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What notes makes female scents smell `manly`

post #1 of 6
7/22/06 at 7:23am
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I was wearing Opium yesterday and my younger brother said `Yuck!You smell like a MAN!` (poor kid ) Got the similar comment from my friend 2 months ago (`Are you wearing Old Spice??? Oh,it`s Opium...ahm..nice...ahm`).Also got simmilar comments when wearing Givenchy Hot Couture (black)-could it be cause of patchouli and vetiver in base? Lolita Lempicka EDP has vetiver in the base but no one told me it smells manly...yet
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post #2 of 6
7/22/06 at 8:14am
There is no distinction IMO. It is personal taste. I think that spice, tobacco, leather are all things that make a scent 'manly' in high doses.

Who knows what they were thinking. I've had people tell me I smell girly while wearing something sweet. It is all in their minds!!
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post #3 of 6
7/22/06 at 9:22am
You can either let it get to you and change scents to something more traditionally "girly", or you can continue to do your thang. To be honest, I've been told I smell girly maybe about 5 times and it really doesn't phase me anymore.
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post #4 of 6
7/22/06 at 10:28am
I was wearing Havana last night and some chick told me I smelt like a woman!
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post #5 of 6
7/25/06 at 1:52pm
Vivien: I think your younger brother needs to have his olfactory senses checked . My sales assistant wears Opium every day to work and she smells very feminine as I'm sure you do too !


Dan
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post #6 of 6
5/21/07 at 3:37pm
Many times a fragrance will smell differently on differently people. My skin tends to augment sweet scents so I will avoid fragrances like those (especially the CSP vanilla fruit scents). I used to wear Opium when I was younger and I NEVER was told I smelled like a man - far from it! It is spicy, but nothing I would associate with a 400 lb weight lifter!!!

Frankly, I believe a person should wear what they like and what works for them. I ignore perfume "gender assignments." I figure if my friend's toddler tells me I smell great then I can't be too far off course. Kids can be brutal. My favorites are the L'Artisan collection. Some are quite flowery and some are incense and wood based, but they smell great for a man or woman. Leather scents can be gender-neutral, as in Daim Blond by Serge Lutens. Tobacco scents, such as Tabac Blonde by Caron are great for men or women.

Teenage boys tend to like girls to wear the heavily sweet scents that are so popular today: Juicy Couture, Calgon body sprays, Jessica Simpson scents, and the like. I blame it on an undeveloped "sense of self" and self-consciousness. They are afraid to deviate from the norm and are overly conformist at that age.

Wear what you like - that is the best advice I could give someone.
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