What's the best men's cologne?

The GQ reviews from which the quote above came...

Joop is a good cheap one.

There’s a lot of good ones. The “best” depends on the person and sometimes good scents don’t smell as good on certain people because their body chemistry isn’t there with that scent.

My favorite is a cheap one, Paris Hilton for men.

I like a lot of the Jo Malone unisex scents, especially anything with citrus. It smells clean more than "col gne".

r2 beat me. I still have my bottle of Joop! Homme from 1990 -- I use it very lightly as it's a strong scent, but I love it.

Listen doll, the best scent is going to be very individual, so nobody can really recommend. It's about what pleases your nose and mixes well on skin. And the season of the year. Also your budget. You need to start visiting the cologne counters and testing different ones. If price is not an issue and you like rich natural scents, Amouage would be something very unusual and in the "Intoxicating" effect you mention. Also Guerlain and Serge Lutens.

Givenchy for Gentleman if you can carry it off. Calvin Klein Eternity for everyday. Sauvage is also great.

R5 Wow, and I thought my bottle from 2002 was old!😄

"Play" by Givenchy and Chanel "Blue" are my two faves. I get headaches from scents very easily, so I'm very picky. Those two are easily the best ever in my book.

Anyone have tips on the best way to apply cologne so that it just gives a SUBTLE hint of smell instead of overbearing?

Are you that dumb R10.

For the record, I'm not R10, but I appreciate the comments. And, R6, yes, I'll certainly be visiting the perfume counter at Nordstrom next week, but thought I might get some suggestions here before diving in. I also wonder how well my olfactory senses will be holding up after sniffing my fourth or fifth scent.

[quote]Are you that dumb [R10].

Are you that big of a cunt?

Chanel Bleu is excellent. I was surprised how much I like Paco Rabanne Invictus, too.

Gee willikers, what is the secret technique to not reek of cologne. If only I was a sophisticate like that! I bet the French would know. I'm just a country rube and fancy things perplex me!

I know it's probably over-used, but I really love Versace's Eros. I like their Eau Fraiche as well. I have a butch lesbian friend and her girlfriend got her Dior's Sauvage for her birthday. I smelled it on her and it did smell fantastic.

The Burberry scents.

Versace L'Homme the original scent - is in fact a "cologne" and a very good one that survives to this day. Can be found heavily discounted.

Guerlain's Vetiver Extreme wears well without being overpowering. I'd recommend the original Vetiver, but it's been eviscerated by reformulation. Damn you, IFRA.

Lalique's Encre Noire is a great modern fragrance I recommend highly.

I wear new Guerlain Vetiver because I can't be bothered hunting down vintage formulations. I junk it up Italian supermarket vetivers.

"Grey Flannel" by Geoffrey Beene...

Current Grey Flannel is an odd beast. I wouldn't wear it in public but its a guilty pleasure to splash on at home. Can be bought in an enormous bottle for cheap.

Lagerfeld Classic. All you will ever need. I wish I had a nickel for every time I've been stopped by people asking what I'm wearing that smells so good. Have been wearing this classic since the early 80s.

Been wearing Axe Body Spray foreves now. Always get reactions from shoppers at the Wal-Mart when I wear it. It’s a pussy magnet.

My first boyfriend was the best-smelling guy I've ever been with, and he wore CK's Eternity for Men. It doesn't work as well with my body chemistry though, so I favor Pierre Cardin (have gotten lots of compliments for that one!) and Oleg Cassini for men. I'd recommend trying any of the three.

Grey Flannel smells good on some men and not on others. I dislike it on most. I detest Eternity on anyone. I have liked most Chanel scents, but they changed Egoiste, which I used to like, into something that just doesn't do anything for me anymore.

Does the current Sauvage smell anything like Eau Sauvage smelled in the '70s and '80s?

Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan.

It smells like sex.

I liked the dildoesque Pierre Cardin in 1975, though not enough to finish the bottle when I discovered Eau Sauvage. I should have stuck with Eau Sauvage permanently, but instead tortured people with Polo (original green bottle; a co-worker had our boss ask me not to wear it) and some kind of Vetiver in an opaque raspberry sorbet-colored bottle from Guerlain (how did I ever pick that one?) And then I went back to Eau Sauvage.

Now I wear no cologne. I just make sure I shower as much as I need to and wear clean clothing.

Tom Ford Tobacco Oud is extremely manly. For work wear go for Chanel Allure Edition Blanche. Check out Fragrantica website for more options.

Jacomo De Jacomo - oriental, warm.

For you, R24

Gucci Memoire d'un Odeur.

Brand new. Smells like Indian Jasmine and the fur of six week old baby lionhead rabbits.

Gross. Men who wear cologne are damaged and not really "men."

Numero Uno GOLD; Numero Uno GREEN; Numero Uno RED; Numero Uno SILVER. Four Numero Uno Colognes. All different. All Wild.

Completely on board with R4 on Jo Malone. Wide array to choose from and (don’t hate me for this please) gender neutral.

Agree with R6 as well that it’s not only a matter if preference but dependent on skin type as well,

I am still surprised at how much I love Creed Aventus. That will be my cologne for life

I also love Cannabis by Malin and Goetz.

Old school one, now discontinued is Prada (shit I forget the name) Maybe Prada L'Homme?

It is in a rectangular bottle, and it smells like classy SOAP!!! I have never worn anything like it- but it is wonderful. Nothing like I normally wear.

It was from around 2007- It came out right after the first Prada for Men (far too musky and manly for me)

LOVE Jo Malone too R35!

I have the Wood and Sea Salt one which is great-

I also have Grapefruit, and I always like Lime/Basil/mandarin-

OP, check out fragrantica.com

There's no such a thing as the best men's cologne, everyone is different and has different tastes.

Sauvage is a pretty safe choice, it smells good but it's pretty generic (and a lot of men wear it).

On the designer colognes i like Bvlgari Men in Black

R36 I love all the citrus scents & the tea-infused ones!

Tempo from Diptyque is great.

This one gives me the most compliments I’ve ever gotten from cologne, but my chemistry with the scent is great. I can wear any cologne. I know people that put it on and it smells weird but on me it always smells amazing.

It’s light and fruity yet masculine.

I get more compliments with this one than Dolce or Ja Malone

Clinique Happy For Men is a nice mix of fruity and spicy. Although you have to refresh once or twice a day because it doesn't last.

It's actually cologne. Buy a huge bottle and apply generously.

Cool Water

Drakkar Noir

I honestly don't know anyone who wears cologne, though I know my parents have said it was really big in the 70s, like when they were first dating and all.

For those of you who do wear it--do you wear unscented deodorant? Otherwise, don't the two smells conflict?

I'm partial to citurs scents. Tom Ford Neroli Portofino is my fave.

I have a mix of colognes, like an old fashioned middle aged gay man does. Citrus are summers. Woods are autumn/winter. I know, I know. You young people don’t wear cologne. But we used to have different colognes day daytime versus evening, different colognes for different seasons.

Old gay men put baby powder in their shoes and use wet wipes on their forsaken asses too.

R51 Wow, I read that as "foreskin asses" and was horrified.

I don't wear cologne. I think a good soap and some "essential oil" that matches the soap's smell (e.g. sage/lavender) is more than enough. I think the "symphony" of multiple scents is ...umm.. declasse? Deodorant, mouth wash, soap, hair product.... all covered by a strong cologne. Too much.

