I really want to like the male Chanel fragrances but can't seem to! Help!

[kreteknose]

Not sure whether I'm looking for convincing, validation or moral support here, but I really want to like the male Chanel fragrances but can't seem to! I genuinely respect them as having a complexity and longevity I really want to like, but something is just not right about each of them for my nose.

Should I reconsider any of these, or accept my tastes?
- Bleu - Great fresh scent but something about it is too sharp or too spicy. I like Dior Homme EDP more, followed maybe by YSL Y.

- Allure - Same, the various versions are not my fresh scent because there's some spicy undertone I don't like, and Blanche has way too much citrus for me.

- Pour Monsier - I should like the chyptre and the citrus, and there seems to be some spice underneath I don't like.

- Egoiste - Love the complex smell, but the note smells messy and a little too musky to me. Platinum is lighter and fresher but doesn't grab me either.

- Exclusifs - Tried the range from Coromandel to Sycamore to Eau de Cologne. Love the complexity, don't like something about each like a spice note. I may go back to try Cologne but it didn't grab me as much as something like Dior Homme.

 

[Scentologist]

Platinum Egoiste is my staple from the brand. Perhaps at this moment in time, these aren't for you and maybe try revisiting them down the road. It shouldn't be forced.

 

[whoame]

Why not accept it? Just because they are Chanel doesn't mean you have to like them. I went through all the male and also female lines but no fragrance clicked with me. Then I discovered not only I don't like them for me, I don't like smelling them on other people either. Maybe give it some time, discover other things and see if you get to like them more with time. And if you don't, that's fine as well.

 

[SmellSharpe]

I am with you OP.

I don’t dislike Chanel, but nothing from this house blows me away.

Egoiste is good and a few of the seemingly dozens of Allures are nice, but not good enough for me to add to my collection.

I have over 150 bottles and my only Chanel is a 10 year old bottle of Bleu de Chanel EDT.

 

[Toxicon]

I get it - and you might count yourself lucky since Chanel’s are notoriously hard to find at a discount. Personally, I love Egoiste, Sycomore, and Paris-Edimbourg, but I’m not really smitten by Chanel otherwise. Antaeus is a classic but there are a lot of others in that vein I would reach for first. The Bleu and Allure lines are inoffensive, but do very little for me overall. I suspect I’d like more of the Exlcusifs line if I tried them… though the pricing is prohibitive, so I’d rather not!

 

[whoame]

I get it - and you might count yourself lucky since Chanel’s are notoriously hard to find at a discount. Personally, I love Egoiste, Sycomore, and Paris-Edimbourg, but I’m not really smitten by Chanel otherwise. Antaeus is a classic but there are a lot of others in that vein I would reach for first. The Bleu and Allure lines are inoffensive, but do very little for me overall. I suspect I’d like more of the Exlcusifs line if I tried them… though the pricing is prohibitive, so I’d rather not!

Bleu offends me every time someone wearing it passes by, or god forbid gets on the same bus as me 😶‍🌫️

 

[Franco65]

Plenty of saved money!

 

[hednic]

If they're not for you, they''re not for you. It's that simple. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[milkbaby]

If you have samples/decants then maybe try them in different seasons and for different occasions. Some days a fragrance might suit your mood better than others, but it's difficult to say until you test it out sometimes.

Nothing wrong with not totally enjoying any fragrance brand. Whatever floats your boat...

 

[Pippin06]

If they're not for you, they''re not for you. It's that simple. Nothing wrong with that.

this^

 

[imm0rtelle]

Not sure whether I'm looking for convincing, validation or moral support here, but I really want to like the male Chanel fragrances but can't seem to! I genuinely respect them as having a complexity and longevity I really want to like, but something is just not right about each of them for my nose.

I think it is a trap to want to seek validation for your "good taste". It adds unnecessary muddiness and complexity to something that should be a "pure" experience.

"I need to align my tastes with what other people think are the best."
"I need to make sure what I'm choosing will not embarrass me in front of these people online."

