how do you find the right cologne?

February 24, 2008 1:49 AM

how do i find my scent - what deodorant to use?

in 2001, i bought a cussons spray deodorant in australia (a small red pack with a grey lid ). i didnt realise really at the time, but people kept commenting. i mean in the workshop, canteen, in class, all over - about 8 different people asked what cologne i was wearing. anyway i had to go overseas, and when i got back they had stopped making the same one! so i tried their new type, and never got a reaction. so my two questions are
1. was it just a con-incidence, or do particular scents work amazingly in some scenarios
2. if there is a special scent that works for a person, how do u find what it is (the magic ingredient)

posted by edtut to science & nature (9 comments total)

There is some ascertainment bias here—it might have been that twice as many people found the scent disgusting, but they are unlikely to go up to you and say "hey, you have a really gross scent today."

I should say I also find scented deodorant repulsive. Same with aerosol deodorant if you are in the locker room when someone else is using—I really don't want to breathe all that stuff, yuck.

I recommend using unscented deodorant (of a non-spray variety), and if you really want some sort of smell you can test out various colognes more easily.
posted by grouse at 3:47 AM on February 24

First, use unscented Mitchum, stick or roll-on. Never aerosol. (They're banned at my gym, grouse.)

Secondly, perfumes smell different on everyone, sometimes more noticeably than others. Perfumes react with your skin, and the same perfume sprayed on two people, one with Mediterranean or Latin olive skin and one with fair, Northern European or Celtic skin will smell totally different on both. Olive or black skin is oilier, generally, than Celtic skin and the amount of oils in the skin affect the smell of the perfume.

I have very fair skin and I find that, generally, the spicy scents such as Opium, Obsession, etc. don't suit my skin. I tend to go for light floral perfumes (Diorissimo, Cristal, etc.) because they react well with my skin and smell good.

In the 80s there used to be a popular perfume called LouLou. It was a very heady, spicy perfume and you could always tell when someone was wearing it. It wasn't the sort of perfume I'd normally choose but I was given some and I found that if I wore LouLou, total strangers would stop me in the street and ask me what perfume it was. When I said "LouLou" they'd be amazed and say "Wow! That doesn't smell like LouLou at all!" For some reason, LouLou reacted in such a way with my skin chemicals that it changed the way it smelled to something totally awesome and unusual.

I suspect that whatever perfume was in the deodorant had the same effect on your skin. Just a chemical anomaly.

I hate LouLou now, it's so 80s.
posted by essexjan at 3:54 AM on February 24

I'm going to go against the consensus here and say that deoderant/cologne does matter. I use at least one daily and try to make sure they are the same brand/scent.

There are some good threads on askme about this very topic and the majority of replies are in favour of good, subtle scents rather than the cheap and overpowering.

As for which one works for you? Well, I found mine by quite liking it myself and, like yourself, being complemented on it by others. Trial and error. Just smelling a cologne in a store won't tell you the full story as it needs time to absorb/react to your skin and body chemistry.
posted by slimepuppy at 5:35 AM on February 24

If you use unscented hygiene products, then you can choose from the whole world of scents and colognes out there to find one that works perfectly (and uniquely) for you.

If you use scented deodorant, then you'll:

a) always have to be careful not to use a "clashing" scent in cologne, hair products, etc.;
b) only be able to choose from among the scents that some corporation thinks are likely to be popular for a huge number of people;
c) possibly be causing slight allergic reactions in other people, i.e. in elevators, etc.;
d) need to get unscented deodorant for some situations, i.e. singing in a choir;
e) have no control over the amount of scent you have on;
f) never know if it really is unpleasant or offensive to some people, because the vast vast majority of people are too "polite" to tell you. They'll just avoid you, or not enjoy talking to you when they can't avoid you.
posted by amtho at 6:00 AM on February 24

I think that wearing deodorant completely matters. The trick is that nobody should be able to smell it unless they are right up next to you. I don't know anyone who likes to be assaulted with incredibly strong fragrance, regardless of how pleasantly scented is; however, unscented deodorant doesn't really cover the scent of body odor in my opinion. Like slimepuppy pointed out, though, finding the right scent is going to be a lot of trial and error. I'm not sure if this was the fragrance you used, but the notes given for Cussons Imperial Leather on basenotes.net are lavender, bergamot, lemon, geranium, fern, cedarwood, patchouli, vanilla, moss, musk, tonka, and amber. This sounds similar to Axe/Lynx Africa to me, although I can't find a listing of the notes in that (I know it for sure has lavender and vanilla). Despite my general disgust and dislike for the Axe ad campaigns, I do really like how Africa smells on others. Axe Kilo also might come close to the description given for this Cussons. Spray deodorants can seem overpowering at first (so you probably don't want to spray them in public) but usually calm down very quickly into something subtle if you haven't applied to much.

Your new deodorant might have been absolutely fine, but nobody was near enough to you to smell it or a million other things. It's hard to tell. I can wear the same perfume and get several compliments one day, and none the next. If you like it, wear it; ask a few people who will be straight with you what they think if you're really unsure.
posted by Polychrome at 6:17 AM on February 24

I can verify (c) except that in my case it isn't slight; it's full-on. If you're wearing Lynx or Impulse and you see me attempting to claw my way through the bottom of the elevator, you'll know why.
posted by flabdablet at 6:19 AM on February 24

This sounds similar to Axe/Lynx Africa to me

No, Imperial Leather -- if it was that -- has a classic old-school scent that British people over 30 or so will remember most from soap. Not close to the 'teenage male gym changing room' fug of Axe/Lynx.

Still, you can put me in the category of 'unscented deodorant, then find your favourite scent', with an emphasis on non-fuggy. The old classics, however much you'll associate them with your grandparents, have something to be said for them.

Now, if you do find a scent that appeals -- and it's absolutely personal -- and it's offered in a deodorant version that has the same effect, you're sorted.
posted by holgate at 9:33 AM on February 24

about 8 different people asked what cologne i was wearing

Sometimes, that means they're saying you are wearing way too much. I am in the camp that says I can't smell anything about you unless my face is buried in your body somewhere.
posted by sageleaf at 11:58 AM on February 24

[quote]Secondly, perfumes smell different on everyone, sometimes more noticeably than others. Perfumes react with your skin, and the same perfume sprayed on two people, one with Mediterranean or Latin olive skin and one with fair, Northern European or Celtic skin will smell totally different on both. Olive or black skin is oilier, generally, than Celtic skin and the amount of oils in the skin affect the smell of the perfume.[/quote]
This is actually a myth.
People with dark complexions can have very dry skin or very oily skin, just as people with fair complexions can.

Your body chemistry changes as you age, and all sorts of things can affect your body chemistry long-term and short term. What you eat, how much water you have, whether or not you've released endorphins - and that change of your own composition will change how a chemical scent composition will smell on you. You also have to take into account whether the scent is synthetic or from natural materials - synthetics are static and are more likely to stay the same, meaning the change would be all you, while natural materials would also change and age overtime, sometimes with you, and sometimes... not.

If you want to find that scent again, you might want to dig up any container you might still have in your possession and see if you or a friend of yours can identify the "notes." You might even have some luck by asking if anyone remembers the brand or still has a stick over on Basenotes. There's always the possibility of finding a perfumer to recreate it for you, or even taking it on diy, although that can get expensive if you don't have the olfactory skill built up, because it would take a lot of trial and error.
posted by medea42 at 12:48 AM on February 25