Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.
Today is Friday, July 24, and I have fragrance enhancers on my mind. I only have one item that is specifically meant to enhance fragrance: Maison Martin Margiela’s Replica Filter Glow. It was launched in 2016 with another “filter”, Blur, but I think they have both been discontinued. These products are a dry oil spray that one applies to skin, then layers with another fragrance. Glow is meant to “boost radiance” and enhance citrus and solar notes in another fragrance, as well as making it last longer. Fragrantica says that it has notes of bergamot, neroli, grapefruit blossom, and rose absolute, though the illustrated notes pyramid shows only citruses and neroli.
It is possible to wear Glow as a fragrance on its own, and it smells very pleasant, as I noted when I first bought it. The texture is also pleasant, a classic “dry oil” that feels soft and absorbs quickly into one’s skin. I tried it the other day with a sample of Parfums de Nicolai’s Number One Intense, which has notes of bergamot, galbanum, sweet acacia, jasmine, tuberose, ylang, rose, orange flower, iris, sandalwood, oak moss, musk, and civet. It did in fact amp up the citrusy aspect of Number One Intense in a manner that I quite liked. It seemed to tone down the civet base note (I used the combination on one arm and Number One Intense alone on the other arm). I can’t say that it made the fragrance last any longer; they seemed to dry down along the same timeline.
Have you tried any fragrance enhancers or fixatives? I wonder if an unscented dry oil spray would serve the same purpose without affecting the original fragrance. Have you come up with any enhancers of your own?
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
I never tried some of them. Sometimes I put unscented cream on first, to make my perfume last longer.
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That seems as if it would work! Do you have a favorite?
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I mostly use my unscented face creams for this
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I’ve never tried any fragrance enhancers or fixatives, other than layering scents with their corresponding shower or bath gel/soap and lotion/cream. I have way too many perfumes to afford all of the matching bath products; however, when I have had the body products I find the perfume aura is so much more intense. If only I had a signature scent that I could layer away!
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I’ve never tried enhancers either. I have done the same as Tanja.
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Maybe a dilution of ambergris or whichever ingredient that matches the facet you want to enhance, although I haven’t tried yet.
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Ooh, good idea!
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It was interesting to me to see how much the Glow seemed to tamp down the civet note in the fragrance. I didn’t mind, but I wasn’t expecting to LOSE a note, as opposed to amping one up.
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Timely post. The only enhancer I have is a Flowerbomb vanilla Twist layering oil I received in a subscription box. I think I tried it, it wasn’t memorable and in any case I don’t wear Flowerbomb (I have a mini of it somewhere). But today I opened a new Monoi shower gel from Yves Rocher, which sent me in search of my YR Monoi dry body oil. That went on next. Lovely light tropical scent. Then I sprayed Goutal Songes on top. Enjoying the combo, will see if it all lasts longer!
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I’m glad you shared your experience, I’ve been curious about those Flowerbomb layering oils, though I don’t wear Flowerbomb either). I love Yves Rocher! I only have a couple of their scents that you can get via the catalogue in the US, but they have more in their stores in Europe and some are quite lovely.
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Hi OH,
Once upon a time I’d use non scented moisturisers to hold scent. Now I’ve settled into a three scents a day routine. Having 4-6 hours of longevity works perfectly if you will be spritzing something else. It’s the only way I know to get through some of the perfume in this house.
Portia xx
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Brilliant!
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I’ve never used any dedicated enhancers, mostly because for the price of those I’m buying decanting supplies and bring perfumes I wear to re-apply throughout the day – if I want the same perfume, I mean. But on the most days I am with Portia: I use the fact that most perfumes are gone in 5-6 hours, and I can wear another one.
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Well, I found a cheap bottle of Canvas Fragrance Primer, which is supposed to extend longevity, so we’ll see how it goes!
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