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Which "female" scents do you guys wear in public, and in private?

post #1 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:04pm
Thread Starter 
While I tend to favor Powerhouse 1980s and 1970s fragrances, there are many fragrances which cross the line both ways. I will occasionally spray on only three of my wife's many fragrances, all of which I enjoy ----> Fendi EDT, Hugo Boss Deep Red, and Sarah Jessica Parker's Covet. Fendi and Deep Red are the only two I would venture outside wearing on a day off from work, and I am curious if there are any other guys out there who pinch a few sprays from their wife/partner's "feminine" wardrobe, and which fragrances you dare pinch?
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post #2 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:07pm
Kenzo Jungle L'Éléphant, that is the only one I own currently that i wear regularly at work that is classified as female, but I have sampled many female scents
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post #3 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:15pm
There are none that I wear in private that I wouldn't wear in public.

Female scents in my wardrobe include (in no particular order):
Balmain de Balmain
Vol de Nuit
Bandit
Cabochard
Jicky
L'Heure Bleue

I don't pinch frags from my wife, 'cause she doesn't have many to pinch.
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post #4 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:19pm
Obsession. I hate Obession for Men.
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post #5 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:19pm
I just wear scents - and I wear everything in my wardrobe in public.
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post #6 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:26pm
The only feminine scent I own is Shalimar EdP, and now that it is getting chillier around here, I can bask in its warmth. One spray to the chest is enough, and I dress well enough on a daily basis to carry it off (the smokiness, rather more pronounced in the EdT, helps too).

I have been playing around with layering The Perfumer's Workshop Tea Rose and some of the other fragrances I own, but mostly I use it to scent my closet or occasionally my sheets; a ladyfriend recently complimented me on the latter, among other things.

But while I enjoy the scent, Tea Rose is not really something I want to walk around smelling like.
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post #7 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:27pm
I've wear:

Chanel Coromandel
Chanel Bois des Iles
Guerlain Mitsouko
Caron Tabac Blond

There're others from samples/decant I can't remind right now. Anyway, I never take the perfume gender into consideration.w
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post #8 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:27pm
Shalimar, No.5, and a few others. I'm always a little uncomfortable wearing them as nice guy+sweet/floral=gay, whereas model/jock+sweet=sexy... I'm the sweet guy who ends up being "just friends", shiat I think I'll order some champagne next time ;-)
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post #9 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:40pm
I've worn Mitsouko (the greatest fragrance ever, IMO), Cabaret, Eau de Courreges, and Cleopatra. Mitsouko is the perfect chypre, and Cabaret and Cleopatra are awesome rose/patchouli scents. I've worn them all in public.
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post #10 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Master-Classter View Post

nice guy+sweet/floral=gay, whereas model/jock+sweet=sexy...

That is an interesting observation.

I am neither a model nor a jock, as such, but I guess I have always implicitly understood, without actually engaging, the attitude factor you allude to by contrasting the athletic type with "nice guy".

A pleasant, even pretty scent seems to play up the beta aspects of a nice guy's personality. Yet I can easily imagine a powerhouse fragrance on such a man coming off as (over)compensatory or even desperate, somehow disingenuous.

Hmm....maybe you should stop being so nice?
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post #11 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:46pm
Shalimar EDC & EDT & Samsara EDT. Public & private. Actually, those bottles are mine. I don't pinch from her, she pinches from me.
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post #12 of 85
12/3/09 at 8:56pm
Le male, .....oh...wait
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post #13 of 85
12/3/09 at 9:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by petruccijc View Post

I just wear scents - and I wear everything in my wardrobe in public.

Bravo, petrucci, for your true commitment to scent connoisseurship. Disregard the label and sample the juice. Today, I--a woman--am wearing Aramis. Keep in mind that this was a scent originally made for women, but now marketed to men. I adore the floral and leather scent!

Today, my husband wore one of my fragrances. Which one? Hermes Equipage! How's that for a twist? LOL!

Quote:
Originally Posted by PhinClio View Post

There are none that I wear in private that I wouldn't wear in public.

Female scents in my wardrobe include (in no particular order):
Balmain de Balmain
Vol de Nuit
Bandit
Cabochard
Jicky
L'Heure Bleue

I don't pinch frags from my wife, 'cause she doesn't have many to pinch.

I adore Balmain de Balmain and Cabochard!
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post #14 of 85
12/3/09 at 9:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emlynevermore View Post

Hmm....maybe you should stop being so nice?

Thanks, I'm working on it... asshole...


