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Delving deeper into the fragerence world, looking at buying the following:

post #1 of 21
10/6/12 at 7:06pm
Thread Starter 
Hi everyone,
This might be a bit too much detail for a lot of people, and for the tl;dr version, I'd appreciate any advice on the colognes I'm thinking of buying. I'm going to give a fair bit of background though, since there are thousands of colognes and everyone has different preferences, so perhaps knowing a bit more about me would make it easier to help me! Anyway:

I'm a cologne noob. A highschool girlfriend got me to buy Fierce when I was 18 (I'm 20 now), and it's served me well since then. I get compliments on the scent all the time. Aside from that, I have a small bottle of Republic of Men (not a spray), and, surprisingly, whenever I've combined the two, I've had extremely good reactions every time. I've been using the same thing for 2 years now though, and while I still find Fierce smells great, it's lost its magic for me, and everyone I know has gotten used to it.
Recently, I noticed a great aroma from really stylish European guy I know, and he told me he uses either Kiton or Terre D'Hermes (the latter I've discovered is apparently a classic). I found myself wanting to try new scents in hopes of getting back that fresh, exhilarating feeling of smelling amazingly good. I've done some lurking here and here's the list of what I'm considering ordering:

\tRive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent 4.2 oz Eau De Toilette Spray : CAD $43.87

\tLanvin by Lanvin 3.4 oz Eau De Toilette Spray : CAD $28.34 \t

\tChrome by Loris Azzaro 3.4 oz Eau De Toilette Spray : CAD $40.96

\tCurve by Liz Claiborne 2.5 oz Cologne Spray : CAD $22.51 \t
\t
\tAcqua Di Gio by Giorgio Armani 3.3 oz : CAD $70.66 \t
\t
The reason behind pretty much all those choices is that they're not too expensive, yet have great reviews/compliment ratings. Creed looked amazing, but it had a correspondingly shocking price tag, and if I can get the same reactions cheaper, I'd like to.

Random stuff that may be completely irrelevant to choosing:
-I'm 20, I go out roughly once a fortnight throughout the school-year (currently first year in a great university) and multiple times a week in the summer.
-I play sports pretty frequently, am in good shape, and generally go for a clean look.
-Girls I hang out with go crazy for good-smelling guys, as it seems not too many of my friends have gotten into the scent world, and I'd like to take advantage of it .

SO, bottom line is, if anyone has any recommendations concerning any of these products or suggestions etc, feel free to give me 'em! If this is too much to buy at a time, I'd also like to know. Where I live, there isn't really anywhere I can test out samples, so I was going for ones that seemed to always work.

Also, on another note, should one always wear scentless deoderant to maximize cologne effectiveness?
Thanks a lot!
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post #2 of 21
10/6/12 at 7:21pm
Rive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent 4.2 oz Eau De Toilette Spray : CAD $43.87

This is a very nice one. I haven't met a basenoter who hasn't liked it. I like that it is masculine and subtle at the same time. It is mature and is something a lot of people would associate with a middle-aged men. I like it and wear it, but some younger people may think its too mature for them.

Lanvin by Lanvin 3.4 oz Eau De Toilette Spray : CAD $28.34

Never heard of this one, to be honest.

Chrome by Loris Azzaro 3.4 oz Eau De Toilette Spray : CAD $40.96

Not bad for a beginner's collection. I think Chrome is good, but not great. Some may like the sweetness to it, while others will see it as synthetic and plastic.

Curve by Liz Claiborne 2.5 oz Cologne Spray : CAD $22.51

I'm not a big fan of this. It's cheap, but that's all it has going for it. Better to get a good one for 40 dollars rather than an okay one for 20.

Acqua Di Gio by Giorgio Armani 3.3 oz : CAD $70.66

Classic. Yeah, it's expensive, but you can get it on eBay for much cheaper (from a reputable seller of course).

If you're in college, I recommend you wear Jean Paul Gaultier's Le Male.
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post #3 of 21
10/6/12 at 7:35pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks a lot for the feedback
After some more reading around, I decided to cut Chrome, as it seemed pretty average. I think I'll wait on Rive Gauche as well, given your advice on it being more of a mature scent. I heard Curve smelled nothing but average to guys, but girls apparently love it? It was also dirt cheap, so I figured I'd try it.

