Make perfume last longer with this one trick

I’m obsessed—with full awareness of the exaggeration—with the fact that my perfume lingers. That others can smell it. That it leaves a trace, a memory, a signature. That I’ll be remembered, at least in part, for my scent.

And more than anything, that I can smell it throughout the day. That I’m not left with the familiar sense of abandonment I often feel with fragrance. Because no matter how intense or long-lasting the formula claims to be, my skin tends to swallow scent whole. By mid-morning, it’s like I never wore it at all. That moment of ritual, of spritzing something luxurious on myself at the start of the day, disappears too soon.

That’s why I say, just as I could claim a master’s degree in dry shampoo (because yes, I’m also fixated on my hair being ultra-clean and voluminous. Everyone has their thing), I’d graduate with honours in figuring out how to make perfume last longer. I’ve tried nearly every trick: applying it to pulse points like the neck and behind the ears, walking through a mist like a perfume ad cliché, layering it over moisturised skin, because we all know hydrated skin holds scent better.

Why a makeup primer might help your perfume last longer

It began, as most beauty curiosities tend to in 2025, with a TikTok scroll. A new trick was gaining traction: using makeup primer to extend the wear of your perfume. At first, it sounded like just another gimmick designed to boost views. But then the team at Prada Beauty Spain confirmed it with actual science.

Their Prada Beauty Primer, originally formulated to smooth skin and improve makeup longevity, has a surprising side effect: it helps fragrance linger. “The formula creates a light, silky film that sits invisibly on the skin,” they explain. “This film acts as a barrier, trapping the volatile molecules of perfume and slowing their evaporation.”

For anyone trying to make perfume last longer, this technique creates the ideal conditions. The primer holds the scent closer to the surface of the skin, allowing it to develop more gradually throughout the day. It also prevents the fragrance from sinking unevenly into dry patches, which can dull or distort the notes.