Wet shaving is bad enough, now obsessed with fragrance, where to start?!?!

**Quintar** · 07-05-2012, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by jakespoppy

Umm, Schad, you don't have any affiliation with Dior that you might need to disclose, do you?

he is making me curious to smell dior homme though...looking over my notes I have not smelled a lot from dior, eau sauvage and edp, leather oud, farenheit and eau noire. guess i need to give them some more attention

**Matt555** · 07-05-2012, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by Quintar

he is making me curious to smell dior homme though...looking over my notes I have not smelled a lot from dior, eau sauvage and edp, leather oud, farenheit and eau noire. guess i need to give them some more attention

I have actually smelled Dior Homme and think it is quite boring. It is very highly reviewed by Youtubers and some on Basenotes. Nothing special to me though. I am actually not sure I would even wear it if it was free.

**skleice** · 07-05-2012, 06:14 PM

Well, today I took a trip to the local mall where we have a Sephora, Macy's and a generic perfume shop. I've always had this notion that fragrance shops are kind of snooty and thought I'd feel very uncomfortable, as I'm less experienced with this stuff. It turns out that I was very wrong. The people I dealt with were all very pleasant and extremely helpful. They quickly showed me more samples based on what I liked/didn't like. Though I don't get the experience of wearing the scent for a while, it does save from having to order a bunch of decants. I look forward to my next visit.

Most likely will purchase:

**skleice** · 07-05-2012, 06:20 PM

Well, today I took a trip to the local mall where we have a Sephora, Macy's and a generic perfume shop. I've always had this notion that fragrance shops are kind of snooty and thought I'd feel very uncomfortable, as I'm less experienced with this stuff. It turns out that I was very wrong. The people I dealt with were all very pleasant and extremely helpful. They quickly showed me more samples based on what I liked/didn't like. Though I didn't get the experience of wearing the scent for a while, it does save from having to order a bunch of decants. I look forward to my next visit.

Most likely will purchase:
Bleu de Chanel - not a incredibly unique scent as it's advertised, but very clean and fresh and useful in many situations.
Terre d'hermes - very complex and interesting scent, yet not offensive imo.

These frags were nice, but didn't totally blow my skirt up:
Allure Homme Sport
Dior Homme
Aqua di Gio
Dolce & Gabbana Homme
Burberry London

Hated:
La Nuit de l'Homme - too sweet for me
A*Men
Le Male

**Matt555** · 07-05-2012, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by skleice

Though I didn't get the experience of wearing the scent for a while, it does save from having to order a bunch of decants. I look forward to my next visit.

No! Halt! Stop! Don't! I am sure that most people here will agree with me, that buying a bottle because you like the way it smelled at the store will surely disappoint at least half the time. A decant allows you to wear it for several days to decide if you really like it. I cannot tell you how many times I have smelled a fragrance at a store on paper or even my skin and loved it, and then hated ti once I began to wear it. Decants truly are the way to go. If you wear it 5-10 days and still love it, then spring for the bottle. Just my 2 cents.

**StylinLA** · 07-05-2012, 10:25 PM

Originally Posted by Matt555

No! Halt! Stop! Don't! I am sure that most people here will agree with me, that buying a bottle because you like the way it smelled at the store will surely disappoint at least half the time. A decant allows you to wear it for several days to decide if you really like it. I cannot tell you how many times I have smelled a fragrance at a store on paper or even my skin and loved it, and then hated ti once I began to wear it. Decants truly are the way to go. If you wear it 5-10 days and still love it, then spring for the bottle. Just my 2 cents.

He speaks true! Many frags in my collection that would not be there had I done this. The in-store impression is "danger Will Robinson" territory (now how many people here get that reference? ) In store can give you an idea of what you might like to sample further.

If you just don't want to hassle with ordering decants then at the very least- spray some on in store and walk awy for at least an hour. See how it is sitting on you after an hour. Then decide. It's not the same as a full wear for a couple of days, but you'll get a peek at how it develops and wears on you. I'm fanatical about "legs." I like frags that will last all day and then some. YMMV

**Greek Trojan** · 07-05-2012, 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by StylinLA

He speaks true! Many frags in my collection that would not be there had I done this. The in-store impression is "danger Will Robinson" territory (now how many people here get that reference? ) In store can give you an idea of what you might like to sample further.

If you just don't want to hassle with ordering decants then at the very least- spray some on in store and walk awy for at least an hour. See how it is sitting on you after an hour. Then decide. It's not the same as a full wear for a couple of days, but you'll get a peek at how it develops and wears on you. I'm fanatical about "legs." I like frags that will last all day and then some. YMMV

Great advice. Since you are new, fragrances generally smell different for the first 30-60 mins than they do throughout the next several hours (which is what you should care about since the beginning only lasts during the car ride). Definitely give some of the ones you liked a few hours to test but decants are still a good idea. Lots of fragrances can vary widely from the beginning to the drydown (aka after the first burst). For example it seems like you didn't like sweet fragrances but often times they start out very sugary sweet and become mellower/more complex after the beginning.

**jakespoppy** · 07-06-2012, 07:11 AM

This analogy may not work, but for me picking a cologne is like dating. A spray on paper in the store is like recognizing she's a girl. Spraying it on and wearing it for an hour is like realizing she's attractive. Wearing it for a full day is like a first date. It's usually not until several dates that you know that you want to spend a lot of time with this person. Of course, there are the exceptions, the "love at first sight" experience that lasts, and there are also those where it doesn't seem it's going to work out that eventually become the love of your life.

