Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Lauder scents that might work on guys
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Lauder scents that might work on guys

post #1 of 23
7/4/12 at 7:52pm
Thread Starter 
Hey guys! I was looking for some gifts for the various females in my life and I managed to find a set of four Lauder fragrances (looks like they are 10-15mL): White Linen, Intuition, Beautiful, and Pleasures. Note that these are not the "for men" versions. Like a true basenoter (well, I'm kind of new here but whatever), I sampled them all.

Has any guy tried these, and if so, found them possibly suitable for themselves? I was a bit afraid to try them because then I might just want them for myself and I'd have to find a new gift. hehe. Well, suffice it to say I'm still giving them as a gift, even though some of them could work. Anyways, here is my experience:

White Linen: This really does smell like fresh laundry! I think this would be the most suitable for guys. I'm pretty sure I could pull this off (maybe I shoul decant a small sample off first hehe). I hear this is a good example of a perfume that contains a healthy mixture of aldehydes. Is this what makes perfume smell like "perfume"?

Intuition: This has a nice sweet floral opening, but for some reason the drydown smells a bit like some bathroom cleaner they use at the mall. I didn't like it much after the opening. I don't think this one fits with my personality at all, and probably would not work on most guys.

Beautiful: I really enjoyed this one. It has a spritzy floral smell and a lovely drydown. I feel like I might be able to wear this on occasion. It's still quite feminine on its own but maybe in the right situation it could work. I'm thinking something along the lines of a very formal situation, where everyone is expected to have a string role, like a wedding or a royal function. Beauitful might just be the thing to be rebellious.

Pleasures: This has a very sweet opening and even a bit fruity to my nose. In the drydown there is something quite odd that reminds me of celery. Honestly I think I could wear this here and there. The drydown doesn't seem especially feminine.

Of course by "feminine" I really just mean my own notions influenced by my social interactions. To summarise my feelings about guys wearing these:

1. White linen: definitely. It practically smells like coming out of the dryer with sophistication
2. Pleasures: here and there I could wear this, but not regularly
3. Beautiful: A really formal occasion.
4. Intuition: I would never wear this, possibly because I dislike the drydown.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 23
7/4/12 at 8:00pm
My older daughter likes and wears White Linen.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 23
7/4/12 at 8:06pm
White Linen is certainly wearable, but if you want the good stuff, you'll have to dig deeper: Youth Dew, Knowing, Aliage, Private Collection, and Azuree are all wearable by men quite successfully. Azuree and Private Collection are two of my most favorite fragrances ever.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 23
7/4/12 at 8:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingthealien View Post

White Linen is certainly wearable, but if you want the good stuff, you'll have to dig deeper: Youth Dew, Knowing, Aliage, Private Collection, and Azuree are all wearable by men quite successfully. Azuree and Private Collection are two of my most favorite fragrances ever.

Thanks! Maybe I'll check those out. Though I'm not really on the lookout to buy anything for a while. This was just a fun experiment with a gift
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 23
7/4/12 at 8:30pm
The best female Lauder scents that will work for men, IMO, are Youth Dew, Azuree and Knowing.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 23
7/4/12 at 8:37pm
Interesting - thanks for this. I've never really thought much about their women's scents, but that could be where all the action is.

My wife bought me Pleasures For Men years ago - I do like that occasionally, but only occasionally.

Recently, I sniffed Intuitions for Men, and I have to say that I like it a lot. Very interesting but subtle complexity in a weak oriental. I know it's not popular, but I almost feel like it was a bit ahead of its time (2002), since some similar scents have become rather popular since.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 23
7/4/12 at 8:51pm
I agree with you that White linen is perfect for men, and I have it too. I am not a fan of Pleasures, but clean soap does not seem to emasculate boys. But I agree with lovingthealien, the best EL for men are Azuree (a cousin of Aramis) and Private collection.

To remain within the Estee Lauder conglomerate, there is then the case of Aromatics Elixir (Clinique, a brand owned by EL) and Aramis 900 (Aramis brand, ditto). Extremely close, to the point that they are easily confused. Yet AE is marketed to women and Aramis 900 to men.

cacio
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 23
7/4/12 at 9:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cacio View Post

To remain within the Estee Lauder conglomerate, there is then the case of Aromatics Elixir (Clinique, a brand owned by EL) and Aramis 900 (Aramis brand, ditto). Extremely close, to the point that they are easily confused. Yet AE is marketed to women and Aramis 900 to men.

cacio

This would explain why I find AE so compelling, and so seemingly guy-friendly. Alas, it's also the signature scent of a coworker/wife's friend/friend's wife, and poaching it would be one of those bad ideas that "seemed good at the time".

OTOH, I need to check out Aramis 900.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 23
7/4/12 at 9:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cacio View Post

...the best EL for men are Azuree (a cousin of Aramis) and Private collection.

To remain within the Estee Lauder conglomerate, there is then the case of Aromatics Elixir (Clinique, a brand owned by EL) and Aramis 900 (Aramis brand, ditto). Extremely close, to the point that they are easily confused. Yet AE is marketed to women and Aramis 900 to men.

cacio

The female analogs to Aramis (Azuree), Aramis 900 (Aromatics Elixer), Devin (Aliage), and JHL (Cinnabar) are CLOSE to identical to the male versions. I've tested the last three of these pairs wrist to wrist, and there were times in their development when they were absolutely identical, and other times when slight differences were apparent. But the differences were subtle enough that without being able to directly compare, the fragrances would be hard to distinguish.

