Help me smell amazing

February 12, 2025 7:52 AM

Occasionally I'll read something like "[famous person] smells amazing" or I'll see a meme that says something terrible like "You know that person is aserial killer right? Yeah, but they smell *amazing*" and I'm wondering as a male in his late fifties how I can smell amazing, but not in a way that assaults people like a teenager with axe body spray.

I am really fond of citrus elements, and have no problem with "flowery" scents. My only real efforts in this area have been using a natural "blood orange" deodorant. Thanks for your tips and insights.

Super bonus points if you can tell me how to make my own scents. I am not opposed to essential oils as a scent delivery system.

posted by mecran01 to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (28 answers total)

No specific scent to recommend, but many scent brands will sell samplers of a large variety of scents that you can try. It's a bit overwhelming to decide based on either rushed sniffing, or textual descriptions -- a sampler will let you wear each and see what you like over time.
posted by so fucking future at 7:58 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]

Are you using any daily products that have a scent already? I used to get so many compliments on my scent when I used American Crew's molding clay to style my short hair. Heavy citrus notes and a little minty. It didn't matter what else I wore, that scent shot right to the forefront.
posted by advicepig at 8:25 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]

I am afraid I have no suggestions, but I have an observation that might lead to actual suggestions. Unlike vision, it is pretty much impossible to tell what you *smell* like. There’s no scent version of the bathroom mirror. So, I *suppose* an effective strategy is to enlist one or more trusted friends to make the call when you sample things.

Also, I assume it’s a one-per-day sample? Seems like otherwise you’re really evaluating a scent-palimpsest for the later trials (which might turn out well, albeit expensive to replicate).

Anyway, good luck with your search.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 9:09 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]

I just bought myself some perfume that smells exactly how I imagine Giselle Bundchen smells and I feel like a million every time I dash it on.

I found it at the store.

So I’d suggest just go to the Macy’s or Sephora and sniff around until you find something that just says yasssss to your personality.

Budget $80-$150 once you find the scent.

Lush also has some nice scents.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 9:12 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]

Go visit those stores a bunch of times, spritz samples to take home. Multiple scents will overwhelm your senses pretty quickly. Try stuff and see if anybody says you smell good.
Also, pay attention to scents in your detergent; lots of people like dryer sheets or Tide, and I'm not saying it's nice.
posted by theora55 at 9:27 AM on February 12

Don't buy scents the day you try them. Once you locate a possible via sniffing paper samples, spray it on your wrist (easy to sniff yourself) around lunchtime and walk around with it until evening. It takes an hour for a scent to properly mingle with your body and express the base notes. In my experience it's that positive combination with your body chemistry that results in a scent people praise, and it's very very individual. My body eats certain notes from certain companies, to the point I don't even try new scents from them.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 9:31 AM on February 12 [7 favorites]

I use boutique soaps that smell of scents like olive oil, verbena, etc. I have mixed luck with this. It's mixed, in that people who are very sensitive to smells (like my spouse) can definitely pick up on it and think I smell great. On the other hand, many other people do not seem to notice any particular smell on me at all. I'm mostly trying to impress (and not exceed the smell tolerance of) my spouse, so this may not be a technique for everyone.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:41 AM on February 12 [3 favorites]

I'm no scent scientist but my understanding is really oil is what makes scents stick around. This is maybe why a lot of times people's predominant lasting smell is their hair products--hair has oil and hair products often have emollients. (Essential oils don't seem to last very long probably because while there's plenty of oil there's not much work done to stabilize the compounds that are actually creating the smell, which oxidizes and goes kaput. I think?)

So maybe whatever you do, add a layer of some unscented emollient to your skin, then apply.

Also there is a plethora of "decant" websites so you can try things cheaply.
posted by kensington314 at 9:41 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]

There's also a trick where you spray the perfume/cologne into the air and walk into it (vs spritzing directly onto yourself). When I think of my friends who smell amazing, it's like you can smell it when you hug them or sit right next to them, not when they walk into a room. I'm pretty sure there's also a pheromone and personal-preference element there too, though.

I'm a big fan of the scents at Imaginary Authors, and they offer samples so you can try them out. I used to have Memoirs of a Trespasser (kind of a vanilla/old books scent) and it was really nice, but they do have more flowery scents and everything is unisex, which is cool.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 10:14 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]

You didn't mention cost, so I am just going with what I think is the best recommendation regardless of price.

Lucky Scent is my favorite online perfume shop, and they have a perfume sample service that I would try. You describe what you have said above, and they will send you 6 samples customized to your preferences.

https://www.luckyscent.com/product/322180/fragrance-fitting-custom-sample-pack-by-luckyscent-sample-packs

Once you receive the samples, spend some time with them. Something you initially dislike can change to something you absolutely love, and vice versa. Even if you don't end up with a winner, it will get you closer to what you want.
posted by nanook at 10:16 AM on February 12 [3 favorites]

Regardless of what you put on top of your own body odour with bottled fragrancies, you can also look at what is your own aroma (and then subsequently how external fragrancies combine with that).

