I can’t believe I haven’t asked this question before – it seems so obvious. But let’s do it today.
Saturday Question #165:
Do You Layer Perfumes?
Often? Sometimes? Never? Intentionally of accidentally? Do you have any favorite combinations?
My Answer
Not much changed since my post Perfume Layering: Truth or Dare? from 10 years ago: I still like the idea of layering perfumes, and I still own a huge number of Jo Malone perfumes that are “layerable,” but I have so many wonderful perfumes in my collection that it feels unnatural to experiment with mixing them. But now when I’m writing about it, I feel an urge to do some combination with perfumes of JM’s Tea Collection that I have. Earl Grey & Cucumber will combine nicely with Sweet Milk. I will probably try to do it tomorrow.
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 
Fragrances are expensive enough today without using double the amount!
When I was bought a Jo Malone gift set of 5 x 9ml bottles, I was puzzled at the suggestion that they were meant to be layered. Immediately I thought “unfinished fragrances” then “anything to make people buy more”.
So no I don’t layer.
Alice du Parcq had a polite rant on IG this week about layering. Then went on to do a fabulous piece on great accessibly priced perfumery. Worth a watch
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Thank you for the Alice du Parcq suggestion: I didn’t know about her before, and I really enjoy her style. Followed.
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I don’t layer. When a perfumer/brand releases a perfume, I think it should stand alone as their single vision. I guess I never think to myself how it could be improved by throwing another perfume on top. Some things are not to be messed with. I agree with alityke in regards to the brands that push layering, as it always seems like a sneaky attempt/sales gimmick to buy more of their fragrances.
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Before perfumes got that expensive, I liked the idea of enhancing one particular note in the combination. But with the current prices, they should rather be a masterpiece on its own!
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I’m usually to scared to ruin perfectly good perfumes or end up having to scrub them off because of my mistake… so for me, no.
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Completely agree!
Besides, it feels like a sacrilege to try mixing vintage perfumes.
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My answer is similar to yours, except I don’t own any Jo Malone. If I finally do try layering sometime, it would be a “project.” I don’t suppose it counts if I wear a piece of clothing that still has perfume left over after a wash and then spray on a different perfume.
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No, it doesn’t count :)
Sometimes, if I smell the remaining aroma on my clothes, I change my plans and wear the same perfume again.
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Sometimes i do layer pefumes. My most successful combinations have been Coriandre with Tea Rose and Musks Khoublai Khan with SJP Lovely. Especially the last one works really good, although i admit it sounds strange, but its held together by the musky basenotes
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I think it was your mentioning somewhere that SJP combination that prompted this topic :)
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If a brand encourages layering, like Jo Malone or the Zara fragrances JM created, I sometimes wear a couple of fragrances at the same time, but not on top of each other. So I might spray one at the base of my throat and another behind my ears, or one on each wrist. I don’t usually do that with fragrances that aren’t presented as meant for layering, but I have sometimes amped up a note like rose by adding a spritz of a very rose-centric, simple fragrance like Tea Rose to a rosy fragrance; again, not one on top of the other. I have a couple of hair mists that I like to use occasionally to amp up a favorite floral note such as rose or muguet.
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You have described my experiences with layering perfectly. I do the same, sometimes spraying a second fragrance to emphasize a particular note in the first fragrance, but always on different body “real estate.” I would never spray one fragrance directly on top of another. Mon Dieu! I think that would be awful.
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That’s interesting! On those rare occasions when I do layer perfumes (only those that are designed for that, I’m with you on that), I always spray on the same spot. I’ve never even thought about doing it this way! I should try :)
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It happens, though not like a dedicated layer.
Most days I wear more than one fragrance applied to different parts of my body. Usually it’s when the fragrance on my body is in its dying throes.
Portia x
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It sounds more like stacking: top notes of the second perfume get on top of base notes of the first one – if not on your body then at least in sillage.
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Yeah, good word Undina. I like it.
Stacking fits the event much better and creates a difference between the two.. Cool.
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Very rarely and only with Jo Malone. I will occasionally pair Wild Bluebell with English Pear and Freesia or Peony and Blush Suede.
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I like two out of your three JMs, but I have never tried mixing them.
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i’m not a huge fan of layering-I believe the person who made the perfume got it right. I do sometimes use Eau de Fleur de Cedrat to add lemon, though, to any number of fragrances, so I guess that’s my notable exception. It evaporates quite quickly even if i spray my hair and clothes.
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I should look if I have any prominent notes that might be used to enhance a single note: I find this more approachable than laying complex perfumes.
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Not really for me. Only if I spray something on and it doesn’t seem to work, sometimes I will find something else to try to “fix” it. I don’t own a lot of Jo Malone. I did pick up a Zara discovery set and did a little layering with that but nothing was compelling enough to buy a bottle.
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If I saw that Zara set at a store, I would have probably bought it as well, but it was too much of a hassle to order it online.
I did that type of a “fix” a couple of times. Sometimes I regret putting on something (which I previously liked), so I try to do something else as soon as the initial blast subsides.
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Yes I do layer and the more the merrier!
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:)
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I layer occasionally, sometimes unintentionally when I’ve put something on and it’s not giving me enough, or later in the day when my morning fragrance has faded. One combo that I like is a floral with a leather to oomph it up.
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I have enough both florals and leathers, but I will be afraid to “spoil” them by combining. But maybe I’ll try a two-wrists combo (one scent per wrist) to see what you mean.
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I am not a big fan of layering generally, for though the Jo Malone range (which sets store by the notion, as others have mentioned) is relatively manageable, the infinite permutations in my collection as a whole used to blow my mind and increase my anxiety levels about having too many options!
OTOH, I have a male friend / perfume protege, to whom I have given a lot of samples in the past, and he layers away like a demon! Often using a delicate rose soap as a foundation, but other times two perfumes, which I then find hard to guess. ;)
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