I still can't figure out those COMMERCIALS for OBSESSION

Obsession makes me sneeze.

Though I hate the original Eternity, Eternity Aqua is my go-to fragrance. Very light and clean. The original Zirh is good too, but I think they may have discontinued it.

The one that compels pint-sized harlots.

Micheal Jackson Cologne for Men

Micheal Jackson Cologne for Men 4 Boys*

Were the old colognes strong and doused on to overcome the smell of tobacco smoke everywhere?

This one is great:

[quote]The original Zirh is good too

Is that for zhe and zir?

They all stink

They all produce migraines. Including those "essential" oils.

Hai Karate

Ballsweat.

Tom Ford Tobacco Vanilla

[quote]Tom Ford Tobacco Vanilla

I thought I would like that, but I sampled it in the store and it smelled awful.

Adam by Ypir

Tom Ford's fragrances all smell "off".... Even ones I would normally love like Neroli Portafino- Just OFF.

And MOST are so dark, dank, and musty-

It amazes me that he supports his entire brand with the sales of those STANK toilet waters!!!

Tom Ford Grey Vetiver and Calvin Klein Eternity Now are my current scents.

Scent is obviously subjective and what one likes another may not. Scent longevity is another issue. I've had bad experiences with Tom Ford scents. I purchased a bottle of the Tuscan Leather. I love the scent (obviously subjective) and still do, but it is such a weak strength that it never left much of a scent after an hour, no matter how much I put on. So there's no way that the Tuscan Leather is an Eau de Parfum, despite it saying it is. I've had issues with his other men's scents (although one of my lady friends had one of his that did stick around, so no idea what was up with the discrepancy). In terms of scent longevity and oil content, Bond No. 9 scents seem to be the top. The Bleeker Street scent really stays on a long time (sometimes good, sometimes bad). Chanel's men scents were also great to. I loved the original Allure and Bleu.

Guerlain Habit Rouge

Elizabeth W Vetiver

Paloma Picasso Minotaure

SL Gris Clair

[quote]Guerlain Habit Rouge

I wore it in this bottle for a few months. Grew to hate it. I found it old ladyish in the end.

I can’t believe anyone is still wearing cologne.

R74: Maybe not in America, but in Europe everybody wears cologne, in fact niche parfums are doing very well lately

Does anyone

still wear

cologne?

Only on loan!

R26 Sadly nothing is like the crisp citrus old Eau Sauvage. Original Armani for men was the closest, but then that became discontinued too. I do like the new Sauvage though. IMHO better for Fall/Winter, as it is a bit heady. R48 I wear the matching deo sticks that are the same as the fragrance. When they are not available, I do use an unscented deo. Most eau de toillete have a matching deo stick.

Thank God my vocabulary never grew to include "deo stick."

Tom Ford Black Orchid.

Versace Man Eau Fraiche is nice too.

R78 It's just an abbreviation for deoderant. Very common throughout Europe and the whole world outside of America. You seem silly.

Drakkar Noir

Paul Sebastian PS

R78 I should add that we make more of a distinction between Anti-Perspirant and deo. Americans very often use the terms interchangeably, and websites do too. Not great for those consumers who care. The cologne/fragrance sticks do not block sweat glands. Keep an open mind, and you may learn something outside your Xenophobic bubble.

I guess if I couldn't spell "deodorant," I might seek out substitutes like "deo," too, r81. But I can. You seem stupid.

This isn't actually about a typo is it R84? You're seriously triggered by "deo"? Get over it!

Paco Rabanne for men is delicious.

R84 Hmm, Easily triggered by common European expressions.

Loudly announces poor grooming habits as a virtue.

Portland?

Americans are aggressively rude. The very old white gay ones are unnaturally concerned with smelling and punctuation!

Cheers R87/R88 It's a troll that follows me repeatedly here. I keep blocking and now have 50 some different poster numbers for it, but all with its same posts. How very odd. It raves about its European travels, yet it behaves like such an ugly American. I don't for a minute believe this thing is tolerated outside of the States.

Bandit Homme.

R89 schizophrenic

R26. Dior’s Sauvage is a completely different scent, unrelated to Eau Sauvage, which you can still buy. Eau Sauvage is still nice, but it’s been reformulated, so it’s not quite the same as it was in the 70’s. Sauvage is a typical mall scent.

[quote]Sauvage is a typical mall scent.

What a terrific description, r92. Thanks. (Just what I always wanted to smell like: a typical mall.)

So many colognes just smell the same. Ive started mixing essential oils to make my own fragrance bitches

If I give you some essential oil, r94, will you make me a fragrance bitch?

R86 It is. My favourite. I'm wearing it right now.

In the '70s, we used to joke that PR stood for both Paco Rabanne and Puerto Ricans.

R86/R96 I still Love Paco too. It's depressing the deo stick and the bars of soap aren't available anymore. In the late 80s my friends teased me and would refer to it as "Old Fag". They were fond of Quorum at the time, and just as many of us poufs wore that, so I never quite got their distinction. I'm not keen on their newer scents whatsoever. The soapy quality on the dry down is the very best note.

Acqua Di Giò. Very fresh, doesn't give me a headache.

Can anyone recommend something citrusy light and fresh.? I've ordered a Jo Malone sample but would like some other suggestions. Thank you.

R73 I totally agree with your take on Habit Rouge by Guerlain. It reminded me of my grandmother with that floral powdery scent! Summer scents I like are Vetiver by Guerlain and Nautica Voyage--very clean scent. In Winter Prada Luna Rossa is my favorite. I will never stop wearing cologne!

R94 Don't encourage her. She's always doin't that. It's all patchouli and jah-stick with them.

R89 Honey, nobody's following you. It's your vapor trail. We're all stuck in it.

^ Not in reference to you, but your ugly Portlandia stalker.

Acqua Di Parma

Marc Jacobs

Quorum

My gentlemen callers wear Old Spice Classic.

^ why does this keep happening? You post in one thread, and it shows up in another.

I like different fragrances during different times of the year. For summer, I really like Philosykos (Diptyche) and Eau de Campagne (Sisley). The first has fig leaf notes, and the second, tomato leaf notes. They're both crisp and green.

When it's colder, I tend to like richer scents, with vanilla and leather notes. I love Egoiste, which has licorice and vanilla notes. And one of my favorite is considered a female scent: Habanita by Molinard. It's a leather scent, with vanilla and sandalwood.

Someone mentioned Egoiste and I remembered I had a bottle. I just splashed it on. It smell pretty good! It always smells like cherries and flowers. It smells like Campari tastes. I used to wear it when I was a young swell in the 90s. !

R92 The original Eau Sauvage was always a Christian Dior fragrance, so no, not totally unrelated. You make it seem that Dior co-opted or licenced the name. It was always Dior. Sauvage may be more modern, albeit more synthetic ingredients, but Dior was a pioneer in using them, even with Miss Dior, and Dioressence. Oui R104, I see it has reared its ugly head again.

R110 I still have a bottle of Egoiste as well, though I think it had been reformulated. The original had a cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla base (perhaps tongka bean too). You describe the top-notes I recall. It seems lighter than in the past; It once seemed to last forever! Do you have Platinum or regular?