Yeah, I know what you mean. I find if I wear something like Joop! Homme and be all friendly everybody's gaydar goes off. I think fragrance, like clothes, put me in the mood, not the other way round. I USE them to make me feel a certain way, so that's why I tend to actually prefer the sweeter smells, but wear the woody/spicy ones more instead.
Just thought I'd share some personal insight there...
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post #15 of 85
12/3/09 at 9:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pappy View Post

Le male, .....oh...wait

Very funny.
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post #16 of 85
12/4/09 at 2:22am
The now discontinued Ispahan by Yves Rocher, Jasmin Noir by Bvlgari, possibly vintage
Cuir de Russie by Chanel
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post #17 of 85
12/11/09 at 11:26am
Like Manco the bounty hunter said to Senor Martinez in For A Few Dollars More: I don't wear 'em.
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post #18 of 85
12/11/09 at 11:32am
(None anymore. In fact I can't even stand the idea of doing so. Tell me a fragrance is marketed towards "females" - and I will smell the "female" component of it which makes it unbearable for me. Maybe it's because right now I don't like females much anymore.)
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post #19 of 85
12/11/09 at 11:39am
Chanel = Mademoiselle

I loved this so much on the women i dance with, i decided to wear it myself. Love that dirty note in it....lovely fragrance.
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post #20 of 85
12/11/09 at 11:45am
I wear everything in my wardrobe in public.
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post #21 of 85
12/11/09 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DesGrieux View Post

(None anymore. In fact I can't even stand the idea of doing so. Tell me a fragrance is marketed towards "females" - and I will smell the "female" component of it which makes it unbearable for me. Maybe it's because right now I don't like females much anymore.)

Yes of course. I mean, no, not at all. So maybe it is maybe. It depends.

Cabochard and Tabu. They are femenines but they smell like many men's so I just wear them. Shalimar, the smokiness is perfectly male, so one shot is enough. But, I tried Nª 5 and I could not bare it. It has been months I have been thinking about Opium (the original)... I keep on mustering on it.

On the other hand, I tried Le Male (pour Homme) and, well, it just felt oddly uncomfortable - I had this weird sensation, something to do with calling the atention of the ones around me in a shriekish, histerical, way. At odds the way Hermes' Equipage and Guerlain's, Dominguez' and Zara's Vetiver make me feel. Don't ask me why.
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post #22 of 85
12/11/09 at 11:51am
At least 1/2 of my wardrobe is marketed as women's, and I wear all of them in public. No. 5, Shalimar, Vraie Blond, Chinatown...I don't care if I smell girly...I still smell good.
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post #23 of 85
12/11/09 at 12:25pm
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I think I have a nice handful of "female" scents in my wardrobe. I have no issues wearing anything I own in public - a prerequisite for all my purchases in the first place.
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post #24 of 85
12/11/09 at 12:58pm
In my "own" collection I have:

A Scent Issey Miyake
Le Feu d'Issey Issey Miyake
Bronze Goddess Estée Lauder
Black Orchid Tom Ford
Blue Grass Elisabeth Arden
Stephen Jones Millinery CdG
Jungle L'Elephant Kenzo
Vol de Nuit Guerlain
L'Heure Bleue Guerlain
Citizen Queen Juliette Has a Gun
LPNo9 for Her Penhaligons
Youth Dew Amber Nude Estée Lauder

...plus a few others that dont immediately spring to mind.
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post #25 of 85
12/11/09 at 1:19pm
Tom FordBlack Orchid
Makes my wife mad
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post #26 of 85
12/11/09 at 3:24pm
So many different opinions...

The other day, my husband borrowed my Equipage...
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post #27 of 85
12/11/09 at 3:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pappy View Post

Le male, .....oh...wait



You forgot Versace Dreamer--You'll grow golden locks in your hair, pine for true love and write bad poetry.

BTW, I can't stand it myself, but how about Old Spice? Did they reformulate it after it came out as a woman's frag in 1937 and bombed?

Why any sentient being would wear Bandit is truly a 5 star koan.
(Though I admit the history behind its creation is interesting.)

Gassho,

Mario
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post #28 of 85
12/11/09 at 4:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mario Justiniani View Post



You forgot Versace Dreamer--You'll grow golden locks in your hair, pine for true love and write bad poetry.

BTW, I can't stand it myself, but how about Old Spice? Did they reformulate it after it came out as a woman's frag in 1937 and bombed?

Why any sentient being would wear Bandit is truly a 5 star koan.
(Though I admit the history behind its creation is interesting.)

