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Why do women's frags project so much more than men's?

post #1 of 19
7/23/10 at 1:30pm
Thread Starter 
Excuse this for being in the men's discussion forum, I'd like to get replies from both men and women.

I ask myself this question all the time, and can't seem to figure it out. What is it that makes them project so much? I bought my mom Diamonds and Emeralds on sale as a gift, and the moment she put it on, she lit up the entire room. Plus her sillage trail/path made the entire house smell of this fragrance. It actually started to make me sick.

Not just this fragrance, but I noticed a lot of women's fragrances have this powerhouse projection that would put names like ApH and Giorgio to shame, even in their vintage formulations.

Diamonds and Emeralds itself is mostly a floral a fragrance, but how many floral men's fragrances are their, and how many can project like this?

Another example, Navy for women. Made by Dana. Dana.. one of the cheapest fragrance houses around, yet for some reason, Navy projects like a beast. Tabu too. I could go on and on.
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post #2 of 19
7/23/10 at 1:36pm
many of the 80s men fragrances do have such projection as well (Kouros, Van Cleef Arpels pH, Lapidus pH, Trussardi Uomo)
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post #3 of 19
7/23/10 at 5:16pm
Aren't most women's fragrances in EDP formulation? I've always assumed it was due to the greater quantity of oil in their fragrances versus the usual men's formulation of EDT. Any other ideas??
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post #4 of 19
7/23/10 at 5:23pm
it's probably more about customer needs and marketing strategy than anything else
women leave perfume trails, men have unoffensive colognes

it's probably due to change soon.
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post #5 of 19
7/23/10 at 5:28pm
Perhaps sweeter nots carry further in alcohol?? I've never thought about this.
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post #6 of 19
7/23/10 at 5:39pm
The answer is quite simple, they OVERSPRAY their fragrances. If for example you travel on a bus or train in the mornings you have to run a gauntlet of different perfumes that can have you feeling like you are choking. In my experience on the whole mens scents are usually detected when you are within that persons personal space. But with women you can smell them a mile off and have you ever been in a room that stinks of perfume well after that person has left?
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post #7 of 19
7/23/10 at 5:46pm
women's perfumes have a lot of rose and other strong florals, men's colognes are primarily citrus and fresh.
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post #8 of 19
7/23/10 at 6:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by timkm1 View Post

Aren't most women's fragrances in EDP formulation? I've always assumed it was due to the greater quantity of oil in their fragrances versus the usual men's formulation of EDT. Any other ideas??

I thought so too, but actually there are quite a few women's fragrances that are EDT's, Diamonds and Emeralds being one of them. As far as the perfume or EDP vs EDT, or EDC even, I don't think this affects projection in any way, more so longevity. Even with that said, we've all seen those expensive niche fragrances marketed as perfumes with horrible longevity and/or projection. Miller Harris is a great example, with no disrespect to their excellent fragrance house, they mostly thrive to make scents that stay close to the skin. All of which are perfume strength, but have no projection, with great longevity.

So it definitley varies. I for one cannot confidently say that the less alcohol in a fragrance the more it will project, because that just isn't true.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Hunter View Post

The answer is quite simple, they OVERSPRAY their fragrances. If for example you travel on a bus or train in the mornings you have to run a gauntlet of different perfumes that can have you feeling like you are choking. In my experience on the whole mens scents are usually detected when you are within that persons personal space. But with women you can smell them a mile off and have you ever been in a room that stinks of perfume well after that person has left?

LOL, ya they do get trigger happy, no doubt. My mom being guilty of this as well, I explained to her what sillage was and how every room in the house she walked in, reeked of her fragrance. She said that "that's what I want" LOL, so ya.

But on occasion I may be intrigued by some women's frag and give it a sniff, then a spray or 2 in the air, and 9 times out of 10 it stays in the air for a while. I sprayed one spray of Backham Signature in the air at TJ Maxx today, walked around to the clearance shelf, came back in 5 mins, and there I could smell it. Try doing that with Armani Code, and see how many seconds it is (literally) before it's gone.
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post #9 of 19
7/23/10 at 6:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidBond007 View Post

women's perfumes have a lot of rose and other strong florals, men's colognes are primarily citrus and fresh.