The better you can help yourself smell without additions, the better you're going to smell for longer, whether you add fragrances on top or not.

Do you smoke? Eat lots of heavily processed foods or other foods that just don't agree with your body well? Eat lots of fresh food? Wear lots of synthetic fibres that don't allow your skin to properly breathe? Do you stay well hydrated all day every day? Do you get lots of fresh air? Shower daily or more? Exercise regularly and otherwise live an active lifestyle with a good base level of fitness and health? Work an enjoyable low stress job? Sleep well? etc..

There are so many things that can affect your own natural body odour both short term and long term. (Over my own lifetime, mine has changed significantly)

Some people's natural body odour in itself can smell amazing (in a kind of genetic lottery), others can be very mild, others can be very strong and overpowering seemingly regardless of what they do.

Perhaps think of your own body odour as your foundation scent, and look to build on that with fragrancies that work well with it.

Depending on what you're already doing (as you don't otherwise mention in your question), being in your late fifties is not too late to make improvements to your own health on all levels (diet, exercise, mental and emotional health, skin healthier clothing choices, personal hygiene and choice of soap products, etc.) and all of these are likely to make improvements to your own natural scent long term.
It might take a couple of years for your body odour to catch up, but in my experience thats the best way to improve your own natural scent and really smell amazing for longer.
posted by many-things at 10:30 AM on February 12 [2 favorites]

I use ScentSplit to try out a bunch of different scents for different seasons. Lots of different decant sizes and price points to choose from.
posted by honeybee413 at 11:03 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]

I'm going to give you a few recommendations and a process. Based on your description, you might like Terre D'Hermès Eau Givree, Acqua di Parma Bergamotto, or Lacoste Jaune. (Links go to Frangrantica.com, which is a useful site for learning about different scents.)

The process. After helping two men find "sort of signature" scents in the last two years, here's what I recommend.
1. Take a pen or pencil with you to Sephora or Ulta if available, or a department store* if not. Use the scent tester strips to test fragrances, writing down the scent name on the tester strip. Narrow it down to 3-5 scents. Take those tester strips home and put them in different rooms, or in pockets of different shirts that aren't in the same drawer, or between the pages of different books --- just some way in which you can encounter them all in a distinct way. Smell them over the course of a few days and see which ones interest you.
2. Choose two of those to explore further. Go back to the store and now spray one on each arm. Smell them throughout the rest of the day. Pay attention to two things: the scent itself ("Do I like it?"), and how long it's noticeable ("It disappeared after an hour."). Bonus points if you can get someone else's opinion on whether it's noticeable, because that's part of what you're looking for.
3. Repeat step 2 if your first two choices didn't satisfy you.
4. If you reach the end of the ~5 scents you originally chose and none of them satisfy you, repeat Step 1, broadening your horizons if needed to standalone scent shops (Byredo, Le Labo, Aesop, etc.), department stores, niche independent shops, duty free shops (if you travel), or a subscription sample service. (I like Olfactif, but there are a number out there.)

You want to end up with 2-3 scents that you like on your skin for a sustained amount of time. Once you find those candidates...

5. Order 1ml - 2ml samples of each from a decanting site such as DecantX, Decant Boutique, Scent Split, The Perfumed Court, or Surrender to Chance. These cost usually $2-5 each. Then wear each one for a few consecutive days. See how you like each one for that amount of time. Wash clothes and shower before moving on to the next scent. (Department stores redeem themselves here, because many will give you free samples of scents they carry if you ask for them.)

At that point, you should have some solid candidates for full bottles. In general, I recommend getting the smallest bottle, because you may like certain scents at different times of year, or you may decide you want to go all-in on one scent. That way you haven't bought the most expensive bottle. Good luck and enjoy the process - it can be a lot of fun.

*There's more gate-keeping and pressure to buy at department stores so I don't recommend starting with department stores if possible.
posted by cocoagirl at 11:12 AM on February 12 [13 favorites]

In addition to perfume and general health, I think the “famous/rich person smells great” is a all of the scents surrounding them adding up to something pleasant - their laundry detergent, home smells, soap, shampoo, shaving cream, moisturizers and lotions - plus any intentional fragrance.

There is a practice of layering scents so if you find something you like doing body wash + aftershave + scent can make it last longer, or making sure wherever you’re using for those things works with it.
posted by jeoc at 11:53 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]

Following on from cocoagirl to emphasize: well made perfumes have multiple notes that reveal themselves slowly over time, from seconds to minutes to hours, and they change in response to body heat and your own skin chemistry. A tester strip is only a rough approximation from what it will smell like three hours after you dabbed it on your neck's pulse points, and walking through an aerosol cloud to determine if a scent is right for you is an insult to the scent designer.

