So the other night my wife is having three friends over for a dinner. She does this sometimes they get together and talk about girl stuff and I generally vacate the premises. But Sunday I had a lot of writing to do, and decided to stick around. Well, one of her friends apparently noticed some of my fragrances in the bathroom and they called me down to inquire about my strange hobby. I think my wife was a little mortified at first, but I have no shame and jumped into a conversation with these ladies. Now, just for background, let me say that these women are all attractive, urban, and well educated professionals. And all of them, initially, stated that they really did not like men to wear fragrance. As we discussed it became clear that they had all the traditional complaints men wear too much, its too strong, it all smells the same, and it made their eyes water, made them nauseous, etc. They were shocked that I would even wear fragrance because I am notoriously metrosexual and not their stereotype of the gold chains wearing, Camaro driving stud who slathers himself in Dolce and Gabanna (please excuse me if this is a favorite of yours. Im sure you have taste. Unfortunately it is also a favorite many too many men in this town, most of whom wear too much if it in very enclosed spaces.) My wife jumped in to defend me trying to convince them that yes, while most men have no clue about fragrances, her hubby was the rare exception, and that I even (shocking!) wear unisex or womens fragrances from time to time.
So, to jump to the meat of the story, we started pulling out bottles, decants and samples, and testing fragrances. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to get some real feedback on some of my favorites from women other than my wife. So the results? What follows are some brief and incomplete notes from the evening. Feeling bold? Read on.
The ones they all loved, unconditionally: Dzing! This surprised me, but they didnt even find it that weird. My wife has always maintained that it smells best on skin, so two of her friends left that evening clutching small testers of Dzing! My wifes most beautiful and normally reserved friend stated out loud that she would jump on any man wearing that scent. Weird. They also had much love for Eau des Iles by MPG, Piper Nigrum, and Tea for Two. Especially Tea for Two.
I was interested in their responses to Piper Nigrum. This was the fragrance that we agreed smelled completely different from traditional mens fragrances, and it became sort of a measuring stick for them against which they compared many of the other fragrances.
Not unpredictably they got a kick out of the Comme des Garcons stuff. They all liked different things, with Kyoto the big winner, though they all agreed it was a comforting scent rather than a sexy scent. Second place went to Palisander or Odeur 53, depending on who you asked.
Blu Notte, Boucheron, Erolfa, Guerlains Vetiver, and Magnitism were all deemed, too much like traditional cologne. Now, I like these fragrances, but I thought that the feedback was interesting.
A*Men was a split decision. I gave my bottle away to my wifes best friend, but the others thought it was too much.
So those are some of my admittedly wine-addled recollections from a fun evening. I encourage you to try this in your own home. I learned a lot. The biggest shocker? They all, without exception, hated Egoiste. Someone explain that please.
Thanks for listening.
Slim
So, to jump to the meat of the story, we started pulling out bottles, decants and samples, and testing fragrances. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to get some real feedback on some of my favorites from women other than my wife. So the results? What follows are some brief and incomplete notes from the evening. Feeling bold? Read on.
The ones they all loved, unconditionally: Dzing! This surprised me, but they didnt even find it that weird. My wife has always maintained that it smells best on skin, so two of her friends left that evening clutching small testers of Dzing! My wifes most beautiful and normally reserved friend stated out loud that she would jump on any man wearing that scent. Weird. They also had much love for Eau des Iles by MPG, Piper Nigrum, and Tea for Two. Especially Tea for Two.
I was interested in their responses to Piper Nigrum. This was the fragrance that we agreed smelled completely different from traditional mens fragrances, and it became sort of a measuring stick for them against which they compared many of the other fragrances.
Not unpredictably they got a kick out of the Comme des Garcons stuff. They all liked different things, with Kyoto the big winner, though they all agreed it was a comforting scent rather than a sexy scent. Second place went to Palisander or Odeur 53, depending on who you asked.
Blu Notte, Boucheron, Erolfa, Guerlains Vetiver, and Magnitism were all deemed, too much like traditional cologne. Now, I like these fragrances, but I thought that the feedback was interesting.
A*Men was a split decision. I gave my bottle away to my wifes best friend, but the others thought it was too much.
So those are some of my admittedly wine-addled recollections from a fun evening. I encourage you to try this in your own home. I learned a lot. The biggest shocker? They all, without exception, hated Egoiste. Someone explain that please.
Thanks for listening.
Slim
. I bet you could frame your presentation differently and they'd flip for those scents.
