“Dear Ayala,
I love wearing perfumes, but unfortunately, most perfumes don’t last very long on my skin. What to do?
Sincerely,
Annonymous”

This question comes up so many times in my work with my customers and also comes from perfumer-lovers from around the word that seek my advice in perfume-usage matters. Therefore, I decided to make my answer public.

In most cases, the problem occurs for individuals with dry skin. Generally speaking, people with dryer and lighter skin tend to retain scent for less amount of time than people with darker and oilier skin. One cannot change their skin type or colour, but we definitely can use a little help from Mother Nature – in the form of Jojoba Oil.

Jojoba oil is a fantastic oil for many reasons:
1) It is the closest thing there is to a human skin’s sebum, which is very unusual for an oil from a botnical origin.
2) It is odourless and will not interfere with your scent
3) It is actually a liquid wax, and absorbs into the skin beautifully without leaving any oily residue
4) It has the longest shelf life and pretty much never goes rancid

What is jojoba oil?
Jojoba oil is cold-pressed from the seeds of the jojoba plant, a plant native to the Sonora and Mojave deserts (in Mexico, Arizona and California). It is cultivated for its oil in Argentina, Israeli, Mexico, Peru and the US.


Uses of Jojoba oil:
Jojoba oil is used as a substitute for whale oil in cosmetics (as a moisturizer) and as a carrier oil in perfumes. It could be used as a biodiesel fuel too, but I imagine this might be too expensive and there must be other oils preferable for the task…

Try using Jojoba oil as a massage oil for dry skin, unscented or with a only a few drops of your favourite essential oils.
Or as a make-up remover that is free of any additives that may irritate your skin (particularly around the delicate eye area).

How to pronounce jojoba?
Jojoba is pronounced ho-HO-bah (with an accent on the second “Ho”).

Where to find jojoba oil?
Jojoba oil is readily available in most health-food stores and aromatherapy shops. It is one of the most expensive oils there are, but the money will be well spent, because, as I mentioned earlier – it does not go rancid (like many other botanical oils do), so it will not spoil. Buy the smallest bottle available to make the investment easier on your wallet.

If you prefer to order online, I recommend these suppliers:
A Little Olfactory
AV-AT
Eden Botanicals
Samara Botane
Drugstore.com

How to use Jojoba oil to prolong the scent’s life on my skin?
I recommend transferring the oil to a bottle with a dropper. Apply a drop on one wrist and dab it over the other. You can also put a drop on your finger and apply to the nape of your neck, behind the ears or any other secret pulse points where you like to apply fragrance.
Now that your skin is well moisturized and oiled (you’ll notice it is not greasy though), apply your fragrance as usual, either by dabbing or spraying.
The layer of the sebum-like jojoba will not interfere with the scent, but it will create a nice bed for the scent to rest in and feel comfortable and stay around longer, as opposed to evaporate into the air or vanish into the dry skin.

When choosing a perfume from Ayala Moriel Parfums, I recommend you order the parfum oil. It’s packaged either in a 10ml roll-on bottle, or a 9ml parfum flacon. This form is more expensive, but it’s also far more concentrated than most of my alcohol based Parfum Extrait, as it contains at least 30% essence (while most of my parfum extraits are usually between 15-25%).

If the oil format is not available in your favourite fragrance – or if you prefer the lift and silage that is more prominent in the alcohol based fragrances - recommend you try layering the Parfum Extrait over a layer of a Crème Parfum. These come in my signature pendant, which when worn on the neck emits the scent as it warms up to your body heat.

To Summarize:
- One of the most efficient ways to prolong a perfume’s life on your skin is by moisturizing your skin with jojoba oil.
- Use cold-pressed unrefined jojoba (golden in colour and with a very little odour of its own)
- Always put the jojoba oil first, to create a layer that will hold the scent. Than apply the fragrance.
- You may do the same when using a layer of Parfum-oil or Crème Parfum and layer on top of it the alcohol version of the fragrance. This way you will get the best of both worlds – silage and longevity.

Image of jojoba bushes by Joujouka5000
Image of jojoba nuts by Johnida
Image of jojoba oil from Drugstore.com