My novel take on perfume

It’s party season and a spray of perfume is the finishing touch to the impression you make when you walk into a room. However, for years this was a tricky situation for me as I have a rather strange relationship with perfumes. I adore a fresh or subtle scent but have huge difficulty in finding one that suits me.

There are two reasons for this

Firstly, all perfume turns incredibly sweet on me

One that smells fresh on someone else, will smell sickly sweet on me. I once put this to the test on a trip to Paris. I was on a street full of artisan perfume shops and went into one shop after another, explaining my problem. They all took on the challenge, sure that they could find the perfect perfume for me. But alas, they were all as mystified as me in the end, as not a single perfume smelled fresh or subtle on me.

The second problem is that I’m incredibly sensitive to smell and find a strong perfume very overpowering, be it on me or someone else.

A frustrating dilemma, as I adore a whiff of scent, especially in party season

 I’ve found the perfect solution and it works brilliantly

I can now waft around, leaving a subtle trail of enticing scent behind me.

My secret?

I use a body lotion instead of perfume.

Most body lotions are perfumed and it’s much more subtle than applying perfume directly. And when I apply a lotion, it smells exactly like it does in the bottle, rather than turning sickly sweet.

I have two that I love:

Fulvic Body Lotion from Victoria Health has a wonderful smell. It’s quite strong when you apply it, but within minutes it fades into something much more subtle. It leaves a wonderful, lingering aroma that someone needs to lean into to get a whiff of. Much more tantalising in my opinion.

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The other one that I love is a very fresh, everyday body oil by ARK, called Conditioning Body Serum. It’s a lovely light oil that disappears into your skin, leaving a subtle fresh aroma of orange blossom, rose and patchouli.

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This works so well for me, that I no longer  try to find a perfume that suits me. Using body lotion in lieu of scent, is a perfect solution for anyone, like me, who doesn’t like an overpowering perfume and prefers the slight hint of a fragrance that leaves people guessing.