Eau Sauvage = Wild Water (more or less) was actually considered a groundbreaking scent when it was introduced. Citrus colognes are among the oldest commercial scents (see 4711 upthread), but Eau Sauvage elevated them to a different level by adding aldehydes (the secret in Chanel No 5, as well).

[quote]The secret of Dior’s Eau Sauvage, by the legendary perfumer Edmond Roudnitska, is a synthetic called methyl dihydrojasmonate, a molecule that smells beautifully of clean, pure light, almost as if it were water you were smelling.

-Behind the NYTimes paywall.

R111. I know they are both Dior fragrances. I was stating they are unrelated (they smell nothing alike), despite having nearly identical names, which is stupid marketing.

Just the regular Egoist. It's probably from the late 90s and it hasn't gone off. I had a female friend who was dating this skinny handsome STEM grad student around 2005, and he always wore it, and with a heavy hand. He smelled simply amazing. It's really not suitable for someone over 29.

When you're doing a test run, don't buy anything right away, even if it smells great. Wear it for a few hours, and see how the fragrance develops on you. Does, it still smell great or does the fragrance fade? Don't worry about what anyone else thinks, this is all about what YOU like. Fragrance can be a great mood lifter. If you still like it after several hours, then go back and buy it.

Thanks R113, I couldn't recall that component, but knew a synthetic provided the woody backbone or basenote.

egoiste doesn't smell like a man's cologne at all. It's like Jicky, and the quite recent La Petite Robe Noire Black Perfecto - just smells excellent on a young man.

Avon cologne, preferably in the steamship bottle.

R115 Mine may have gone off a bit, but I only wear it at home some winter evenings. It's still great for a room freshener, my dog's bed, and I've spritzed a few sachets with it. REALLY intense. I believe mine is C.1990s as well.

1872 by Clive Christian is my go-to day scent this summer.

Creed Aventus is evening/nighttime.

This thread is a seismographic, anthropologic, psychiatric and psychological demonstration of what makes gay men separate and quite possibly mentally ill. The need to define and redefine everything along with the DESIRE to give those classifications a certain value. Older gay men can't enjoy anything without comparing it to something else. And if they love it fully, they feel the need to defend it with ideals of it being more refined, somehow special, beyond someone else's emotional, financial or intellectual reach. Even a smell. The smallest choice or moment of life must be classified and measured against something else. Old gay men won't rest until they classify every experience of life and what they see into something they can label and explain. These are traits of personality disorders and mental illness. The inability to be ever satisfied, to open oneself up to appreciating other points of view or to just say, I don't know, this seems nice. This kind of damage is from nurture over nature. Because younger gay men don't suffer this nonsense so much. Sexual attraction does not dictate homosexuals. It's a mental state. Most men on DL haven't had sex in decades. Still they are helpless against their own afflictions and opinions. I'm not talking about cologne.

R113 I still can't handle 4711 without gagging. Living in Bavaria, especially small villages back in the 70's where hygiene for farmers could be a weekly or monthly affair, 4711 was deemed a socially acceptable substitute for bathing.

Imagine getting on a crowded streetcar in the dead of winter when every unwashed body was embalmed in 4711.

No R122, but we may be more gifted in an olfactory sense. I enjoy the memories scent evokes, and appreciate how immediate the experience is. I live for scents, and think it's probably fair to say many others here do as well. We're simply reminiscing.

R123 you probably didn't get stiffy during God's Own Country!

R122 what the hell are you blabbing on about, really.

R124 So, Pino Silvestre then?

I have Pino Silvestre in my water closet to freshen the air. I have the shower gel, sometimes. I love Italian "drugstore" level colognes.

This is a good, modestly priced Italian scent maker.

I posted this in an older (closed thread). But it helps break down what makes CK One (which I was surprised I really liked) special. I love Luca Turin's scent reviews so much that I bought his book. When I first started exploring scents, I was already a bit older, and the scents of my young adulthood were just too, too much. I just wanted to find something that worked with my body chemistry. I eventually fell for Guerlain's Mouchoir de Monsieur, which is very similar to Jicky.

Canoe and Tabac were good cheapo American scents, once.

Nobody would bat an eye if you went straight to Jicky :)

Mitsouko by Guerlain can be lovely on men.

Apparently any American man under 40 finds this all revolting. I am a professor in Europe and many young men wear cologne and not all the same one, either.

Cologne is not revolting. This level of discussion is pretentious and ridiculous. Sexy is sexy. With or without. No type of cologne makes a man more attractive.

R134, It's really only on DL that I learned of the aversion to cologne. I'm American, and I grew up with the expectation that, when I went out in public, I would wear a wristwatch, carrying a pocket handkerchief, and wear a bit of cologne. I still do (late 50s). I don't drown myself in scent: just a dab, that you need to be near me to smell.

R119 And it kills mosquitoes.

[quote]Cologne is not revolting.

Some are. Some aren't.

Some smell like bug spray. Some smell like some kind of anaesthetic. Many smell exactly like each other. I always thought scent strips were a joke because they all smelled the same to me.

R138. Please read my post at R122. You would seem to personify the constant need to classify and correct that I describe. Your mommy must have been very hard to please.

Understand that when I said that cologne was not revolting - that I just meant in theory, in general. I wasn't inviting your mind to start reclassification, again, today, on this subject. Please. Younger gay men don't enjoy anything thing that requires so much explanation from y'all. Or all y'all. Such a turnoff.

Then go, r139.

My current favourite is Aesop “Marrakech”. I decided to try it in the shop after Troye Sivan mentioned it in a YouTube video. And it’s amazing.

My other new favourites are “one million lucky” by Paco Rabanne and Monte Blanc “Explorer”. I always gets complements on the cologne I wear.

Shocking, just shocking that no one has said, “White Diamonds”.

Yes, I know it says MEN’S colognes, but this is datalounge, epicenter of high camp.

I have white diamonds in my shitter. Its the lipstick sized spray with the rhinestone ring. I spray it about 2x a year. It reeks, but it never went off, and it's kind of amazing.

[R143] made my night.

old gay men are sad

R127. Thanks for posting Pino, love a good cheapie. Now I have to go dig out my bottle.

[quote]Imagine getting on a crowded streetcar in the dead of winter when every unwashed body was embalmed in 4711.

Hi, R123. I had a similar experience with Aramis.

There was a guy in our office who went for months without bathing or doing laundry. Unbelievable though the stench was, it got even worse after someone who drew his name in a Christmas gift exchange bought him a bottle of Aramis. Not a good combination at all. For years afterward, I hated being near anyone wearing Aramis.

Not having had your experience with it, though, I love 4711.

I love 4711 too, great to have a big splash bottle of it around, perfect for hot Summer nights.

Kill yourself, r145

My favorite cologne is Lucky No. 6 by Liz Claiborne. It's cheap but it smells good and one bottle lasts forever.

I'm here to help you be better R149. I can't stay forever. Try to learn something from my posts. I wish you well and I hope the lord will ease your troubled mind.

You do know that it's criminal to tell someone to kill themselves on the internet?

CREED Bois du Portugal

Nothing lasts forever, r150. Especially old gay men who will soon die.

Apparently it's some triggering, pathetic, shameful thing to know the basics of perfumery, suiting fabrics, Greek and Roman mythology, garden design, and le rococo.

What is "dry down," r154 (speaking of the basics)?

It's when the middle notes have faded and the bottom notes linger. Some scents are linear so the dry down includes the slow fade of most notes.