Gassho,

Mario

Parfum D'Orsay's Le Dandy was marketed originally to men and women in the 1920s took to it. It was advertised as a women's scent well into the 1950s. Now it is sold as a men's scent after the mid-1990s relaunch and reformulation.

Go figure...
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post #29 of 85
12/11/09 at 4:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sofresh View Post

At least 1/2 of my wardrobe is marketed as women's, and I wear all of them in public. No. 5, Shalimar, Vraie Blond, Chinatown...I don't care if I smell girly...I still smell good.

Same here. I am 6' 5" and 300lbs, all male, I wear what suits me, anyone got a problem with that???
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post #30 of 85
12/11/09 at 4:55pm
In public I wear Mitsouko, L'Heure Bleue, Vol de Nuit, Nahema, Cologne du 68, Lolita Lempika, Chanel Bois des Iles, Chanel No. 19, Cuir de Lancome, Jicky, Parfum Sacre, Fendi Theorema, YSL Nu, Chamade, Shalimar, Teracotta and more.

At home, Le Parfum, Nuit de Noel, Monatigne, Cabochard, Bal a Versailles, Balmain de Balmain and more.
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post #31 of 85
12/11/09 at 4:55pm
I honestly think you men would smell wonderful to me , wearing all those perfume choices. I mean , what is labelled ' pour femme' in only on the bottle / and or box. The person on the street will never be able to guess you are wearing women's fragrances- they would probably think " oh, he smells great - not like anything I have smelt before " - this would make you avant garde ,mysterious and hip !
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post #32 of 85
12/11/09 at 5:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mi-hooked? View Post

Same here. I am 6' 5" and 300lbs, all male, I wear what suits me, anyone got a problem with that???

LOL! The Comte d'Orsay was 6'3", full of testosterone, and wore eau de jasmine on his gloves and took perfumed baths. He was also a bare-knuckles boxer and a duellist.

Anyone making comments to the negative on his perfume would have had to address his comments to the tip of the Comte's sword or down the barrel of his pistol, or to his fist.

LOL!

Quote:
Originally Posted by N_Tesla View Post

In public I wear Mitsouko, L'Heure Bleue, Vol de Nuit, Nahema, Cologne du 68, Lolita Lempika, Chanel Bois des Iles, Chanel No. 19, Cuir de Lancome, Jicky, Parfum Sacre, Fendi Theorema, YSL Nu, Chamade, Shalimar, Teracotta and more.

At home, Le Parfum, Nuit de Noel, Monatigne, Cabochard, Bal a Versailles, Balmain de Balmain and more.

Perfume marketing is all hype, esp. in gender issues. Bravo for you, Nick!

Quote:
Originally Posted by mysticknot View Post

I honestly think you men would smell wonderful to me , wearing all those perfume choices. I mean , what is labelled ' pour femme' in only on the bottle / and or box. The person on the street will never be able to guess you are wearing women's fragrances- they would probably think " oh, he smells great - not like anything I have smelt before " - this would make you avant garde ,mysterious and hip !

I agree, mysticknot, it's all in the wearing and perception. I get many compliments when I wear Aramis and Le Dandy.

I tend to ignore gender labels and use my nose to say what I like.
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post #33 of 85
12/11/09 at 6:16pm
Rive Gauche
Mitsouko
Diorella
Bandit
Cuir de Russie (Chanel)
Sous le Vent
Tommy Girl
Givenchy III
1000
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post #34 of 85
12/11/09 at 7:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SillageMonger View Post

I am curious if there are any other guys out there who pinch a few sprays from their wife/partner's "feminine" wardrobe, and which fragrances you dare pinch?

No one to pinch from, darn the luck! But on occasion I do wear No. 19, Le Dix, Ma Griffe, or Amazone to work.

BPAL The Ghost stays at home - I only have the one imp, and it's a nice iris to go to sleep to
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post #35 of 85
12/11/09 at 7:45pm
In private, everything goes
Lately, I love to 'borrow' Paco Rabanne's Calandre

Two other of my faves:
PdN Le Temps DUne Fête
Opium
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post #36 of 85
12/11/09 at 7:57pm
Oddly, some companies are coming up with "masculinity" and "feminity" ratings.

