Think small
The life span of a bottle of cologne is one year. Even if you haven’t gone through the whole thing, after twelve months buy a fresh one; you don’t want to wear a stale fragrance.
Test in increments
When shopping for a fragrance, try two at a time at the most, one on each arm. Sniff your shirtsleeve between tests to clear your palate.
Keep it simple
Leave spraying wrists and other pulse points to the ladies. One hit on each side of your neck will do.
Rotate scents
Like your wardrobe, your scent should change with the seasons. In the warmer months, wear a small amount of a lighter, fresher scent; in winter, heavier scents like musks in slightly larger doses are appropriate.
[courtesy of GQ — we like when someone else says exactly what we wanted to say!]
17 Responses
MB,
Very sound advice. I never really considered some of your instructions, but they make perfect sense. I think for most guys, we never give frangrance any thought. But now with sound guidance I can do a better job shopping and appyling the right cologne.
WOW! I’m still using some Armani & Moschino from 99’…think’in it’s get’in better with Time
HOWEVER..after reading this article…got a brother dropp’in plenty of dimes!!
This is sound advise that ladies can use as well. Especially, those of us who help to dress and style our men:)
I agree with your sound advice and will try to follow it. I have several fragrances that I alternate every few days. I didn’t know that fragrances could go stale; don’t think my palate could detect or differentiate when it does. I have a few bottles of Cologne that I’ve never opened that are older than a year. I doubt I’ll through them in the trash because they were fairly expensive.
Question??? Is it better to wear different colognes for different situations like events, seasons, clubs, dinners, movies, etc… ?. I think as long as you smells nice it shouldn’t matter.
I think to focus on “occasion-specific” colognes would be quite confusing and likely a bit inconvenient if you were traveling and had to cover multiple events. Rather a few good fragrances that are more aligned with weather is better – heavier, woodsy scents in the fall/winter, and more citrus and earthier scents in the summer.
If you have fragrances that are over a year old and you haven’t worn them, there is likely a good reason among them being you just weren’t that into it, or others were better. Either way, the intent of the original scent has likely faded with time thus, the need to wear it as well!!
Any recs on favs now days? I’d like something subtle.
DAMN I will have to get rid of my Hai Karate from 82! So how much is too much. I personally can’t stand to have someone walk by me and the scent lingers for more than a minute. I can’t see myself going through a whole bottle in 1 year. I try not to bathe in a scent. If i like to wear 3 different scents then I’ll need to start getting samples or smaller supplies.
Approximately how many scents should a “stylish” man have (assuming he can afford more than one)?
Excellent question X!
A stylish gent should have at least two scents in rotation with the variation being a more “casual” scent vs. something for special occasions. If you focus on purchasing a smaller bottle (typically lss than 1.7 oz) then you’ll usually need to stock up in about 8-10 months assuming you have two scents in use.
Really? Only 2. Then I have a serious problem. I’m throwing some out tomorrow morning 🙂 But I am not buying those darn converse. Nike or nothing!!!!
X- I hear you on your loyalty to “Nike” however, there are loads of other brands to explore. they do say that ‘variety is the spice of life’!
If you can smell yourself before you leave the house then you have too much cologne on.
Plan to ‘air it out’ before going into a closed area by dabbing a smidge of corn starch or baking soda, alcohol wipes, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, or unscented lotion wherever you placed the cologne!
wow that is a very cool tip, thank you Blueprint
HELLo!!! These instructions caught my eye and sparked a ? that I always wonder everytime I put on a fragrance…. (Very sound advise to I might Add) What spots/points on the body should a Man spray or dab his fragrance to have the most nose catching effect?
Excellent question Jafi!! The answer is simple: pulse points. Pulse points are insdie wrist, behind the ear, and chest. also let the fragrance dry naturally because rubbing it distorts the scent!!
Good luck!