Thank you, r156.

R122. Huge blocky paragraphs are a sign of mental illness to me. Now that’s a classification and definition!

R151 sorry, it's not. Why aren't you killing yourself?

I love how the go to insult for idiots on DL is to call someone "old". Oh no, some random troll who knows nothing about me called me old or gramps! I'm so insulted!!!

To quote from the AA thread R122 "When you point a finger at someone, you are pointing three at yourself" When you describe the posters as old, possibly mentally ill and have an issue with their view of things, why do you bother even coming here? Working on your mail order therapist degree?

It's what happens when the Hoi polloi are met with a foreign film, subtitles and no action. "Pretentious bullshit" = I have no references nor capacity to understand let alone enjoy.

(old Shalimar perfume)

[quote](old Shalimar perfume)

I loved Shalimar. Not enough to wear it myself, but I loved it when my girls who were friends wore it. What does it have to do with the hoi polloi v. foreign movies, though?

The asswipe who screeches that old DLers are mentally ill cataloguers = the hoi polloi who will never take any pleasure from perfumery

Stop cataloguing me!!!

It's just "hoi polloi", R162, not "the" hoi polloi ("hoi" already means "the")

What’s this about someone trying to copywrite the word “the.”

they all smell awful.

Shouldn't it just be 'oi polloi except for then you sound cockney? r166

όι πολλοί

efcharisto poli!

Well, this thread has certainly spun out. Anyway, an anecdote. I was stuck in a nursing home for a short time earlier this year (yes, make the age jokes, but I was there for physical therapy). Anyway, they scheduled a radiologist to come in with his portable X-ray equipment to take an X-ray of my lungs. The nurse who told me he would be coming mentioned warmly that Dr xxxx always smells SO good! He finally arrived, and was wearing too much cologne (for my tastes), and it was Egoiste Platinum, which I don't care for (even though my BF wears it beautifully). He was a very gentle Russian man, and made me feel comfortable. After he left, I was taken down the hall for a physical therapy session, and the therapist was swooning when she came to get me, commenting on the cologne. After she brought me back to my room, the Dominican nurse's aide who I was crushing on said, "boss, that's some really good cologne", and I had to explain it wasn't mine.

So it's strange to hear the opinions of so many people who hate cologne. I totally understand that we don't want to be overpowered by other peoples' scents. I'm very discreet wearing scents: you have to be right up next to me so smell them, but I always receive compliments.

I love Le Male by Gaultier. I don't wear colognes in public anymore so, sometimes, when I'm home by myself, I spray it on me like mad. And if someone calls me to go out, I'm in deep shit because I reek of it. Like now.

I have 6, 8 bottles upstairs on my dresser. I will tell you that the any time that I wear the one below I am certain to get compliments:

AVENTUS by Creed

reek [rēk] VERB 1) smell strongly and unpleasantly; stink. "the yard reeked of wet straw and stale horse manure" · [more] synonyms:stink · smell · smell bad/disgusting · give off a bad smell · stink/smell to high heaven 2) be suggestive of something unpleasant or undesirable. "the speeches reeked of anti-Semitism"

The notion of wearing a strong scent does seems related to class/culture/age. Europeans and Latin Americans are much more likely to wear strong scents than Americans, even disaggregating by class (no science here, just intuition). I am astonished and amused by the sophistication of this thread ("notes"... indeed). I suspect (again, my own prejudices, not sociology) that gay men often seek to recreate themselves as posh and sophisticated above the station they are born to. Not a bad thing. I wonder if all of you who know so much about enfleurage-extraction techniques and the gentlemanly quality of wearing expensive stink started out with top drawer colognes? Another "I'm so old that.." thread exposed the elder DL'er as once owning English Leather, Canoe, Ha'i Karate, Brut and other olfactory outrages. 'Fess up, did your addiction start at an early age with a trailer-trash gateway scent?

R175 Are you still wearing Mommy's Chanel #5?

R176 Beneath your usual quality. Actually I am even more of a pariah to those in this thread. I wear a good, ayurvedic soap with a touch of clary sage essential oil, or neroli when I'm feeling frisky.

I'm trying to contemplate the cosmos and the tao of a non-ayurvedic soap. What would that be? Ionizing radiation? Concentrated contrails? Entrails of Gray Aliens? It's a lot of words that add up to marketing.

We've used scent at least since the age of Pharoah yes, to smell better than our slaves. And yes to distinguish our class from the stinkfish and stinkskins.

All that stuff you wrote? It's very Ab Fab. It's like when Fleur started reading the ingredients on her cosmetics and gave up, "I don't know what it means but it's forcing me to believe it"

R175 real connoisseurs of perfumery know how to appreciate a dime store scent along with their old French luxury and new niche boutique ridiculousness. This is why 4711 is mentioned in this very thread, for instance. I buy nice smelling supermarket scents along with my Amouage.

Interesting. So are we to take it that most of the posters here are European as Americans no longer wear any sort of "scent"?

Or are many of you older American men?

There's a lot to be appreciated about AXE Gold Fresh on a young turk. Peacock do not need to smell of Guerlain.

FWIW, it's definitely considered a class marker among people my age, the olfactory equivalent of having a word tattooed across your collarbone or sporting one of those Hitler Youth haircuts. I know it wasn't always so, but it's a different world today.

R182 That's perhaps compartmentalized to an age group, like aviator sunglasses, pony tails/man buns and wearing flip flops to work.

I don't often wear scent for work, as many offices have policies regarding it - which women ignore. But I wear it for myself and for social activities.

[quote] That's perhaps compartmentalized to an age group,

Yes R183, hence the phrase "among people my age" in the post, the implication being "upper middle class people under the age of 40."

My point was not that you are an uncouth guido but rather that the wearing of cologne has most definitely gone out of fashion

I know plenty of young guys who douse themselves in Axe body spray, and they aren't "guidos" (douchebags, maybe, but not guidos!)

Which AXE?

People in different parts of the country have different names for certain types of working class "douchebags" R185.

At the end of the day, they're all the same archetype.

I like a 50-50 blend of Polo and Paco Rabanne.

R184 I'm frequently uncouth, and I didn't wasn't going to hold your age and inexperience against you, petit mec. Some people (which is not meant as a sweeping generalization) over use any scent, whether it's an essential oil or a parfum/cologne.

A scent shouldn't be like a traffic jam, announcing its presence with fury and reminding you that it was there with the debris of your passing, long after you've departed.

No they aren't r187. Even guidos aren't all the same. But true guidos have a decent nose for scents and will manage to squirt on some Armani, Gucci, or Versace.

I disagree. Heavy application of the right scent on the right person is one of daily life's passing pleasures.

Sorry R189 and R190, but anyone under 40 (and over 14) wearing anything stronger than a scented deodorant will be mocked mercilessly by their friends.

I'll leave it to you do distinguish between various stripes of guidos and how they differ from rednecks.

R177/R175 You fooled me, as I just smell a MASSIVE cunt.

Interesting R192, I've gotten multiple compliments about smelling nice from my best friend's under-40-until-recently wife thanks to cologne. Of course prior to turning 40 she had two teenagers at home, so I suppose anything is a nice change from the scent of unwashed socks and Cheetos.

