How To Smell Good All Day In Winter (4 Mistakes To Avoid)

Summary

The presenter explains that winter perfume can seem to disappear because cold skin slows evaporation. The fragrance may still be on your skin, but less of it is released into the air. It can become noticeable again after you warm up indoors. He cites a small study in which participants’ hands became much colder than the skin under their winter clothes.

Four Winter Mistakes to Avoid

• Spraying only your wrists: Wrists are exposed to the cold. Apply perfume under your clothes instead, such as on your chest, collarbones, or the base or sides of your neck.
• Adding extra sprays outdoors: You may smell less in the cold, but the fragrance can bloom in a warm, enclosed space. Spray for how you want to smell indoors. If needed, add just one spray under your clothes.
• Neglecting dry winter skin: Cold, dry air, indoor heating, and very hot showers can dry out your skin. Take a warm—not hot—shower for about 5–10 minutes, then apply fragrance-free cream while your skin is still slightly damp. For very dry skin, cream or ointment may be more suitable than thin lotion. Moisturized skin may help some fragrances last longer, but it doesn’t guarantee that others will smell them.
• Spraying your winter coat every day: Cold fabric can hold scent, leading to buildup or mixed fragrances, and perfume may stain. A scarf is easier to wash and can be sprayed once if desired. Test the fabric somewhere inconspicuous first.

Choosing and Wearing a Scent

Fresh scents can seem faint outdoors in the cold, while heavier notes—such as woods, resins, vanilla, amber, and musk—may become strong in warm indoor spaces. The presenter says you can wear whichever scent you like: apply it somewhere warm, and use fewer sprays for a heavier fragrance.

A Winter Day to Copy

• Shower with warm rather than hot water, then apply fragrance-free cream.
• Spray perfume under your clothes: roughly two or three sprays for a heavy, sweet scent, or one or two for a lighter scent.
• Optionally spray your scarf once, but avoid making your coat a daily spray target.
• Don’t add more perfume just because you can’t smell it outside. Indoors, don’t rely only on your own nose; if you want more, add one spray under your clothes.
• Apply more cream at night, and consider a humidifier if your bedroom is very dry.

The presenter’s three checks are: Is the spot where I sprayed warm? Is the amount suitable for indoors? Is my skin dry?

Notable Locations, Products, and Speaker

• Speaker: Shō Ito, who says he grew up in Tokyo and makes perfume.
• Locations and settings: Tokyo, a sushi restaurant, and examples of moving from the cold into a tram, elevator, or office.
• Products: Perfume, fragrance-free cream or ointment, a scarf, and a humidifier. The presenter also mentions his own perfume brand.