Before I knew it, I was standing in front of her, saying hello. She eagerly treated me with her English accent. After exchanging pleasantries, I informed her that I was a novice when it came to fragrances. She took the opportunity to share her background. This woman was no ordinary Neiman Marcus associate, she was a representative visiting directly from the fragrance house. In fact, she had decades of experience working with various Parisian fragrance brands. She delighted me with stories of how she's traveled the world representing well-respected perfume empires. She then invited me to sample some fragrances from Atelier. The scents are heavily citrus-based. Because I was looking for a fresh, everyday, summery scent, I was sold. I grabbed a bottle of their signature scent, Orange Sanguine, and one that was scented like deliciously sweet lime.
Prior to completing our transaction, the lovely woman demonstrated, in full detail, how to properly apply cologne for maximum effectiveness. She instructed me to take a "bottom-up" approach. This meant that I should start by misting behind my knees then work my way upward to the inner elbows, wrist, and finally behind the ears. Although I listened closely, I had no intention of following her advice. Instead, I continued to spray perfume directly on my chest like a barbarian.
....and guess what happened.
I was likely triggering breakouts on my chest. I've suffered from acne pretty much all of my life. But I've been focused on the pimples on my face that I didn't stop to reflect on why I also dealing with chest breakouts. Looking back, it makes sense that my fragrance application technique was flawed and likely caused my skin woes.
Perfumes can sometimes contain synthetic oils and alcohols that can dry the skin. Couple that with friction from clothing and suddenly you have a potential breeding ground for acne. When covid first became widespread, I spent more time at home than ever. Which meant that I wasn't really wearing any fragrance. Whenever I wanted to wear a scent, I'd opt to use a rollerball and wear a little on my wrist. It took me a while to realize but, over time, my chest acne pretty much went away. The scars from past breakouts are now fading into obscurity.
I just wanted to share my experience in case anyone might be dealing with the same issue. Following that nice lady's advice could've solved a lot of my issues. From now on, I'm only applying my fragrance like a french girl.
Post a Comment