I’m going to come right out and admit it: I’m not paying that much attention to perfume on men. Yah, I know. I’m supposed to. I could have my perfumista card yanked for NOT doing it. But there are a bunch of reasons:
1. It’s allergy season. I can barely smell dog poop if I step in it.
2. I live in a place where …well, men Just Don’t Wear Fragrance. They shower. They shave. They brush their teeth. That’s it.
3. I live in a place where, if you get close enough to a man Who Is Not Your Husband to try to sniff a scent you are …well.. Besides – see #2
4. El O is NOT into perfume. At all.
5. Aren’t 1-4 enough?
Besides, I tend to think of most perfumistas as perfumistas – not ‘gendered’, since the folks who comment on this blog (as well as the other blogs I read) tend not to make gender distinctions in wearing perfume. One of the best examples of Chamade, ever, I got from a man.
By the way: Note I did not say ‘men’s fragrances’ I have and wear enough ‘men’s’ perfumes to stock a decent-sized boutique. But I think I am guilty of profilin’ (and that iz WRONG!) : I think of Guys Not Perfumista as being limited to cologne. And basic dept store cologne at that. Besides being a bonehead, I blame advertising.
But that recently started changing. Brad Pitt is the new face of Chanel No 5 – as savvy a marketing move as I’ve ever seen. Brad’s cred is hefty – he will revive the brand for younger women and intrigue a wide range of men. And the FB memes are hysterical!!! 
(that one is my favorite:-)
Anyway, my friend Howard (who doesn’t live anywhere near here) recently called and eerily asked me the near- exact query listed on the Surrender to Chance ‘Help Me Choose’ home page. (I am not kidding – it was almost word for word – and since he wouldn’t know a decant from a marmoset I can only assume StC knows what they’re doing) Anyhoo, we started talking about traditional men’s scents.. I said ‘perfume’ and he replied ” you mean cologne, right?” oh, grasssshopppa!!! I am SO gonna blow. your. mind. and….. we got onto the notion of men wearing women’s scents – I told him about Neil Morris recommending Fracas for El O – and Lord, but it smells divine on him (women go nuts for a big, burly guy in Fracas. I’ve seen ’em do it!)….so we chatted for awhile about the various options open for men – and he was stunned to find that it is limitless – and that men of all persuasions are looking at perfume in a different way. But different from when? Until the most recent of times aristocratic men wore all types of fragrances – it wasn’t all bay rum. Roses, violets, ambers…men were every bit as scented as the women (perhaps more so – witness the 18th Century dandy, known as a Macaroni, with his feathers and patches and paint – scent was a large part of that ensemble).
The feathers are (mostly) all gone now, of course – but there seems to be a resurgence in men’s public interest in perfume. And not just us rabid perfumistas, either. Howard is a regular guy who is beginning to become intrigued by the vast and varied options available in perfume land. He was uncomfortable with it at first, until he realized that it’s no different from being an oenophile. So now he’s having a ball at the StC site and I daresay when he comes down here to visit we will spend a few minutes in my perfume armoire. That will freak El O out, since he only wears a scent if I spray it on him. But who knows? Perhaps he might be intrigued enough to sit in on the session. Naaah. But a gal can dream.
Sunday’s UKTimes ran an article about men and their perfume collections. There’s a lot of emphasis in the article on ‘straight’ men and ‘testosterone’ (if your biology is wonky this article could give you the idea that only straight men have testosterone) – but as tiresome as it may be, it also makes sense – I think the article is trying to engage a demographic not known for its interest in ‘perfume’: straight men – and women who are interested in straight men. Guys like El O (who doesn’t have a metrosexual bone in his body) are uncomfortable with the notion of wearing, or being interested in, perfume. Guys like H (a bit farther up the olfactory evolutionary scale) need to be reassured that such an interest (beyond the manly basics) won’t get their Man Card revoked. Perfumistos are so far down the rabbit hole they don’t care about any of that – they just care about the perfume.
