How do the tastes of a male frag head evolve?

[Hugh V.]

As a kid and as a teen, I started out by liking whatever was "in." As a kid, Drakkar Noir, Eternity for Men, Santos, stuff like that. Even Polo and Paco, though I don't remember them in particular from that time, trigger nostalgia for me. As a teen, again, whatever was popular: Cool Water, Polo Sport, Pi, and even Michael Jordan Cologne.

College: Curve, Acqua di Gio, Fahrenheit.

Becoming a "frag head" and Basenoter:
went on a whole retro kick, rediscovering Drakkar Noir, Santos, Eternity for Men. The modern offerings at the Macy's counter from John Varvatos really spoke to me. I was averse to anything like 1Million or Invictus (too sugary/syrupy for me), or Blue and Sauvage (too heavy/incense in dry down). I was striving to find that holy grail "signature" scent. Got into Avon, Aramis, Halston Z-14, 1-12. All things that weren't too popular at all with my age group or social circle. I had to be different. Even fragrances that smelled nice and clean to me had me thinking they were boring or too effeminate leaning (Lacoste 1.12 Blanc, Sung Paradise Homme, Eternity for Men).

Now, I just want something that smells modern, clean, and fresh.

That said, if there were a cologne version of Nivea Aftershave, the original Old Spice Pure Sport, or Gillette Cool Wave Antiperspirant (AS doesn't count) those would be my perfect, all-time scents, at any period of my life.

 

[Andrewthecologneguy]

+1

"More" isn't better, but you don't realize that until you reach a certain threshold with your collecting. As long as it doesn't turn into an unhealthy obsession, enjoy the ride....

Define unhealthy obsession please...asking for a friend

Seriously, I concur that more isn't better, yet the point of feeling like I have enough varies from person to person.
A collection of 20 is impressive, but 200 is impressiver, and 2000 is insane?
I dunno

 

[baklavaRuzh]

Do whatever you like, I don't think there's a set trajectory. I wore le male and Issey Miyake as a child, bel ami in high school, then I went through many years with hermessence and a few other fragrances, and now I sometimes wear cloud by ariana grande, years later. Get whatever you like, find interesting and enjoy. I don't think 'niche' is a meaningful word to describe fragrance so don't get hung up on that would be my advice.

 

[Zenwannabee]

I get philosophical and unphilosophical about this question. I’ve loved fragrances for as long as I can remember. And with a love of nostalgia and barbershops, wet-shaving, aftershaves, and classic powerhouse fragrances, I tend to look backward more often than forward in this hobby. Best to do both and be balanced. I love highbrow and lowbrow, and have spent more on cologne than I sometimes care to admit. But in the end, enjoy the ride and trust your gut and nose. And stay anchored. For all my collecting, simple scents like Brut and Old Spice still often ring truest to me and I return to them. And that’s a good thing. Happiness is the journey. Make it your own. 🙂

 

[Diddy]

All depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Do you want a simple 3-5 bottle collection? Do you want to collect what you believe are the best from all of your favorite houses? Or do you want to curate a 'museum'? There's no right or wrong answer to this, nor single path to take, as everyone's goals and budgets will vary. It's not unlike most hobbies. Do you need 10,000 baseball cards or 3,000 comic books or 'X' amount of art or whatever the hobby? No, you likely do not need any of it.

Figure out your end goal, and then plan from that perspective. Take all opinions on the smell of fragrance as exactly that... an opinion. What smells amazing to me could be disgusting to another. And we are both correct, as it pertains to us as individuals. Regardless of your ultimate goal, sample as much as possible before committing to buying a bottle. Never spend more on a blind buy than you are willing to lose, as it's essentially a gamble. And always trust YOUR nose!

 

[magnus611]

Rabbit trail then into a loop that takes you to a goal line that In turn takes you back to starting line but glad for the experience. Hence ride the roller coaster again but this time with much knowledge & appreciation….

 

[imm0rtelle]

There are probably some around somewhere, but I suggest you forget that.

We all have opinions and suggestions about things, but your opinion is the only one that counts. Collectively, we know a lot about fragrances but you are the expert on you.

Whatever direction you take or bottles you buy is perfect for you. Let your own nose and your lady friend be your guide.

Just keep poking around in here and looking for ideas that sound like something you might want to try. You're lucky you seem to be in a city with a good selection of designer and niche.

100% agree. "You are an expert on you", and I love that.

Anyone have a good article for a “beginner” mainstream male scent collection to benchmark against? Like 20 scents to sniff before you buy your first personal signature scent?

For nostalgia reasons, it may be interesting for you to hunt down fragrances you have smelled growing up in your teens and 20s. Specifically looking for fragrances released in the 90s and early 00s and see if those brings back memories. I feel like mainstream fragrances are like top 40 hits, and each decade has its "sound". But one issue would be is that it might "date" you.

 

[kreteknose]

For nostalgia reasons, it may be interesting for you to hunt down fragrances you have smelled growing up in your teens and 20s. Specifically looking for fragrances released in the 90s and early 00s and see if those brings back memories. I feel like mainstream fragrances are like top 40 hits, and each decade has its "sound". But one issue would be is that it might "date" you.

