One of the most exciting things about receiving “Beard Mail” is smelling the scent. You can read the description and be lured into purchasing it and even create the scent in your mind, but when it arrives and you take a smell you can sometimes be left in disappointment. Perhaps you take a smell and find it nice and strong with amazing scent in bottle, but you put it on your beard to find it fades quickly or the scent changed. 

Just like a cologne, lotion, or anything else with fragrance added, there can be a few reasons scent change or fade can occur. It’s common and you are not alone in noticing this. There have been many times I have thought a scent description sounded amazing and I purchased it. When it arrived, I found it pleasant in the bottle, but once applied I noticed character changes as time passed. Below I’ll run through some of the reasons for scent fade and change specifically in Beard products.

It’s Your Nose Not the Product

I would frequent the mall with my wife and our first stop is always the beauty stores. My only mission at this location was to beeline straight for the Men’s cologne wall and kill time by smelling the different offerings. It may sound silly because it now seems so obvious, but I never had any idea what the small cups of coffee beans where for. Turns out, they are there to help your nose and brain effectively “reset” itself so you can enjoy the next fragrance without the previous one being fresh on your scent palate. Game changer. Although I didn’t register this until I started creating scents for Bearded Coast products, it was an almost instant light bulb most likely registering due to the insane amount of fragrances I was sampling over hours of work. Moral of this one is that your nose may grow accustom to the scent quickly and you may feel it is fading but in reality, you’re just getting used to it.

Your Body Chemistry

There have been a few times that my wife and I both loved a scent smelling it right out of the bottle, but after I apply it to my beard it has a different smell. Maybe the spices are accented more heavily, or the scent fades quick, or it smells vastly different than what I would expect. My wife can put that same product on her arm for testing reasons and it smells wonderful, but on me it simple does not. Why? Your body chemistry. The bacteria on your body, your hormones, your diet, and more can determine the scent outcome once applied. Unfortunately, this is mostly not something that you can correct.

The Scent Itself

All fragrances or scents for the most part are comprised of 3 layers: The Base Note, The Middle Note, and The Top Note.

-Base Note

This is the foundation of the fragrance or scent. The Base Note usually lasts the longest because its slower to fade and make itself known. These fragrances usually will pop through anywhere from 30 minutes to even a couple hours after application.

-Middle Note

I call this one the balancing note. The fragrances found here help balance the Top and Bottom notes and bring them together into one scent. The Middle Note makes the scent fuller adds to the overall body.

-Top Note

This is the fragrances here are the ones you smell first and end up evaporating the quickest. This is also the most important part to why the smell from the bottle or jar may be quite different once applied. For example, there is a citrus blend I absolutely love but the clear lemony scent out of the bottle is completely gone within 20 minutes after I apply it to my beard. I still love the soft aroma of the spices but it’s a noticeable change.

The 3 levels of scent notes work together to make a single scent profile. The top notes fade quicker. The middle sticks around for a while longer, and then the base kicks in and finishes a scent off.  The 3 levels is also why smelling a scent directly from a bottle versus smelling it after applied to the Beard can be a bit different or change.

Any way I can make the scent stronger in Beard?

One of the only ways to achieve this is to use the same scent Beard Oil with the same scent Beard Butter or Balm. This is what we would recommend to amplify the in-Beard scent throw. Still, this may not help much if any at all. I have personally noticed positive results when I pair the products but have had instances where scents still fade out or notice scent changes.

Conclusion

We all want the scents of our Beard products to last all day strong, but this is not always the case. Everyone’s Beard is unique, no one’s is the same. Some need only need a little oil, while others need every Beard product available to maintain. Everyone’s body chemistry is unique to them. I can use my favorite fragrance and it will last for hours and maintain its original scent, while my friend can use the same scent and it changes within an hour and fades out. Remember, your main reason to use Beard Oil, Butter, Balm etc. is for the health of the skin under the Beard and conditioning and styling of the Beard hair. The scent or fragrance that is added is just a nice bonus we love and enjoy. No matter what be stoked. Your Beard is!

~ Bearded Coast