Obviously all the men on this blog are interested in perfume. But what about the husbands/significant others of all you women and men out there? Has your interest piqued theirs? Or do they think you’re nuts? El O couldn’t care less – as long as I don’t bug him about it (irritatingly, he is quite the supersmeller but doesn’t want to Use His Gift). Occasionally he might say ‘wow. you smell gooood’ – but it’s usually when I’m wearing something like Coty Sand and Sable. If I want something from him, I wear Swiss Arabian Noora. $12. Drives him wild. Go figure.
So…is 2012 The Year of Men in Perfume? Your thoughts??? And since I’m going to bust Howard out of the colognes….with what should I start? I’m thinking JubXXV. What do you think? Too much, too soon? Some suggestions, please!
that hysterical meme copied by permission JC/FBP
Posting a little late, but I’ve enjoyed this thread. Welcome Howard, I hope you have a great time trying all the scents suggested.
After reading some of the comments, I have to say I feel quite blessed to have a DH who is tolerant of my perfume hobby, and does appreciates fragrance, although not quite at a perfumista level! When we met, he had a favorite EDT strength perfume– an ambery Aveda fragrance, that was discontinued within a few years. I snagged him a few bottles on evilbay, but eventually it was no longer available, and he had to find a new choice. The new HG’s? (That’s blogger slang for “holy grail” Howard) –the much recommended Amouage Jubiliation XXV! He has gotten a ton of positive feedback— women clients comment on how great it smells on him– and he really enjoys it.
Now there is a contender for the HG title– Guerlain Habit Rouge Extrait. DH totally loves this, and I do too, and neither of us care much about the other strengths. But that’s even pricier than the Amouage, and a little harder to get, since it’s not sold online, and usually only available at the Guerlain boutique in Paris. So we are down to just a decant of that, and he’s quite happy with the Amouage. Of course, I try to talk him in to having other perfume choices, not because I don’t love Jubilation XXV (I loovvvvve it on him) but because I can’t conceive of _one_ perfume worn every day. I rotate dozens! I have a giant bottle of Dior Cologne Blanche, which is a powdery almondy herbal cologne, sadly discontinued, and made him a decant I thought he might want to use on hot summer days, but he really doesn’t feel a need to switch seasonally. He does like Frapin 1270, which has a similar feel to Jubilation XXV, at a lower price point, but its a definite runner-up. Nothing beats the Amouage.
I do think think he’d like Pure Distance M– but since he is so happy without trying new fragrances, I’ve kept the decant I purchased for myself! (Sorry, the “M” is a super pricey extrait, Howard, but it’s seriously awesome. It’s so potent you only need a tiny dab, so a 1/4 ml sample would be enough to try it a few times and see if you like it, if you are so inclined..)
This one sounds really lovely ! Although I too don’t go for this genre, I would consider this as a gift for my partner as he love this type of fresh oceanonic, aquatic scents !! As it is a L E , and trees grow faster than him getting to the bottom of a 50 ml, I don’t thing we will meet this life time ! Thanks for the review;)
Leathers, baby – especially SL Daim Blond, PdE Cuir Ottoman, L’AP Traversee du Bosphore, Heeley Cuir Pleine Fleur. And don’t forget the tobaccos like BK Back to Black and that new-fangled YS Uzac Pohadka. And bust out the BK Pure Oud while you’re at it! This sounds like such a romp, Musette!
And by the way, you (the red devil) and EL O (the green Hulk graphic) are such a cute couple!
Ooh, good recs, Nozknoz! I just tried Cuir Ottoman, and it is amazing; nose glued to wrist for hours amazing. I love it, and agree it would be great on man or woman. By Killian’s Back to Black is beautiful as well–tobacco, honey, and spices that are infinitely nuzzle-worthy. I haven’t plunged for FB yet, but keep cadging samples. . .it is seriously evil to layer it with your other rec, BK’s Pure Oud. Oh. My. Goodness. My pocketbook shudders, but that may my favorite layering, evah. That would be sending Howard far, far down the rabbit hole of this perfume obsession. He’d smell amazing, and not likely to else wearing the same thing 😀
Oopsie, posted in the wrong spot – My apologies!
