u/Bubupolvazo

It’s been six months since I changed how I apply my fragrances, and I’m never going back to the old way.

Disclaimer: If the way you apply fragrance works for you, keep at it. I’m not trying to critique or change you; I just want to share my personal experience in case you're curious to try. Perhaps it is a game changer as it was for me. However, if you’re still "misting" the air and walking through it... we might have a problem, lol.

So let's get straight to the point. This shift for me started when I watched those old Roja Dove videos on YouTube about "How to apply fragrances." It got me curious, and after practicing his method, I am done applying scents to my neck. It’s not because Roja says it’s bad for your neck'skin or causes wrinkles, who cares about that lol (maybe you do); it's because I found that applying fragrances to my clavicle, letting it settle into the clothes and radiate outwards, allows me to enjoy the scent x10 times more.( Edit: it seems there might be some confusion here, I meant “clavicles on your skin under your clothes.”). I can pin point the details of the opening, heart, and drydown for over 10 hours. You kind of create a restrained scented bubble that leaves a beautiful silage, constantly getting whiff of the scent as you move your head around. As you move around your body you create puff of air coming out of you leaving silage. I started receiving  way more compliments as well.

My routine is simple: I apply to the wrists and clavicles, and that’s it. Sometimes I’ll spray behind the knees or on the ankles as mentioned by Roja, which works great too, though I do it rarely (it’s a trick that probably works best for women in dresses). When I go back to the old way of spraying the neck and behind the ears, to me the scent projects for maybe two hours and then feels like it has faded or become hard to pinpoint in all detail. So I found wind and the environment are fragrance killers; you can actually see how the scent remains projecting from your clavicle beneath your shirt long after compared to the wrist/arms where the fragrance has faded.

And most of the time, I only use 3–5 atomizations. You have to know your fragrances. Some lackluster atomizers require two sprays in the same spot, while other "nuclear" scents require caution so you don't choke yourself out. I feel like I’m saving juice and getting the most out of my bottles this way. Then, you might disagree with me, but spraying 8–12 times on your clothes, shoulders, neck, on back or your neck, behind your ears, etc, feels pointless to me and a waste because the wind just kills it and you can get a decent effect with less atomizations. You might come up and say, well then do it both ways and you will project crazy. Again, I feel it is pointless, a waste of precious juice (depending on the fragrance), I have tried it.

Here is where I wanna talk about projection in general.  Projection is a bit overrated. It has many nuances depending on the fragrance. Clothes and environment included. To me, silage and longevity are much more important. Some fragrances are designed to be intimate, while others are "nuclear." Take Frederic Malle’s Promise, for example. The desert Gems line are nuclear because they are meant for the Middle Eastern market where people wear thicker clothes and like it this way. The fragrance getting through fabric softens the projection and and might make it come across smoother and appealing.

It’s cool if you want to be a "room filler," and be the eyes of attention, maybe that is your preference and what most people look forward to; compliments give you dopamine at the end of the day. But that mindset of projecting beastly can be more annoying to people than you might think. All things considered, again, you need to know your fragrances and adjust them to get the most out of them.

Let's give another example. Roja Isola Blu, a fragrance that I consider really intimate in projection. Some call it lackluster performance. I can understand why you might want it to check all your boxes in performance, especially if you pay 500 bucks for such as fragrance. But why it is one of the fragrance where I get the most comments around people? maybe luck, maybe personal experience. I personally thing following the Roja Dove way to applying a fragrance has helped maximize the fragrance approaching. Isola Blu has a nice silage, it synergizes well in summer, in the heat, and I always wear it with light, soft, linen clothes. +12 hours smelling it around with max detail, only 4 atomizations, people commenting on it after 8 hours. But well, to some people fragrance has an awful projection.

As I write this post. I am currently using a sample of Initio "Lift me up". The fragrance itself is a great performing, and it has been around 10 hours wearing it. It feels like I just sprayed it around. What a pleasure! Cheers!

