If you’re like, well, any guy under the age of 35 in Australia, you’ve probably got a dark, forgotten shelf somewhere in your place of residence that houses at least four colognes you never, ever use. If you do happen to reach for one, it would be once in a blue moon / when you’re gonna see your Mum (who bought that awful-smelling thing for you).
But everyone knows cologne is literal sex when it’s good. Not in that gross ‘women will jump on you involuntarily!’ way, which is super sexist and frankly, ridiculous. But ask any gal and they’ll tell you a man wearing a good cologne is a definite turn-on, at least.
There’s a trick to finding one you want to wear, though. And it’s all in figuring out what you do and don’t want from a daily scent. We hit up Jacob Stanley, Head of Education at Mecca Cosmetica, for the hot tips on how to choose your signature scent.
Some guys’ll want to feel powerful. Some will want to feel fresh. There’s no right or wrong here. Before throwing cash at the niche fragrance counter, work out what you want to feel like each morning, and then start looking at fragrance notes that elicit that feeling.
“Scent has such an incredible amount of influence over our emotional state,” explains Jacob. “And you really can use scent to help you manipulate how you feel.”
IF YOU WANT TO FEEL FRESH
The best notes to look for when you’re a dude that likes to feel fresh are green notes like ivy and cucumber, and citrus notes like grapefruit. Fresh scents are quite subtle, they won’t linger heavily and you might have to re-apply through the day if you want the cologne to last til the night.
“Also, there’s a synthetic note called Calone which smalls like the ocean. Whenever you’re smelling a fragrance that smalls ‘wet’ it probably contains Calone,” says Jacob.
IF YOU WANT TO FEEL HOT
Rich scents are your mates if you want to feel like Ryan Gosling on his most 10/10 day. Go for notes of tobacco, oud, and rum. They’re incredibly powerful and have that smoky, dark-lit-bar feel to them.
“Rose Absolute (stay with me here) works really well on men – especially when it’s combined with notes like sandalwood and vetiver that make it a little obscure, but still deep and luxurious,” says Jacob.
IF YOU WANT TO FEEL POWERFUL
If you want to walk into your next work meeting and have heads turn because your cologne makes you smell rich and important, go for scents containing refined patchouli and subtle oud. These, obviously, tend to be on the more expensive side – but hot damn if they don’t smell like a million bucks.
Patchouli was actually a note that was once synonymous with expensive luxury, centuries before it became synonymous with hippies,” explains Jacob. “On the oud side of things, Oud by Maison Francis Kurkdjian is a very elegant unisex fragrance, and the oud note itself is much more wearable in this fragrance than others on the market. It doesn’t scream, it doesn’t overpower, it’s more subtle than that.”
IF YOU WANT TO SMELL CLEAN
Not because you want to take less showers, mate. Pls do not try that. But if you love the smell of fresh laundry or non-fragrance, the notes you want to go for are light florals, light citrus and acqua notes like the Calone mentioned above. You can also try this really cool non-fragrance, Escentric Molecules Molecule 01, which is designed to amplify your natural scent. Trust us, that’s a thing – a good thing.
“Serge Lutens’ L’eau is the perfect example of a fragrance that doesn’t smell like a perfume, it just smells like ‘clean’,” says Jacob. “The floral and citrus notes are almost undetectable – it just smells like fresh laundry or a crisp white shirt.”
AND JUST A FEW HOT TIPS
Always apply your fragrance to the back of your neck, not the front or chest, and on your forearms. These are the spots where it’ll last the longest and wear the best. You should also steer clear of buying a scent simply because of the brand or because you like it on someone else – definitely test the cologne and wear it for a day to see if it works on you.
Also, remember that Eau de Parfum doesn’t mean “female fragrance”. The types of fragrance are to do with their percentage of concentration.
A cologne or Eau de Cologne will typically have around 2-5% concentration, an Eau de Toilette will have 5-10%, so will last longer than an EDC,” explains Jacob. “An Eau de Parfum will usually have 10-20% concentration, and Extraits de Parfums have 20-40% concentration, so they are whopping scents that last a long time.”
Keen to get your own sweet-smelling side-hustle off the ground? Enter our current comp c/o Set for Life, and you could with $5k to give it legs – plus you’ll score a luxe weekender in Sydney and lunch with epic boss lady of Gritty Pretty, Eleanor Pendleton. Enter here:
Image: Instagram / @shaunbirley.
