Do you feel good when you smell a strongly masculine fragrance on someone else?

[ErroneousFact]

I think you bring up an important point. Perhaps the reason why, like you, I'm repulsed by generic masculine scents has to do with the fact that the people wearing them in my experience have not been particularly pleasant. But then again, if the most agreeable guy I know wears Aventus, I'm not sure I'd feel good smelling it on him. Might be just me.

When I think about why I'm not impressed by guys wearing "strongly masculine" scents, the only conclusion I can draw is that they're not trying to impress me. If it has anything to do with me (Or other guys) it's to claim he's the more powerful guy. More often I think it's just to impress women, and independently of whether or not that works, the implied statement is "I want to be more successful than you with women". It's actually a slight in a way, though a polite one, and anyone who does want to be successful with women does similar things.

 

[Justin Case]

I love the strong, classic men's colognes, so if I smelled one on a guy I'd think he has fabulous taste. A lot of the old classics were actually rather discreet (Eau Sauvage, even Brut) unless you bathed yourself in them.

Forgive me, but I cannot relate to this seemingly widespread sentiment . To me, an outdated fragrance is like an outdated fashion trend. Smelling Aramis on a guy is like seeing them wearing 70s disco fashion.

 

[Justin Case]

When I think about why I'm not impressed by guys wearing "strongly masculine" scents, the only conclusion I can draw is that they're not trying to impress me. If it has anything to do with me (Or other guys) it's to claim he's the more powerful guy. More often I think it's just to impress women, and independently of whether or not that works, the implied statement is "I want to be more successful than you with women". It's actually a slight in a way, though a polite one, and anyone who does want to be successful with women does similar things.

This makes a lot of sense and might be the reason why I don't get good vibes from such fragrances.

 

[LeChypreSexy]

Forgive me, but I cannot relate to this seemingly widespread sentiment . To me, an outdated fragrance is like an outdated fashion trend. Smelling Aramis on a guy is like seeing them wearing 70s disco fashion.

To me Aramis and other classic men's colognes aren't outdated. They're "classics", like a blue blazer, a cashmere v-neck or shell cordovan slip-ons. They have their own style and glamour that transcends mere "fashion". Fashion is boring. Fashion is beige (*yawns). I'm sure I'm a total outlier, but I've never found objects or things that have a traditional gender to be problematic at all. What's wrong with being either male or female? Both are fine. Seems perfectly natural to me. I've been known to douse myself in my vintage Evyan White Shoulders because I love it (I'm male). If a woman was to wear vintage Antaeus (or Coco Noir edp which basically is vintage Antaeus but marketed at women) I'd think "Good for her." Most vintage chypre perfumes (Ma Griffe for example) are much more "masculine" smelling than the freshie fruit salad shampoo candy things I sell at the fragrance counters today to both men and women. I guess it simply comes down to the fact that, unlike a lot of people, I have highly evolved taste and I am simply too busy (and totally uninterested) to think about a stranger's taste in fragrance or whatever sexuality crisis they might or might not be having. It is what it is. Although I must admit I find most contemporary fragrances too juvenile and kitschy for my own taste (*douses himself in vintage Zibeline).

 

[Adonna]

I love smelling the clean effort.
It's in the grooming.
Obviously when I go to the DR. I want them to be clean and well groomed.
As long as I am not ((((gassed)))) out of the room, a strong scent well placed and worn well is welcome.
The Dr smelling of nothing but Cleanliness can also work, as long as they are clean and well groomed.
To me Both are Professional choices.

Yes, when Certain people ((douse)) themselves in a heavy scent, it can feel like they are fishing.......

Regarding the Guinea Pig wearing cologne, trick question!
Of course anything that the GP wears I'm gonna be appreciative of the effort.
Sooo... I don't know where that puts me.....
The Guinea Pig as my Dr is not gonna work. No matter how much cologne he puts on. sorry.......
a~~

 

[Justin Case]

To me Aramis and other classic men's colognes aren't outdated. They're "classics", like a blue blazer, a cashmere v-neck or shell cordovan slip-ons. They have their own style and glamour that transcends mere "fashion". Fashion is boring. Fashion is beige (*yawns). I'm sure I'm a total outlier, but I've never found objects or things that have a traditional gender to be problematic at all. What's wrong with being either male or female? Both are fine. Seems perfectly natural to me. I've been known to douse myself in my vintage Evyan White Shoulders because I love it (I'm male). If a woman was to wear vintage Antaeus (or Coco Noir edp which basically is vintage Antaeus but marketed at women) I'd think "Good for her." Most vintage chypre perfumes (Ma Griffe for example) are much more "masculine" smelling than the freshie fruit salad shampoo candy things I sell at the fragrance counters today to both men and women. I guess it simply comes down to the fact that, unlike a lot of people, I have highly evolved taste and I am simply too busy (and totally uninterested) to think about a stranger's taste in fragrance or whatever sexuality crisis they might or might not be having. It is what it is. Although I must admit I find most contemporary fragrances too juvenile and kitschy for my own taste (*douses himself in vintage Zibeline).