I wanted to add Azemour in to the rec’s too, its perfect for the summer!
I got interested in perfume first, but my wife joined the fun quite soon and very willingly. But I do run into the silly “cologne” thing. I once asked my students “are you wearing perfume?” and half of the men in the class responded “of course not, I’m a guy!”. Silly idiots.
I think JubXXV is an evil choice… is he really going to want to spend that much? Go with Guerlain L’Instant Pour Homme or New York from Nicolai. Eau Sauvage is good an easy to find, and, of course, introduce him to the Sultan’s amber.
I’ve worn Fracas myself. Not my wife’s favorite on me, however, so I mostly wear it when I want to unsettle people. It works…
Hi Howard, have fun on your way down the rabbit hole! Vintage Givenchy III and vintage Coriandre both smell fab on guys, and I think OJ Woman would as well. Calandre might also work nicely, and there’s always the eau version if it turns out to be a bit much for you in the edt or parfum.
Happy sniffing!
Fernando, I adore you! These are great suggestions! And…well, let’s think of JubXXV as …’aspirational’…shall we?
He might also like Epic, which has that woody vibe at the bottom.
Oh, the places he’ll go!
xoxo :Devil:
I feel that it is really sad that society on the whole has the rein of what a man should smell like to the rest of the world. I began my journey down the scented rabbit hole in the pursuit of new fragrances for my mother. I found that normally if it smelled good on me, it would usually smell good on her. I began to find that most men’s fragrances were too strong, harsh and overbearing, and that I really preferred the woman’s fragrances on the market. It was embarassing to go to the ladies fragrance dept looking for a new perfume for me, so I would always tell the S.A. that I was looking for something for my mother. I finally came to realize –to hell with what the sales people thought of a man in the lady’s dept looking for a fragrance for himself. It just takes time to come to realize that whether you buy it in the men’s or ladies dept has no justification to your masculinity. It still irks me when I have a SA tell me “I’m sorry your in the wrong dept-the men’s dept is over there.” I quickly tell her I know exactly which dept. I am in, and that I do not need any help from her. So I say–I’m proud of you Howard for your new journey down the rabbit’s hole to perfumeland.
I LOVE your ‘tude, sweetie. LOVE IT!
xoxo :Devil:
Me too! I wish more guys were like that.
Fun question! (and Divine Mrs M your typing sounds sassier, so hope you are feeling better :D)
Most of the men in my life are anti perfume/cologne. Weirdly, I’ve picked the major loves of my life by their natural scent. Two men in particular, I adored just their natural scent, no fragrance, just him. Sigh.
My most recent gent (the calender guy) was adorable, and when he found out about my perfumania, shared that he had SIX bottles of scent. Chanel Bleu, YSL La Nuit de l’Homme, Terre d’Hermes, Guerlain Spiriteuse Double Vanille, Bond No 9 Cooper Square. . .it was fun, and he was certainly a manly man 😀
Hope Howard can find some fun things to try. If I could put scent on a man, I’d try Musc Ravageur, Terre d’Hermes and OJ Man. Yum. Have fun!
Oooh, yes. Calendar guy!!! Of all of those, the only two I know by heart are the Hermes and the Guerlain. Not a lover of the GSDV but on Calendar Guy I think I could make an exception! :Wink:
Feeling way better, mouthwise. Now fighting all these incipient joint aches and pains that come from (wait for it). the use of a penicillin! Yesh. Happens every time. I figure I have another week, then it will be gone.
