7 Ways To Wear These Playful Scents To Highlight The Rebel In You

It’s a ritual as old as time. There comes a point when every generation rediscovers the classics—whether films, music, fashion, and even beauty—and reinterprets them in fresh new ways, through their lens. Nineties and Y2K fashion is having a major moment, and similarly, beloved fragrances from those times are making a major comeback. Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male, a cologne with mint, lavender and spiked with the warm depth of vanilla, and La Belle, an eau de parfum with notes of bergamot, green pear and vanilla pod, are two classics that are being discovered and reimagined by a new generation through a modern prism.

Perfumeheads have loved and worn these juices for decades and never gotten tired of them. Below, eight ways to put your own twist on these fragrances and tips guaranteed to make them last longer.

1. Moisturize Before Spritzing

If there’s one golden rule of perfumery, this is it: make sure the areas where you apply your fragrance are moisturized. Hydrated skin holds on to scent molecules for longer than dry skin, so if you want a perfume cloud to waft around you all day, make sure your moisturizer goes on before you start hitting all your scent hotspots.

2. Don’t Rub It In

Perfumers build a scent in such a way that the fragrance molecules are experienced in layers: you’re most aware of the top notes first, while heart and base notes reveal themselves more slowly as the fresher ones dissipate. To let a fragrance unfold at its own pace, try not to agitate the juice by rubbing it into your skin, or rubbing your wrists together. Just spritz it on, and let it work its molecular magic.

3. Spritz Your Hairspray

Hair is an incredible sponge for scent, and holds on to it for hours. Anyone who has gone clubbing where there’s a distinct presence of smoke know that for a fact. But just as that undesirable smell of stale smoke lingered in the hair for days, similarly, perfume can as well—a more welcome olfactory guest. Since alcohol is the main ingredient in perfume, it’s not advisable to spray it directly into the hair. The easiest way to do it is to spritz a hairbrush with your fragrance and run that through the hair. For curls, coils, locks, or other hair types and styles that avoid brushes, spraying into your hand and gently pressing it into the hair works great too.

4. Build It From The Ground Up

Typically, when we hit our pulse points with fragrance, we tend to stick to the top half of our bodies. But, to really create longevity, include some lower body action as well. Spritz some perfume behind the knees and on the belly or chest. Scent molecules are spread by diffusion and often waft up, so the lower you start, the longer the fragrance will take to waft up. Also, don’t forget to hit your shoulders with a few spritzes. The shoulder spray is for the benefit of someone who comes in close enough for an air kiss, and is treated to a burst of your fave scent.

5. Like Fashion, Work In Layers

Don’t be afraid to mix scents, layering them just like you do with fashion pieces. Wear your Le Male and La Belle juices together to see how they mingle on your skin, or wear one of them topped off with Le Male Collector—a special holiday eau de toilette that reimagines Le Male’s iconic notes in a new way. One way we love pairing them is by spraying one (Le Male or Collector) over a base of La Belle. The latter, which is an eau de parfum, acts as the perfect base that lasts all day. Keep topping it off with the EDTs every few hours to get a mint and lavender refresh.

6. The Travel Spray Goes Wherever You Do

Base notes can last on your body for hours, but top notes usually fade away after the first 20 minutes. If the freshness of those fleeting notes is what you crave through the day, a handy travel spray is your answer. You can find them in the limited-edition holiday sets both Le Male and La Belle come with this season.

7. Push The Gender Binary

Fragrance ingredients have no gender, so don’t feel constricted to buy and wear perfumes that only match the gender you identify with. Le Male’s mint, lavender and vanilla mélange is universal, and so are La Belle’s notes. Playing with traditional stereotypes and pushing those boundaries keeps things interesting and doubles the size and scope of your fragrance wardrobe.