Very salient points. I'm starting to appreciate the counter view better the more responses I read.

 

[LeChypreSexy]

Very salient points. I'm starting to appreciate the counter view better the more responses I read.

Thank you sir. Much appreciated!

 

[Mak-7]

Agreed, but my question was about how you'd feel (comforted vs uneasy), not how you'd feel about the doctor's competence.

I think you bring up an important point. Perhaps the reason why, like you, I'm repulsed by generic masculine scents has to do with the fact that the people wearing them in my experience have not been particularly pleasant. But then again, if the most agreeable guy I know wears Aventus, I'm not sure I'd feel good smelling it on him. Might be just me.

If he wore some shit i suppose i would be Uneasy cuz itll smell bad, so i would tell him to change his cologne and provide few options, maybe even make some samples so he can step up game.

Interesting observation. I wouldnt say that basic frags associate with rude people, your case has to be quite particular, because as i mentioned in point 1 of previous post, basic frag doesnt necessary equal basic people. But i understand how few experiences like that correlate to the future expectations.
I hope you meet someone who can break that circle for you, and you can break their circle of basic frags wearing 🙌🏽

 

[Scentologist]

Ok, I had to find this post. Just this evening, I went grocery shopping. I got in behind a gentleman as we got our buggies. It is very cold here, 26 F. The wind carried his scent as we walked in. Haven't I smelled that before? Spicy, woody, amber, patchouli, coffee, what is that? I had to go the direction he was headed for a bit and I continued to smell it. Bingo! It was none other than the long since discontinued Armani Attitude! Distinctive. It had to be it. I don't know a similar clone and I know that fragrance well. I wore my bottle of it circa 2007 and 2008 and haven't smelled it since, but the memories flooded back to me!

 

[Justin Case]

Ok, I had to find this post. Just this evening, I went grocery shopping. I got in behind a gentleman as we got our buggies. It is very cold here, 26 F. The wind carried his scent as we walked in. Haven't I smelled that before? Spicy, woody, amber, patchouli, coffee, what is that? I had to go the direction he was headed for a bit and I continued to smell it. Bingo! It was none other than the long since discontinued Armani Attitude! Distinctive. It had to be it. I don't know a similar clone and I know that fragrance well. I wore my bottle of it circa 2007 and 2008 and haven't smelled it since, but the memories flooded back to me!

Nice Thanks for sharing!

I went to the mall yesterdays and started sniffing the designer scents at Macy's hoping to get memories of my designer days. Sadly they've been so reformulated that no memories were awoken

 

[baklavaRuzh]

Nice Thanks for sharing!

I went to the mall yesterdays and started sniffing the designer scents at Macy's hoping to get memories of my designer days. Sadly they've been so reformulated that no memories were awoken

When I smelled le male le parfum, it actually took me back to the original le male, but I'm not sure how similar they really are, I haven't tried the original in ages.

 

[Ifti]

Yeah man! I'm "like" respect mate, fist bump, keep it up in the face of the wallowing wet wipes who are offended by everything. 😁

 

[LeChypreSexy]

Yeah man! I'm "like" respect mate, fist bump, keep it up in the face of the wallowing wet wipes who are offended by everything. 😁

I'm showing my age (54) I'm sure, but I like a big, strong masculine scent on a man. Although quite a few vintage men's colognes (vintage Brut and Stetson) are quite powdery and floral! Today's sickly sweet aquatic things do nothing for me. Too juvenile.

 

[Ifti]

I'm showing my age (54) I'm sure, but I like a big, strong masculine scent on a man. Although quite a few vintage men's colognes (vintage Brut and Stetson) are quite powdery and floral! Today's sickly sweet aquatic things do nothing for me. Too juvenile.

Haha not far behind you!
You're right though, there's a wierd twilight zone thing happening where some of what we/I think of as unabashed and bolshy masculine, is a few tiny small steps from being a big *ss bold stanky femme floral with cahoonies...
With this thread in mind, I went for a super condition Oscar Pour Lui vintage splash today. And right on, biiiig floral made me stop a second more than usual.

Antaeus does that for me too.