:Weary: if it’s not one thing, it’s another! LOL!
xoxox :Devil:
My partner is a willing guinea pig for any scent that I like to spritz on him, which is very fun for me. He’s not that interested in perfume personally, and thinks my obsession is a bit over the top, but likes it that I find his scented self attractive. This post has me thinking that I need to start experimenting with a wider range from my collection, on him – the OJ Woman and L’air du Desert Marocain suggestions from above sound particularly good!
Try Fracas.
You will thank me.
xoxo :Devil:
Doooooo eeeeeet!! And report back.
By the way, I noticed on the StC website, a man’s sample collection based on/or containing (not sure of the correct terminology) lavender. Intriguing! Any suggestions?
I’m the least ‘lavenderish’ of them all …so not much help. I think Jicky is lotso lav. but we shall see what others have to say on this.
xo :Devil:
Being quite the lavender lover I would suggest apart from the ones on their sampler pack:
Caron: Pour un Homme ( in my humble opinion the best lavender fragrance ever!)
Caron: Les Plus Belles Lavandes; simpler than PuH, more of a Lavender Soliflore
Goutal: Eau de Lavande
Parfums de Nicolaï: Pour Homme ( discontinued, but a sample might be obtained somewhere)
Guerlain: Jicky, Mouchoir de Monsieur and a lovely cologne Eau du Coq
Caldey Island: Lavender
Vero Kern: Kiki
By Kilian: A Taste of Heaven
I include a link to Bois de Jasmin’s blog with a link to 8 reviews of Lavender prominent fragrances. http://boisdejasmin.com/note/lavender
Good luck!
Thank you for your suggestions!
Welcome Howard – and I’ve enjoyed the fun-to-read posts. My DH, the great love of my life, actively disliked perfume when I met him, and I’m afraid the only change I’ve wrought in his attitude is a sort of patient tolerance of some, but not all scents. I have induced him to wear some vetiver colognes because I love them so, but a daily dose of cologne will never be part of his routine. I had to laugh about your husband wearing OJ Frangipani Musette – when I asked DH to sniff-test that scent on me, he said it smelled “like Christmas trees.” Huh. But apparently the woody aspect of it makes it a good scent for men as well. Howard should definitely sample the Ormonde Jayne line – I bet OJ Woman would smell great on a man!
I think I have some OJWoman around here – will share with Howard. He said he really likes woody scents. El O likes nothing, alas. Definitely doesn’t like Yatagan.
xo :Devil:
My husband is not terribly happy about my perfume hobby. Not because of the money or anything like that – he gets migraines and scent is often a trigger. And he has the most sensitive of noses. I sprayed 2 spritzes of Coromandel in the AM, he comes home 8 or 9 hours later and can smell the patchouli in the bathroom! When we first started dating (6 years ago), I wasn’t really “into” perfumes yet, and he also wasn’t as sensitive. I even bought him 2 colognes to wear and he would occasionally for me since he knew I liked them on him. Then he got a migraine once when he was wearing it, so that was the end of that.
Oh, dang. That’s a shame. I hope the migraines abate, so you can enjoy your hobby more comfortably (for both of you!)
xoxo:Devil:
My husband is definitely one of those shower, shave, brush his teeth kind of men. I couldn’t get him to consciously wear fragrance if I tried. But last June when I bought a bottle of FM Vetiver Extraordinaire for myself, the SA said, “I hope your husband enjoys his Father’s Day gift.” My reply was, “Father’s Day!? Uh, this is for me.” But it got me to thinking, that it really would be a good fragrance for my husband. So I tried spraying his business shirts when he brings them home from the laundry. (No I don’t wash, starch or iron collared business shirts.) Dear hubby, mentioned that he liked the “new detergent” the shirt laundry was using. Hehe.
But this is as close as DH will come to wearing a fragrance.
I think Jubilation XXV would be a wonderful into scent for a gentleman wanting to explore perfume! Maybe Le Labo Rose 31 or L’Artisan Voleur de Rose, too.