The common denominator for this type of thinking is fear. I think it is most "pure" when you are able to fall in love with something even if everyone else says you're wrong for your tastes.

 

[kreteknose]

i’d like to think I’m not seeking validation as much as I swear there are things I like in the line but no scent adds up to a bottle I want to wear!

 

[LL Cool Spray]

Same same. Antaeus is something I would totally wear, but otherwise a "meh" house for me.

 

[Zgb]

Just because Chanel is a "big name", doesn't mean you're obliged to own or like anything from them. You don't like what they offer, so what? Plenty of good designers and even affordable niche on the market.

 

[Bavard]

Egoiste and Coromandel are two, at least, that I'm loving from the current lineup. But, overall, I don't wear that much current-version Chanel. Platinum Egoiste is the only thing I've worn much in the last year or so. Oh, and Allure Homme - I've worn that a bunch recently. Yeah, there are several good ones.

The two that feel easiest to recommend, to me, are Egoiste and Coromandel. Maybe I just like that style.

 

[sjg3839]

I respect that.

 

[Ken_Russell]

While having had quite a learning curve and/or acquired taste experience with most Chanel fragrances, tending to second especially Antaeus and/or among more unisex lines the fairly gender versatile unisex classics No. 19 and/or Cristalle before a final choice,

Should these options also not be qualified for becoming enjoyable scent choices with long term wearing potential, would simply recommend moving on towards other houses (at least before another more or less extensive re-testing) since there so many other great fragrance houses worth (re) discovering.

 

[Varanis Ridari]

No help needed. Go with your gut.

If you don't like them, there are plenty of other houses to explore.

 

[The Cologne Cabinet]

I just wear Azzaro pour Homme and Polo and tell everyone it’s Chanel.

Problem solved

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Don’t worry about it. Just explore elsewhere and eventually you will find fragrances that you click with.

At some point you might feel a desire to revisit houses or fragrances that did nothing for you before.

As a sidenote I’ve had times a bad in-store tester put me off of a fragrance for a long time before I tried it again so I would recommend trying a fragrance more than once and maybe in different stores.

 

[StylinLA]

That's great. Just move onto to sampling the thousands of other scents that are out there.

What's unclear right now is if you are a fraghead, or just a guy looking for a couple scents to wear. Time will tell.

 

[N.CAL Fragrance Reviewer]

Nothing wrong with that, there are some individuals that just don't care for Chanel.

 

[ultravisitor]

Not sure whether I'm looking for convincing, validation or moral support here, but I really want to like the male Chanel fragrances but can't seem to! I genuinely respect them as having a complexity and longevity I really want to like, but something is just not right about each of them for my nose.

Why does it matter? If you don't like them, you don't like them. Just because something exists from a company that you respect or admire doesn't mean that you have to like it. You also don't have to like something just because lots of other people like it. Plenty of people like Bleu de Chanel. Me? Not really. I don't like it, and I don't know why I should want to like it. Why should I want to like something that I don't like?

Instead of wishing you liked it, look at it as one more thing you don't have to spend your money on.

 

[kreteknose]

Just curious by the way, would men care about Chanel being a big brand? Isn’t it a female brand, with the most famous products being that quilt surface handbag and female scents like Chanel No. 5?

Not sure if people outside fragheads connect a perfume to a big brand.

I like Hermés for their ties and have a couple, but those went extinct after the pandemic. I couldn’t find a male bag I like even though they have excellent leather products. I hate it when I see people walking around with the “H” belt and hope they are named Herbert. But I like Terre d’Hermes.

I actually dislike Dior the clothing line and like a couple of things from Gucci, but I like their mainstream fragrances.

I thought Chanel and Celine are focused on female handbags.

Then not sure what brand value specialty perfumers give as I swear most of my friends are not familiar with them.

 

[StylinLA]

Just curious by the way, would men care about Chanel being a big brand? Isn’t it a female brand, with the most famous products being that quilt surface handbag and female scents like Chanel No. 5?

Not sure if people outside fragheads connect a perfume to a big brand.