Ironically, the Aramis versions of these fragrances are often characterized as hyper-masculine.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 23
7/4/12 at 11:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SmellsLike View Post

The female analogs to Aramis (Azuree), Aramis 900 (Aromatics Elixer), Devin (Aliage), and JHL (Cinnabar) are CLOSE to identical to the male versions. I've tested the last three of these pairs wrist to wrist, and there were times in their development when they were absolutely identical, and other times when slight differences were apparent. But the differences were subtle enough that without being able to directly compare, the fragrances would be hard to distinguish.

Ironically, the Aramis versions of these fragrances are often characterized as hyper-masculine.

I've learned that hyper-masculine typically means hyper-distinctive in men's fragrances. Almost the entire Aramis line is as distinctive as it gets. I do think I prefer Aramis to Azuree, but I always flop back and forth between the two. Devin is better than Aliage and I like JHL better than Cinnabar, but Aromatics Elixir is better than 900. Private Collection is incomparable.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 23
7/5/12 at 3:03am
I just asked my wife what she'd think of me if I put on her White Linen.

She laughed. I won't relay what she then said.
Cheers,
Renato
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 23
7/5/12 at 3:08am
I own and wear Azuree and Youth Dew Amber Nude.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 23
7/5/12 at 4:53am
yes. all classic estee lauder scents are suitable for men to wear.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 23
7/5/12 at 10:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingthealien View Post

White Linen is certainly wearable, but if you want the good stuff, you'll have to dig deeper: Youth Dew, Knowing, Aliage, Private Collection, and Azuree are all wearable by men quite successfully. Azuree and Private Collection are two of my most favorite fragrances ever.

Azuree is very similar to Aramis; Knowing is similar to Lauder for Men.

White Linen is definitely wearable by men. If anything it's less feminine than the somewhat-similar Aramis 900.

I have a bottle of Private Collection. It's not overtly floral. It kind of smells like freshly-mowed grass and jasmine. Very 70's. I love it but I guess I'm not secure enough in my manhood to wear it in public.

The newer Lauder Sensuous is a woody oriental and very unisex. I'm surprised they haven't produced a men's version of this yet.

Conversely, Lauder Pleasures for Men is very sharp, floral and metallic. I just don't see it as a men's fragrance.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 23
7/5/12 at 10:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Primrose View Post

The best female Lauder scents that will work for men, IMO, are Youth Dew, Azuree and Knowing.

Most definitely...
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 23
7/5/12 at 3:14pm
I tried Intuition less than a week ago and really enjoyed it, although I did not find it very original: there are many alike - XS, Himalaya, Allure, Burberry, etc - but this is one has something others lack, specially in the drydown.

Knowing: too girly IMHO.

Youth Dew: can someone tell me the difference with Aramis' JHL?

Lauder for Men: awesome stuff.

Amber Ylang Ylang: ditto, very masculine albeit targetted to women.

Aromatics Elexir: cannt understand how this one is sold as a women's fragrance.

The Aramis range I know are all excellent blends: Aramis, Tuscany and JHL. Got to get Devin, Havana and 900 a try.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 23
7/5/12 at 6:09pm
Interesting that a lot of you pick Knowing as one of the best lauder scent. I didn't realized this until I read it that the base of Knowing is built on the basenotes of the facelifted modernized version of Aramis.

I also agree with Pollux that Lauder Men is a crown jewel in the Lauder fragrance tiara.
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 23
9/10/12 at 11:26pm


Hello Guys I am glad I am not alone in this, I am a 26 year old male, I was at the local department store and wanted a different smell, so I was at the Estee Lauder counter the counter here has mens fragrance and woman all in one location, so I was asking the sales lady what is a good scent ..I am tired of all these mens colognes that smell the same. She said you want to know something? she pulled out the brown Youth Dew Bath oil, dabbled some on my wrist, let me smell it and I was hooked.
She said that alot of men come in and buy this one for themselves. It has been my go-to scent for a couple years now, I always get stopped and people ask, I do not tell them it is a woman perfume I just say "I forgot the name it was a gift".
She did say more Men buy Youth dew Bath oil than woman do. I use it after I take a shower when my body is still kind of damp, also use it before I go out. oh and even guys will ask me what it is. I tried the spray bottle and its not the same as the Oil formula. This will last all day better than any cologne will, and when it fades away during the day it has a clean sweet woody scent. Its a good price to.

 [/SIZE][/SIZE]
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 23
9/11/12 at 4:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by marty408 View Post


it has been my go-to scent for a couple years now, i always get stopped and people ask, i do not tell them it is a woman perfume i just say "i forgot the name it was a gift".

 [/size][/size]

lol!
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 23
9/11/12 at 8:23am
Marty:

welcome!

Indeed, I do use Youth Dew bath oil too. I mix it with Eucerin shower gel and use that as a shower gel at the gym. Smells wonderful, and, in addition, it's dirt cheap and can be found easily. What's not to like?

Vintage oil, which can be easily found on ebay, is even more intense.

cacio
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 23
9/11/12 at 10:41am
I could imagine even Spellbound, used sparingly, working well on a guy, of course White Linen also has, at least to my nose, something of an unisex accord.
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 23
9/15/12 at 9:12pm
Hi Ken,
I went to Estee Lauder today and I tried SPELLBOUND, it is a bit feminine , I did not like it as much. I did like WHITE LINEN and so I bought it. I was kind of embaressed but the lady told me it does have a unisex scent and so I liked it smells good on me. I notice you are in Romania , do you have access to Estee Lauder out there? are these scents popular there? I have some friends in Bucharest.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken_Russell View Post

I could imagine even Spellbound, used sparingly, working well on a guy, of course White Linen also has, at least to my nose, something of an unisex accord.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 23
9/15/12 at 10:19pm
I love Youth Dew, and will second suggestions of Azuree and Amber Ylang Ylang as my top picks.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: MFD Archive
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Lauder scents that might work on guys