Explain Cologne to me...

[Deuce]

Well... not really cologne I suppose, but how you determine if its a casual, formal, day, night etc... scent? What qualifies that for you?

Up until a few weeks ago, I'd never owned a cologne that wasn't sold to me by one of those girls that shows up at your office with a cardboard box full of bottles . I've since tossed the remnants of those days.

Currently I have only three colognes. Acqua De Gio by Armani, Sandalwood by Elizabeth Arden and Burberry by.. well.. Burberry. Since I am the kind of person who doesn't often wear cologne I don't really want to start a big collection, but wouldn't mind picking up maybe one more for the rotation. Any ideas? I don't really like the Acqua De Gio as much as I thought I would, a little too fruity for me? Sorry, never been much for describing scents. Maybe something a little darker?

Thanks
- Andrew

[crispy]

Hrm, darker eh? Someone chime in with the C&S #88 for Andrew! One of the things I've found that works well is to check out the reviews on Basenotes for the stuff you already like, and find out what the other scents are that are related. I'm not sure if he's still selling it, but you might want to check with Franco on Basenotes, and pick up one of the cheap Penhaligon's samplers (for like 6 bucks or so). Might find something you like in there, and it's nice to have all of them decanted into vials ready to test. Good luck to ya! =)

Chris

[Joedy]

Read and learn about essential oils.

From this enlightenment, you can better judge which fragrances contain the essence of the feeling that you are trying to evoke.

Penhaligon's LP #9 For Men is a classic dressy scent. It has cloves and cinnamon in the ingredients.

If you don't know what these essentials oil smell like, it makes it hard to understand (and guess) as to which fragrances that you might like.

The best place to sample essential oils are local health food stores.

-joedy

[Dennis]

Such a toughy... It is one of those "you never know until you try" kind of things. And, often, what a fragrance smells like in the bottle is not what it smells like on you. Your best bet is to get samples from Truefitt and Hill, Trumpers, Penhaligons, and Floris. Read up on some of the fragrance descriptions both at their sites and at basenotes.net. You can also take a look at the thread here on B&B on your top 5 favorite colognes. You will see a lot of ones over and over again and you can get decants from Scotto, the Decant Club or samples from the companies. That is how I started from not knowing much, and then you will start to learn what you like and what you don't and what works on you. Oh, and don't abuse the free samples. I always wrote back to the company with feedback on the scents and informing them what I was going to buy based on their samples.

Dennis

[Tinzien]

I love Penhaligon's LP #9, hands down it is my go-to scent followed by C&S No. 88.

I found a sample of YSL M7 this morning and I'm giving it a try. It smells rather nice and is a bit on the darker, shadowy side of life to me.

[fuerein]

Well... not really cologne I suppose, but how you determine if its a casual, formal, day, night etc... scent? What qualifies that for you?

Typically you want to stay away from stronger/spicier scents during the day... Think about the person you can smell at the office from a mile away b/c of their cologne/perfume. Do not be them. Lighter scents tend to be more appropriate for work/daytime wear. I think I heard a general rule that the cologne should be really noticable within about a foot of your person, outside that and you can run into problems with people who have alergies to the ingredients in colognes.

Evening colognes can be stronger, here I would say find out what you lady likes (if you have a lady). I mean it never hurts to score points with her by smelling like something she really likes. But yeah, I say stronger scents should be reserved for evening.

As for casual/formal. In that case I would say it depends more on the event. In situations where people are going to forced to be near you for long periods (think going to the movies, a play, etc.) I would stay with lighter scents whether it is formal or casual. If the other people are not going to be directly around you or they have more ability to move around AKA away from you (a dinner at a formal restuarant, a trip to the mall, etc) stronger scents are allowable.

Thats just my opinion on the matter though.

[jduffy]

www.basenotes.net helps a lot. It can be kind of nuts with personal bias and some ugly comments about scents, but it's a pretty good starting point. As well as the reviews here which tend be less dramatic.

I'm starting out as well with scents. I use Old Spice a lot. it's pretty good stuff for the price and always does well in reviews. Someone here got me going with it as they told me, "You're old man wore so if it was good enough for him, why not you?"

Just like shaving, enjoy the journey of scents.

[jallen013]

since you're already a fan of the burberry cologne line and are looking for something a bit "darker" you may consider trying burberry's new "london" scent.

[Deuce]

Think about the person you can smell at the office from a mile away b/c of their cologne/perfume. Do not be them. Lighter scents tend to be more appropriate for work/daytime wear.

Evening colognes can be stronger, here I would say find out what you lady likes (if you have a lady). I mean it never hurts to score points with her by smelling like something she really likes.

My office is pretty casual, so I don't generally worry about wearing anything into work. As far as the Lady part.. just got off the phone, got lucky enough to land a date with the one I really want to spend some time around. Possibly we will discuss scents on the second date. assuming there is one Wish me luck!
Basenotes has been a big help, if you take the reviews all with a grain of salt. I think I'll look around for some sampler paks to determine the next scent added to the rotation! Thanks for all your help guys!
- Andrew