How To Apply Aftershave & Where To Spray Your Fragrance For Maximum Effect

Whether you’re a veteran of wearing fragrance or your a newbie in the world of aftershave, you might be thinking:

Where’s the best places to spray your cologne?

There are places you should spray your cologne to properly get the maximum effect. Then there’s a few rules which you need to follow too.

This is how you should be applying your scent, and the areas you should be hitting.

First Step: Shower (Be Clean & Preparation)

Before you even think of wearing your aftershave, you’ll want to be clean. That means taking a shower or bath. In terms of grooming, putting on a fragrance will be one of the last steps you take.

So, get clean, take a shower. You should use a fragrance free body wash, so that your cologne stands out, and doesn’t clash with your main fragrance. You’ll also want to wear a light or scent-free antiperspirant, for the same reason.

Apply Aftershave Before Getting Dressed

You should apply aftershave before you get dressed. You don’t want to get ready and then start spraying, for the obvious reason that you want to spray it on your body, rather than clothes. But more on that later.

Put your aftershave on before you’re going to get dressed, but after you’ve taken a shower.

Here Is Where To Spray Aftershave

When I put aftershave on, I have always put it on in the same places. These are:

• Both sides of the neck
• Nape of the neck (the back)
• Under The Ears
• Lower Face (jaw/cheeks, chin, under the nose)
• Wrists
• Chest

One spray on each side of the neck, followed by one spray on the back of the neck. I then spray my fingers, and dab (not rub) the cologne on to my cheeks, chin, under the nose and finally behind my ears.

This is followed by one or two sprays on the chest (depending on the strength), and finally a spray on each wrist.

This is 6 or 7 sprays, with a little dabbing on the lower face.

You should not rub in the cologne. More on that below.

How To Apply Aftershave

There’s two types of bottles you’ll encounter: Spray and a non-spray. These days, most bottles are a spray, so are easier to apply. Here’s how to put aftershave on.

1. Hold the bottle 3-5 inches from the desired place
2. Spray once in each place.
3. If desired, spray a second time in each place

One of the keys when it comes to spraying is that less is more. You can always add another spray, but you’ll find it hard to get rid of a good strong scent once you have it on your skin.

Know The Strength Of Your Fragrance (EDT, EDP, Parfum)

Not all colognes, aftershaves and fragrances are created equally. There’s different concentrations, and also different notes have different strengths too.

The most common aftershave bottles are eau de toilette, or EDT. These tend to last 3-6 hours, depending on the style of the scent. eau de parfum (EDP) and pure parfum are increasing in popularity in men’s fragrances, and are stronger.

You can check out my fragrance concentration guide here for the low down on different fragrance strengths.

It goes without saying that you might want to spray the lighter scents a little more, and not go overboard with the heavier scents.

Spraying Cologne Mistakes – Avoid These!

There are some things you’ll want to avoid when putting on cologne. These are the following.

Walking Through Cologne Spray – Don’t!

Have you seen people walking through their spray? The good old aftershave spray and walk through, like some kind of mist.

This is funny to look at and try, but it’s not the best way to apply aftershave.

Walking through a mist cloud is definitely something to avoid.

This is something you should avoid.

Don’t Spray Fragrance On Your Clothes

Something a lot of guys do is to spray their clothes with their fragrance. This is something you should avoid.

You don’t want to damage your latest clothes with aftershave, so don’t do it.

Another reason is that the scent will stay longer on the clothes. That will mean you’ll definitely have to wash your clothes after you’ve worn them, as the scent will hang around for a long time.

Not so bad on a T-shirt, but you’ll not want to get a good suit cleaned after every single wear.

Another reason is the strength of the scent. If you over-spray, it will not only last a long time on your clothes, but could also be over bearing. Definitely not something you’ll want when you’re wearing a good scent.

Don’t Rub Your Wrists Together

Have you seen people rubbing together their wrists when putting on cologne? Don’t do that.

This is a common mistake people do. Although it’s not a huge deal, most experts will tell you that this will break down the molecules, and you could end up with a slightly different scent, which doesn’t last as long.

Verdict

That is how to correctly apply cologne or aftershave to yourself when you’re getting ready. All pretty simple stuff, it’s about getting the right amount of coverage in all the right places, and you’re scent will be able to be smelled and last a long time.

Make sure you’ve checked out all the fragrance reviews on the blog which covers cologne and aftershaves reviews as well as guides on all things scents.