Does a perfume smell the same on everyone?

Have you ever felt like a perfume smelled differently on you than on someone else ? Have you ever wondered if your skin “turns on” perfumes? Rest assured, your sense of smell is not crazy: perfume actually reacts subtly differently on each person.

A multitude of factors cause the smell of a perfume to vary from one skin to another

For example: the natural pH of the skin, what you ate, the medications you take, where you are, the movie you watched the day before (no, that doesn't matter, it was just to make sure you followed) and of course the natural smell of your skin. This can itself vary depending on the PH of your skin at that moment, which itself varies depending on what you have eaten, which of course varies depending on where you are, etc...

In short, you will have understood, it is not an exact science . But let's not exaggerate: no one is capable of transforming an oriental perfume into fresh water and vice versa! To talk about Bastille , the first person to whom Un Deux Trois Soleil smells like Hors-Piste should immediately contact us...

And hair color?

On the other hand, perfumes for blondes, brunettes, etc. (oddly, we're not talking about perfumes for blondes or brunettes) it's a cliché. And it has a hard life, especially since it was relayed in the 19th century by completely serious scientists, such as Doctor Auguste Galopin, who wrote in 1886 in his work The perfume of women and the olfactory sense in love :

“Pure and ash blondes especially give off this delicious amber scent; brown hair also gives off amber, and, moreover, women of this color who have very white skin exhale a sweet odor of violet from most of all the sebaceous glands.

Rest assured, science has made progress and we now know that odors have little to do with the color of our hair, or that of our skin! Nor, moreover, with the fact of being a man or a woman ...

My perfume changes smell over time, is this normal?

Quite ! The perfume itself evolves as it evaporates on your skin . It won't smell the same when you just put it on and after five hours, when the heart and base notes have had time to develop. It will also be a little different if your bottle was opened a year ago, or if you have just started it - discover our tips for properly preserving your perfume through this article .

In short, perfume is alive ! So there's nothing better than trying a perfume on your skin before adopting it definitively. Our sample box is there for that:

Photo: Jules Théret