I bought Creed Aventus and was underwhelmed. However, as the day wore on, it changed and I liked it. Have to be careful though, it goes on heavy. I was actually shopping for Claus Porto Mossy Oak which Nordstrom didn’t carry.

I thought real oak moss was banned.

There's some fake Creed on Amazon if you don't want to pay $400. It's weird they have these things called "Nitro Musk" that are tiny roll-on bottles of oil. I am going to buy one and try it out. The tin comes with a bunch of other fragrances too.

Only somewhat recently R196, and probably not for all markets. Ambergris was thought to be outlawed as well, but the Japanese, like Shiseido still use it. Basala a men's fragrance still contains it. As to our Millenial Friend, I've enjoyed many of your posts, yet in this thread you come off as bombastic as well as classist. That may be comforting to some other older gay gents here, knowing some things never change. I however am sadly disappointed in you.

My two favorites are Creed Aventus (which opens like intense pineapple) and Creed Millesime Imperial (which smells like the ocean--saltwater, mineral). I get frequent compliments for the Aventus particularly.

R192. Only in Portlandia. In places where we do things called “work” and “socialize” rather than “protest”, wearing scent is perfectly appropriate for all age groups, along with “employment”, “bathing”, and “wearing clean, undistressed work and activity appropriate clothing”.

Yes, I know we’re hopelessly dated to your hipsters whizzing by us oldsters who are busy abandoning Lime scooters wherever you go, when you’re not taking a dump in the middle of a sidewalk. We’re simply the product of our time: Spencer script handwriting, manicured nails and haircuts, and yes a bit of scent. It’s barbaric. We’re positively cavemen compared to your advanced selves.

R200 Rolling up everything you hate in one neat bundle. Economical!

Great Grampa Simpson imitation, r200.

[quote] hence the phrase "among people my age" in the post, the implication being "upper middle class people under the age of 40."

Oh, smell [italic]you,[/italic] Mary!

Not trying to start anything here, but has Spencerian script handwriting been taught since the 1920s?

I just watched a documentary on MEMES and it was claimed that many young people (say under 30) feel more comfortable using emojis to communicate their thoughts and feelings, than words.

R205 the interesting thing is, they do communicate quite a lot if you understand them and the person using them. Far more than you can put into a single sentence.

For example, a friend of mine who is in his twenties uses 🙂 (that smiley specifically) to mean "smiling in the face of adversity/stupidity/lameness but I really hate it" or a tolerant/humoring smile, like if someone made a bad joke. It's humoring and also kind of ribbing because I know what it means when he uses it, and he uses it with me because he KNOWS I know what he means by it. It's meta, I guess. But it's something that some random person looking at our texts wouldn't get right away, if at all.

It's interesting because it is one of the more subtle uses of emojis I've encountered, but it condenses so much in one little pictogram.

I’m curious about Ood. Does OP know anything about Ood wood?

I love Acqua Di Gio. Bath & Body Works has a good knock of version called Freshwater which sells for $35. Also Bath & Body Works has a scent called Teakwood that my husband wears from time to time and I love it.

The best one is Mont Blanc....pricey but amazing.

R209 I’m really liking Mont Blanc Explorer.

[quote]Sorry [R189] and [R190], but anyone under 40 (and over 14) wearing anything stronger than a scented deodorant will be mocked mercilessly by their friends.

I actually live in Portland, and I know a straight guy about 30 who was very into colognes and actually created one for himself when he couldn't find what he liked. He got LOTS of compliments from women all the time, and although the hard-core Portland types obviously weren't interested, there were plenty of guys his age who were impressed.

I think more younger guys would be willing to consider colognes if they were more exposed to them and had more experience with them (and had the disposable income to buy them). I'm 56, I've never used cologne and this entire thread is pretty intimidating to me - where would you even start?

I know young guys who wear cologne and none of them are mocked unless they are drowning themselves in it

[QUOTE]I'm 56, I've never used cologne and this entire thread is pretty intimidating to me - where would you even start?

Go to the Men's Cologne counter at Macy's or some other retailer & get some samples to try out. Also, less is more as in don't drown yourself in the stuff !!

To the idiot who keeps denigrating Portland and claiming no one wears scent here:

Despite the popular myth, Portland isn't entirely composed of twentysomething hipsters and slackers. There are in fact many actual businesspeople who work here, as well as all kinds of other professional people, white-collar and blue-collar: doctors, lawyers, tinkers, tailors, soldiers, sailors. Some of them do in fact wear cologne. You can go to gay bars here (Stag, Crush, Embers, Silverado, etc.) and smell scent on men.

I know because unlike you (obviously), [bold]I actually live here,[/bold] and I go to those places, and I often smell scent on men when I do. Even on men younger than 30. Not as much as I did in the past, but many still wear it.

The old Eau Savage was the first cologne I owned. Loved it but the formula now is terrible.

Over the years have been a fan of Aqua Di Parma. Annick Goutal's Eau d'Hadrien and Lorenzo Villoresi's Piper Nigrum, among others.

Currently using Escentric Molecule Molecule 01 but it's an odd one. I rarely notice it. Every so often I'll get a whiff of it on me or my clothes but apart from that nothing. However, I am constantly asked about it (in a very positive way). I think it's very clean smelling and that's the appeal. Body chemistry has a big part in whether or not it works.

M7 by YSL!

This thread reeks of tired old queens still working at macy's.

I’m sick of the “retail queen” hate. I started at Bebe in my senior year of high school and now oversee 4 regional stores.

That makes you the Mother of All Retail Queens, R219

I love Muglers Angel for men

No one wants to smell you. Reeking of scents is considered low-class.

R222 Your mommy tells you that as she cleans your room, sonny? Still looking for a job with your Ph.D that you can’t afford the student loans on?

[quote]Reeking of scents is considered low-class.

I don't use scents but this is a bizarre statement and obviously untrue unless you live in remotest Flyoverstan (where "scents" usually means Axe).

The original Eau Savage (which translates into "Wild Water") despite all the bloviating descriptions of it, predominantly just smells like cinnamon imo. Not something I would use in hot/humid summer months.

R224 Touché. AKA Lynx in other markets. They're like bad car air freshener. I wish we had more nicely perfumed people amongst us.

R225 Certainly your sniffer is off. The predominant note is very clean citrus, almost like pure lemon oil. I detected no cinnamon whatsoever, and wore it for years.

[227] It could be that [225] is thinking of Sauvage (2015) not Eau Sauvage (1966) - they are completely different as you know. I discovered Eau Sauvage in 1972 - it was a wonderful citrus based essence that has been neutered over the years. I have both - Eau Sauvage is the juice that still evokes memories of my youth (the scent as fleeting as my youth was) and Sauvage which has a more spicy theme and is nothing like the original. I also have Eau Sauvage Parfum (2012 version) which is nothing like the 1966/current formula. It is a very rich, heavy scent that I have grown to enjoy and is no longer available. I have a few other Dior Fragrances as well but Eau Sauvage will always be one of my favorites!

And, beneath it all, a full-body head-to-toe layer of Jean Nate.

R228 Possibly he is calling it wrong, as L'eau not involved in the name of the new formulation. Since you seem to have an alike nose, and are fond of Dior, did or do you like Fahrenheit? I didn't at first, but it grew on me after my father began wearing it. It seems like a controversial scent for many. I must say I rather like the new Sauvage. My mum gave it to me as a gift, and I like the deo too.