Lucky Scent are using a little "meter" to gauge the masculine and feminine characters of their offering, with "unisex" in the middle.
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post #37 of 85
12/11/09 at 8:12pm
Shalimar
Nu EDT and EDP
Jasmin Noir
Fuel for Life pour Femme

These are, IMO, unisex.
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post #38 of 85
12/11/09 at 8:51pm
Aoud Damascus is too beautiful for just women to wear
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post #39 of 85
12/11/09 at 8:57pm
None, I wear frag in public, never in private; no matter which gender it's originally marketed for.

My opinion is, "If you're too embarrassed to wear a particular fragrance in public, don't buy it or wear it at all."
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post #40 of 85
12/11/09 at 11:32pm
None
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post #41 of 85
12/12/09 at 12:31am
I'm wearing L de Lolita Lempicka and I love it
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post #42 of 85
12/12/09 at 1:39am
I'll wear any of them in public:

Bandit
Crystal Noir
Trussardi
Hiris
Jungle L'Elephant
JPG Summer
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post #43 of 85
12/12/09 at 5:30am
I wear regularly in public:

Vol de Nuit
Mitsouko
Sous le Vent
Dioressence
Tabac Blond
Bois des Iles
Cuir de Russie (Chanel)
Bandit
Givenchy III
Azurée

Some like Odalisque, Shalimar and Apès l´ondée I would rather wear in private for my own pleasure.....
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post #44 of 85
12/12/09 at 4:30pm
There are none that I wear in private that I wouldn't wear in public.

mitsouko
shalimar

Ubar
gold amouage
DIA
Jubilation 25

opium
diorella
white patchouli

parfum sacre
N0 5
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post #45 of 85
12/12/09 at 8:28pm
Tubereuse Indiana, I really like this scent, but in sparing amounts.
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post #46 of 85
12/12/09 at 10:35pm
En Passant
Une Rose
Champs Elysee
Lolita Lempicka
Un Jardin Sur Le Nil
Bleu Lotus (Roger & Gallet)
Black Orchid

I do go over the top with my choice of female perfumes and I match them with what I wear. My best friend (male) only wears female frags.
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post #47 of 85
12/13/09 at 8:46am
Shalimar EDT
Samsara EDP
Tommy Girl
Patou 1000
Chanel No.19
Chanel Cuir de Russie
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post #48 of 85
12/13/09 at 8:58am
I like to wear lots of women's perfume out and about, most often they're from Chanel. 28 La Pausa, Bel Respiro and No. 19 from my wardrobe, and Cuir de Russie, 31 rue Cambon, Sycomore and Eau de Cologne from samples/decants.

Serge Lutens Sarassins is pretty much the only perfume that I wouldn't wear out and about because it's too feminine, even though I really like it and often put a drop on at home.
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post #49 of 85
12/13/09 at 9:26am
Recently, the following (in public):

Shalimar
Tocade
Chanel No. 19
Mitsouko
Cuir (Lancome)
Parfum Sacre (Caron)
Poivre (Caron)
Vocalise (Shiseido)
Apres L'ondee
Beyond Paradise (Women and Man)
Jil Sander No. 4
Joy (Patou)
Vetiver Pour Elle
Vol de Nuit
Le Feu D'Issey
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post #50 of 85
12/13/09 at 6:20pm
To each his own, but why would a man want to smell like a woman
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post #51 of 85
12/13/09 at 9:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clyde View Post

To each his own, but why would a man want to smell like a woman

Did you know that Old Spice was originally marketed towards women?

I guess a lot of men over the decades did and do want to smell like a woman?
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post #52 of 85
12/13/09 at 9:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clyde View Post

To each his own, but why would a man want to smell like a woman

I think you'd be surprised at how the same fragrance can smell very differently on an average guy, compared to the same worn by an average woman.

Even for the ones that don't, styles have changed so much over the years that some of these don't smell very "feminine" anymore (Vintage leather fragrances seem to lead that pack, but tobaccos, and other chypres maybe aren't far behind )
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post #53 of 85
12/13/09 at 10:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clyde View Post

To each his own, but why would a man want to smell like a woman

Clyde, I know that you are new here, but many people "genderbend" scents because we wear what we like and look beyond the label on the bottle.

Atttitudes toward scent change with time.

For instance, there were really no gender distinctions in perfumes in the early part of the 19th century (and earlier) and both sexes wore floral scents, including rose and jasmine.

Le Dandy was marketed to men but later sold to women. I also understand Aramis was marketed to women and is now sold as a popular masculine scent.
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post #54 of 85
12/14/09 at 9:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clyde View Post

To each his own, but why would a man want to smell like a woman

I understand your concerns. It's more for the 'advanced class'...not everyone gets to this level. Besides, a man who is truly confident of his own masculinity does as he pleases.
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post #55 of 85
12/14/09 at 10:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diamondflame View Post

It's more for the 'advanced class'...not everyone gets to this level.

