Scents or nonscents?

Spanish Fly all the time. Just kidding.

I've never been big on cologne. I've always stuck to Gillette aftershaves. I used to use a scent called Pacific Light, which was discontinued. Unfortunate because it's what I wore when I first met my wife and she still wishes I wore it. These days, I stick to a basic scent called Cool Wave.

 

THAT stuff is fantastic, wicked. Good call.

 

Using a little blend of oils is actually a great way to go instead of cologne.

The way to do it is first pick an odorless or near-odorless oil to use as a base. I like almond oil for this. Then, mix in a small amount of some essential oils.

For the essential oils, I like to use a blend of wood oil (sandalwood most of the time, occasionally cedar or something else) with either a citrus oil (bergamot or tangerine...don't like orange since it's too much like a "food" smell) or a floral oil (can't be too sweet...lavender and jasmine can be used but ylang ylang and most other common floral oils are too sweet for a guy.) I like to use a 3:1 ratio when mixing wood oils with citrus and a 4:1 ratio when mixing wood oils with floral. My favorite is a 3:1 sandalwood and bergamot combination. Add a small amount of the essential oil mix to the base oil and there you go, a cheap, natural and semi-homemade alternative to cologne.

BTW, be sure to get essential oils, not the "perfume" oils which come in little bottles like essential oils but are a very different and inferior product.

 

Gotta blame my ex from two birthdays back for buying it. Yeah, I like it.

Haven't used it much lately, but I will be buying more when I run out.

 

What IJAG said about the same fragrance smelling different on people is very true. Everyone's body chemistry is different so the fragrance oils will react different.

A cologne spray is going to last longer than an aftershave splash. Cologne is for fragrance only, aftershave helps close and tighten the pores after shaving. Aftershave gels/lotions, many of them, have moisturizing qualities in addition to skin treatment technology (reduce the appearance of wrinkles, even out skin tone), so it helps to read the label on those.

When trying fragrance, do not sample more than three at a time -- your nose will shut down from overload -- and allow at least an hour for the bottom note to emerge. (Fragrance has three notes -- the top-note, what you smell out of the bottle; the mid-note, what you smell after ten to twenty minutes; and the bottom-note, the fragrance you smell after an hour and what lingers.)

Layering fragrance does not make you smell like a French whorehouse, but gives the fragrance lasting power. Layering fragrance would include body wash, lotion, deodorant and powder in the same scent. But of course, dousing yourself in fragrance (lots of spritzes instead of one or two) is never recommended.

Mr. Rosie wears Mesmerize for Men (by Avon) and it smells incredibly yummy on him. For me, I wear Karmala from Avon's Mark line.

 

I don't use that kind of stuff and my wife usually doesn't either. I use Arm & Hammer unscented underarm deodorant and if the store is out of it, Tom's of Maine, which is OK but doesn't seem to work as long. There's some Art of Shaving stuff to eliminate razor burn that has a mild scent, and I use that if I've done an especially bad job of hacking at my face, but I'd say that's about once a month.

 

You wear a wang?

 

It smells like ... Bigfoot's dick.

 

Lately, I've been wearing this. Yesterday, I had two girls tell me how good I smelled.

I also have Calvin Klein Crave and Lacoste.

 

I vote for Aqua Di Gio (my current scent), Polo Blue (a past scent) or VS from Victoria Secret (one I haven't owned but have always wanted).

 

I've worn this since high school:

 

I vote for Obsession from Calvin Klein. There is just something about a man who wears it....