Explained: Why Perfumes Smell Different On Everyone

Have you ever wondered why when you spray a perfume that smelled a certain way on someone else or on the bottle, it does not smell the same on you?

That’s because of your PH balance.

I remember my mom telling me about this lady who was friends with my grandma and everyone always talked about how great she smelled. She was described as elegant, lady-like and very sweet and a big part of it was thanks to her incredible smell. People would constantly ask her ‘’what perfume do you use?’’ but she would never tell. After many many years, it was discovered that she used to use a Spider Man perfume. 

*music stops playing*

Yes, this lady who was described as super feminine and classy owed her scent to a little kid’s Spider Man perfume. Why? Because of her skin’s PH.

The PH balance of the skin is extremely important for the whole body. Without getting too much into the science stuff, PH means ‘’the power of Hydrogen’’ in abbreviation and it refers to the concentration of hydrogen ions in the body. The PH is ranged from 0 to 14. 0 being the most acidic, like battery acid, 7 being neutral, like water, and 14 being the most alkaline, like liquid drain cleaner.

Our blood’s PH should be between 7.30-7.45. Anything above or below that will be either too acidic or too alkaline and both are harmful to the body. However, like we mentioned, everybody’s PH balance is different and completely unique to the person. And even though it could fluctuate during the day (usually it will be more acidic in the mornings), each person’s PH will remain the same during their life unless they drastically change something. 

PH is based and can change depending on what we eat (mostly), how much water we drink, what medications we use, what products we put on our skin, etc. As human beings we need to try to remain as alkaline as possible. If we eat too much junk food, don’t drink enough water and are not taking care of ourselves like working out and sweating out the toxins in our body or constantly drinking too much alcohol, our body’s PH will start to turn acidic. There is a long list of all the consequences this will have. The body turning too alkaline will most likely not happen due to our choices and routine, but because of a loss of acidity brought by other factors. This will also bring negative consequences.

Foods that alkalinize our body are as you probably guess: fruits and vegetables, some nuts, herbal teas, etc. Even though lemon is a citrus, it surprisingly helps to alkalize the body. Foods that are highly acidic are soft drinks; red meats; processed grains like baked goods or bread and cheese and dairy products. So keep in mind what you should eat more of and less of if you’re trying to keep a balanced diet.

Since perfume is meant to be applied on the skin, it's designed to work with PH. Therefore, if your PH is off, the scent of the perfume will most likely be off as well. However, it is 100% normal for a perfume to smell different on different people, even if all of their PH’s are at a healthy place for their body. Naturally, everyone’s body chemistry will be different and that is fine! I actually think this is great because even though we do like the smell of the perfume, when your body transforms it into its own, unique smell it just makes it that much more great.

So in short, your food and life choices impact even how a fragrance smells on you. That is why it’s so important to love yourself enough to consume the best and healthiest possible foods, drink enough water throughout the day, only have on occasions/bring to a minimum the consumption of harmful substances like alcohol or certain drugs, take the time to keep your body active, get enough rest and anything else you personally may need to keep your body at its best. It will reward you by even smelling great! And even if you do everything right, it’s perfectly normal for your skin to somewhat change the scent of the perfume you put on. That’s why my grandma’s friend was able to pull off a little kid’s perfume so well! Her PH allowed for this most likely sweet, fruity scent to project in an elegant and classy way. 

So next time a perfume doesn’t smell on you the way you thought it would, you'll know why! :)

Are you one of the lucky ones whose skin does not change the scent at all?