Bad advice

[metanoia]

I don't know if these all count as "bad advice", but some things I've heard that I don't agree with include:

1.) You should never be able to smell your own perfume on yourself (while you are wearing it.)
2.) You should spray your perfume on your ankles or behind your knees, because scent rises
3.) You should only wear perfume if your have dry skin (as opposed to an oily skin type.)
4.) Only young girls like sweet floral perfumes
5.) You should sniff coffee beans to "cleanse your palette" after you've just smelled one perfume, before you move on to smelling another perfume. This way the scents won't all blend together in your nose. Actually, in reality, when you do this, all you can smell is coffee, and then coffee blended with perfume..so you can't smell anything properly! Definitely a trick used to try and make people make an impulse buy!

I definitely do put perfume on ankles and backs of knees, but with entirely different motivation 😙

 

[Varanis Ridari]

Nobody has really given me advice in a broader sense, only direct personal advice to try this fragrance I've never heard of, or that seller I've never seen, etc.

Most of us here are just naming general mantras or platitudes as bad advice, so I'll play along and mention some of the most irritating ones I've encountered. They tend to be more gatekeeping statements than actual prudent advice anyway.

1) If it ain't deep vintage, it ain't the "real" version of a scent, and you aren't wearing/haven't smelled the fragrance unless you got that one.

2) If it's under X price, newer than Y year, or doesn't have an arbitrary amount of Z ingredient, it isn't true perfume.

3) Having mostly or all synthetics in a perfume, or smelling overtly/purposely synthetic/abstract is objectively bad.

4) Gender is/isn't meaningless in perfume. You should/shouldn't care about it when buying perfume.

To all of these I basically have the same answer: LET PEOPLE ENJOY THINGS lol. You can have an opinion on what age, ingredients, price point, formula, or gender marketing constitutes a good or appropriate perfume for you, but don't insert that opinion as unilateral truth that applies to everyone else. To me, none of these sound like advice with good intentions at the core, just an attempt to police your corner of the sandbox. Go play with your toys by yourself if you can't stand seeing other kids having fun with something you don't like.

Less annoying but also somewhat banal advice I've seen:

1) If it's not getting compliments, stop wearing it/why wear it?

2) If it doesn't project for miles and last for years on skin, It's not good.

3) If you can't smell it anymore, spray more/it's the perfume's fault.

4) You're too old/young to wear X/Y or it's too dated/modern for you.

Most of these are somewhat earnest attempts to help, but come from a place of assumption that fragrance is only worn as social proof or to attract others, ruling out the (more likely) possibility that the problem lies with the wearer, and the scent isn't to blame. Anosmia is a thing, and you wear the fragrance, it doesn't wear you. I knew a kid in High School named Kurt that rocked OG Polo (green) every day, and he was a Junior (16-17 years old); it totally fit his fashion sense because he was into preppy fashions, good grooming, played saxophone in school band, and we all called him "Vince McMahon" because he also loved professional wrestling (WWF at the time). Nobody ever dared tell him he was wearing a "dated" scent. He totally owned the Hell out of that Polo at 16/17 back in like 1998. I also knew an old guy back in 2006-ish who always wore Curve for Men too, and worked in the frozen food section at Wal-Mart when I worked there too. Nobody ever told him to stick with Old Spice or something more his age, and many younger guys asked him why he smelled so good and what was he wearing cuz they wanted it too (I already knew what it was). That Vietnam vet got so many millennials to buy Curve for themselves just by walking past him. Free advertising lol

 

[JBHoren]

I don't know about the worst fragrance advice I ever got, but the best was from our dear hednic: 3 sprays--two to the neck and one to the chest. Never have to worry about over spraying and offending anyone, and it's generally the perfect amount to enjoy yourself. Those giving hugs can also enjoy it. Like my great grandfather used to say: "Everything in moderation."

While recently discussing overspraying/headaches with @Varanis Ridari, he gave me this wonderful bit of advice: "Do not spray on my neck (or throat, or anywhere near/in-line-with my nose); rather, Do spray on my shoulders/alongside-but-not-on my neck." (or words to that effect). He was right! It's been a game-changer. If I was younger/married/etc., I'd name my first-born male child after him.

 

[Pippin06]

While recently discussing overspraying/headaches with @Varanis Ridari, he gave me this wonderful bit of advice: "Do not spray on my neck (or throat, or anywhere near/in-line-with my nose); rather, Do spray on my shoulders/alongside-but-not-on my neck." (or words to that effect). He was right! It's been a game-changer. If I was younger/married/etc., I'd name my first-born male child after him.

Happy to know that worked out for you!

 

[NGC_6475]

I think the worst advice I got was in the beginning of my perfume journey. It was along the lines of: "it's only a marketing trick when they say that perfume is different on each skin, it's enough to smell them on paper".

Oh boy. I was in for a treat. I happen to have one of those skins that can dramatically transform scents, boost minor themes, almost totally swallow major motifs, etc. It's totally unpredictable, and so much fun!

Even Boucheron (pour femme)... on paper, it should be way too classy and well-behaved for me. But on my skin, it transforms into this gentle, glowing, balsamic, floral amber with a hint of mischief and playfulness that I just don't detect on a paper strip. My daughter says my skin adapts perfumes to my personality, that's why they all become "foufou" (offbeat, oddball, etc). 🙃

 

[DeathArrow]

Clones are smelling cheap and synthetic and they don't come close to the original. Don't buy clones.

 

[Schubertian]

1.) You should never be able to smell your own perfume on yourself (while you are wearing it.)

Huh? 😳

 

[Varanis Ridari]

I think that recent video about layering 20-23 sprays of Mancera over an attar constitutes both as bad advice, and chemical warfare.

Both a violation of personal trust for anyone that subscribes to that particular influencer, and a violation of the Geneva Convention.

Who knew fragrance influencers were capable of warcrimes? Not I. 🤣

 

[The Cologne Cabinet]

While recently discussing overspraying/headaches with @Varanis Ridari, he gave me this wonderful bit of advice: "Do not spray on my neck (or throat, or anywhere near/in-line-with my nose); rather, Do spray on my shoulders/alongside-but-not-on my neck." (or words to that effect). He was right! It's been a game-changer. If I was younger/married/etc., I'd name my first-born male child after him.

Agreed, I personally crop dust this real estate - back of the neck, inside the elbows, shoulders, and my six pack. 🫵 🦍❤️‍🔥

 

[Trilby Lark]

I'm a fairly recent covert to the one or two spray method. It seems my fragrances project better that way and last longer as well.