A total newbie is ordering 6 cologne samples. Which ones should he start with?

[Studdg]

What is the goal here? To allow the individual to figure out what cologne types he likes in a short time period, at minimal cost.

How much can these samples cost? It would be nice to keep the cost under $20 since many great fragrances can be sampled for ~$3 each.

Why 6? Because 6 scents can be fairly critiqued within 1 week, 6 good samples could be ordered from the same vendor, and 6 samples keeps the preference discovery costs down. Wish I could give 6 reasons, but there are really only 3.

How can I recommend the entire Creed product line with only 6 samples? Rumor has it that there are good colognes out there not made by Creed. Oh, and we're trying to keep the costs down.

Finally, please refrain from just listing your favorites. That is another thread for another day.

These are on my list:

Guerlain Vetiver - Classic Vetiver with easy to find samples.
Davidoff Cool Water - Classic aquatic with easy to find samples.
T&H or Trumper's Spanish Leather - Classic leathery scents, although your sample supplier will have to be the company that makes it. The samples are cheap though.
SCS Bay Rum with a Twist - Not a pure scent, but the initial scent will let you know if you like smelling limey, and in another hour or two you'll be familiar with the smell of Bay Rum.

[Christoph]

I love everything from T&H, and anything Vetiver is nice. Never been a big fan of cool water. Anyway, sounds like you're off to a good start. But its tempting NOT to simply list my favs

[Studdg]

The list actually isn't for me, although it would have helped me last month. I just thought this would be helpful to others.

Cool Water is on my "colognes I don't like" list too. It is a good representative of its class though.

[Doc4]

If possible, I'd suggest going to a decent department store or similar outlet where they have cologne testers. Spray a few, and a few more, and then you get an idea of what you like.

At that point, you can
a) just buy the stuff, or
b) get samples of the stuff for lengthier tests, or
c) get decants of the stuff for lengthier-ier tests, or
d) ask your good buddies at B&B "what smells like XXXX but is better?" and then buy whatever Penhaligon's or Floris is most commonly suggested.

[mttafire]

I've never heard of buying a "sample"?
Just goto the store and get one. If the s.a. doesnt have one they'll make you up one.
1. Vetiver 48
2. GIT
3. Vintage Tabarome
4. Baie de Geniviere (spell?)
5 Bois du Portugal tie Royal English Leather
Yep they are all Creed but thats the list i have.
I've found that Royal english Leather and Vetiver 48 is VERY VERY versatile.
I could come up with a ton of others but those are pretty much wearable by anyone.

[Storm]

Types:

Sweet - Endy, SCS New Spice
Citrus -
Aquatic -
Leathery - Spanish Leather?
Earthy - Vetiver

I'll let others build on that, and then post what they'd consider the "ultimate" of that type.

[JayKay]

I have to say that I dislike most of the old style colognes. I prefer the newer stuff. Check out sephora because they have a great selection. Also the department stores because they have tons of free samples. If you go to the GFT website and order the sample package for 6$ you get about 6 samples of cologne and everything else they make. a real great value. Also, email T&H and they will send you a nice envelope of shave cream, ASB, pre-shave oil, and a nice package of their colognes.

[RichmondR]

Since you are getting Cool Water, it might be interesting for you to get a sample of Creed Green Irish Tweed as I believe Cool Water may have been derived from GIT. It is Creed's most popular fragrance, so it should be easy to obtain a sample, possibly even for free, and you can compare the more linear drydown of Cool Water to the multi-level drydown of GIT. Another very well respected house that isn't discussed much on these boards is Serge Lutens, who has some really incredible scents that are even more distinctive than Creed and has apparently won many awards. Daim Blonde is one of their more popular fragrances.

Another approach would be to go to theperfumedcourt.com and get one of their sampler packs, or you could just order your selected samples from them.

[Studdg]

[QUOTE=RichmondR;533232]Since you are getting Cool Water, it might be interesting for you to get a sample of Creed Green Irish Tweed as I believe Cool Water may have been derived from GIT. QUOTE]

The goal is to get a sample of different types of scents. Stage 2 would be exploring the genres of cologne that you like.

[RichmondR]

Studdg -- Fair enough. One classification that hasn't been mentioned yet are Chypre scents. Some of the most famous of these include Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentree and Guerlain's Mitsouko. These start with a bit of Citrus and then get a bit woodsy from what I recall. Like Guerlain's Vetiver, these represent an "older school" of men's fragrances that avoid vanilla and other very sweet smelling accords. Very, very classic. I have no idea how old you are, but even younger guys can smell really impressive (not to mention different from their fruity-smelling peer group) with these fragrances, so one of them is maybe worth a try.

[Doc4]

Studdg -- Fair enough. One classification that hasn't been mentioned yet are Chypre scents. Some of the most famous of these include Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentree and Guerlain's Mitsouko. These start with a bit of Citrus and then get a bit woodsy from what I recall. Like Guerlain's Vetiver, these represent an "older school" of men's fragrances that avoid vanilla and other very sweet smelling accords. Very, very classic. I have no idea how old you are, but even younger guys can smell really impressive (not to mention different from their fruity-smelling peer group) with these fragrances, so one of them is maybe worth a try.

There is a big difference in how much you will have to pay for one of this style of cologne. Some are very expensive, but others are chypre.

[Isaias]

Work in progress

Spoiler:

Of each 12 samples I get I only end up liking 1. And I know what I like. When I started out I had to try 17 before I actually knew what was best for me and even then The EDTAD bit me and hard. 6 is not even enough to know the families of scents.

First you have to know: heavy Medium or light
Heavy: Woods, Orientals, Gourmands
MEdium: Fougere, Greens.
Light: Florals, Aquatic.

Then you have to know the families.
Woods. Gucci PH or Polo Green.
Oriental. Fahrenheit, Lime Aoud.
Leathers: Santos, English Leather.
Gourmand/Sweet: Angel, Rochas Man, Santana, Bvlgari Black.

Green. Mugler Cologne or Bulgary PH
Fougere. Cool Water, Blenheim Bouquet
Aromatic. Platinum Egoiste, Ungaro III.

Aquatic. Get the T&H Sampler Pack and smell Acqua di Gio.
Floral. Grey Flannel, Aqua di PArma, HAmma Bouquet.

Of course there may be more. Different people use different classifications.

Citric, Lathers and Fruits belong to different Genres. And then there are the combinations! Floral-Aromatic C&S 88, Floral-Woods Rose 31, Aromatic-Fruit Varvatos...

[sartoris]

Sweet - Escape by Calvin Klein
Citrus - Happy by Clinique
Grassy - Bowling Green by Geoffrey Beene
Summertime - Guess for Men by Guess
Earthy - Eau d'Occitan EDT by L'Occitane

All affordable-ish.

[jeasley]

please give yourself more than a week to sample......this will be a lifelong exploration.

[RichmondR]

There is a big difference in how much you will have to pay for one of this style of cologne. Some are very expensive, but others are chypre.

Cute, very cute.