GONE are the days of spraying perfume on your neck and wrists.
With #perfumetok boasting over 625,000 posts on popular video app TikTok, more and more and more beauty buffs are sharing their ways to add longevity to their beloved fragrances.
And they’ve come to the conclusion that spraying it on traditional areas – such as the neck, wrists and chests – is a waste.
Instead, Gen Zers on the app have declared hair as the best place to spritz perfume.
And Google Trends backs this up, as it revealed that searches for “hair perfume” have reached an all time high as 2024 draws to a close.
“People often forget that hair tends to hold scent really well” says Karl Neale, co-founder and product development lead at Rebel Aromas.
“Think of the last time you went to a bar and came home smelling of cigarette smoke.
“So, applying a hair perfume in the morning will help create long-lasting freshness as you move throughout the day.”
Hair is more porous than skin, which allows it to absorb and retain fragrance for a longer period.
This means your tresses can carry the scent throughout the day, providing a boost of aroma every time you flick your hair.
This movement-dependent aura can feel less overwhelming compared to spraying perfume directly on your skin or clothes, too.
While spraying perfume in your hair has clear advantages, using too much perfume can come with risks due to its high alcohol content, which may dry out or damage your hair.
Fortunately, there are specific formulas designed for the hair that you can pick up.
Hair perfumes are formulated to be more gentle, with many formulas including beneficial ingredients to nourish and strengthen the hair.
Among these are argan kernel oil and pro vitamin B5, or as well as some products offering UV protection.
However, Karl warned to still be careful when trying out hair perfume, like any new body product.
“If you have particularly sensitive skin, are allergic to synthetic fragrances, or have extremely brittle hair, avoid hair perfumes altogether,” he says.
“It could develop scalp irritation, or cause damage to the hair shaft.”
THE Sun asked an independent perfume expert to carry out blind smell tests of popular perfumes and their high street “dupes” to see if the budget versions lived up to the originals.
Noemie Maury is a senior fragrance evaluator who has worked with major fine fragrance and toiletries brands for over a decade.
“High street chains can create perfumes cheaply by buying them from big fragrance manufacturers which grow their own ingredients in-house,” says Noemie.
“Because they use oils from flowers they grow themselves instead of importing ingredients, they save on costs and can create fragrances for high street brands at a discount price.”
It means they can lack the depth and complexity of more expensive brands which use a wide variety of more expensive ingredients.
