Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dags 
So I'm asking you for your opinion: which (let's say five) do you reccomend for me? Which do you think smell best, and will get the most compliments?
To be blunt, your peers are most familiar with the top sellers, and will feel the most comfortable complementing you on what they recognize - whether it really works for you or not. And that's OK! Proctor & Gamble wouldn't have been able sell enough Old Spice to float a navy over the years if it didn't smell good.
Probably it would be best to have a couple of choices that seem a bit safe and not too loud - for classes and some work environments. Lighter fougeres, woody scents, and the usual fresh/marine/ozonic/sport are popular precisely because you don't want to choke out the person sitting next to you.
But for a date, somewhat formal occasion, or just winter you may end up dressing up (or heavier) and you may want something heavier and richer. Orientals and gourmands tend to do the job a bit better.
Some days you might not give a d--- what other people think about what you're wearing. Nothing else will do but something loud, trashy, tacky, cheap, obscenely expensive, wierd, or whatever, that YOU love. We can't even begin to pick that one for you.
Why no specifics? Well ... I usually hate the styles that are most popular right now. So it's hard to help out on that. And my experience (less than a lot of the folks here) is that there are some great fragrances out there that end up smelling worse than stale sweat after a few hours on my skin. On the other hand, a couple of others smell even better with some sweat and wear. We can't predict which ones will react like they shouldn't for you, so it's almost always better to sample before buying.
The top five in my rotation (guaranteed to get worn to the office) are:
- Knize Ten (very old-fashioned oriental leather that opens like an old jerry can of petrol),
- Bandit (a bitter green woods- and crankcase-stained leather that opens with a blast of white floral notes),
- Centaure (a straight-up fougere featuring tobacco and mint, and the MPG house base notes),
- Prada Infusion D'Iris (a soapy vetiver-backed iris fragrance), and
- l'Anarchiste (orange peel, musk, cedar, musk, and on a warm day, more musk. If your image of Christmas includes palm trees and suntan, this will fit right in)
I don't recommend buying any of them, but I would recommend taking some time to read the reviews and check prices on them. That should illustrate just how hard to figure out what would work for someone just starting out when you don't want to push something they'll spend good money on and end up hating.