LOVE that! Love that you don’t do those shirts, either. I rarely do that type of laundry, though I do all the ‘other’ laundry, alas.
xo :Devil:
I just hate being talked about, but not this time.Musette, thank you for the shout out. I am enjoying your blog and the comments. Looking forward to trying many of the suggestions. Mim and others, thank you
Welcome, Howard! You have so much fun ahead of you.
And please, please come back and tell us what you think of your trip down the rabbitt hole.
I think he’s halfway down already!
xo :Devil:
My husband is a bit like El O in that way—not interested, but tolerant of my obsession. He loves that I enjoy it, and he’ll willingly sniff things if I ask him to, but he has no interest in wearing perfume himself. (I think the last scent he wore regularly was probably Jovan Musk when he was a teenager.) He owns a few bottles of other things that people have given him over the years but he doesn’t wear them. I don’t think he’s against the idea, but he just never thinks about it. There are so many things I’d love for him to try (Jubilation XXV is high on that list), but I don’t push it.
A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to give his father a bottle of perfume for his birthday, so I broke out the samples and asked my husband to help me decide what he might like. He was a little concerned at first that, since most of them were samples I had originally gotten for myself, they were “women’s perfumes,” but he very seriously went through several rounds of sniffing and finally decided on biehl parfumkunstwerke gs02, which has an absinthe note. (And as far as I’m aware, his dad has never worn it.) It was fun hearing his impressions as he seriously considered each sample, though.
that’s a great way to get him interested! Drag him into another list for…an uncle? You might just hook him by osmosis!
xo :Devil:
Big second for XXV! It is so lovely, but *strong*.
Off the top of my head, also suggest many from whole lines that I feel can easily be worn by men:
Caron Pour Homme, Poivre, Parfum Sacre;
The Different Company Bergamote;
Dior Eau Noire, Bois D’Argent, many;
Tauer L’air du Desert Marocain, others;
Lutens Vetiver, Ambre Sultan,Santal de Mysore, Borneo, lots of them really;
Ormonde Jayne Man and Woman;
Parfumerie Generale Iris Taizo, Bois Blond, Une Crime Exotique, lots of them;
L’artisan Voleur du Roses (spelling?), Tea for Two, Amber, Patchouli, Vanilla, Safran Troublant, lots of them;
Frapin 1270, others;
Keiko Mecheri Genie des Bois, Olibanum;
Great list!!!
xo :Devil:
Most of the guys that I know are not into perfumes. My dad may comment if something smells nice but he very rarely wears any kind of scent. It doesn’t matter if it is cologne or aftershave, he won’t wear it. One guy friend will only wear BBW’s guy stuff. Another guy friend hates asking me to help him pick out a perfume for his mother on her birthday for Christmas. One reason is that he can do loads better than getting his mom the latest celebrity scent and two, he can’t be such a cheapskate when it comes to gifts. If one has just reentered the job force after being unemployed for a while, it is understandable but when you want to spend $250 or more on lottery tickets (scratch offs) it’s just not acceptable. Good perfumes don’t always cost a lot of money but sheesh, you don’t need to be getting your mother the latest Paris Hilton perfume.
Ha! I’m with you! Make that boy do right by his mother!
Uh… you might want to send your friend to a basic accounting class. The ROI on that scratch off deal sucks, unless he’s hitting 1:3. My pop was like that. Spent thousands on lottery – then called me up, yelling at me about ME spending money on lottery. At the time, I think I’d spent a total of …maybe $20? Total. Won $106. Pretty decent ROI. Irritated him no end. Especially since, when I won the $100 scratch off, I only put $1 back into Lottery. LOL! Vegas hates me, too.
xo :Devil:
What a great post! I had no idea Brad Pitt is the new face for Chanel No. 5, but I agree–brilliant marketing on their part. This will get people talking about the brand in ways they haven’t in decades. And hopefully will break down more perceptions regarding which gender should wear what perfume.
On the home from, my sweetheart doesn’t wear fragrance but will allow me to spray him if I must. My fav on him is SL Chene. It’s gorgeous on his warm skin in a way it just isn’t on my cold bony wrists. And I love the idea of Aromatics Elixir on him, as Jillie mentioned–I’ve got to give that a try!
