What Ingredient Makes Perfume Last Longer?

Some ingredients that help perfumes last longer include jasmine, lavender, sandalwood, and orange blossom.

In the perfume industry, perfume ingredients are known as fixatives, and they help hold a scent together to prevent it from evaporating before the solvent on the skin fades away.

As you know, fragrances are an essential part of our daily life.

They not only allow us to smell amazing, but they also represent our character and personal style. 

Therefore, choosing an ingredient with a dominant fragrance is essential.

Moreover, perfumes are costly and a luxurious extra, so investing in a perfume that lasts less than an hour can be frustrating.

Thus, familiarising yourself with the relevant ingredients can save you unnecessary hassle, and result in a more cost-saving perfume.

What Are Perfumes Made Of?

Scents are made by extracting scented emollients from natural extracts.

These ingredients can include various fruits, plants, woods, and animal secretions. Other resources used include coal tar, alcohol, and petrochemicals.

In perfumery, these ingredients are known as fixatives, and they help make a fragrance last longer.

Perfume fixatives hold a scent together, whether it’s natural or synthetic, to prevent it from escaping before the solvent evaporates.

Alcohol-based scents are the most fleeting, so perfumers add various substances to help anchor the fragrance (these substances help reduce the alcohol’s evaporation rate).

Some of the most popular additives used to blend a fragrance’s content include benzoin, frankincense, labdanum, and resins.

Fixatives are also an integral part of how perfumes smell.

They help level the volatility of the raw materials in the perfume oil.

Additionally, they’ve been shown to significantly boost the shelf life of a fragrance. 

Some of the best fixatives include base notes like vanilla, cedar wood, and sandalwood.

Natural fixatives include essential oils, powders, resins, and tinctures.

What Ingredient Makes Perfume Last Longer?

Some of the ingredients used to make a perfume last longer include:

1. Lavender

Lavender is a popular essential oil used in aromatherapy and perfumery.

Its odor profile changes based on the soil origin, the altitude it’s grown in, and the distillation techniques used.

The Dutch variety, which is the most popular in perfumery, features a sharp odor due to its camphorous properties, while the French variety offers a sweet, refreshing fragrance.

If you think lavender is boring and outdated, think again.

According to perfume experts, the ingredient features several olfactory profiles ranging from green and misty, to spicy and smoky. 

2. Jasmine

Jasmine is one of the most popular fixatives.

In fact, there isn’t a fragrance that doesn’t feature any form of jasmine in its formulation. 

Unlike lavender, perfumers only use two forms of Jasmine in perfume making.

These include:

Jasminum grandiflorum, which is commonly known as “big-flowered” jasmine, and Sambac Jasmine also known as Tuscan or Arabian jasmine.

3. Orange Blossom

The white-colored flower features citrus scents that are often used as a top note.

Fruity scents remind you of calm sunny days and fresh air; that’s why many perfumers use orange blossom to complement its floral counterparts.

4. Sandalwood

Sandalwood is a classic, rich oriental base note that offers an alluring and lingering smell.

Its woody notes perfectly mix with other fixatives like bergamot, black pepper, clove, jasmine, lavender, and patchouli. 

The Bottom Line

Given that a wonderful fragrance is a bit of an investment, there’s nothing more frustrating than spritzing on your perfume in the morning only for it to be undetectable by the time you get to the office.

However, by carefully checking the ingredients used in the formulation and the fragrance’s classification (eau de parfum), and by storing it right, you can enjoy your fragrance’s aroma for more than just two hours a day!