In the beauty world like fragrance world, you will hear many new terms. Starting from top, bottom and middle notes, sillage, gourmand, decant, and… cloying. A number of the terms maybe you already familiar since many perfume brands use those terms. But for the new beauty enthusiasts who have just entered the world of fragrance will probably be confused because they will immediately be haunted by the many new terms in perfumery world. There are many terms in the world of fragrances, but this time we will focus on discussing about this cloying thing!
If someone suddenly said, “your perfume is so cloying”. So, you don’t have to be worried or the phrase let you down. Let’s find out why!
What does “Cloying” in perfume mean?
Cloying in the fragrance world is a term used when the scent of perfume is too strong and it turns out being too annoying. Or we can called it as excessively sweet aroma that makes the user and people around them uncomfortable and even makes them feel headaches or nauseous. It’s not just sweet aromas, but can also be other aromas depends on each person. But sweet scents are often the culprit, especially when on the warmer weather and wearing too much sweet scented perfume can give a really “heavy” smell. Some other scents that can also cause cloying include patchouli, rose, jasmine, amber, and sometimes citrus scents.
What Causes Cloying?
There are various causes of cloying in perfume, including the way you use it and even the perfume itself. Apart from using them too much, the scent of perfume can also become cloudy because the user is in a narrow, closed room such as a car or elevator. There is no air circulation in places like this so eventually the scent of the perfume someone wears will linger and over time it can become too much for other people who are sensitive to the aroma. The ingredients used in a perfume also have an influence. For example, an unbalanced composition or using too many specific ingredients to create a certain aroma. Likewise, the high level of fragrance oil used in perfume.
Synthetic ingredients in perfume can also cause cloying. The costs required to make perfume using synthetic ingredients are indeed lower than using various natural ingredients, especially those that are rare or difficult to obtain. The price of the perfume can also be more affordable because the production costs are also cheaper. However, the aroma created can be too strong and pungent and ultimately cause a cloying effect.
How to Get Rid of Cloying?
Cloying caused by product composition is certainly beyond our control as consumers. If you want to buy a new perfume and the brand sells it offline, you can visit the shop so you can smell the aroma directly so you know that the scent isn’t too much for you. Moreover, each perfume has a different reaction to the natural aroma of your skin. If there is an aroma that you like but it turns out to be too much, you can try buying an eau de toilette or body mist variant. Usually the fragrance of these two types of products is not as intense as eau de parfum. This is because eau de parfum (especially high end ones) usually has a high fragrance oil content. So it’s recommended that you only use a small amount.
Conclusions
We can still overcome cloying that occurs due to the way it is used. Everyone has different aroma tolerances. Avoid spraying too much perfume, especially gourmand perfume which has a sweet aroma. Likewise with perfume with aromas of rose, jasmine, patchouli and amber. This may not be a problem for those of you who really like these scents, but it could be too much for other people, especially those with sensitive noses.
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