A. When you try perfume on your skin, it may smell different from when you tried it on a blotter (in Japanese), or the same fragrance may seem different on the friend or family member beside you. Let us explore why.
Why It Smells Different from a Blotter
A blotter, also known as a scent strip or mouillette, is a strip of paper used to try perfume in a shop or similar setting. A defining feature is that the paper itself has no smell. This allows you to assess how the perfume smells on its own.
Human skin, on the other hand, has moisture, sebum, and body heat. The conditions that determine whether fragrance materials remain in place or enter the air are not the same as on paper. Your existing body odor also combines with the fragrance, so trying it on skin can give a different impression from a blotter.
It is also true that the result varies with the nature of the skin. It differs according to whether the skin is dry or oily, and acidity, body temperature, and bacteria on the skin also have an influence. You cannot discover these differences just by putting it on paper or fabric.
Tania Sanchez
Why It Smells Different on Different People
When you and a friend or family member wear the same fragrance, it may seem to smell different. This is what people often mean when they say, “A fragrance changes from person to person.” Why does this happen?
It helps to distinguish between differences in the components released from skin into the air and differences in the impressions people have when they smell them. Differences in people’s existing body odors alone cannot explain exactly how an applied perfume will change.
Skin Condition and the Properties of Fragrance Compounds
In a 2025 study, the same fragrance mixture was applied to the forearms of ten people, and instruments were used to examine the components released into the air above their skin. The amounts released varied between individuals, and the relationships with skin hydration and fine surface irregularities also differed depending on the compound. This offers clues for considering skin characteristics together with the properties of fragrance materials. For more detail, see the study of fragrance evaporation from skin (in Japanese).
However, this was a chemical analysis involving a small number of people, not an experiment measuring the fragrance intensity or preferences perceived by participants. Nor did it compare the effects of changing skin hydration or using moisturizers. You cannot determine how a perfume will smell on someone solely from their sex, age, or race.
Changes over Time Also Vary from Person to Person
In a 2018 study, eight people applied the same fragranced product to their forearms, and components were collected for up to two hours afterward. The combination of components recovered changed over time, and differences between people also grew. These results likewise concern differences in components detected by instruments, not how different people thought the scents smelled. The study’s scope is explained in more detail in How Do Compounds Released from Skin Vary between People and over Time? (in Japanese)
How Climate Affects a Fragrance
People are not the only influence; nature plays a part too. For example, the way a fragrance smells varies with temperature, humidity, and season, and it can differ from one country to another. This takes us a little off topic, so I will return to it in another article.
How Changes in Our Sense of Smell Affect a Fragrance
Falling in love, marriage, childbirth, and parting are among life’s many major events, and their effects on our senses can be considerable.
A fragrance you loved yesterday becomes one you dislike the next day.
A scent you once wore devotedly now feels unpleasant.
Or, conversely, a fragrance you disliked now seems surprisingly good.
This also takes us a little off topic, so I will discuss it in another article.
In Summary: Try It on Your Own Skin
The components released from skin differ between individuals, but those differences alone do not determine everything about the impression a perfume makes. If a perfume interests you, narrow down your choices on blotters, then try it on your own skin and see how you feel about it, from the top notes (in Japanese) through the heart notes (in Japanese) and beyond. This is a way to discover your own preferences while also taking other people’s impressions into account.
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