How To Properly Apply Cologne

Until now, you've probably never given much thought to how you apply cologne, or whether you've been making mistakes when applying perfume or not. Obviously, the goal is to smell good all day, does it really matter how you've applied the content of your perfume bottle? But if you truly care about smelling great for long periods, then it really matters how you apply your fragrance.

Perhaps, it may help to know that wearing perfume also improves your mood and confidence (via Elle), so you really want to be sure you are doing it right. In an interview with Refinery29, Stephen Watkins, a fragrance application scientist, said, "Perfume enhances a person's mood. By choosing to wear a fragrance, people are tapping into a way to enhance their well-being and self-esteem."

According to Luxedore, wearing perfumes make you attractive because they are rich in pheromones, giving you yet another reason to pay attention to how you apply your cologne for a lasting effect.

The most important rule here is to note that cologne is best worn on your body, not on your clothes. Spraying perfume on your clothes can actually ruin the fabric of your clothes, particularly the delicate ones, per Real Men Real Style.

Perfumes are best applied along your pulse points (per Marie Claire). Places like your wrists, inner elbows and your neck where blood vessels are closest to the skin and more exposed to air. Thanks to the blood vessels in your pulse points, they emanate more heat, making the fragrance diffuse faster into the air (via Men's Journal).

To improve the lasting effect of your favorite cologne, you can apply it on your skin after taking a shower when the steam must have opened up your pores or right after moisturizing so that your skin can absorb it. "Perfume doesn't last long on dry skin," says Francis Kurkdjian, an award-winning French-Armenian perfumer, per Vogue. Dabbing on a bit of Vaseline on your skin before spraying your perfume also helps retain the fragrance for long, per Cosmopolitan.

While some people think that applying perfumes just before dashing out of their homes will aid an all-day lasting effect, some others believe that spritzing copious amounts of cologne on themselves determines how long the fragrance will last.

Clearly, however, none of that matters if you are not applying your cologne in the right spot.