It's easy for me in the sense that I honestly never paid attention to perfumes in my teens and 20s, beyond vaguely remembering some classmates trying these out and having a strong alcohol smell, so I can't be dated!

Looking for some guideposts.

 

[slpfrsly]

I would take issue with the notion that tastes inevitably evolve. In the theory, evolution is blind: not only that, but there are also more dead ends and failures than there are instances of progress and development. Rather than evolution, devolution and entropy are the norm. Hence the current understanding of the heat death of the universe.

Since I signed up to fragrantica at the end of 2018, I have come across a few examples where more knowledge of contemporary perfumery - and greater expenditure of time, effort, and money on acquiring fragrances - led to someone having worse fragrances than if they'd picked a selection from a top 10 recommended by Jeremy video or gone to their nearest pharmacy and bought whatever the sales associate suggested. In other words, they were probably much better off with what they had when they started compared to where they ended up.

Perhaps the best example of this would be clones - both high and low end. Rather than trusting the senses, the verbal, logical mind can be flattered by conceptual notions. The man who ignores an affordable designer or even niche fragrance and instead buys a cheap, nasty clone version of something much more expensive is desiring the associated status that he (perhaps mistakenly) thinks the much more expensive fragrance grants to its owner. Not only that, but he thinks the clone version grants the wearer the very same associations as the original despite the difference in price between original and clone: that, in the air, "it's all the same". The more affluent perfume enthusiast can be swayed by similar notions, desiring distinction from popular yet expensive fragrances (like Aventus) for the sake of difference (in this sense, this would be snobbery i.e. an unearned desire for superiority); but instead of truly opting for something different, the clone-enjoyer buys an expensive, upmarket, boutique version of the popular fragrance (even going so far as to buy a more expensive version of the popular fragrance, which is incredible when you stop and think about it) that, almost every single time, is an inferior derivative to what it is copying/cloning/inspired by. Working out the psychology behind this attitude is evidence enough that an "evolution" in taste is far from guaranteed.

Repeated exposure to well-crafted marketing techniques and socialisation in the form of astro-turfing (etc) can have the opposite effect: it can fill the head of the perfume enthusiast with concepts that distract them from their own sensory experience, and as a result override/reduce the conviction/validity of their own sensory experience in forming opinions and consumerist choices/behaviours.

I'm not sure if this is the norm, or perhaps even common; of all the sites/online places where perfume subcultures take hold, it is perhaps least applicable to basenotes due to the general age and typical seriousness of the usership. But some people within the so called "fragcomm" are obviously trapped by it, enamoured by associated ideas rather than enjoying fragrances as fragrances. My own conclusion is that good taste is, at a certain point, not for everyone. And that's alright, there's nothing wrong with that. Prior to the last few decades, no-one would have contested the idea that different people have different capacities for aesthetic discernment, and I think this can even be seen in something as enclosed and immediate as perfume.

So I don't think there is a 'typical' evolution. If anything, the modern perfume enthusiast who comes online to expand his horizons goes on a "journey" that is carefully constructed for him by multinational corporations (tech, media, beauty, marketing). He may be blind to these processes but, still, it is not evolution. It is better described as a carousel, rather than linear progress: there is movement, but it is cyclical. There is no guarantee of development; it is just as likely he ends up back where he started or, sometimes, taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back.

In light of that, developing better taste and appreciation for fragrance is something the individual must achieve for himself and, therefore, it is very much down to the individual and his own capacity as to how he manages this. Avoiding the pitfalls and trappings of the "fragcomm", the navigation is ultimately determined by his own capacity to learn and find what he can. It is an individual process, one that connects to others; but going with the flow greatly increases the likelihood of socialised beliefs/opinions, and those tend towards the mean/average (as well as running the risk of resulting in a net negative experience, as mentioned).

 

[Ken_Russell]

Have personally been in the phases 1)-3) and/or have liked fragrances in all of the categories 1)-3), often simultaneously.

However, having also liked mostly classics from the very beginning and still enjoying mostly traditional style male/unisex scents more than ever before, tending to second that one of the best approaches/strategies so far-not just personally used with a certain efficiency, but also quite useful if recommended further to most fellow contributors do know both online and offline-was to (re) test mostly classics, as many classics as possible, before settling on fewer but ultimately more consistent quality scent choices.

 

[Ifti]

Google "cycles of addiction".

 

[Varanis Ridari]

That's a pretty individual question IMO

 

[Marty McFly]

I've always been interested in fragrances for as far back as I can remember, but nothing like I am now, and admittedly, after joining this site and succumbing to my curiosities. For most of my life I've typically only kept a few fragrances in my rotation, and I only casually kept up with new launches and what was on the market. I also only bought from department stores and was under the mistaken belief that discounters were likely selling fakes and/or watered down bottles.

