What to do if you sprayed too much perfume

So you’ve gotten a little trigger-happy with your scent. Here, 3 tips to fix spraying too much fragrance.

When it comes to perfume, many believe the old adage of “less is more” should always be heeded. Especially if you’re in danger of over-applying and don’t have time for a shower to remedy the situation. If you’d rather not annoy everyone on your work commute, irritate your colleagues at the office or give yourself a migraine, here are a few tips to treat the problem:

Tip: Dilute the scent with alcohol

Many perfumes contain alcohol, which actually helps your scent carry—sort of acting like your perfume aura. But too much alcohol will dissipate the scented oils and ingredients that make up your perfume. This is why many recommend using rubbing alcohol to get rid of a scent you’ve over-sprayed. Simply douse a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol and rub it over the areas of your skin where you’ve sprayed. This should dilute the fragrance to a more manageable level. No rubbing alcohol in the medicine cabinet? No worries. Look to the bar. You can also use beverage alcohol, but we recommend sticking strictly to unscented vodka—no use replacing one overpowering scent with another, potentially career-damaging one.

Tip: Downplay a fragrance OD with witch hazel

If the idea of putting rubbing alcohol on your skin makes you cringe—many with sensitive skin find it irritating, and on dry skin it can sting—try witch hazel extract instead. Witch hazel has been known to work like alcohol in diluting scent. Plus you can even buy witch hazel-soaked pads for handy scent-removing on the go.

Tip: Deep clean your scent away

Now Smell This recommends applying an unscented deodorant to the affected over-fragranced area, waiting a couple of minutes and then washing off the skin with a heavy-duty laundry detergent such as Tide Free.