All I'm going for really is a smell that makes people perk up their nose and be pleasantly surprised. Fierce does that, Terre dhermes does that (for me at least), and I'm just looking for a few other ones that do the same.

From the place I'm ordering, it's 48.60 for 75ml of Le Male Terrible. Think I should go for it?

EDIT: Also, the last thing I want to do is buy a generic, cheap-smelling cologne. While Acqua di Gio is extremely common, it definitely hits a lot of home runs from what I'm hearing.
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post #4 of 21
10/6/12 at 7:52pm
Do not purchase Terrible, go for the original. Terrible is best represented by its name...terrible.

Girls love Curve, I don't know why. AdG is a woman magnet, but I think you should try PE 360 Red (spicy version of AdG). Boss Bottled is another one that the girls love, or at least are not offended by.
Rive might be too mature (I'm your age, and would not touch Rive, haven't tried it but I know enough about it to avoid it, myself).
YSL - L'Homme might work well too, though it does not last long
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post #5 of 21
10/6/12 at 7:59pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the advice, I'll keep Curve on the list. Unfortunately, the site I'm ordering from doesn't have the original Le Male, only terrible and gladiator. Are you sure PE Red would match up to AdG, cause I can get 100ml of PE Red for 30$ instead of the AdG's 70?
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post #6 of 21
10/6/12 at 8:33pm
IMO ones below are nice scents and worthy of having:

Rive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent
Lanvin by Lanvin
Chrome by Loris Azzaro
Acqua Di Gio by Giorgio Armani
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post #7 of 21
10/6/12 at 8:35pm
where are you located...?
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post #8 of 21
10/6/12 at 8:39pm
Thread Starter 
I'm in Quebec, Canada. Montreal's sure to have some good stores, but pretty much the only place with colognes in my city is the pharmacy/zellers/sears
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post #9 of 21
10/6/12 at 8:58pm
You could do a lot worse than Acqua di Gio, that's for sure. Young women still love it & regardless of whether it's common or not, it just smells good to most people. While I enjoy Rive Gauche, I'm in my 30's & don't really think it would have been a frag I would have worn in my late teens or 20's to attract young women. I'd recommend the following that aren't too expensive to check out:

Diesel Fuel for Life - pretty nice casual frag for a designer IMO. I really enjoy the drydown & it has good longevity & projection
True Religion - nice clean masculine scent - it's a sleeper IMO
Rochas Man - a pretty universally liked gourmand
Nautica Voyage - pretty decent clean aquatic, especially when you consider you can get it for about $20 most places now.
Chanel Platinum Egoiste - many say it's a classier, higher quality, more mature version of Fierce - a lot of women do love this
Allure Homme Sport or Sport Extreme - don't let the BN trashtalk get to you on these - the majority of people - and women - really like the way they smell on a guy
Hugo Boss Bottled - again, pretty universally liked - sweet, deep and a really nice drydown
Creed Aventus - ok, so hear me out on this - you can get 50ml in a well run split here on BN for under $70. Pretty damn good deal IMO for what you'll get out of it. I know it seems ultra common here on BN, but if you're like me, NOBODY else around you is likely to be wearing this and it's generally a huge compliment getter and very well liked by most women. Just a thought, man...it's worth checking into anyway.
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post #10 of 21
10/6/12 at 9:02pm
Annoying as it may sound, I would recommend against blind buying, especially in those quantities. If you haven't tried many scents, you don't know what you're going to like. If you ever get to a town with some perfume stores, you should smell your way around.

In your list, I like RG a lot. I'm not a big fan of the others - I just dislike the style. but some are quite famous and widely used, and especially by younger people (while I am in my 40s). Acqua di Gio especially - which works well if you like the fresh aquatic stuff.
But if you've smelled Terre d'Hermes on that guy and you liked it, it seems a good choice. It is smooth and refined, perhaps not as exciting as others, but hard to dislike it. You can start with this, then expand your collection at the next sniffing occasions.

