How Perfume Works: A Mysterious Phenomenon

[kenny1999]

When we put on perfume for a small amount, the smell could last for a few hours, or at least, an hour, I am wondering why it can last this long? If perfume is
in liquid form, we shouldn't be able to detect it because liquid won't go into our nose. If it's in gaseous form, it should be quickly brought away by the air, the gas shouldn't be able to stay around the person as he/she walks. Or is it a kind of liquid that slowly evaporates?

 

[TeethWhitener]

Or is it a kind of liquid that slowly evaporates?

Yes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixative_(perfumery)

 

[BillTre]

Also keep in mind that perfume is not a single compound.
They are mixes of lots of different substances put together by the perfume making person, with the goal of making something that will last a while.
A smelly compound might evaporate slowly, until it is gone, based on its rate of evaporation along.
When mixed with something else, it could heave a greater tendency to stay in that solution then go into the air.
It could also soak into the skin, producing a chemical reservoir in the skin that might be less likely to get airborne.