Edit: Try it and let me know how it went.

This is gonna being long, so I would not mind the "didn't read lol".

After 3–4 years of only using and smelling designer and niche fragrances, I eventually got into dupes from Arabs houses.

I’m not going to get into the whole debate about dupes “stealing” from original houses or any of that. it’s been discussed to death. I just want to share how I personally feel about them.

For context, I started this journey with something like Tom Ford Ombre Leather, and my first niche fragrances were Nasomatto Pardon and Megamare. So from early on, I went wild. So now, I have over 50 fragrances and over 250 samples and decants of pure niche to try.

Going straight for the throat and negative: that whole “90%, 94%, 98% similar” claim is mostly BS. In my experience, there are only a handful of dupe houses that actually offer real competition (some niche and designers are clearly overpriced for what they offer). But most are just average, and some are straight-up garbage.

A lot of them start off smelling somewhat close to the original, but then fall apart quickly. Others try so hard to mimic the scent that they end up smelling overly synthetic while being obvious the fragrance is forcing it, and the result just feels cheap and poorly executed.

On the positive side though because not everything is negative. I understand some preferences. At the end of the day, this is all subjective and comes down to taste. I can see why some people might actually prefer certain dupes over the originals. Some of them add a twist that makes the scent a bit more appealing or easier to wear.

The other positive is undeniable, let’s be real: you’re still going to get compliments with dupes. Most people won’t notice whether you’re wearing a $35–$50 dupe or a $350–$500 original. Whether it’s something inspired by a high-end fragrance or the real thing, to the average person, you just smell good. And in real-life situations, those “differences” we talk about, quality, depth, smoothness,are extremely hard for others to pinpoint.

Now I’ve tried a lot of dupes, and honestly, most of the time they’re not even 30% close. Because this goes beyond side-by-side comparisons on blotters or quick first impressions on skin. You actually have to "LIVE" with a fragrance to understand it, by wearing it consistently, learn how it behaves, how it evolves, maybe for weeks and months.

For example, if I wear something like Aventus Absolu from Creed for months, and then switch to something like Club de Nuit Intense Man for a few days, I can tell the difference, not just in smell, but in the overall experience. You start to recognize how a fragrance works on your skin, its structure, its accord transitions.

And another thing people don’t talk about enough: the more you explore a fragrance house, the more you start to pick up on its signature. I mean, Chanel smells like Chanel. Creed smells like Creed. Roja Parfums smells like Roja. Le Labo smells like Le Labo. Dior smells like Dior, Lorenzo Pazzaglia smells like Lorenzo Pazzagla (hate its signature) . That signature, whatever it is, is something I feel dupes do not reproduce. Now, sure, I could have bought the dupe from the beginning and probably been satisfied. For a lot of people, that’s more than enough.

Let me provide another example: I bought Megamare from Orto Parisi. After a few weeks with it, I tried Atlas from Lattafa on paper and skin. At first, I thought: "okay, when my Megamare runs out, I might just switch to Atlas for a while, this is super similar."

Fast forward a few years, a friend lends me his Atlas, and I start wearing it for a couple of days. I can absolutely see why some people might prefer Atlas though. Megamare can be too much, not just in performance, but in its accords and how aggressively it evolves. Iis not always easy to wear But after a week with Atlas, that whole “85–95% similar” claim you see online? Not even close in terms of actual experience.

Megamare evolves in multiple phases. At one point, you even catch this almost coffee-like tone. Atlas, on the other hand, feels much more simple and linear.

So I think this goes beyond just smelling good or getting compliments. It’s about the experience of wearing the fragrance, how it develops, how it interacts with you.

So, at the end of the day, it’s completely fine if you don’t want or can’t justify spending $200+ on a fragrance. If you enjoy dupes, go for it. But I do think people exaggerate how close they really are. And personally, they are not for me mostly.