If you ever get the chance in a big town, I'd recommend you also smell Chanel Egoiste (the regular Egoiste, not the Egoiste platinum) and Chanel pour monsieur (the regular version, not the concentree version.) The first a smooth, elegant sweet woody, the second a light citrus.

cacio
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post #11 of 21
10/6/12 at 9:23pm
Thread Starter 
^I took that advice and actually ordered a sample pack of 8 of the most popular scents.
As I said in that other thread I started, I would have loved to do a split with someone for any of the Creed scents, but isn't there something about new users not being allowed to?
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post #12 of 21
10/6/12 at 9:33pm
No, new users can't host/run a split until 500 posts or 1 year in, but anyone can participate (buy) in a split (unless this has changed very recently). I only had a handful of posts before I participated in a split for Aventus not too long ago, and that went great!
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post #13 of 21
10/6/12 at 9:46pm
Thread Starter 
Ah okay, great to know! Thanks fit
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post #14 of 21
10/6/12 at 10:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fit&frag'd View Post

You could do a lot worse than Acqua di Gio, that's for sure. Young women still love it & regardless of whether it's common or not, it just smells good to most people.....I'd recommend the following that aren't too expensive to check out:

Diesel Fuel for Life
Rochas Man
Allure Homme Sport
Hugo Boss Bottled [No. 6]
Creed Aventus - ok, so hear me out on this - you can get 50ml in a well run split here on BN for under $70. Pretty damn good deal IMO for what you'll get out of it. I know it seems ultra common here on BN, but if you're like me, NOBODY else around you is likely to be wearing this and it's generally a huge compliment getter and very well liked by most women. Just a thought, man...it's worth checking into anyway.

These ^^^^^ are good suggestions.

Keep in mind that you are in Quebec so perhaps two, warmer-weather fragrances will suffice, and the remainder for cooler-weather fragrances.

Likewise, take some time to get acquainted with the particular genre of the scents; you don't want to have redundant scents with such a limited, fragrance wardrobe.

This article should prove valuable: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfume

&

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post #15 of 21
10/6/12 at 11:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedCat View Post

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep Curve on the list. Unfortunately, the site I'm ordering from doesn't have the original Le Male, only terrible and gladiator. Are you sure PE Red would match up to AdG, cause I can get 100ml of PE Red for 30$ instead of the AdG's 70?

I walked into a fragrance shop some time ago. I asked the guy at the counter if he had a 3.4 of AdG, he looked at me, smiled, and said "Try this, it's cheaper and the same." He did in fact have AdG, but really wanted me to go with PE 360 Red. I own Red and can tell you, the differences are small, to the point where you yourself won't be able to tell.
Red is a little spicier, it lasts longer and projects better.

If you can't find the original Le Male, pass on Gladiator and Terrible, they aren't worth it (not sure about gladiator though)
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post #16 of 21
10/7/12 at 6:38am
Thread Starter 
Alright, I'll take you up on that then It would save me a fair bit of money too.
I'll try to find samples for the ones you suggested, fit. Thanks for the recommendations!
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post #17 of 21
10/7/12 at 7:05am
I think you are on the right track with Terre d'Hermès. Of the ones listed, Acqua di Giò is the safest pick, IMO.
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post #18 of 21
10/8/12 at 2:43pm
Rive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent
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post #19 of 21
10/10/12 at 12:15am
Go deeper. My suggestions are Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb, Thierry Mugler A Men or Ice Men, Jean Paul Gaultier Kokorico, Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel.
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post #20 of 21
10/10/12 at 4:18am
Check out the Bulgari line for men. Lots of nice ones there.
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post #21 of 21
10/10/12 at 7:49am
I'd recommend to buy some samples and invest in a bottle or two you really love rather than buying a bunch of fragrances just because they're cheap. That's not to say that more expensive ones are better, but price shouldn't be the only factor. Also, it's a bit unclear, if you liked Terre d'Hermes why not get that one? Though certainly not a bad idea to get a sample of it to compare to the other samples.
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Just Starting Out › Delving deeper into the fragerence world, looking at buying the following: