong etiquette to herald your arrival before you enter a room with an overpowering perfume. As a rule, people should only be able to smell you when they step inside your own personal “scent circle”, which is about arm’s length from your body. When applying perfume, remember the two spritz rule. An overwhelming amount of perfume can not only distract others from their work but also be responsible for headaches or nausea. Remember that while you may become used to the scent of your own perfume, it can be very obvious to others. 

Perfume etiquettes in closed spaces 

The smell of perfume is magnified in enclosed or crowded areas, as well as in the sun or under warm lights. Follow the old adage of less is more and refrain from re-applying more than once a day. 

Mind the occasion please!  

A fragrance should also suit the occasion. Certain occasions in life call for discretion and modesty and should not be burdened by overbearing odours. Wearing fragrance is always a faux pas in situations like the swimming pool, the beach, the hospital. In general, heavy perfumes are best reserved for a night out. Choose a lighter scent for daytime wear. The pulse points on your body is the best areas to spray your fragrance; we however, avoid these for a lighter effect. As with all other aspects of personal grooming, it is polite to apply perfume in a private area of your home or your workplace washroom. Fragrances have an expiry date and after about a year or two, fragrances start to turn rancid and their once beautiful notes can become harsh, musky or very overpowering. No matter how much you’ve invested into the perfume or how much you love it, it’s time to replace it when the smell has started to change a little or when the colour starts getting darker. There’s no sense keeping something that doesn’t help you put your best foot forward. 

(Chaudhary is a Chandigarh based etiquette expert)