Cologne Filter

June 1, 2008 5:49 PM

I need ideas for natural body colognes.

I use mainly unscented body products--deodorant stone, pine-tar soap, etc. I would like to put on something that makes me smell good in an earthy sort of way--but nothing too strong.--just something my wife can enjoy when she gets close to me. I like patchouli, but not the stereotype that goes with it.

posted by keith0718 to clothing, beauty, & fashion (19 comments total)

Sandalwood oil. Expensive but absolutely worth it.
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:56 PM on June 1, 2008

Seconding sandalwood
posted by hortense at 6:07 PM on June 1, 2008

Sandalwood is the choice of discerning gentlemen everywhere.
posted by Justinian at 6:08 PM on June 1, 2008

Sandalwood is the same as patchouli from a stereotype point of view, you fucking hippy!

Seriously, if the poster likes patchouli, and his wife likes patchouli, I think he's asking the wrong question.

The question should be, "Patchouli smells nice and natural to my wife and I, but I want something less stereotypical, any suggestions?" To which the answer, "Unless you're having threesomes, who cares?" is the obvious answer.

If you want natural, I like the Spider Robinson or R. Heinlein quote about how a clean woman is the best aphrodisiac. So use some soap.

That's just my stinking assed opinion.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:10 PM on June 1, 2008

Wow, I am uselessly late to the party, but oh well...

Fourthing sandalwood, which is nicely manly, but don't overdo it. It's a slow buildup sort of thing and you can end up stinking too much before you notice.

(Well, I guess that applies to patchouli too, though I associate patchouli more with women.)

Just to be more useful by adding some variety to the thread... you can also consider cedar, cinnamon, nutmeg, or almost any "woody" oil, all of which are pretty mannish.
posted by rokusan at 6:13 PM on June 1, 2008

Whatever you use, don't use much at all. The best scent for a guy, imo, is the kind only a lady giving him a hug and nestling her nose in that little notch at the base of his neck can smell. It's like sharing a secret, a very nice feeling to have with someone you're hugging that closely.
posted by MadamM at 6:14 PM on June 1, 2008

"A clean woman is the best aphrodisiac. So use some soap."

Oh. Yeah. Good idea. Go to a Lush store or somewhere that makes natural soaps. They have some great-smelling ones, including lots of pine/wood ones, that aren't chemical at all.
posted by rokusan at 6:15 PM on June 1, 2008

Sandalwood is pure sex while maintaining a somewhat clean scent (I think amber is pretty sexy too, but it's heavier). Your wife could wear it, too (it wouldn't smell quite the same on her). This site has about every fragrance you can think of (under Pure Oils) as well as perfume oils of a lot of designer fragrances, and you can get samples of anything on there for $3 (includes shipping).

For men, I also like cedar and lavender. A little vanilla mixed in with any of these will add to the sex appeal.
posted by Polychrome at 6:16 PM on June 1, 2008

As for earthy smells...wasn't there a cologne or perfume at one point called Dirt?
posted by turgid dahlia at 6:16 PM on June 1, 2008

Oooh, correction--looks like they upped their sample price to $4.
posted by Polychrome at 6:17 PM on June 1, 2008

Generally speaking sandalwood is worth the money, though really me and my dirty hippie sometimes find patchouli is fine if we're not going out in public. Use your best judgment. Lush has a soap scent called Karma [I know, I know] which has a nice earthy scent to it and I think honey and beeswax scents can have the same effect you are looking for, though honey by itself is sub-optimal unless that's exactly what you are looking for.

All the tree scents are nice, though easier to find in incenses than in oils: cedar, pine and balsam especially. Any of those scents in shampoos will be a good close-up scent without really making everyone else make deadhead jokes in your direction. Fresh.com is a good source for things that smell good. I've had good luck, for me, with their tobacco and caramel scented oils/sprays but they change a lot. Their current good-sounding scent is called cannabis santal and I bet it's great but I have no specific experience with it.
posted by jessamyn at 6:32 PM on June 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

Crabtree and Evelyn sandalwood
posted by hortense at 6:36 PM on June 1, 2008

Seconding jessamyn! (And not just as an excuse to take out this username.) Sandalwood, cedar, pine... though pine does have that "Monday Morning Elementary School" smell if it isn't toned down or correctly.

Body Shop used to have this stuff called "Mostly Musk" -- I can't find it anymore, but they could probably duplicate it by mixing and matching what they have. I'm not sure what it was made of.

Or, go to a swapmeet or a flea market (or your regional equivalent) and find the hippie table (no, that's not me behind the table), and try experimenting with your own mixtures. Try putting some sandalwood into some pine, or some cedar into some whatever-they-have. A + B doesn't always equal AB, I've found.
posted by dirty hippie at 8:39 PM on June 1, 2008

Ginger (lotion is usually how i've used it), I've got some red ayervedic goo from the asian market that i wear in my hair sometimes, the smell is overpowering at first but recedes after a short while, especially if you use it as a fragrance and not in your hair.
posted by thylacine at 9:18 PM on June 1, 2008

Because you're interested in a natural scent, you might be tempted to use pure Essential Oils. Please use caution if you do. EOs are very strongly concentrated and intended to be diluted in a 'carrier' oil, not in their pure form directly on your skin. If you do choose to use EOs, do research whatever kind you choose, because they can have unintended side effects; citrus oils can cause photophobia, for example (you'd sunburn a lot more readily) and rosemary oil can raise the blood pressure, which could be dangerous for some people. Sandalwood and Patchouli both seem pretty innocuous on brief googling, but for cost consideration alone it's worth diluting them.
posted by Lou Stuells at 10:15 PM on June 1, 2008

Is there a place near you that will mix custom scents for you? My cologne of choice is cedar and apple in a carrier cologne base. My husband has everything (lotion, massage oil, incense oil) made in peppermint and vanilla (with about twice the amount of both that the guy usually puts into anything--it's very strong).
posted by Cricket at 11:12 PM on June 1, 2008

turgid dahlia: Yeah, Dirt is available through CBIHatePerfume. He has a ton of accords available, each highlighting a specific scent. I haven't tried Dirt, but have Honey, Sage, Water (!) and Leather Baseball Glove. Each is pretty wonderful.

Has a lot of blended scents, too, my fav of which right now is "Summer In The Kitchen" which is described on the site as:

"Fresh garden vegetables & herbs on a clear summer evening with a touch of smoked old wooden rafters"...would have to agree. Also love "Memory of Kindness", which smells exactly like tomato vines.
posted by Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific at 5:31 AM on June 2, 2008

I'm a huge fan of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and while most of their scents are rather fantastical and complicated, you can use their search page to search by ingredient and hone in on the scents that are more your speed. One of my favorites by them is just a mixture of orange, eucalyptus, and pine. Another one, called Coyote, is described as "The warmth of doeskin, dry plains grasses and soft, dusty woods warmed by amber and a downy, gentle coat of deep musk."
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] at 6:23 AM on June 2, 2008

Vetiver is a lovely earthy rooty scent. Sandalwood is distinctively woody rather than earthy, IMO.
posted by ottereroticist at 9:41 AM on June 2, 2008