Tag: pusle points

Two of the questions we’re most frequently asked are: ‘How can I make my perfume last longer?’ and ‘Where should I best apply fragrance?’ And those two answers are certainly connected…

There’s an utterly fabulous fragrance scene in a vintage silent film from 1921 – The Wildcat, by Ernst Lubitsch – in which the heroine sits at her dressing table and douses herself from head to toe in perfume. Starring the wonderfully minx-ish Pola Negri as Rischka, the wildcat of the title and leader of a gang of bandits; the film follows the capture of their latest victim, Alexis, a caddish officer on his way to begin a job at his new post. Rischka falls madly in love with him, obvs, and they embark on a comletely mad courtship, leaving chaos (and perfume!) in their wake.

You can watch the film, below, and the scent-dousing scene begins at 2:46 if you want to skip straight to that… Being of the ‘more is more’ school, we definitely approve Rischka’s perfume application technique – in spirit if not in reality!

But seriously, where are the best places to aplpy your perfume (if you’re not just tipping it straight over your head, like in the film)? And how can it last longer on the skin?

Where should I apply my fragrance?

In her book ‘Fatale: How French Women Do It’, Edith Kunz suggests ‘The artful application of fragrance’ should take ‘about fifteen minutes from bath to blush.’ Going on to list the vital areas that should be dabbed with perfume, and in what order, Kunz suggests the everyday routine French women have employed for centuries – a scented ritual passed down from mother to daughter. Follow this fragrant guide to waft forth a cloud of fragrant femininity…

• Heels, arches, and between the toes;
• The inner and outer anklebone;
• Behind the knees;
• The underside of the derrière;
• The pubic area and the navel;
• Under each breast and between the breasts;
• The shoulders and upper arms;
• Inside the bend of the elbow;
• The pulse points at the inner wrist;
• The back of the hand and between the fingers;
• The hollow at the bottom of the neck;
• All around the collar bone;
• Under the chin;
• Along the jaw line;
• Behind the ears and on the earlobes;
• On the temples;
• Along the back of the neck to the shoulder blades;
• Around the hairline.

And don’t forget the important last step. Kunz says (and these are very much her words, not mine..) ‘The process is completed by tucking an aromatic cotton puff inside the bra between the lady’s two tender treasures.’

Now, if you don’t have time for all that, I suggest: the neck, tops of shoulders and behind the knees are my favourite places to spray. I once read that Jane Birkin liked to leave a fragrant trail by spraying her scent there, so have done this ever since!