(My partner and I are quite fastidious about using scent-free, gentle soaps (or no soap at all, most skin cleans itself) on our bodies so that our natural fragrance is well established and cared for. We both smell fantastic to each other without anything extra added.)
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:14 PM on February 12 [1 favorite]

My middle kid took a trip over the summer to visit my oldest, married kid in Chicago. When she returned, everyone complimented her on her smell, and it turns out she had used oldest's special laundry detergent that smells like sandalwood and frankinsence and the smell lingered when she was back home.

She ended up buying some of it to use here because she got so many compliments.
posted by tacodave at 1:53 PM on February 12 [1 favorite]

What was the laundry detergent?
posted by Ollie at 2:50 PM on February 12

Response by poster: Lucky Scent from above.

Possible source of frankincense/sandalwood detergent
posted by mecran01 at 3:30 PM on February 12 [1 favorite]

So, FWIW, there are specialist scent companies that make small bottles of perfume/cologne (I don't understand the difference) that smell like freshly cut grass, or sawdust, or dirt.

...point being, you can experiment with unusual combinations for a reasonable price. For example, maybe a citrus scent on top of "sawdust" or something? Like, construct a story of an idealized self, work out which scents would be involved, and then apply those specific notes.

So (and I am not saying this idea is genius, just illustrating it) maybe you imagine your perfect self as a guy who rebuilt an engine, then went for a walk in his orchard, before finally doing a nice Ikebana arrangement with some tea.

...then go buy those separate scents, and apply them in varying amounts (the varying amounts part is important!)
posted by aramaic at 6:35 PM on February 12 [1 favorite]

Buy a bunch of these and take them to department stores and "download" your own samples from testers on the counter. Scents take time to reflect your own body chemistry so it's good to see how they are on YOU after some time has passed.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 8:48 PM on February 12

many other people do not seem to notice any particular smell on me at all

That's exactly what "smells amazing" means to me. I am amazed to meet people who are apparently content to smell like healthy human beings, purely because it happens so rarely. Most people seem to need to armour themselves inside a deliberately constructed artificial scent profile and I always, always experience the results as some degree of assault.

If you want to smell amazing by my standards, the place to start is with your diet. Leafy greens are the business. Then replace every scented product in your life with a lower- or no-scent alternative.

Choose to smell like you, not like the invasive gas attack that some Procter and Gamble black-arts marketing asshole wants to persuade you that you'll die alone without spending a fortune on. If I'm smelling you at ten foot range I would much rather that be your odour than your odourant.
posted by flabdablet at 3:47 AM on February 13

perfume/cologne (I don't understand the difference)

Perfume has higher concentrations of fragrance oils and is designed to smell stronger and last longer vs cologne, which has a relatively lower concentration.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:32 AM on February 13

I would say that anyone who smells like fresh baked brownies all the time smells amazing (my wife has a lotion like this, though it only lasts an hour or so), but I might eventually become disillusioned if they never had any actual brownies to share.
posted by rikschell at 4:35 AM on February 13 [1 favorite]

→ there are specialist scent companies ... smell like freshly cut grass, or sawdust, or dirt.

That would include the gleefully weird Demeter Fragrance Library. They have every aroma. No, really they do.

If you want flowery/citrus, the original Eau de Cologne (as in, actually made in Köln) such as Farina 1709 or 4711 might do it for you. They are very transient scents, so they'll be gone in an hour or so. They're best used sparingly, despite that. 4711 can be extremely burny if used as an aftershave.

I can also recommend Chabrawichi 555 Cologne from Egypt. Very citrus indeed.
posted by scruss at 7:22 AM on February 13 [1 favorite]

Like you, I'm a 50-something male who wants to smell nice. I also prefer floral, citrus, and wood scents.

I tend to avoid scented soap, shampoos, and detergent because I have sensitive skin. So cologne is often the only scent I apply.

I like Lanvin L'homme. It's floral, citrus, and inexpensive.
posted by Boxenmacher at 8:28 AM on February 13

Men tend to have less sensitivity to scent than women and people also tend to lose sensitivity as they age, go lightly to make sure you're not overdoing it. People should only be able to smell your fragrance if they're hugging you. I use mostly unscented products and a scented hair oil, and that's a good level for me. (I probably have more hair than you do.)

Fragrance is also something where the good ingredients cost more, definitely try some high-end scents to get a sense of what's out there. I've found Sephora staff to be helpful in picking fragrances I might like without sales pressure. You're lucky that citrus and mint oils tend to be less expensive than most, but there's still a difference between TJ's mandarin orange hand soap and the fancy tangerine shampoo my salon uses.
posted by momus_window at 8:30 AM on February 13

For me, aside from using perfumes, the key is ensuring your clothes always smell fresh. Using a good fabric conditioner on all your clothes makes sure you smell amazing, whether you're at home or at work.
posted by liza97 at 9:01 PM on February 13

People should only be able to smell your fragrance if they're hugging you.

Preach it!

As a bonus, anybody hugging you will most likely be predisposed to think you smell amazing.
posted by flabdablet at 9:42 PM on February 15