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話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
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話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
1d ago
Responding to ping from @George_E_Hale
I'll suggest a few for colognes for some of the vibes you listed. A few things before I go on though. Everyone has their own tastes and preferences so please, please PLEASE sample before you buy anything, especially when the price tag is +$100. The last thing I want to do is to convinde you to buy a $300 fragrance that you hate. Further, for any fragrance
Businessman in a good suit: You can go a few different ways with this, but when I think of this type of feeling, I think about confidence, competence, cleanliness, and something traditional.
Aromatic fougeres are perhaps the classic professional/formal masculine scent profile. Colloquially, this would be the "Barbershop" scent. Common notes are lavender and oakmoss, and when you smell this family of perfume, you should think of a clean shaven professional. Most traditional aftershaves are of this family, so think Old Spice, Brut, or Clubman Pinaud (All of which are great scents by the way. If they made them in edt or edp concentrations, I'd buy them. I have a bottle of Brut edt and I quite like it).
A fantastic example is Drakkar Noir. Though it's old enough to be a classic at this point, the fragrance really holds up. It's got a list of notes that's longer than a CVS receipt, but Lavender, oakmoss, and vetiver are all traditional Aromatic fougere notes. It might smell like it's a little rough around the edges, but I think it actually adds to the charm. While the fragrance has been reformulated to hell and back over the last 40 years, I still quite enjoy the scent profile. When I smell it, I think about the crazy afterparties that businessmen used to get up to in the 80s and 90s.
Another great example is Sartorial from Panhaligan's. Though it's not technically strictly traditional, with a honey note that gives it a slight twist compared to the more clean smell of traditional aftershaves, Sartorial is one of the best examples of the aromatic fougere that's out currently. I think about formal work party, perhaps even a black-tie event when I wear this.
My personal favorite from this family is Beau De Jour from Tom Ford. Smoother and softer than a strictly traditional aromatic fougere, to me it gives off the man-in-suit vibe perfectly. It is pretty strong, so if you're going into the office, 2-3 sprays is quite sufficient. I didn't want to mention it first because it seems that it has been discontinued. You can still get bottles at a reasonable price, but not through any retail channels. This one makes me think of Don Draper from Mad Men leaving the barbershop.
Now for a few recommendations outside of purely aromatic fougeres:
Bleu de Chanel, and Blue fragrances in general. A more modern fragrance family, Blue fragrances were first pioneered by and named after Bleu de Chanel. Blue fragrances are generally clean, fresh, inoffensive, and mass appealing, and the perfect example is Bleu de Chanel edt. The opening is citrus and the drydown is musky and woody. Elegant enough for formal occasions, but also casual enough for every day wear, Blue de Chanel is perfect as one of your first fragrances. The internet consensus is that the edp concentration is the best of the line, my personal favorite is the edt. The parfum and L'Exclusive concentrations get a little further away from its roots, and become a little too heavy for me, but both are good for an older, more established crowd.
Green Irish Tweed and Aventus are two fragrances from the house of Creed that perfectly fit the bill of businessman in a suit. Creed as a house has a mixed reputation nowadays (I swear I'm not a Creed shill, I just like their scents), but their fragrances are undeniable in their influence. The two fragrances are completely different, but the feeling of masculinity is prominent in both. Aventus is probably the more famous of the two. It has a fruity opening and woody drydown, and there's a reason that it's the only niche fragrance that is on the top 25 sales list. You youself have probably even smelled fragrances that were influenced (or even directly copied) Aventus. This is probably something that Jordan Belford would have worn in his prime Wall St. days. Green Irish Tweed, on the other hand, is much more formal. GIT would be natural at a dinner party or black-tie event. In my mind, this is what James Bond would smell like.
Jazz Club from Maison Margiela is another way you can go. Instead of smelling like something that a man in a suit would wear, Jazz Club instead smells like the inside of a Jazz Club, somewhere a man in a suit might be. It has prominent boozy, tobacco, and smoky notes. Personally, I am a huge fan of it for fall and winter. If you're going to be in an enclosed space, however, I'd go lighter on the number of sprays.
A few honorable mentions: Eau Sauvage is a classic fragrance that smells professional and elegant.
Wood Neroli is classic Italian perfumery. The old Italian adage is that the cleaner the man, the sexier the man, and Wood Neroli is incredibly clean and fresh. When you smell this, think Italian cut suit in a beach house in Sicily.
Sandalwood:
Santal 33 from Le Labo is probably the most famous modern day Sandalwood fragrance. During summer, you'd instantly recognize it walking down the street in LA or Manhattan. It's clean, fresh, and quite mesmerizing to me. In fact, similar to Aventus, it's caused its own crop of copies and influenced by fragrances. Santal Cream from Nonfiction is one fragrance that was obviously inspired by Santal 33 and I'm actually quite a big fan of it. It's smoother and creamier than Santal 33, and while the opening is very similar, the drydown is a lot softer. A word of warning, however, a lot of people seem to smell pickles when they smell this fragrance. I've never gotten it, but that's also a good reason to try before you buy.
Sandalo from Acqua di Parma is a noticeably different take on sandalwood from Santal 33. To me it's much more of a winter scent compared to sandalwood. Before Santal 33, I'd say that Sandalo embodies the stereotypical Sandalwood scent. I'd say that to the average person, this is maybe a more challenging scent as it's not clean or mass appealing in my opinion. I quite like it for fall and winter, however.
Outdoorsy/Backpacker: When I think about an outdoorsy smell, I think about woody, musky, earthy, and maybe even a little funky. Personally, I'm less familiar with this feeling because I prefer a cleaner scent profile, but here are a couple that I think will fit the bill.
Antaeus from Chanel is one such scent in my opinon. It's named after a Greek demigod who was born of the earth, and was unbeatable as long as he was connected to the ground. I think it was well named, as it smells woody and earthy. There is an animalic funk to it but it's still nice enough for every day wear. I'd probably stay away from this for something more formal.
Wood Essence from Bvlgari is fresh woody. Instead of going for a forest floor smell, Wood Essence goes more for a pure wood smell. It's not a very complex scent, but I think it fits into the outdoorsy theme.
I've probably written more than anyone cares to read, and I hope I've given you a variety of different fragrances you can try.
Most places near me don't give out samples without purchases anymore. Nordstrom still lets you make your own samples, so that's one way you can go. I'd suggest you go into your local department store or Sephora and smell a few that you're interested in. Bleu is one that is available in most major department stores. Don't smell to many at a time though, because you will get nose fatigue. I try to limit myself to 6 when I go to the mall. When you smell one that you really like, spray it on skin and walk around with it. The opening might be really good, but you need to test how the fragrance will smell on you after an hour or so to test the dry down.
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