You’ve probably heard that attars last longer than spray perfumes. That’s true — but only if you’re applying them the way they’re meant to be worn. Dab it on like a spray perfume and you’ll lose half the staying power before lunch.

Here’s what three generations of perfumers in Ujjain have taught us about wearing attar the right way.

Start With Pulse Points, Not Clothes

Attar is an oil, not an alcohol-based spray, so it needs body heat to release its scent slowly over hours. That means it belongs on skin, not fabric. Your wrists, the inside of your elbows, behind your ears, and the base of your throat are all pulse points — areas where blood vessels sit close to the skin and generate warmth that keeps releasing the fragrance.

Dabbing attar onto a shirt collar might feel familiar if you’re used to spray perfume, but oil can stain fabric, and you lose the slow-release effect that makes attar special in the first place.

Less Is Genuinely More

A single drop on each pulse point is enough. Attars are concentrated — far more concentrated than an eau de parfum — so what feels like “barely anything” when you apply it will fill a room within the hour. Over-application is the most common mistake first-time attar wearers make, and it’s an easy one to fix.

Apply Right After a Shower

Damp, warm skin holds fragrance oil better than dry skin. If you can, apply your attar within a few minutes of stepping out of the shower, before you’ve fully dried off or moisturized. The oil binds to slightly damp skin and releases more evenly through the day.

Don’t Rub It In

This one surprises people. Rubbing your wrists together after applying perfume oil (a habit most of us picked up from spray perfume) actually breaks down the top notes through friction and heat, and the scent fades faster. Dab, don’t rub. Let it sit and absorb naturally.

Layer With an Unscented Base

If you use an unscented body oil or petroleum jelly on your pulse points before applying attar, you create a slightly tacky surface that holds the fragrance oil longer. It’s an old trick, but it works — especially in dry weather when skin doesn’t hold moisture (or fragrance) as well.

Worn this way, a single application of attar from the Itralay atelier will carry you from your morning commute to dinner, without a single touch-up. That’s the whole point of wearing it the way it was designed to be worn.