This is why I like to get a large enough sample or decant that I can get past the first date.

Of course, the nice difference is there's no pressure for exclusivity with a cologne.

Okay, this is probably just crazy talk...

**mattnick** · 07-06-2012, 07:55 AM

Everybody has added great advice. Bleu de Chanel and Terre de Hermes are both very nice scents, luckily they are both available at sephora. If you ask the SA nicely, they'll send you home with samples of the two, enough for at least 4-5 wears. If you still love them after 5 wears you'll have a better idea if you want enough for a full bottle or not.

Good luck and have fun!

**Matt555** · 07-06-2012, 09:15 AM

Also, decants from Archefire (a vendor on this site) are very cheap! This site http://www.checkitoutone.com/ has many very reasonably priced decants as well. A few sites out there charge an arm and a leg for 1ml or 2ml, but the two I just mentioned offer some very good deals. Checkitout actually has decants of both the fragrances you mentioned an interest in, you have to double check with Archefire, but I don't remember seeing those two on his list. Also, a 10ml decant lasts quite a while (it is 1/3 an oz.)

**Renato1** · 07-06-2012, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by Matt555

I cannot tell you how many times I have smelled a fragrance at a store on paper or even my skin and loved it, and then hated ti once I began to wear it. Decants truly are the way to go. If you wear it 5-10 days and still love it, then spring for the bottle. Just my 2 cents.

That has never happened to me. I've bought numerous bottles and never wound up hating or disliking those that I liked initially. There were two I found cloying after wearing a full day - Nemo and D&G Homme - meaning that I wouldn't wear them unless three weeks had gone by, but I still liked them.

I buy anything going cheap, meaning I've bought a quite a few scents I didn't think much of initially. Oddly enough, with a few days wear, in about half of those cases, I grew to appreciate qualities I'd missed in initial wrist testing.

I agree with your assessment of Dior Homme - I don't dislike it, but never found any compelling reason to buy it.
Regards,
Renato

**FreddyKruegerFace** · 07-18-2012, 06:35 PM

Okay folks my first round of samples came in today and these are my impressions so far of first decant

First up Speick Edt: No secret that I loathe the newer speick edc. I had high hopes for the edt for men and I was not let down! The frag is very similar in my opinion to the speick AS lotion (this is very good!). The edt has a bit of the citrus notes that were overpowering, too sweet, and pungent in the edc; however the citrus notes are very subtle in the edt. Imagine a very mellow bitter orange peel added to the as lotion and that is how the edt smells to me. I sprayed some on wrists and neck before a good work out, then took a shower. The frag was still very much present 2 hrs later. Speick fans need to give the edt a try!

**petr** · 07-20-2012, 07:57 AM

Go to Barney's @ NorthPark Center. Take your time. Smell lots of things. Find out what you like. You don't have to buy anything expensive and you can bring home a bag of samples. Sales people there were amazingly friendly and helpful. Their selection of sandalwood - spice - oud type stuff is enough to keep you busy for hours. They also have some cool shave stuff.

**FreddyKruegerFace** · 07-20-2012, 09:04 AM

Originally Posted by petr

Go to Barney's @ NorthPark Center. Take your time. Smell lots of things. Find out what you like. You don't have to buy anything expensive and you can bring home a bag of samples. Sales people there were amazingly friendly and helpful. Their selection of sandalwood - spice - oud type stuff is enough to keep you busy for hours. They also have some cool shave stuff.

petr, thank you so much I didnt know they had a Barney's there!

Today's test fragrance is D.R. Harris Windsor as recommended to me earlier in the thread. I was a little sceptical at first but the dry down really impressive to me!. After throwing on my uniform and gear for work at 0530 this morning I used one light spray on my left wrist, 2 light sprays on my neck and chest, and 1 on the left elbow crease. I have been outside for most of the day sweating my behind off and the scent is still going strong. I am detecting a strong pepper note along with leather and citrus. EXACTLY what I wanted.

It is not overpowering and pungent, but still easy for little noses to detect and feel refreshed, this is just what a man in uniform needs! Thanks all, I still have a few more to try. I will keep those who helped me updated!

**Matt555** · 07-20-2012, 09:15 AM

Originally Posted by FreddyKruegerFace

petr, thank you so much I didnt know they had a Barney's there!

Today's test fragrance is D.R. Harris Windsor as recommended to me earlier in the thread. I was a little sceptical at first but the dry down really impressive to me!. After throwing on my uniform and gear for work at 0530 this morning I used one light spray on my left wrist, 2 light sprays on my neck and chest, and 1 on the left elbow crease. I have been outside for most of the day sweating my behind off and the scent is still going strong. I am detecting a strong pepper note along with leather and citrus. EXACTLY what I wanted.

It is not overpowering and pungent, but still easy for little noses to detect and feel refreshed, this is just what a man in uniform needs! Thanks all, I still have a few more to try. I will keep those who helped me updated!

I really like DRH Windsor as well. I have only worn it once though and my only complaint is that the longevity was just average. I have 2 decants of it though so I will have to try it a few more times. You can buy a full bottle for a really great price too.