I like Hermés for their ties and have a couple, but those went extinct after the pandemic. I couldn’t find a male bag I like even though they have excellent leather products. I hate it when I see people walking around with the “H” belt and hope they are named Herbert. But I like Terre d’Hermes.

I actually dislike Dior the clothing line and like a couple of things from Gucci, but I like their mainstream fragrances.

I thought Chanel and Celine are focused on female handbags.

Then not sure what brand value specialty perfumers give as I swear most of my friends are not familiar with them.

I don't think most of the people here care at all about Chanel or any others being a big brand. Many of the most popular designer scents are from designers whose primary products are aimed at women- Chanel, Dior, Hermes, Guerlain, Gucci, etc Around the early 1980s, the men's fragrance market expanded and these companies were already adept at making women's scents so it was easy to start making some men's scents.

Chanel and Dior are the biggest kids on the block. If they launch a new scent, it will be heavily advertised and marketed. Basenoters don't care much about the advertising, but we know if these two old pros launch a scent, there's probably something worthwhile about it.

Some of these companies do make clothing or accessories aimed at men, but I doubt many here use those products. Hermes was known for incredible ties for sure, but no one here made a decision to try or buy Terre d'Hermes based on that.

You seem to be placing a bit more significance on the brand name and their other products than most of us. Most of us regard Chanel pretty highly based on their track record with fragrances through the years that many of us like. None of the guys here who love Bleu de Chanel or Egoiste think much if at all about the women's purses or shoes that Chanel makes.

It's hard to address what the "average" guy thinks. In USA, most men's scents are usually sold at a "cologne counter" in the men's department of department stores. There is no association with the purses or pant suits of Chanel when men are looking at fragrances. I would guess some of the average wearers of Bleu de Chanel, Sauvage or Terre d'Hermes don't even know those companies make other products.

Also to be noted, the biggies like Chanel and Dior do clever, massive advertising campaigns aimed at "average" guys. When Joe Sixpack sees Johnny Depp wear Sauvage, he isn't worried about whether or not Dior makes clothes for women. Plus, the men's clothing lines from companies like Dior are inordinately expensive and not for everyone's tastes to say the least. Casual shirts that cost $1,500US and sneakers for $1,150US are not commonplace. ie Men shelling out $110 for Sauvage are not even considering buying their clothes. There are some arguments that the brand name recognition adds to allure of buying these scents.

 

[Diddy]

Just curious by the way, would men care about Chanel being a big brand? Isn’t it a female brand, with the most famous products being that quilt surface handbag and female scents like Chanel No. 5?

Not sure if people outside fragheads connect a perfume to a big brand.

I like Hermés for their ties and have a couple, but those went extinct after the pandemic. I couldn’t find a male bag I like even though they have excellent leather products. I hate it when I see people walking around with the “H” belt and hope they are named Herbert. But I like Terre d’Hermes.

I actually dislike Dior the clothing line and like a couple of things from Gucci, but I like their mainstream fragrances.

I thought Chanel and Celine are focused on female handbags.

Then not sure what brand value specialty perfumers give as I swear most of my friends are not familiar with them.

Generally speaking, a company’s primary product is irrelevant. Several guys at work wear Victoria Secret fragrance without any issues. Why would it matter?

 

[imm0rtelle]

Just curious by the way, would men care about Chanel being a big brand?

Brand name products have an allure to them that most people will be affected by. If you take a bunch of strangers, and ask them to smell Bleu de Chanel, the group that knows it is Chanel will rate it higher vs the group that doesn't know it is branded by Chanel.

Not sure if people outside fragheads connect a perfume to a big brand.

If you don't tell them, I doubt they can figure out the brand from just the smell alone.

I thought Chanel and Celine are focused on female handbags.

It is more like, the average person can only "afford" the handbags. It is the best bang for their buck if they're looking for "status". Easier to show off your Chanel/Celine logo/monogram bag than show off your Chanel/Celine fragrance. Their clothing does quite well, but unless it is logo pieces, average people will not know you're wearing Chanel/Celine necessarily.

Then not sure what brand value specialty perfumers give as I swear most of my friends are not familiar with them.

