Scent Span

I just heard a new word: scent span. It refers to the service life of a fragrance once it hits your skin.

Some fragrances have longer scent spans than other.

A lot of things can impact scent span. Some are very personal: how acidic your skin is and how much you perspire. Some are environmental: scents last longer in cold weather. And a lot depends on the type of scent you're wearing.

Perfumes, which contain the greatest relative amount of scent in proportion to solution, last longest. Colognes have less scent and are usually mixed with alcohol, which evaporates. Colognes evaporate more quickly on the skin, which creates a nice scent, but it disappears very fast. An oil-based perfume can last all day.

Some people think that scent span is influenced by where you place the scent. A quick spritz with an alcohol-based spray gives you a nice all-over scent but with a very short scent span. Dabbing perfume on pulse points (behind ears, at the base of the throat, on the wrist) is the classic. Knees are also good, but if you do the dabbing method, make sure you're using an oil-based or highly concentrated fragrance.

A long scent span seems like a good idea but in our multi-shower-a-day culture (morning shower, post-gym shower, relaxing bath, occasional dip in the hot tub), there's something to be said for those short scent spans.