Dear reader,
After reading a post on new fragrances, I’ve discovered a new perfume: the new one by Viktor and Rolf, SpiceBomb, which is a soft and spicy perfume that reminds me a bit of the one called Mâle by Jean Paul Gaultier.
Intrigued and curious, I decided to investigate. Last Saturday I went to the Temple of Beauty – a Sephora cosmetics store – to have a look at this wonderful thing. While I was subjecting it to my olfactory evaluations, I couldn’t help noticing a young girl who spent a good 15 minutes generously sprinkling Lolita Lempicka’s perfume onto her hair, using up almost half a bottle…
Perfume contains about 60 to 70% alcohol (ethanol), which is a volatile, neutral supporting substance that makes it possible to solubilise the essential oils that make up the perfume’s concentrate, and which evaporates quickly so that only the concentrate is left on the skin.
As it happens, alcohol can dissolve oils, which means it can disturb the hydrolipidic film on your skin or your hair. This is a protective film that acts like a natural barrier that isolates and protects the skin and hair from our environment. For that reason, alcohol is rightly considered a drying agent for skin and hair…
That means that sprinkling perfume onto your hair for fifteen minutes straight might dry them out. And possibly dry them out a lot. Even more so since the scalp is likely to be impregnated with alcohol too, which makes it dry out and may cause dandruff and itching… (want to scratch yet?)
And no, putting perfume on your hair doesn’t speed up the appearance of white hair, like I’ve recently heard people say. However, I believe some aroma molecules can interact with colourants that are used in hair dye…
But if you sprinkle just one or two doses of perfume onto your hair and take care to avoid the scalp, the amount of alcohol is too little to disturb this famous protective film. It endures much worse things from your hair sprays and other hair styling products..
Whoopsie, I think I just lost half of the female (or male) readers with the photo of the perfect-looking guy up there. For those of you who can’t stop looking at the handsome bloke (it’s not fair! And a guy like him wouldn’t even need a product like axe, it’s like he’s made of pure axe effect himself…).
If you were wondering, this is Sean O’Pry, who was chosen to represent the new perfume by Viktor and Rolf and to bring about a real explosion of desire…
All right, come on now, stop drooling and pull yourselves together 😉 So yes, you can safely perfume your hair with one or two puffs. (I recommend spraying your perfume in front of you and then getting under that puff of aromatic mist for better uniformity… or, with your head down, spraying a few doses onto your hair from not too close by, say 30 – 40cm. Yeah, you need to have long arms for that 😉 )
But do make sure you do not do that with any heat source nearby, if you know what I mean, or else you’re going to get fireworks. It’s not New Year’s Eve yet. 😉
But if you really want to avoid alcohol, you can find lightly perfumed sprays without alcohol that are made specifically for being safely used on your hair… google it!
Aroma molecules caught in your hair can be delicately freed at the slightest movement… some perfume here and there with every movement of your head… Imagine your husband, boyfriend, or that model guy up there, sitting across from you on a romantic candle-lit dinner date, no doubt already won over by your wonderful personality and killer looks, but now it’s time to deliver the final blow that will make him go completely gaga… (Yeah, I’ve been listening to Lady Gaga while writing those last few lines.)
So you use your long perfumed hair, that fearsome weapon of mass seduction that you can use so well, a sway to the right, a sway to the left, and there go two wafts of fragrance like two missiles heading straight for the target… Direct hit!
And your “prey” is going down, hopelessly fallen for your charms… He is yours to do with as you please… Well, of course, that’s just fiction, and any resemblance to real life facts is pure coincidence… right?
So, what about you? Do you perfume your hair? regularly? Or only for very special occasions…? Are you more like “no way, I’m not leaving the house without perfume on my hair” or more like “what the…? He’s joking, right? Perfume on your hair? Why not put some lipstick on your hair too while you’re at it? Somebody please get help for this crazy cosmetist !”
nice post.
I never spray perfume on hair, it is like wasting money, plus my hair are very dry. So I prefer to avoid alcohol.
Hi erika,
thank you for your comment.
yeah with dry hair, you’d better avoid perfume on hair, it is also a matter of taste. Moreover, If you really like a particular perfume, brands often propose the body lotion and/or shampoo with the same fragrance so you can easily get your favorite scent on your hair 😉 without the drying effect of alcohol.
I always spray perfume in my hair. it last sooooo much longer than on skin and makes my hair smell delicious. I’ve done this for years and my hair isn’t dry.
Hi amy
yeah I also have friends who also do spray perfume without any pb but most of them have oily hair, which kinda counteract the alcohol effect. It also depend of the kind of products you may use on your hair as well. Anyway, I do agree spray perfuming is great and, in my humble opinion, very sensual 🙂
It’s funny you mention this. I actually just sprayed some Spicebomb into my hair from a foot or two away. It’s also funny that you found it so irresistible! I thought it smelled synthetic and cheap at first. As it began to die down I really started to understand more about the fragrance though. By my fifth time wearing it I had turned over a new leaf. The pepper, leather, and tobacco all really pop out seperately at me now. I still have to wait for the die down period to smell some tasty vanilla, but I don’t mind that at all. It has great longevity.
I’d consider myself an up and coming fragrance enthusiast. I have designer and niche products and am actually about to order three more! One thing I’d be conscious of is the season and how your fragrance works in that, as well as how much you apply.
Generally speaking, one to the head, one in the collarbone pit area is better than the chest, and wherever else you might want to put it.
Hi austin,
it seems you have found a nice combination ( the collarbone pit area is a nice spot) and your description of what you experienced with spicebomb is exactly what I did to a T 🙂 that is funny. cheap and unrefined were also my first impressions. But I definitely “learnt” to like it.
I also like niche fragrances such as serge lutens and etat libre d’orange. If I had more budget, I would definitely go crazy and spend my time testing everything I can… 🙂