You’re no doubt already aware of the huge cost savings to be made from buying dupe or duplicate perfume compared to the original designer brand. (Yet you’ll still enjoy a similar aroma and high-quality product.)
But you can make the most of your dupes, and ensure they last as long as possible, with a little know-how, whether you’ve treated yourself or someone else to a fresh fragrance for women or an aftershave.
Here are our top tips to make the most of your perfume
Shop with niche brands
It’s hardly a secret that, when you buy from a top brand, what you’re really paying for is the name, the marketing and the packaging. And because smaller brands don’t have that level of mark-up, you can enjoy value for money – and a fragrance that lasts just as long.
In particular, look for brands like Dialect, which invest most money per ml of product in the scent, in comparison with other costs. Some perfumes don’t last as long as others because the sum invested into the fragrance itself per bottle is not as great.
Go for heavier notes
You may already have noticed that your winter fragrances tend to outlast your summery ones. That can be down to the scent’s notes. Woody, heavy, oud and ambery notes will outlive lighter, floral, fresher and citrus ones. In summer, especially, the latter type of notes evaporate more quickly.
So if longevity is a priority, consider the woody and amber fragrance families.
Know your eau de toilette from your eau de parfum
It’s not a precise science, but, the greater the percentage of perfume in relation to alcohol content, the longer the fragrance should last. While eau de toilette typically comprises 8-12%, eau de parfum is likely to have a greater concentration of up to 25%. Meanwhile, the most intensely concentrated form of perfume is extrait de parfum, typically ranging between 35% and 50% concentration.
How to wear your dupe perfumes to make them last
While it’s good to know a bit about what you’re purchasing, it also pays to understand how you can make the most of your dupe scents through the way you use them.
Here are some popular (and effective) tricks:
Layering with body wash
If you’ve fallen for your chosen fragrance so hard that you also buy the body lotion and body was in the same scent, think about layering these products. Wear the scent on top of one of these, especially the lotion, and you should find your scent endures as its clings more to your skin.
Don’t rub your wrists together
You may instinctively want to rub your wrists together after a good old spritz, but that causes friction (and generates heat). This can interfere with the fragrance’s chemistry, particularly the more delicate top notes, so that they vanish more speedily.
(However, if you want to sniff out those base notes more rapidly and get straight to the heart of your scent, rub away.)
Break out the Vaseline to moisturise your skin
As mentioned above, fragrance clings more tightly and for longer to a moisturised complexion. If your skin is dry, its pores and surface will just absorb the scent so that you lose it. Try Vaseline or a neutral-smelling base such as coconut oil.
Give the cotton ball trick a whirl
Try spraying the perfume on to a ball of cotton before applying to your skin with a rubbing motion. This should slow down evaporation compared with the spraying technique.
Dupe scents from Dialect Fragrances
At Dialect, we recreate the aroma of your favourite designer labels, and make them just as long-lasting, for a fraction of the price. So – love the luxury experience, love our attractive prices!
See yourself through from morning till night with our perfumes, whatever you’re up to. And we have so many great deals, like our three-for-the-price-of-two fragrance bundles, plus free returns within 30 days and no-charge delivery when you buy at least three items. We have various other exciting proposals, including our flash sale offering a third off.
You’ll adore products like our Sweet Symphony for Women, inspired by Miss Dior (by Dior) at 81% off the retail price. It combines white musk, jasmine, mandarin and more. As one reviewer put it:
“It lasts so long, smells so similar to the original and I would definitely buy it again.”
Orchid Spice, based on Tom Ford’s Black Orchid, offers a similarly large saving; this one’s all about vanilla, bergamot and orchid, among other aromas. One user begged us to never stop making it, saying she often got stopped in the street by people asking her about it!
For the guys, we have a cracking line-up of designer-inspired aftershaves, made with premium ingredients (like all our products) for a lingering scent. Take your pick, for example, from the likes of Vibrant Woods, based on Creed’s Aventus but with a whopping 88% knocked off the price tag.
Although initially sceptical, our reviewer Phil said: “Smells just like Aventus and seems to last for a long time on the skin.”
Think notes of pineapple, birch, moss, leather, lemon and others.
Browse our collections online today – and be in touch if you have any queries.