How to... Layer Perfume 

Layering is the technique of combining two or more perfumes to create a unique and personalised fragrance. While it’s a chance to let your creativity run wild it also opens up many practical benefits too — not least the means to enhance and reinvent what you already have.

Of course, there’s nothing to stop you blending any two fragrances together. Mixing like-for-like — fragrances of the same or similar profile — can overlay in perfect harmony. However, the most striking outcomes can be found when mixing perfumes of contrasting styles.

For this the basic principle is simple: rich, heavy scents pair best with light and fresh. In other words, woods and ambers coupled with fresh and floral. In principle, it’s a continuation of the Olfactive Pyramid, distinguishing between lighter top notes and heavier base notes.

Rich, heavy perfume, characterised by woods, resinoids and spices, forms an ideal base and should be applied to the skin first. For best results apply to warm pulse points on the body. Next, a light and fresh fragrance, characterised by citrus, floral, fruit and aquatic notes, should be sprayed over the top.

In essence, perfumes of lighter profile tend to sit above those that are heavy and rich. Fragrances that compliment each other develop on the skin in a more balanced way, and it’s precisely this contrast that allows the space for something new and dynamic to emerge.

Layering can empower us to create something truly distinctive. By combining perfume in new and innovative ways we can uncover something refreshingly original, compelling and complex. It’s a method of crafting a fragrance that stands out from the crowd, a spectacular new signature scent waiting in the wings.