24 year old "hipster" deciding on first ever cologne

Hey everybody!

Thanks in advance for your suggestions! I'm a 24 year old filmmaker and writer, and having spent the last couple years completely changing my wardrobe to better suit (no pun intended) my post-collegiate 20 something years, it finally occurred to me to incorporate cologne.

I've learned through my experiences with clothing that nothing (or at least very little) about fashion is objective, and success is really more about fit and confidence than anything else. Admittedly I think a lot of people would drop me into some loose definition of hipster, and those do more or less tend to be the women I attract. I'm thin/athletic, wear lots of skinny ties and wingtip oxfords, and have black plastic ray-bans. Mostly I just include this info to point out that a super-masculine, heavily musky scent would probably be ridiculous on me, and that I do at least have a strong idea for what my style is.

Point being, I'm moving from my hometown to New York in a little over month to jump in the deep-end with filmmaking and writing, and as well-prepared as I feel in the fashion department, I've been wearing Axe stick deodorant for 10 years (thankfully gave up on the spray after high school) and have absolutely no idea where to start with cologne. Needless to say, it would be a huge boost to my confidence to feel well-rounded about all of this when I get there. I've read about a ton of popular scents but know very little about the subtleties that differentiate one from the next, so I'm looking for some personal suggestions about where might be a good place to start. At this point I'd love something kind of light and versatile, that can be worn casually or formally, and year round. I know that's a lot to ask, as I wouldn't wear the exact same clothes in summer that I do in winter, but hopefully you understand where I'm coming from.

The few I've been thinking of testing based on what I've read are:
Acqua Di Gio (ubiquitous, I know, but if it's good it's good, right?)
Chanel Egoiste (super expensive I assume..worth it?)
Terre d'Hermes (don't know anything about this, just saw it mentioned in similar posts)

Any thoughts on those? Or maybe something more unique that might fit my style etc?

Thank you so much! I've spent hours reading about all of this and gathered virtually no useful information except on this site, so I'm excited to hear suggestions. If anyone needs to know a cheap place to get a brilliantly tailored suit or the best fitted shirts, I'm full of useless men's fashion knowledge!

Wait till you get to NY and take yourself off to Aedes de Venustas on Christopher St. You're bound to find something interesting there.

To the OP: The three that you are thinking about are fine IMO for a start.

For versatility/accessibility check out Bleu de Chanel. In my view it's more versatile than Chanel Egoiste and somewhat lighter assuming you don't go too heavy on the trigger. Try 2 sprays under clothing and go from there. You should be able to sample it in many bricks and mortar retail locations like Macy's, Nordstrom, Sephora, etc. Good luck.

I would go with Terre D' Hermes.

I find both di Gio and TdH to lack longevity. All are fine choices though, honestly. But if you truly are hipster, AdG is far too common...

I haven't yet tried Egöiste, but Platinum Egöiste is fanatic. And yes they're expensive!

Shenanigans!  No hipster willingly labels themselves as a hipster!

The scents you're thinking of trying out are all really different.

 

Do you want something clean and fresh, or something more spicy/sweet? Aqua di Gio falls firmly into the fresh and clean category, while Egoiste is on the opposite end of the spectrum (spicy, dark). Terre d'Hermes falls somewhere in the middle of that, I guess.

Ha. Yeah I probably broke some kind of sacred code there- but in my defense I did put it in quotes. Personally, it doesn't seem like the word means much of anything at this point anyway. I know a lot of people that just use it as this meaningless label for any person they don't like. And then they put on a vampire weekend album and call THEMSELVES hipsters. But if they're calling themselves that ironically, isn't that some kind of paradox??

Anyway, I meant it more as an indication of my style than philosophy. I don't give half a shit if something is popular if it works well for me.

Thanks for all the tips so far! Glad I'm more or less on the right track. I'm definitely not trying to overwhelm anyone with the sensuality of my scent or anything- I just want to smell good/memorable when someone (let's be honest, a woman) gets close enough to tell. And I'm tired of smelling like god damn axe...haha

Good question! I think fresh/clean probably suits me better. At least for now it's more about having something consistent and keeping it simple.

Of the 3 you mentioned, my preference is for Egoiste. Gandhajala gave some good advice, go to Aedes or MIN in NY and sniff around, you'll definitely find something you like. Check out the Comme des Garcons line of fragrances, they're a bit avant garde.

Yep. Also visit MiN, Barneys, and Saks.

 

You might end up having more questions than answers after your visit, but you're bound to find something that fits exactly what you're looking for.

Tons of good fragrances are out there for you :

 

Cartier Declaration D'un Soir

Lalique Encre Noire

Caron L'Anarchiste

Serge Lutens Gris Clair

Comme des Garcons 2 Man

YSL Rive Gauche pour Homme

Guerlain L'Instant pour Homme

Cartier Roadster

Givenchy Vetyver

Kenzo Power Cologne

Histoires des Parfums Noir Patchouli

Fahrenheit Absolute

 

...just to name a few. I really don't know if they are casual, light and versatile. Well, maybe The Cartier's, Kenzo, Caron and Givenchy are. I'd get sick of a fragrance if I wore it often, so maybe grab a stash off the interweb shops.

This.

And you would probably be looking to wear an old school, hairy chested, macho powerhouse scent ironically.

 

I think you should also consider looking at the Comme des Garcons range.

Whatever you do, try to sample in store and by ordering small decants from places like the Perfumed Court and Surrender to chance to give you an idea of what you yourself like and maybe what kind of image you might be looking to project (if any. Many just wear scent for their own pleasure).

You read my mind...lol!

 

Try something from smell bent. Reasonably priced (in my opinion) and you might find something to fit your wardrobe and personality.

I'm just going to go ahead and suggest you not try to solve this problem in one quick easy step. I'd suggest hitting up the major dept stores for a few weekends and just spraying, sniffing, and testing. Try everything and try the few you like a few times. Don't be in such a rush to just buy one (ignore the pushy sales people). Test everything on your skin for at least a few times. Try a total range of brands, prices, male/female, etc and see how your interests change over a few weeks and report back. You'll probably end up needing really like 2-3 max that should cover you for all situations. If you're hipster-like, then maybe you'll want to try things more niche. If you identify with certain brands, then seek out their scents. For example, Ford does things one way, Margiela and Prada another way, and CdGarcons even different. It's all part of their overall styling, so that could be a place to start.