Turning some attention to actual barber/male grooming brands...

Blimey, Kudos for the perpetrators of the Kouros clouds sometimes smell in the wild. Hats off!

 

[LeChypreSexy]

Haha not far behind you!
You're right though, there's a wierd twilight zone thing happening where some of what we/I think of as unabashed and bolshy masculine, is a few tiny small steps from being a big *ss bold stanky femme floral with cahoonies...
With this thread in mind, I went for a super condition Oscar Pour Lui vintage splash today. And right on, biiiig floral made me stop a second more than usual.

Antaeus does that for me too.

Turning some attention to actual barber/male grooming brands...

Blimey, Kudos for the perpetrators of the Kouros clouds sometimes smell in the wild. Hats off!

Vintage Oscar is wonderful. I wore gallons of Antaeus Pour Homme back in the 80s, and yes, it is a floral. The costoreum/leather and woods made it "butch" and not femme. I'd love to smell a guy wearing Vintage Kouros!! The 70s and 80s really was the high point of men's cologne.

 

[Schubertian]

Vintage Oscar is wonderful. I wore gallons of Antaeus Pour Homme back in the 80s, and yes, it is a floral. The costoreum/leather and woods made it "butch" and not femme. I'd love to smell a guy wearing Vintage Kouros!! The 70s and 80s really was the high point of men's cologne.

Agree about Oscar! The current iteration smells hollow somehow... today's versions of classic perfumes don't bring about that gut punch of recognition that takes me right back to (in my case) the 80s and 90s, because they've been so changed. 🙁

To the topic: personally I don't really care if a man wears a "masculine" or "feminine" perfume, as long as he owns it. A lot of perfumes are really unisex anyway. But I do tend to dislike the strong and sweet gourmandy, fruity-caramelly-vanillas on any gender and I'd much prefer a whiff of a traditional men's cologne type scent. I also don't do the girly sweet stuff myself, really. Something like vintage Miss Dior - so stunning! - is pretty far from what is considered sexy for a woman in the mainstream today and I don't think would even be marketed to women. I love it and feel like a no-nonsense, cold-yet-warm Katherine Hepburn character when I wear it.

And how I'd love to get my nose on vintage Kouros! I have a very strong emotional-olfactory memory of it (it was the scent of my highschool boyfriend) and I remember it as gorgeous and not at all stanky. I don't know what it smells like today but perhaps I need to try.

 

[LeChypreSexy]

Agree about Oscar! The current iteration smells hollow somehow... today's versions of classic perfumes don't bring about that gut punch of recognition that takes me right back to (in my case) the 80s and 90s, because they've been so changed. 🙁

To the topic: personally I don't really care if a man wears a "masculine" or "feminine" perfume, as long as he owns it. A lot of perfumes are really unisex anyway. But I do tend to dislike the strong and sweet gourmandy, fruity-caramelly-vanillas on any gender and I'd much prefer a whiff of a traditional men's cologne type scent. I also don't do the girly sweet stuff myself, really. Something like vintage Miss Dior - so stunning! - is pretty far from what is considered sexy for a woman in the mainstream today and I don't think would even be marketed to women. I love it and feel like a no-nonsense, cold-yet-warm Katherine Hepburn character when I wear it.

And how I'd love to get my nose on vintage Kouros! I have a very strong emotional-olfactory memory of it (it was the scent of my highschool boyfriend) and I remember it as gorgeous and not at all stanky. I don't know what it smells like today but perhaps I need to try.

I loved the 1980s! We stank to high heaven and it was great! Our perfumes had to cut through all that cigarette smoke haha!

 

[LL Cool Spray]

If it is in the classic, masculine style then I rejoice, because that means I am not alone. Spray on gents!

Exactamundo!

 

[Salumbre]

No.

 

[dealt7faux]

I personally have no special feeling whatsoever unless the person is wearing Aramis. Then I start gagging.

You ain't the only one!

 

[slpfrsly]

Interesting thread.

But does it make you happy? Happy is the operative word here.

No, I can't say it would/does.

Does that scent raise your dopamine like smelling your favorite flower/food/spice does?

Difficult to say. Is there a neurochemical monitor app on the new Apple Watch? I'm not sure there's an easy way to evaluate yourself at that sort of level, so to speak - at least not yet.

Does it give you comfort?

No, I wouldn't say that. Elevators/lifts are hardly the most comfortable of experiences. For anyone who has had the displeasure of seeing some of the terrible end results of how the Chinese manufacture their elevators...well, a fragrance on its own isn't going to cut it, I'm afraid. Getting off the thing in one piece is the goal!