This may very well be true, flowers tend to be oily, especially rose.
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post #10 of 19
7/23/10 at 6:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Cologneist View Post

This may very well be true, flowers tend to be oily, especially rose.

Rose is very strong smell, and many women's perfumes have rose. I dabbed fluers de the rose bulgarie by Creed once on my hand just to see what it smells like and i had to wash my hand at least 4-7 times to get the smell off and it lasted and lasted. I could only imagine how strong and long lasting it would be if you were to spray it. You get a flacon of that and you would be set for life. You could spray it once on you and call it a day. Ladies take note.
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post #11 of 19
7/23/10 at 7:30pm
Is it because women are 'hotter' than men....
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post #12 of 19
7/23/10 at 7:33pm
Lasting power is a combination of skin chemistry and formula. Most men's scents (scents marketed to men) are in the eau de toilette or eau de cologne. There are more men's scents in EDP such as Beau Cavalier Habit Rouge, Boucheron, Le Dandy (yes, I know....) and a few parfums, such as Habit Rouge and Terre d'Hermes.

Then again, many a male BNer has enjoyed the extrait of Chanel's Cuir de Russie!
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post #13 of 19
7/23/10 at 8:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by morrison74 View Post

Is it because women are 'hotter' than men....

LOL

Oh, yeah, baby!
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post #14 of 19
7/23/10 at 10:23pm
It's because women writers in style magazines and newspapers have conned numerous males into believing that "less is more" in spirited attacks on males - showing them to be somehow borish or uncultured if they wear scents stronger than what women wear them.

There have always been subtle or not too loud male scents around, but it's quite noticeable that the majority of scents released in the last decade have been of the "please don't be offended if you somehow notice me" type. Fortunately, most aren't a dead loss, but they do require 10 or 12 sprays to be able to come near tangling with what women typically wear.
Renato
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post #15 of 19
7/23/10 at 10:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Renato View Post

It's because women writers in style magazines and newspapers have conned numerous males into believing that "less is more" in spirited attacks on males - showing them to be somehow borish or uncultured if they wear scents stronger than what women wear them.

There have always been subtle or not too loud male scents around, but it's quite noticeable that the majority of scents released in the last decade have been of the "please don't be offended if you somehow notice me" type. Fortunately, most aren't a dead loss, but they do require 10 or 12 sprays to be able to come near tangling with what women typically wear.
Renato

I agree with that statement. Too much political correctness in this feminized society.
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post #16 of 19
7/24/10 at 12:38am
No analysis, only a statement of a sociological syndrome:
In our western society, men have to be modest, unobtrusive in their choice of fashoin and stylish accessories, such as perfume.
If you tend to be loud, fancy, expressive, you will be "that guy".
At one time it was different and times are changing with our help!!
Go perfume!
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post #17 of 19
7/24/10 at 1:19am
1. Because there are more EDPs for women than there are for men
2. Because according to "general public rules" man shouldnt smell like hooker (I shouldnt post this here on basenotes lol) but women can do
3. Because women often overspray
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post #18 of 19
7/24/10 at 1:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Renato View Post

It's because women writers in style magazines and newspapers have conned numerous males into believing that "less is more" in spirited attacks on males - showing them to be somehow borish or uncultured if they wear scents stronger than what women wear them.

There have always been subtle or not too loud male scents around, but it's quite noticeable that the majority of scents released in the last decade have been of the "please don't be offended if you somehow notice me" type. Fortunately, most aren't a dead loss, but they do require 10 or 12 sprays to be able to come near tangling with what women typically wear.
Renato

This may be true, men scents created in last 15 yrs are mostly boring aquatics or light citruses/orientals with no projection/sillage - anyway most of them is pretty boring and that´s why I stick with 80s creations such as Giorgio Beverly Hills, Caron 3rd Man, Quorum, Boss no.1 and many others that are widely available...to be honest, I don´t care at all about other people´s opinion of my fragrance and its projection and I don´t read any fashion magazines
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post #19 of 19
7/24/10 at 4:21am
80's era scents were honestly brash.
Scents of the western past were at times lighter, at times heavier, mostly owing to the natural tenacity/lackthereof of the ingredients used.

As for why many modern releases are too weak for their own particular style, and require larger applications than one might think......idk.....90's era self-repressive apologetic emasculation under positive guises still in effect?

Honesty is the best policy. 26 sprays of Hermes CDOV today.
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