The one body part you're probably not spraying perfume on—but you really should be

Wondering where to spray perfume? Here's your guide to the best scent boosting locations—one might surprise you...

Shot of a young woman looking cheerful while using perfume / in a pink and orange template
(Image credit: Getty Images/ PeopleImages)

Wondering where to spray perfume to really get the most out of your signature scent? We've got you. Here's a guide to exactly where you should be spritzing the best perfumes for women, to earn yourself a sweet-smelling reputation...

While most of you will be familiar with the classics, like spraying your perfume on your wrists and neck, there are actually a few other lesser-known places where you can spray your favorite long-lasting perfumes to help them hold their perfume notes more effectively and for longer.

So, in order to up our scent games, we've quizzed the experts on where we should be applying our perfumes to really get the most out of their dreamy aromas and boost their longevity.

Where should you spray your perfume?

There are several places on the body that are perfect for applying your signature scent, perhaps the most famous being your wrists and neck—but we have a few more locals to add to the list...

Pulse points

Fragrance reacts to heat, so spraying your smellies in areas that are naturally warmer is key to helping your perfume radiate around you through the day. Some of these areas also have one very important thing in common when it comes to perfume—they are pulse points.

The pulse points are located:

  • On the neck
  • Behind the ears
  • On the wrists
  • On the elbows
  • Behind the knees

"Fragrance reacts to heat and applying to your pulse points can help release scent throughout the day," advises Natalia Ortiz, Chief Commercial Officer at The Fragrance Shop. "Try spritzing the nape of your neck, behind your ears, insides of your elbows, wrists and the back of your knees."

Holly Hutchison, the founder of Memoize London (a perfume brand that creates bespoke scents), also adds that spraying these literally pulsing areas, "keeps the scent gently emanating across the day."

As mentioned, the wrist is one of the most famous places for applying scent, but let's get something out of the way right here. Once applied, do not, we repeat, do not rub your wrists together. Sorry for the scolding, but it's important intel!

As Ortiz says: "Rubbing your wrists together breaks down the chemicals and causes top notes to break down faster. Either spray and leave to absorb into the skin, or gently dab onto your skin for further accuracy."

Oily areas

Oily skin is also a godsend for getting the most out of your smellies, in fact, what many perfume enthusiasts might not know is that the top of your ear is actually a great spot to dab a bit of perfume—yes really!

While we don't recommend taking the best vanilla perfumes let's say, and misting it all around your ear, spraying it first on your finger or on a ball of cotton wool and then gently applying it to those areas could be a real game-changer.

As Vicken Arslanian, Re-Founder of fragrance company Commodity explains: "Spraying oilier parts of the body can also help lock in a fragrance. But instead of the top of the ear, I’d recommend the back of the ear, which is a pulse point." However, she does note that, "fragrance wearers should test out different locations to see what works best for their skin chemistry."

So, what's really the best way to apply perfume?

Arslanian advises spraying one or two spritzes directly onto the pulse points, as "spraying more times than that won’t make the scent last longer, but will make the scent overpowering to those around you." Basically, you want people to be left wanting more, not overwhelmed.

Or you could always follow Niall Horans's cologne routine, where he does two sprays to the neck before patting it around the base of his neck with his hand—or you can opt for your other pulse points.

Naomi Jamieson
Lifestyle News Writer

Naomi is a Lifestyle News Writer with the Women's Lifestyle team, where she covers everything from entertainment to fashion and beauty, as well as TikTok trends for Woman&Home, after previously writing for My Imperfect Life and GoodTo. Interestingly though, Naomi actually has a background in design, having studied illustration at Plymouth University but lept into the media world in 2020, after always having a passion for writing and earned her Gold Standard diploma in Journalism with the NCTJ.


Before working for Future Publishing’s Lifestyle News team, she worked in the Ad production team. Here she wrote and designed adverts on all sorts of things, which then went into print magazines across all genres. Now, when she isn’t writing articles on celebs, fashion trends, or the newest shows on Netflix, you can find her drinking copious cups of coffee, drawing and probably online shopping.