Does it make you want to keep smelling it? Does it make you want to thank the guy wearing it? I think this question is an important one for perfumers when they make a masculine fragrance.

It really depends on the fragrance, I suppose. If it's something I like, I'd hope to get the name of it so I can wear it myself.

Does it make you want to thank the guy wearing it?

No.

I think this question is an important one for perfumers when they make a masculine fragrance.

I think you're probably right. Some of these questions would concern a perfumer when creating a fragrance.

To me, this is why I don't wear fragrances that are strongly masculine around strangers and why my go-to in most cases is a unisex fragrance. I feel that a masculine scent does more to intimidate than anything, and it almost never makes me think higher of the person wearing it. I want people to like being around me, to feel at ease, not to feel challenged by my presence.

I suppose it really depends on the specifics here. Generally, though, tastes have veered towards unisex in the last 30 years, that's clear. It's less publicly acceptable to be perfumed in public, let alone an enclosed space or in a working environment, than in the recent past. So unisex (soft, light, soapy, floral, citric) are safer bets for this, that's true.

There's definitely a time and a place for certain fragrances. If you know you are going to be in an elevator later that day, I would think it's advisable to go easy on the sprayer, regardless of the scent in question. But more masculine fragrances definitely do have their place. When sensibly applied, you can easily get away with wearing one, even when you will be in close proximity to other people.

I'd like to know if I'm alone in this. How do you feel when you smell a strongly masculine fragrance on someone else?

It really depends on the fragrance in question I'm afraid. I have a much easier time separating between synthetic and non-synthetic smelling fragrances than I would masculine or feminine. To be honest, I very rarely smell overtly masculine fragranes on other men outside of an evening/bar/restaurant/weekend night environment. And there are different aromatic expectations at those times than there would be on a Monday morning. Overall, I would say my reaction would be ambivalent - the more pertinent question is whether it smells appealing, whether it is overapplied, and whether it is suitable to the environment. The "masculinity" really isn't a factor I bother about when it comes to what other people are wearing.

The truth is, I don't really care what fragrances other men use. I very rarely smell anything outside of the normal ambroxan-heavy designers, with Aventus being the best of the lot, sitting on the outskirts of that category as it does. For more conservative/tasteful/less synthetic aromas, I simply don't smell them on the men who wear them. As it should be.

 

[Franco65]

People around here just don't use anything!

 

[leffleur]

I adore stereotypical masculine fragrances and it does make me happy. Mind you, I’m a women I’m my early 40s- so I’m referring to old school masculines. Heavy on woods, leather, even tobacco. Or an old school fougère type. Not the more modern acquawaterfalloceanbreeze types that blew up in the 90s.
One of the best smells in nature to me are woods- cedar, pines, etc. It’s relaxing and soothing.

They remind me of men who loved me as a child…my father, uncles, grandpa- which makes them very comforting.
They don’t make me anxious because of that association; instead it was safety, humor, unconditional love.

Also, my father was a carpenter- so woods, even sawdust, is a smell I associate with him. A memory from whenever I got to be around a worksite. Even though he never really wore fragrance.

It’s a pleasant profile to me but clearly a psychological link as well.

It’s gotta be why I prefer those type on men. I wish men of all ages would wear these classical profiles more often.

 

[Monsieur Montana]

I won’t feel happy, happy is the wrong word to describe my feelings or impressions, but I will certainly enjoy it the way i enjoy it every time I smell a good perfume around me indifferent of the genre.
And If I don’t recognise the perfume I ‘ll ask him (or her) which perfume he wears in order to buy it for myself.
I won’t feel inferior to him. Why should I? Because of his perfume? That’s absolutely nonsense.

Do you feel superior when for example your amber based perfume isn’t as sweet as the vanilla based one your colleague is wearing? Does his sweeter perfume makes him aurtomatically "inferior"? What does perfume has to do with superiority?

I do not deny that there is a category of people who try to exteriorise an image by using a specific type of perfume. But they also do it with their clothes, cars, watches and so on. It's not a strictly perfume-linked attitude and such people are probably the only ones in the room who think they are better because of what they wear. If you also think that way then you should probably think about your self-esteem levels.

I would say, wear the perfume you enjoy, even if its very masculine or very feminine, or very whatever.
And if you spent a few seconds with somebody else in a narrow place like an elevator at least you are not going to be the one who smells unwashed.

P.S
There is a member who said that a masculine fragrance should be matched with a muscular type of a male.
That was a good laugh! What have muscles to do with masculinity? Do you really think that only Schwarzenegger is entlitled to wear masculine perfumes?