^R227

HATED Fahrenheit. A friend stopped wearing it, it gave so many people a migraine.

Cheers - [230] - I did explore (and obtained a bottle) of Farenheit back when it was the Fragrance De Jour. I recall it was rather spicy - more so than Obesssion but less so that Joop! The other Dior fragrance that I really like is Dior Homme Cologne - it is very fresh and bright with a prominent citrus theme that I really enjoy. The sillage is acceptable and the longevity are quite good for a cologne - at least for me. It's no Eau Sauvage but a worthwhile fragrance that I don't regret obtaining.

If you want really a fresh and bright scent you might want to investigate Le Labo Bergamote 22. I got a sample and then obtained a 3.4oz bottle which is worth every penny (27,500 to be exact). Pricey for sure but, being a parfum, the longevity exceeds most other citrus based fragrances. It is a great mood lifter and smells so refreshing with just a spritz or two.

R233 I am fond of the Bergamote, the Santal too in winter or fall. The Le Labo all have stamina. They are most definitely worth it. Nothing does approximate the original Eau Savage, other than the original Armani Pour Homme, as I had recommended upthread. I'm keen on both the "altered" Guerlain Vetiver, and Carven's Vetyver for summer.

I have tried eight different Le Labo men's fragrances... Not a one was decent, i.e., not long-lasting and fading after a while into something off-putting. I really wanted to like them, too.

I stick with a few varieties of Tom Ford and Creed now.

I’m working on a gay men’s cologne now. It’s called P&P......but it doesn’t stand for what you think it does.

R235 I think it comes down to individual chemistry, and skin type, oily, dry, etc. I'm fond of Tom Ford Grey Vetiver, and the Lavender Palm, yet the others didn't work for me... especially the heavier scents.

Encre Noire is surely on one of the best vetivers.

Cheers R238.... I'll sniff it out! From the name, I'm imagining woody, more root heavy vetiver, rather than any citrus topnotes...?

Encre Noire is divisive but it you have a perfect suit it kicks it over. NIGHT wear.

Its cheap and perfect. There are at least 40 cheap incredible scents on the market.

Thanks for many great recommendations in this thread, I'm definitely gonna pick up a few.

I thought joop was too sweet.

I also like citrus cents. Savage (dior) I am on 2nd bottle, I also love Chanel Bleu (I'm on my 4th, so many compliments and asking what scent etc).

I like Acqu Di Pama's bergamotto di calabria but the scent fades fast.

R238, does it last or fades fast?

Acqua Di Parmas are all delicious and classy but do not last on most people. They are luxury cologne waters.

Encre Noire is a designer bomb. Test it before you buy it.

Eight and Bob

I like biodegradable and cruelty-free brand. My favorite is Pacifica.

Another very nice one.

Those are women's perfumes, not men's colognes.

BUT THEY ARE CRUELTY FREE!!!

Michelle Pfeiffer made some cruelty free fragrances. Most of them are unisex.

I spray the tiniest spritz of the Pacifica scents — so that I can smell it, but essentially no one else can.

My first ever “cologne“ was when I was 10 or 11. I wanted it because the hot guy in my school kept a bottle in his school desk. It was called Aquaman by Rochas

[234] - I have Santal 33 too - really like it - lasts for hours but can overpower if generously applied. I've tried many samples of Le Labo (vetiver 46, patchouli 24 , Tonka 25 (hated it!) and Ylang 49). I did buy a 1.7oz size of Ylang 49 - it's a bit flowery/feminine but I really like it for some reason. They now have City Exclusives (for September purchase only via their site) but the price is nearly 50% higher than for their regular line.

I did explore and obtain a bottle of Armani Pour Homme - the current version. The many reviews stated it was similar to Eau Sauvage so I had to try it. It is very similar but still falls below Eau Sauvage in category and desire to wear. Still, a nice gentlemanly fragrance that I like.

If you want to try a tobacco themed fragrance there is of course Tobacco Vanille (Tom Ford), Herod by Parfums de Marly and Pure Havanne by Thierry Mugler. If I had to choose only two fragrances from my collection it would be Eau Sauvage and Tobacco Vanille.

By Day- I am exclusively FOREVER KRYSTLE

By Night- I am exclusively SCOUNDREL by Joan Collins

Hey now, Scoundrel is great: a dry, soapy, oakmoss-loaded chypre with a strong raspberry note. It reminds me of vintage Ivoire de Balmain.

Then why don't you come see me sometime, big boy!

My husband swear by YSL, but i am partial to Jo Malone. A bit more expensive, but you do not need to use nearly as much.

Cool Water is the only fragrance I've worn since 1990. Fresh, citrusy, not aggressive and not overly expensive.

I think my bottle of Cool Water may have gone over or my body chemistry has changed. I wore it recently. Instead of being citrusy, it smelled a bit metallic.

Bandit by Robert Piguet is an extremely masculine leather even though it's marketed to women.

Jolie Madame by Balmain, by the same perfumer who created Bandit, is also very masculine despite the girly name. Very similar to vintage Grey Flannel.

Im obsessed with aloe cucumber smells right now, any recommendations for something with these notes that doesn't smell like a mall?

r262, have you tried this?

Secretions Magnifiques by Etat Libre d’Orange

I hate cucumber fragrances. I don't know why because I like lighter la'fragrance.

I sprayed on an Italian drugstore vetiver this afternoon, I'm in bed now and can still smell a delicious dirty vetiver. Bravo. Colognes don't need to be expensive to be good.

Bulgari and Tsar

Chanel for Men

I'm enjoying Colonia Club by Acqua di Parma. I love the scent and I get compliments and guys want to know which cologne I'm wearing. It's the only A di P scent that comes in a green bottle.

I also like Aventus and Bois du Portugal by Creed.

As others have commented, I wear scents to please myself. I have about 8 or 9 bottles that I rotate by season and day and night. Now that I'm over 40 and doing well for myself, I can afford the more expensive scents, but I still go for some department store designer colognes. It's all good if the scent is good.

Please limit yourself to one spray only, doesn't matter if you can no longer smell it, you are around yourself all day and you will become blind to the smell unless you bath in it.

R270 Rotating them, not wearing the same every day prevents one becoming immune to them too. I don't think we all need to limit ourselves to just one spritz.

Tonight I've splashed on the French supermarket Eau de Cologne Mont St Michel Ambrée. Very pleasant 4 euros. I expect it will fade to nothing within the hour.

I just ordered a bottle of this for a couple euros. I had never heard of it. It's a huge bottle. I bet it's decent. I always have a huge bottle of 4711 to splash on.

I forgot to mention that all the Creed scents are eau de perfumes, not eau de toilette or cologne. That's why the price is steep.

Have any of you watched Jeremy Fragrance on youtube? He's informative and can be a stiff or a laugh. He has some great reviews if you're interested in a particular scent. He's German and a model. Good looking, but not my type.

R273, That's one of my favorite scents.

Tonight I'm wearing this for the first time. Another old (1967), and Italian, Chypre still available in pharmacies.

Paul Sebastian

Semen

Creed Aventus. So many people stop me and ask what it is and a little goes a long way. It will last a while.

Like minds, R277

Tonight it's this. The bottle is very handsome and the scent is high quality barbershop, complex, old fashioned, mature.

Find it for cheap and have a sniff yourself.

Today I wore lady perfume, and I'm no lady! A guilty pleasure. I did housework wearing a wife-beater and Birkenstocks.