Those specialty brands (Byredo, Le Labo, Diptyque) give off, or used to give off, an underground kind of vibe. "If you know, you know" kind of feeling, and something to connect with someone over who also likes this indie type of thing that not a lot of people even have heard about. A ticket to being part of a private club. But realistically, those 3 are now pretty big brands, and have penetrated the mainstream consciousness for people into luxury products.

 

[kreteknose]

You seem to be placing a bit more significance on the brand name and their other products than most of us. Most of us regard Chanel pretty highly based on their track record with fragrances through the years that many of us like. None of the guys here who love Bleu de Chanel or Egoiste think much if at all about the women's purses or shoes that Chanel makes.

I suppose the big brand names have the advantage of conveniently located counters at various departments stores and Sephora outlets where you can sample the commonly discussed scents here and get an instant baseline understanding in one visit. Heh, I actually thought people here attach more significance than I thought.

 

[ultravisitor]

Then not sure what brand value specialty perfumers give as I swear most of my friends are not familiar with them.

Brand value? Who cares? When you're wearing a fragrance, you're not flashing a logo. Either you (and others) like the way you smell or you don't. If your friends aren't familiar with a particular fragrance that you all think smell nice, then why does the brand matter? I have plenty of perfumes from brands that none of my friends have heard of, and many of those perfumes are much more expensive and much more out of reach than what is sold at stores like Sephora and Nordstrom. If they haven't heard of the brand, then that's their loss and a point of their own ignorance.

If you're trying to earn cachet with the brand of your perfume, then you're doing perfume wrong.

 

[goutam02]

Did you try the Chanel PM EDT, as it’s the best of Chanel in my books? The new EDP is meh… but yeah, I feel the same with the house Guerlain, just not for me.

 

[Melbourne21]

Find what you like, and stick to what you like.

For me, the house of Dior is an example - I don't own or like any of their fragrances.

Chanel has 2 that I like, Cuir De Russie and Bleu De Chanel.

 

[StylinLA]

I suppose the big brand names have the advantage of conveniently located counters at various departments stores and Sephora outlets where you can sample the commonly discussed scents here and get an instant baseline understanding in one visit. Heh, I actually thought people here attach more significance than I thought.

No, for the most we are a fairly unique collection of people who at some point realized we had way more than an average interest in fragrances.
We are certainly aware of the big brands and designers, but that does not particularly sway our opinions of scents. If a new Chanel or Dior comes out, we will likely sample it and see if we like it. Personally, I like of lot of Chanel stuff but do not like Bleu and Allure much. That doesn't mean they are not good scents- it means I don't like them.

Basenotes probably has more members who like older vintage scents than other forums. I like some older stuff a lot. Many of which didn't grow on me until the last couple of years. I don't think vintage scents are an area that would interest you right now.

My mental profile of you is a corporate executive type- fairly young- late 30s. If you're buying Hermes ties you're a bit status conscious, conservative and you're pretty well paid. You described your lady friend as younger. I'm guessing she places great importance on a very nice name brand purse/bag. Some of the vintage scents will smell like old guys to her and you might feel same way. We also don't know you well yet and you may be pretty finicky like Goldilocks. I don't intend any of this to sound like negative judgements at all. It's not.

So far you seem like this is all very new to you and you are making a bit of a study of all this. That's fine. But this is all very subjective. Many here will make strong declarations about the superiority of a scent that they like, but all long time members well understand the imprtance of individual preferences.

I think some of the houses that might be good for you to sample would be Creed, Le Labo, Byredo, Comme des Garcons.

 

[kreteknose]

No, for the most we are a fairly unique collection of people who at some point realized we had way more than an average interest in fragrances.
We are certainly aware of the big brands and designers, but that does not particularly sway our opinions of scents. If a new Chanel or Dior comes out, we will likely sample it and see if we like it. Personally, I like of lot of Chanel stuff but do not like Bleu and Allure much. That doesn't mean they are not good scents- it means I don't like them.