Whoever came up with BP for No5 should get a promotion and a Very Hefty Bonus. He is PERFECT for that brand – his ‘manly’ iconic stature is offset by that quirky ‘walk your talk’ thing he’s got going (with the whole New Orleans rebuild, the thoughtful comments on religion, etc). Sexy, confident, charming. He is not my type but there’s no denying his ability to engage and intrigue (and, imo, he’s a very good actor)
I love Aromatics Elixir on a man, as long as it’s not sprayed in my presence. The spray induces a raging migraine. The perfume, actually on a person, does not. And it is glorious on a man!
xo :Devil:
Men in rural communities, ah yes. I live there.
The CEO is not averse to scent, but he still tends to see it as a personal attraction sort of deal – will ask me what I find sexy on him. (Gres Cabaret, darlings. The women’s. I decanted it into a plain bottle for him… rrrowwwrr.) But he’ll still pick up other things and wear them – Acqua di Gio, Hermes Eau de Merveilles from a sample, Jovan Sex Appeal. And the things he can’t resist on me? Citizen Queen. Marc Jacobs Daisy (!). Dior Poison. POISON, I say. POISON. Eep. He loves the stuff.
I hardly ever smell fragrance on a guy at, say, a Farm Bureau meeting. Or the grocery store, or the bank, or at church. I notice, though, that the guys in the high school band (I chaperone frequently) wear fragrance more openly. It’s sometimes Axe – and as I’ve said before, there’s ONE guy that wears the chocolate one very well. It smells terrific on him, a sort of dark musky-woody thing, not the mess I smell in the bottle.
And my daughter’s boyfriend wears True Religion for Men, this citrusy aromatic fougere that has a nice trail and smells very classic. Girls will get on the band bus and say, “Oh, who smells so nice?” and follow their noses until they get to the Pretty Eyed Trumpet Boy… (If he comes over to our house, the house smells like him too. Which I don’t mind.)
But by and large, I do still think that in rural areas fragrance is seen as Very Girly.
Oh, def. try Howard on the Jub XXV. (I really hate J25, but then me n’ fruity chypres, we are Not Frenz). And maybe the Eau de Merveilles, which I think is great on a guy.
I am still stunned that you hate Jub25, as we so closely dovetail on so many ‘fumes.
El O rarely comments on what I’m wearing (I doubt it even registers with him)…except, recently when I wore Swiss Arabian’s Noora to bed he came in and said “wow. you smell GREAT”. huh. $12. Go figure.
Howard is frantically compiling a list from this post – I suspect the Surrender to Chance website will crash from his order! :Overjoy: I’m compiling a bunch of FB and decants to spritz him with, next time I see him but to quote him “I’m too excited to wait for then!”
xo :Devil:
Hmm, where to start…
I’ve been married for 28 years and my DH has a great natural smell. It’s one of the very first things I noticed about him. He’ll wear perfume if I spray it on him & sometimes he’ll ask me to, but he honestly just smells good on his own. I can’t explain it. He loves perfume on me; he’ll smell anything, never fails to have good insight on what works and why. He doesn’t often make the first move on perfume; for himself, he can pretty much take it or leave it. (btw, he’s a Manly construction guy but also a musician, so maybe that makes a difference. Who knows.)
Just this past weekend I was wearing Shalimar, which he loves on me but I hadn’t worn it for a while. He wanted to try it. O.M.G. Shalimar smells wonderful on him. He couldn’t stop smelling himself. It was kind of hilarious. He definitely is going to need his own bottle as he’s worn it every day since. Who would have thought? All these years, and a random spritz of Shalimar turns out to be True Love. I guess what I’m saying is that you never know what perfume will trip someone’s trigger, or how long it will take. Howard sounds like a great pupil! Thanks for yet another thought provoking post, Ms A.