I live in a humid/hot climate and Im having a tough time finding stuff I like, so I dont wear anything most of time. Most of the things I smell are just way too heavy and made for the cold weather.

Grapefruit by Jo Malone R283. Solved.

Gentlemen by Givenchy

I love Amen , Angel for men by Mugler

Ralph Lauren Polo is nice.

Issey Miyaki

[quote] I also wonder how well my olfactory senses will be holding up after sniffing my fourth or fifth scent.

R12 either gather scent samples to take home and test them with a cup of steaming black coffee on hand to sniff between samples, or take a little bag or handful of coffee beans with you to inhale as you test at the counter (you'll look crazy, but you're going for that). Coffee molecules fill and crowd out other scents in the nose.

r284, I tried Jo Malone cucumber earl grey recently. It is a lovely scent but the dry down was too old lady for me. But I will continue experimenting with their stuff as they seem to have the right scents for warmer weather.

Green Irish Tweed

Ugh at the Cool Water people. It's a favorite of my drunk, miserly, arriviste Boomer uncle who tried to extort his own mother.

[quote]Old school one, now discontinued is Prada (shit I forget the name) Maybe Prada L'Homme? It is in a rectangular bottle, and it smells like classy SOAP!!! I have never worn anything like it- but it is wonderful. Nothing like I normally wear. It was from around 2007- It came out right after the first Prada for Men (far too musky and manly for me)

Prada Amber Pour Homme—I'm wearing it as I type!

Today I'm wearing Quorum Silver. You can find this for 15-20 bucks. It smells like blowing a sweaty healthy college jock in a lumberyard. Heaven.

R293- No- That one your wearing is a the very masculine and very first Prada fragrance for Men

Mine is the one that came after You used my quote!!)

Hold on let me find a link, I am so lazy.

Found it. My bottle is an original from 2008, and I thought they discontinued this... Now this link makes me think Prada brought it back??

Sorry R293- I think you were referring to my last line!!! You manly and musky MAN!!!! Hot.

[quote] Grapefruit by Jo Malone [R283]. Solved.

^ This

Never been s big a big cologne person either, OP. But Jo Maline and Le Labo (Santal) have changed me.

Jo Malone has some great (unisex) scents. I travel and use a variety depending on where I am (citrus for hotter climes and heavier for cooler ones).

Many, many compliments and guys (& gals) asking what I'm wearing....

Ugh, typing on a train with auto correct: * never been A big....Jo Malone....

It means you showered before hand, and cleaned your hole out. It's actually a nice scent.

R297- I recommended Grapefruit above,,,I love all the Jo Malone citrus scents- Grapefruit, Orange Blossom-, and I LOVE the Wood Sage and Sea Salt Scent-

Lime Basil and Mandarin is an oldie but a goodie.

To tack on some comments about grapefruit scents. Grapefruit, itself, is a rather strange thing. You can't eat grapefruit if you use certain prescription medicines. I love it, but have to choose between eating or, or taking my high blood pressure medicine, so it always feels riskiy. There aren't that many foods like that. Anyway, Caron's Alpona is based on grapefruit, but it's a rich and full scent, not citrusy at all. On the other hand, Guerlain's Agua Allegoria Pamplelune is all about the grapefruit, and it's really dazzling, but it's a bitch to wear. I can wear it sometimes, but there are other times I have to wash it off, because it isn't reacting well to my body chemistry. It's the very definition of a moody fragrance. It's spectacular, but it might slap you in the face. I'm a Scorpio, so I don't mind a slap in the face.

Thank you, R300!

Love all the ones that you mention!

Wood Sage and Sea Salt! I appreciate wearing it now in Autumn and while on the sea. One colleague (an interventional gastroenterologist) correctly identified the sage and asked where he could purchase it. (Bwah haha....he has a nose for scents. Important in his line of work.)

And I wear all the others you mention when going to isles, or in the summer! Great ones! Thanks.

R36 R293 R295

This is the Prada Milano I wore back in 2012. It smelt amazing. However I think it’s discontinued as the bottles look completely different now and don’t smell the same either.

Evening In Poland

always gets rave reviews

R295 here, YES R303, that is my cologne! It has the bottle top that has an almost white fabric around it-

LOVE THIS STUFF. Just seen, soapy goodness..

You can still get old bottles on eBay, and the shower gel was THE BEST.

I figured that bottle I linked my have actually been a "reintroduction". But I guess not...

Timbuktu

My absolute favourite

So many are so watered down, nowadays. Even Guerlain. Smells fine but a few hours and it's gone.

Yves Saint Laurent L'Homme

Whats it like R308?

Spicy and all that? I hate it.

Let me look it up!

Oooohhhhh. Just the opposite!!!!

It came out nearly 20 years ago, and I'm not sure if it's still being made, but the original Zirh cologne was really nice. Very simple, fresh, and clean.

Expanding on R308, La Nuit de L’Homme might be the sexiest cologne ever.

Dior Homme Intense

YSL Kouros (vintage)

Elsha 1776 Russian Leather

Caron Yatagan

Gucci Pour Homme (sadly discontinued)

Amouage Gold Man

Boucheron Jaïpur Pour Homme

Guerlain Habit Rouge

Jöntürk, by Ypir. I've only seen it in Izmir, Bodrum, Beirut and Genève,

Best men's colognes that are women's colognes:

Caron Tabac Blond

Molinard Habanita

Ypir's scents are awesome!

where can I find out more about Ypir's scents?

also, thanks for the recommendation r294, I just got some of the Quorum Silver and I love it!

Vera Wang for Men. Handsome, beautiful, clean, strikes just the right note of freshness. I get lots of compliments on it.

R319 I'm glad you like it. I gave a bottle to my straight brother as well. It does not give me longevity but the scent is unique. And you - does it last?

It's dried down of course, but for me it's lasting over six hours, r321

I'm getting old. Very few scents last on my skin. Tonight I'm wearing Zino by Davidoff, a very nice, forgotten fougère cheapo that survives its reformulation. I wonder what the charge for it in their gorgeous shops, nowadays. On the Internet in Europe, it's very inexpensive.

Brooklyn shop:

Mitsouko

like Vaslav Nijinsky , Serge de Diaghilev, Charlie Chaplin and Jean Harlow...

Can you buy any of these at Nordstrom’s?

No R325, but you can get them at your local Bradlees, Zayre, and Caldor!

^^^We don’t have those stores in the West Coast, I think.

They went out of business decades ago, dear. People are having you on.

Adidas Champions. Cost a few shekels and smell great.

Tonight I'm wearing Habit Rouge. EDP. It's the best old one around, as sold in it's current formulation, beautifully done. Not for a young man, though!

Tonight it was Caron Pour un Homme, first formulated in 1934! It survived all reformations, miraculously,. Can be found for 30-60 bucks. A steal at 30.

Today it was Amouage Figment. Well my dears, this is not for wussies. It smells like you meet 2 guys in the Meat Rack in the rain and one is wearing Kuoros, and the other, his mother's Patou, and there are a dirty gym sock popper vapors, and your face is schmushed into the dirt while they tag team your ass, which wasn't dirty but not sparkling clean, either.