Basenotes probably has more members who like older vintage scents than other forums. I like some older stuff a lot. Many of which didn't grow on me until the last couple of years. I don't think vintage scents are an area that would interest you right now.

My mental profile of you is a corporate executive type- fairly young- late 30s. If you're buying Hermes ties you're a bit status conscious, conservative and you're pretty well paid. You described your lady friend as younger. I'm guessing she places great importance on a very nice name brand purse/bag. Some of the vintage scents will smell like old guys to her and you might feel same way. We also don't know you well yet and you may be pretty finicky like Goldilocks. I don't intend any of this to sound like negative judgements at all. It's not.

So far you seem like this is all very new to you and you are making a bit of a study of all this. That's fine. But this is all very subjective. Many here will make strong declarations about the superiority of a scent that they like, but all long time members well understand the imprtance of individual preferences.

I think some of the houses that might be good for you to sample would be Creed, Le Labo, Byredo, Comme des Garcons.

haha thanks. not quite right, for the longest time I owned only one Hermés tie, because I wanted a good one for work. I found them too flimsy compared to other tie brands and they are a pain because the boutique claims they have to be mailed to Paris if they think the tie needs repair. And anyway ties are much rarer post pandemic.

The lady does not own any branded goods as defined here, so this is all out of passion for the craft fired up by reading this forum. No status consciousness as she was blind testing fragrances with me without looking at price tags. Just my luck she turns out to like Dior Privee from blind testing, but she rejected Chanel No. 5 immediately and hates Aventus regardless of its brand status.

 

[L'Homme Blanc Individuel]

I really want to like the male Chanel fragrances

Why?

I'm noticing a theme in your posts where you're trying to like what you think you're "supposed" to like, as if other people's preferences matter more than your own. Fragrance is a matter of personal taste and style. Decide what smells good to you by smelling it.

As I type this, I'm sipping a Chocolate Stout by Rogue Ales. It tastes delicious to me. Most people drink trash like Bud Light. Yikes. I don't let other people's preferences dictate what tastes good to me. I have the same approach for fragrances.

 

[Sandy]

If I should begin a thread with the names of all the houses whose scents I don't like, the internet would be full and stop functioning
So my friend, go on with as many houses as you can, and at the end of the day road, you'll be lucky if you'd found 8-10 really great scents, near to your heart. I'm near to the end, and still haven't found that many.

 

[Ifti]

Yes totally, I get. We have this invisible world built up, what "should" be admired... What is good taste? Who said so. This is what I'm fast learning over the last 2 months on socials and stuff. An odd beast that is. Most of it is BS.

Looking forward to unplugging.

Again, rang this bell in my head ( and also 40 is not far😮).how much of our life is/has been lived for others. Striking.

Anyway, I'm having a major clear out. Even CPM might not make it!! Made me seriously think about each fragrance.

 

[NoseFragrances]

aside from regular Egoiste, Chanel didn't work for me at first. I got into them with the launch of Le Lion. Currently my favorite is 31 Rue Cambon, but others have started to grow on me.

 

[Renato]

Yes, it's a strange feeling seeing numerous people here and elsewhere praising Chanel scents as their best ever scents, while one scratches one's head wondering "Is something wrong with my nose?".

I own Egoiste because I got it cheap, but the only one that ever grabbed me somewhat was Allure Homme Edition Blanche.

On the other hand, something may well be wrong with my nose - I can't smell anything much in Aqua Di Gio, Sauvage or Dylan Blue.
Regards,
Renato

 

[ultravisitor]

Yes, it's a strange feeling seeing numerous people here and elsewhere praising Chanel scents as their best ever scents, while one scratches one's head wondering "Is something wrong with my nose?".

That's sort of similar to how I used to go to Sephora all the time and try Bleu de Chanel, Sauvage, and Terre d'Hermes because I thought those were supposed to be really good. I just never liked them (until the Elixir flanker came along years later). The houses they were from and the marketing of them got into my head.

 

[dealt7faux]

It's not like they are the only game in town.
More than enough to keep your nose occupied.
In a year you may change your mind.