I think I love your DH. It is a Courtly Love. Any man who falls in love with Shalimar shall have my admiration forever!
I wish El O were interested. He has an incredible ‘nose’ – alas, it’s all going to waste. Except with Yatagan.
but that is for another time.
xo :Devil:
I think I may love your DH as well! Out of curiosity which formulation does be love?
And, in the same vein, has he tried Habit Rouge?
His favorite is my precious vintage extrait but hayell no, he is not sloshing that around for every day. I have a bigger bottle of the edt, which for some reason I prefer to the edp, and he’s spritzing that. Hasn’t tried Habit Rouge and it’s been years since I’ve tried it, so maybe I need to find a sample?
Hey,
One that I really like on TSO is Lanvin L’Homme Sport. Currently about $50 for 50ml at the discounters but it is manly, spicy, fresh and fiery.
Occasionally I steal it and wear it myself. I have bought a couple of bottles recently at an extremely good price from a failed company. The bottle is lovely, and masculine. No one will be afraid. Then get the expensive stuff out and blitz him.
Portia xx
Howard is already champing at the bit to try everything the Posse is suggesting! He’s lurking on here – he may stop in and say hello.
El O would no more come on this blog (or voluntarily wear scent) than he would walk into an ethanol plant in a pink tutu and a tiara.
xo :Devil:
Excellent post, dear Musette! Gave my DH a bottle of Tom Ford for Men aftershave a while back (smells fab on him) and he’ll wear that sometimes since it’s up by his shaving area, but has to be coerced to try something new; occasionally I’ll fob off a sample on him and make him hold out his wrist while I give it a quick spray/dab. He shrugs his shoulders and says, “What’s the difference? It all smells good.” And I don’t ask him for scent items for gifts anymore as he tends to look over at me with a gently pained expression that says “Don’t you have enough of that stuff?” He’s a wonderful, kind and generous guy but I’m never going to make a perfumisto out of him, no way, no how.
I feel your pain, baby. That’s persackly how it is in this house. Except when I sprayed Yatagan. THAT was….that was priceless!
xo :Devil:
My husband is an engineer. He wears a plain gold wedding band, a watch, deodorant and that is all. No hair product, no face creams, nada. He thinks I am a nut but tends to view the whole thing with benevolence of th esane for the crazy unless I go on a sample bender or its Swapmania and parcels coming and going and I am constantly smelling myself. He’ll usually let me spray him with something as long as its not going to smell ‘girly’ or like sweat (he accidentally walked up to me whilst I was spraying a tester of Kingdom). My dad is more adventurous and actually buys it for himself which is impressive given that his dad only wore eau de Marlboro. After he divorced my mom, he bought himself a bottle of Pour Monsieur as he fell in love with it in Jordan Marsh. Then he was a Nautica fan and now he has some decants (sent by his lovely daughter) of Jub XXV, Terre de Hermes and Juniper Sling which all smell fab on him.
For Howard, I would say Pour Monsieur to ease him in and then BAM hit with the Jub and he’ll be eternally indebted to you. Else he’ll be cursing you for inducing him to spend crazy money!
Well! Your dad fell down the rabbit hole HARD! :Wink: My dad actually DEVOLVED. He was always impeccably turned out and smelled great! Then, around 75-80 yrs, got into some cheap-smelling thing called Bod (I think someone must’ve given it to him) and that, darling, is a scent you NEVER want to smell. Ever. Add that to Unwashed Old Man and you have the makings of a migraine that will last an entire day, nausea and all)
Howard is already halfway down the rabbit hole. His interest in colognes, coupled with his inquisitive, sensualist nature, makes him the perfect candidate for Perfumistohood. He’s going to come down to visit us and spend the day in perfume sniffery! El O will probably go rip some carburetor out with his bare hands, just to make sure his Man Card stays current! :The-Incredible-Hulk:
xo :Devil:
What a great, thought-provoking article, Musette! I wonder if perceiving a love of perfume as homosexual is an American thing. I see Facebook Fragrance Friends has lots of male members, but it seems a lot of them are not in the U.S.