I wear Prada L’Homme. It’s divine, and people often ask what aftershave I’m wearing, which hasn’t happened with other fragrances I’ve worn. However, it’s yet to get me laid. To be fair, it’s probably my looks and personality that are putting men off, not what I smell like,

I wear Prada L’Homme. It’s divine, and people often ask what aftershave I’m wearing, which hasn’t happened with other fragrances I’ve worn. However, it’s yet to get me laid. To be fair, it’s probably my looks and personality that are putting men off, not what I smell like,

Capucci Homme - it will last 1 hour and fade while I fall off to sleep. Unusual designer. Forgotten nowadays?

Paco Rabanne Pour Homme EDT - the current formulation. This isn't what it was, 70s-90s, but it has some interesting funk to the soapiness and lasts longer than many others, nowadays.

I like Chanel Bleu.

Tonight I'm wearing Opium EDT. The "women's" version. Of course it's unisex but only after the first hour. And only after 1 hour is it delicious. The first hour is a rough ride for men, though I do love carnation.

Gucci's latest, Memoire.

Or SPAZTASTIC by Hugo Boss

R339- Do you like the new Gucci?

I was going to buy myself some for Christmas the reviews have been so-so.

I read it is basically Chamomile

Make your own, instead of using commercial crap!

And the hell with alcohol; make it oil based!

Try this formula:

Mix: 15ml Fractionated Coconut Oil, 10 drops Bergamot Oil, 5 drops Patchouli Oil, 3 drops Cardamom Oil, and 3 drops Virginia Cedarwood Oil.

Aqua velva.

Today I wore Cabochard EDP. This is an old leathery, tobacco smoke perfume from 1959 for women but smells wonderful on men. Can be found cheap and survives somewhat in reformulation. A cousin of Bandit.

Back to Amouage Figment, today. This is really advanced. Today I'm getting fir and camphor and less crypt. It took a lot of balls to put this out and charge a fortune.

I've a clandestine obsession with dusting powders, and I think I'm the only person within a few hundred miles who buys or uses them. I know you can still get them at independent drugstores and at the more olde-time upscale English cosmetics stores like Yardley or Crabtree at a reasonable price, but there aren't many trendy new releases in this fragrance genre (maybe that's a good thing for me, it can stay as my personal hoard). I think Armani did release a pressed powder for SI several years back, and the fake-ethical bath & body company LUSH stock a few scented skin powders that young women seem to buy a lot of (SILK UNDERWEAR & GET CLOSER are the names of those, last I checked). Knowing Avon they probably still kept on making dusting powders but I have no clue where they're at with them.

I don't suppose they'll ever catch on again, will they? They just aren't seen as sexy or chic or attractive anymore, no matter how glamorous they still seem. Their heyday was the '40s-'70s, which was a decent run. And I don't suppose they'll ever take off with men.

For the holidays I'm looking to gift myself a really beautiful old-fashioned one, fine milled and in a glass jar and smelling like a young Countess.

Are you a lady? Anyhoo - Floris does ladies AND gents talcums, still. Quite good.

I think “dusting powders” may suffer the damaged reputation of talc being (naturally) contaminated with asbestos and the carcinogenic element.

^^you're right, the product itself is considered dangerous now. I hadn't really considered that aspect.

R346 thanks for the recommendation! I shall look into Floris, their sandalwood cologne is divine. As for your question, Hal Price once said "there's no such thing as a lady..."

English Leather......smellin it on my frat brother as I blew him, 1969

also British Sterling.....for the rich boys who let u fuk em when they got drunk, out by the river on fri nite...when u fukd em u could smell it on the back of their georgous neck.

R337 I wish Chanel would come up with another classic male scent. I find Bleu and Allure Hommes disappointing. After a while, they all merge into the same nondescript vanilla citrus scent.

Scents from Jo Malone like Wood Sage, Sea Salt or Tom Ford's White Patchouli are miles better. Chanel Antaeus, Egoistie and Pour Monsieur are in a way higher league though.

R243 Cabochard is a classic, as classic a scent as Cuir De Russie. I've tried the latest formulation myself and it's great, a lot like Aramis only with some light florals added. I've recently started wearing a lot of classics, like Kouros and Aramis Concentree.

I know a lot of DLers love to bash classics because of bad associations, but it's mostly because of how they were over applied back in the day, like how Bleu De Chanel is overapplied today. Kouros was the most expensive male scent in the world back when it was released in 1981. Vintage Kouros is better but the modern version, lightly applied is still wonderful.

[quote]Lagerfeld Classic. All you will ever need. I wish I had a nickel for every time I've been stopped by people asking what I'm wearing that smells so good. Have been wearing this classic since the early 80s.

Has the recent reformulation improved things with Lagerfeld? The original 80s (with the art-deco lettering) was a fine thing indeed. The perfume was structured in a geometric way, the same way Chanel structure aldehydes, with the aldehydes at the very edges and warm leather/tobacco notes in the center. It would release different layers of scent throughout the day.

The Coty drug store version I tried several years ago was terrible. Actually, it smelled fairly close in the bottle, but horribly screechy when worn. It was a lurid orange color and was linear from start to finish.

I heard Serge Lutens did a similar scent to old Lagerfeld called Chergui, but that was not close to me. JHL by Aramis is the closest to vintage Lagerfeld, not easy to find but very nice juice, 50% vintage Lagerfeld/50% vintage Opium Pour Femme.

evening in paris…….the smell of my fun granny's bathroom....good times!!!!!

I'm wearing this. It's just gorgeous. I can't stop smelling my skin. When the Italians get everything right. And this is newish - 2017. The nose who created Invictus which is so popular but not for me.

Men who can wear perfume, especially florals, epitomise swagger.

Morris Day & Prince said it back in 1980, and those cats were the epitome of cool...

This Aramis has held up well: manly and almost mouthwatering smell. Well worth 20 bucks. But cheap sprayer.

I have both Cabochard and Bandit and love 'em both. Also Jolie Madame by Balmain (which actually smells a lot like Grey Flannel).

Lately I'm on an Arabian kick. Right now I'm wearing Khurafi by Lattafa, which smells like oud and chocolate. Yum!

I'm wearing Cabochard EDT today. Cheap juice, ash-tray, leather, something a bit sweet. It's very light yet intoxicating.

I just got my sister a sampler pack from Perfumista as a Christmas gift. Waiting to see if it comes intact and as I ordered..

can someone explain fougère?

Today it's a Spanish house, Angel Schlesser, and the scent is Oriental Soul. Very pleasant. Odd to use the word "oriental" nowadays, but I guess a Spanish maker naming something in English in 2013....

R360 you know there are ways to find information on the Internet.....

R361 rugs are Oriental; people are Asian.

Italian drugstore cheapies. This one is catchy.

today Ted Lapidus, 1987. A beast that has not been tamed.

I just bought Acqua di Parma, Colonia Intensa and Colonia Club. so good!

“Leslie Lapidis could say ‘fuck’ but she couldn’t do it”

I wore Opium (womens EDP) to a party last night. Spritzed my legs 2 times so it wasn't at nose level. CARNATION

I know people noticed but it was hard to place the source. None of these old scents, reformulated, smell good for 30 minutes, but they are great, after. Shalimar as well.

Battistoni Marte - from Rome, circa 80s. Oh my lord this has survived intact, and it is low priced if you can find it.

Lothair by Penhaligon's

Floris Cefiro

Maybe with Brexit Floris and Penhaligon's prices will come down.