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Wood and melanin

post #1 of 9
12/17/06 at 5:06pm
Thread Starter 
Hi, I'm new to the forum (greatly admirer of the whole community - have learned a lot), and quite new to the perfume world also.

My question is: are woody scents better to dark skinned people?

Tried Azzaro Visit at a local store; in my skin, it smells like sawdust (same results with M7).

A friend told me that woody fragrances requires melanin to reveal itselves, so white people like myself should try another types of fragrances.

Is there any truth on that? If so, what are the rules to each type of skin? What should fit a clear skinned-dark haired (very haired) man like me?

If not, should I try Gucci pour Homme, Rush, etc.?

Please forgive my limited english.
Thanks.
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post #2 of 9
12/17/06 at 5:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smeller

My question is: are woody scents better to dark skinned people?

Tried Azzaro Visit at a local store; in my skin, it smells like sawdust (same results with M7).

A friend told me that woody fragrances requires melanin to reveal itselves, so white people like myself should try another types of fragrances.

These two sentences don't seem to go together. If Visit smells like sawdust to you (to me it smells of cedar, but let's leave that point) then the woody character has revealed itself, in spades. And if M7 smells the same to you (to me it is completely different, and the wood is different too) then it seems to me that your problem is that too much of the wood smell is developing on your skin.

So either your friend has got it completely the wrong way round, or there is simply no correlation at all between melanin and the development of wood scent and it is really dependent on other variables entirely. This latter would be my guess.

At any rate, I think you need to find what works on your particular skin. If it isn't Visit then just try something from another scent group and see if that works out for you any better.

Oh and welcome to Basenotes.

HTH

Eluard
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post #3 of 9
12/17/06 at 5:40pm
What makes your friend credible? My reponse to your question, in short, is "no."
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post #4 of 9
12/17/06 at 5:53pm
Thread Starter 
Oil and alcohol arent predjudice.
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post #5 of 9
12/17/06 at 6:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smeller

My question is: are woody scents better to dark skinned people?

Nobody knows that yet, people are still studying the relationship between melanin and other component molecules and no link has been found yet between fragrance and its relationship with melanin,wich BTW, has no odor.

Quote:
Originally Posted by smeller

If so, what are the rules to each type of skin?

There are no rules regarding the color of the skin, there are some recomendations though (never rules) regarding the use of fragrances and the personal production of oil from the skin and from the hair follicles amd sweat glands and other glands that produce secretions, wich has nothing to do with melanin.

Quote:
Originally Posted by smeller

If not, should I try Gucci pour Homme, Rush, etc.?

You should try anything you want, it's a matter of personal perception wether you like it or not. That would depend on the reaction of the frags to your personal odor produced when the bacteria works on your secretions and dead skin cells and other reactions.People are still doing research of different nature regarding melanin.
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post #6 of 9
12/17/06 at 8:11pm
I don't think that the color of your skin has anything completely to do with it, but I do know that I have acidic skin...it can actually corrode the metal on a watch after a constant number of wearings.

Scents that have a woodsy, resinous, or vanillic quality to it develops well on my skin. Scents with green or citrus notes can turn very bad on me in my own experience.
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post #7 of 9
12/18/06 at 2:54am
Skin colour and scent development = racialist pseudo-science claptrap, imho.
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post #8 of 9
12/18/06 at 3:34pm
Thread Starter 
iMaverick, my metal watch is, in fact, a bit corroded, so my skin is possibly acidic like yours. Nevertheless, I have no problem with green scents (I suppose I can call Guerlain's Vetiver a green, at least his headnotes).

In fact, my friend is not credible at all, I suspect.

But I'm now curious about those researches about skin chemistry and perfumes. Castorpollux wrote about sweat glands, and mine are very active (besides, have very oily skin). I now wonder if this can help me to find the most suitable scent group, with a bit less "trial-and-error".

Eluard, good point. But, to me, M7 is kind of cedary also, maybe I should learn more about wood types.
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post #9 of 9
12/18/06 at 4:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smeller

iMaverick, my metal watch is, in fact, a bit corroded, so my skin is possibly acidic like yours. Nevertheless, I have no problem with green scents (I suppose I can call Guerlain's Vetiver a green, at least his headnotes).

In fact, my friend is not credible at all, I suspect.

But I'm now curious about those researches about skin chemistry and perfumes. Castorpollux wrote about sweat glands, and mine are very active (besides, have very oily skin). I now wonder if this can help me to find the most suitable scent group, with a bit less "trial-and-error".

Eluard, good point. But, to me, M7 is kind of cedary also, maybe I should learn more about wood types.

I also have acidic skin at one point I went through a leather watch band every six months.

It is also true for me that citrus fragrances can go badly off. The worst was Armani PH which was fine some days and on others developed a distinctly piss-like quality. But other citruses are fine: Minotaure and Baldassarini work well for me. Guerlain Vetiver is not citrus, but it also works fine.

Woody and fougere type fragrances seem however to work best on my skin and that is what I tend to wear most.

M7 has agarwood and develops quite well on my skin. Others find it too sweet but I don't find that at all.

The acidity of the skin may well be the most important determiner of what one can and can't wear.

Eluard
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