And how true that perfumes have, throughout the ages, been cherished by both sexes! Just look at the gifts of the wiremen! How sad that a lot of men are not open to fragrance; I do hope that will change!
My husband: no scent, no jewelry other than his wedding ring. You have given me inspiration to try something for Father’s Day for him. I’m now thinking maybe something Creed. Not because I’m a super Creed fan, but he gets migraines easily, but seemed to tolerate that brand well. Making sure he’s comfortable and not scaring him away with too many chemicals (why I think a lot of people turn on perfume) is the first step!
Hope you are all healing up Musette! 🙂
We are so obsessed with sexuality over here – and the perception of homosexuality/metrosexuality is really bad in more conservative areas. Consider: awhile back I made some cookies for someone who’d helped us out with a project – he works in another metal fabrication factory here in town. I put the cookies in a small Barneys shopping bag for ease of transport. gave them to El O to take over. Remember – Barneys shopping bags are plain black, with their name on it – that’s all. No froufrou. He came back, laughing – the guy was MORTIFIED that they were in a ‘girly’ bag! Made El O take the bag back with him (he kept the cookies, of course 😀
It is worth remembering that the article was UK, though I suspect that a US article would’ve stressed the ‘manly/hetero’ angle as well. The group the article referenced contains male members both straight and gay – but they did go on (and on and on) about the hetero aspects of it, didn’t they? sigh.
Thanks for the kind wishes. Almost there! I must be germier than the average :Devil: – this is taking a bit longer than I’d imagined!
One of my favorites for migraine is Guerlain’s Imperiale! I know – it’s closer to a cologne than anything – but it’s a wonderful fragrance!!
xoxo
I’ve tried to convert my brother, so far with limited succes. This Christmas I gave him Terre D’Hermes, and apparantly he hasn’t thrown it out yet and even wore it several times!
Another suggestion is Ormond Jayne Man, wonderful and definitely a perfume not a cologne.
PS Now I’m curious, where do you live? Myself I live in Sweden, where it’s much the same thing with men and perfume.
I like that suggestion! Howard is a bit of a sensualist and I think he would appreciate the discreet luxury of a perfume!
I live in a small town in Illinois. Very rural conservative. Folks here have been doing things much the same way for the past 50 yrs and their belief systems haven’t changed much. I’m a very recent transplant and while the Internet and cable have shrunk the world a bit, there is still resistance to change. Probably much the same in any remote, rural area.
xo :Devil:
Poor Musette! It’s a hard life. My husband was a virgin (perfume virgin that is) when I met him. He was like your guys, washing and cleaning teeth was enough, and he didn’t even shave as he had a thick beard (and long hair). He used to wear polo-necked jumpers and an anorak.
Over the years, he has changed. He is now clean-shaven, hair (what’s left of it) cut short, and he loves his linen shirts and silk ties. He also adores smelling good, has his own collection of perfumes and wears whatever of my cast-offs that I give him. He frequently goes to work smelling of OJ’s Frangipani, he likes Aromatics Elixir, and also wears Guerlain’s Mahora – these are just a few of the “girlie” frags he enjoys.
And it all started with Dior’s Eau Sauvage …… he was won over by its lemon and herby notes and is still very happy to wear it. I think it makes a very good starter perfume for chaps as they perceive it as clean and refreshing.
However, beware! I sometimes think I might have created a monster when I find that he has stolen my shower gels and body lotion, and slaps my face creams on with gay abandon! My pupil has learnt too well.
The pupil has become the master! :Wink:
El O has cleaned up a bit since our first outing, 12 years ago (lawd)…but he’s still a bit rough – the hardest thing now is to keep him from wearing his nice clothes to chop wood or repair an engine!
First hub was an easier pupil. Took to finery and smellery like a duck to water.
xo :Devil: