Why is it that a fragrance you like on a friend never smells the same when you put it on yourself? The answer lies with your own body chemistry. Many factors can affect how a fragrance will react with your skin. Choosing the right fragrance should be done with thoughtfulness and care.

As you search for the right fragrance for you, you need to know the proper way to apply fragrance products. People should not be able to smell your scent from further than an arm's length away from your body. If they can, you are either using scent incorrectly or have chosen the wrong fragrance for your personal body chemistry.

Fragrance products should be layered for the best and longest lasting scent. Spray eau de parfum on your skin from your feet up to your shoulders. Then apply your perfume just at the pulse points. Pulse points are places on your body where you can feel your heart beat. Most common and easy to find pulse points are the base of your throat, behind your ears and at your wrists. Behind your knees, in the crook of your elbow and inside your ankles are more points that are easy to find.

Fragrances begin to work with your body chemistry as soon as they're placed on your skin. As the product heats up from your body heat, the fragrance is released into the air. At this point, many factors have influenced how the product will smell including skin type, diet, medications and pigmentation of your skin. Even the environment and your mood can influence how the scent will react with your body chemistry.

Scents will be more powerful on someone with a high fat intake in their diet than on a person with a low fat intake. Dietary changes can change the way your usual fragrance smells on you so keep that in mind the next time you start a diet. You may need to switch fragrances as your body chemistry adjusts. Your skin type also has a powerful effect on your fragrances. The oils of your skin hold the scent so people with oily skin need less fragrance and those with dryer skin types will need to apply scent more frequently. Even a medication change can have an effect on how your scents react to your skin.

When looking for the right scent you should always test the product directly on your skin. Since you now know that your body chemistry changes the way the fragrance smells, you should never base a decision on how the scent smells in the bottle. Test no more than three products at a given time. Your nose and sense of smell will quickly become desensitized if you overdo it.

Since body chemistry is affected by so many factors and can change quickly, it is better to have several fragrances to choose from. This way you can accommodate your body changes and still wear a scent that you enjoy.