I guess my foray into this degree of madness began with my love of Creed Green Irish Tweed in the mid 00s, and then I kept hearing about Aventus during the '10s, but I never gave it too much thought. Then maybe in 2019 I was debating between buying a bottle of Aventus or finding a new fragrance altogether, and I started lurking on here more and more. At that point I was determined only to find one new fragrance that I really liked and call it a day. I thought the people who belonged to this site were just weird for owning so many fragrances and even knowing so much about fragrances. But I also couldn't distinguish individual notes and trying to conceptualize fragrance descriptions for me was like learning a new language. So I joined, kept coming back, and kept buying things as I would try and hunt down a note or area of scent that I thought I liked. And before I knew it, I was weird too.

I still like some shower gel and plenty of mainstream fragrances. I have gotten sick of many of the very sweet mainstream designer trends that seem to be very common across brands, but I've bought a bunch of them over the years because my wife seems to like many of them.

Nowadays I try and buy decants first, a market that I was rather unaware of in the beginning (and also foolishly I sought larger and full bottles because I was determined to get the most volume for my coin.) I also have a much keener idea of which types of fragrances I like, and I still enjoy looking for something new that will blow me away. But I have more than I'll ever use, and if this was a rational interest, I would have stopped long ago.

 

[Toxicon]

Anyone have a good article for a “beginner” mainstream male scent collection to benchmark against? Like 20 scents to sniff before you buy your first personal signature scent?

Something that may help to clarify is that most folks on this board are not "signature scent" people. Everyone has their own approach and their own preferences, but most who frequent this board own at least a small collection and have some approach to rotating through them. The way you think about fragrances changes quite a bit once you own more than a few - you might wear something to match the weather, to complement your mood on a given day, the dress up or down to reflect the formality of an event, or for some other reason. It's all quite different than wearing a signature scent, which you generally wear in most situations and ostensibly because you identify with that fragrance (or want others to identify that fragrance with you). It's just a different approach to fragrance, and not one I appreciated until I joined this site and inadvertently wound up with a growing collection. All that to say, many of us have had signature scents in the past, but we're probably the wrong ones to steer you to a new one!

As far as articles go... I don't think there's a single list that will get you to a signature scent, but I know they can be helpful for contextualizing and identifying things to sample. A few lists I've used as resources:

• NowSmellThis's 50 Masculine Fragrances Every Perfumista Should Try - it's from 2012, and some of these probably aren't available anymore or quite as relevant, but it's got a lot of time-tested classics and a fun presentation overall.
• ClaireV's excellent lists for Top Ten Niche Fragrances Every Beginner Should Sample and Top Ten Male Designer Scents Every Beginner Should Sample are just fantastic reading, and she references so many other scents along the way. I'd often try something, then find another dozen to explore in the process. These are from 2016 and missing more recent releases but still a great start.

 

[kreteknose]

A few lists I've used as resources:

• NowSmellThis's 50 Masculine Fragrances Every Perfumista Should Try - it's from 2012, and some of these probably aren't available anymore or quite as relevant, but it's got a lot of time-tested classics and a fun presentation overall.
• ClaireV's excellent lists for Top Ten Niche Fragrances Every Beginner Should Sample and Top Ten Male Designer Scents Every Beginner Should Sample are just fantastic reading, and she references so many other scents along the way. I'd often try something, then find another dozen to explore in the process. These are from 2016 and missing more recent releases but still a great start.

Thanks! I now realize how overwhelming this is. I read "Top Ten Male Designer Scents Every Beginner..." and wish I found a Top 50 list instead so I would have understood to take it really, really slow because it would take a long time to even go through a list of classics and "reference" scents.

 

[Toxicon]

Thanks! I now realize how overwhelming this is. I read "Top Ten Male Designer Scents Every Beginner..." and wish I found a Top 50 list instead so I would have understood to take it really, really slow because it would take a long time to even go through a list of classics and "reference" scents.

Yeah, I wouldn't try and do an exhaustive search and learn everything about every scent ever released - it's definitely overwhelming and it's not necessary if the goal is to enjoy fragrances for what they are. Just trust your nose - try a few things, see what you like, and go from there. If the goal is a signature scent, you'll probably want something like a fairly mainstream fresh scent that can work year round, but again, just follow your nose; no need to overthink it.

 

[kreteknose]

yes but if the goal is to just understand the range of the basic fragrances and what the classics are, it’s still a bit more overwhelming than expected

 

[ultravisitor]

yes but if the goal is to just understand the range of the basic fragrances and what the classics are, it’s still a bit more overwhelming than expected

Really, it's not necessary to do all that. It seems like you're trying to force an understanding and appreciation of fragrances. The best thing to do is just find and enjoy whatever you like. Let the understanding and appreciation involved in this hobby happen organically.

 

[Salumbre]

For me, my fragrance journey started that fateful day when a bottle of Chanel Egoiste made its way into my hands. I had NEVER smelled anything like that.

Until that day, I just liked or disliked fragrances on an instinctive level. From the very first whiff, Egoiste taught me that fragrance was an art.

 

[Franco65]

always loved classy scents, now I simply have more!