Disagree. I've been there...moving backwards, and I'm happy with it. Can't really explain why I tend to think answers like these are in a way "fundamentalistic". I can totally understand why people who experience female perfumes as "female perfumes", being a man, don't want to wear it. If I wore Mitsouko and it would transcend me into something other than my grandmother (who in fact wears YSL "Elle" - so any other grandmother) I'd wear it. This "expert-talk" activates some dark side in me, so I'd rather stop now.
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post #56 of 85
12/14/09 at 12:45pm
of what i have...
Hermes Hiris
Hermes Kelly Caleche edt
Hermes Un Jardin Sur Le Nil
Guerlain Shalimar
Guerlain Vol De Nuit
Guerlain Mitsouko
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post #57 of 85
12/14/09 at 1:33pm
Kenzo Power...I've got this lipstick/crayon thing going on. Bleh!
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post #58 of 85
12/15/09 at 12:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diamondflame View Post

I understand your concerns. It's more for the 'advanced class'...not everyone gets to this level. Besides, a man who is truly confident of his own masculinity does as he pleases.

I agree with diamondflame. If it smells nice to you, what the heck, wear it. I neglected to mention that in MY wardrobe I have Ivoire by Pierre Balmain, which some consider to be a "feminine" scent. I consider it to be one of the best, feminine or masculine. I am crossing the 'line' a bit more often because I am more progressively seeing fragrances as just that - fragrances. It really depends on the wearer's body chemistry and what he or she feels comfortable with - NOT as a pre-labeled, pre-determined (by some anonymous entity) feminine or masculine fragrance.
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post #59 of 85
12/15/09 at 2:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DesGrieux View Post

Disagree. I've been there...moving backwards, and I'm happy with it. Can't really explain why I tend to think answers like these are in a way "fundamentalistic". I can totally understand why people who experience female perfumes as "female perfumes", being a man, don't want to wear it. If I wore Mitsouko and it would transcend me into something other than my grandmother (who in fact wears YSL "Elle" - so any other grandmother) I'd wear it. This "expert-talk" activates some dark side in me, so I'd rather stop now.

Halfway been there myself, and not moving backwards. Still, what I sense behind your words deserves attention, because you speak the truth, unless I misinterpret.

Turin (as the first, already in the nineties) advised people not to take gender classification too seriously. But he didn't ask his audience to completely ignore it ! Not all men are alike and not all perfumes have been designed for men as a group, least for specific individuals. Every man should only wear what he likes. But it would also be wise to keep an awareness for differing perceptions of people around us. Even the biggest narcissist needs a certain amount of acceptance by others. The best advice of fellow BNers may be wrong in real life situations. But it is harder to get true responses from other guys and girls around us, particularly when they are neither frag enthusiasts nor convinced that smell adds anything to the man they are stuck with during a significant part of the day, or even to the man they fancy.
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post #60 of 85
12/15/09 at 2:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by narcus View Post

Halfway been there myself, and not moving backwards. Still, what I sense behind your words deserves attention, because you speak the truth, or what I get out of your comment.

Turin (as the first, already in the nineties) advised people not to take gender classification too seriously. But he didn't ask his audience to completely ignore it ! Not all men are alike and not all perfumes have been designed for men as a group, least for specific individuals. Every man should only wear what he likes. But it would also be wise to keep an awareness for differing perceptions of people around us. Even the biggest narcissist needs a certain amount of acceptance by others. The best advice of fellow BNers may be wrong in real life situations. But it is harder to get true responses from other guys and girls around us, particularly when they are neither enthusiasts nor convinced that smell adds anything to a man they are stuck with part of the day, or even to the man they fancy.

That's an interesting perspective, and certainly one that you have brought in, narcus - thanks. I don't think I had this complex answer in mind when writing the comment.

I made my comment "just" against the "connoisseur-attitude", i.e. that one has to develop etc. in order to appreciate female scents on yourself. If body chemistry makes you smell like a woman - because of what you associate with the "scent of a woman" - and one feels uncomfortable in that, I see no point in trying to persuade someone with the argument of "advanced level" or 'higher class of fragrance perception'. If Mitsouko, for example. "works" and adds to the "aura" of oneself - why not wear it? In any other case I'll leave it to women to enchant me with that fragrance.
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