Can you get used to smelling "feminine?"

For me, I personally choose not to wear anything geared to females. I leave that to my wife.

Sometimes it is not about what other people may or may not think but what you actually like. I can only speak for myself. I tend to stay away from feminine smelling scents because I do not like them on me. I actually thought Noir de Noir was one of the most beautiful scents but it was too feminine on me. The old adage wear what you like will always ring true to me...however wear what you like because you like it not because of what other people may or may not think. Perhaps it is my age...the way I grew up...I am open to trying different things but they have to suit me. For instance...Heeleys Cuir Pleine Fleur is a bit of a floral...but I really enjoyed that and if I can ever find a split I would wear that. I have some scents that are in my wardrobe that are classified as unisex..but to me they lean to the masculine side..like Dior's Leather Oud. There is a distinct difference in our ages..and I also believe there are many things that go into answering your question from my perspective. In order not to go on and seem long winded because this interests me I will just conclude with... If you like it wear it...

I have really tried but cannot feel comfortable wearing female oriented fragrances. The closest that I can go is Dior Homme and Dior Homme intense. I guess Midnight In Paris, edp, may also fit the category. But I have tried Midnight Poison, Duetto's City Love, several Chanels from the Esclusives line, etc. I simply do not enjoy wearing a female scent. It is not that I worry about what others have to say, I do not like the. I'm certain this has a lot to do with having grown up wearing 80's powerhouse fragrances. I envy the man who can enjoy a good woman's perfume. In my opinion, women's perfumes are so well better made than those produced for me.

I only have Burberry's Brit for Women as a feminine marketed scent, yet I wear that to lecture and lab all the time (college). I also wear NdN and MiP and other scents slightly on the feminine side all the time. If you like it on you, wear it! It took me a bit of time to overcome that social fear, but it's really feels liberating once you get ever it. But that's just my 2 cents. If you don't like feminine scents on you, then it's ok too!

I personally love wearing some unisex or feminine fragrances. Fragrances have no gender is what you should remember and remember to wear what you like! I had a bit of a struggle with wearing them out of the house at first, but I just finally grew a big enough pair and sprayed myself down with Mitsouko and went about my day. Not one person said " are you wearing ladies perfume"? I was a bit offended that no body complimented me on how nice I smelled!
I now wear all sorts of so called feminine frags, unsiex frags and masculine frags and love them all because I am myself!

Probably about 2/3 of the fragrances I wear are feminines or unisex scents that lean feminine. You just need to wear them and you'll get used to it. And really, Noir de Noir isn't all that feminine.

A couple of weeks ago, a male colleague asked me what cologne I was wearing. I told him it was Chanel No. 22. He said "I like that one, it smells very gentlemanly." The point is that fragrances are not as obviously feminine or masculine as things like clothes.

Let me add this: I've been wearing feminines for many years, and not once has someone said anything about it. In fact, I've often gotten compliments on those scents (without any mention of gender).

I wear whatever smells good to my nose regardless if it is "masculine" or "feminine"

I suppose, but if it makes me even the slightest bit uncomfortable I don't force it. There are simply too many fantastic scents out there that hit all the buttons and smell the way I want to smell. If it's too sweet, too floral, too aldehydic, etc., it's a pass. I see no reason to compromise.

I find I can't wear some fragrances, because when I smell them I picture a woman wearing it so it's a no go for me. Fragrances are gender based. They're labeled as such so the "there's no gender in fragrances is BS as it's right there in front of your face." Whether you follow those guidelines is another story. Some notes in women's fragrances work for men and others don't. If you don't feel comfortable then don't wear it.

I think it's wrong to classify 'florals' as feminine fragrances. If they are floral and sweet, yes probably. But take e.g. Fleurs d'Oranger (orange blossoms) by Serge Lutens which is floral + dry + bitter and is a fragrance that can absolutely be worn by males. Similar for Tubereuse Criminelle.

The only BS here is Marketing BS. Fragrance has no gender. If a man wears a fragrance (any fragrance) then, by association it will smell masculine on him. If a woman wears a fragrance (any fragrance) it will, by association, smell feminine on her.

Also there is fashion in fragrance, and what, to one generation, will smell Feminine will, to another, generation smell Masculine. Jicky and Eau Sauvage are tow examples of this.

Before the 20th century there was only unisex fragrance. Marketing realised that you could double your sales by inventing this artificial division.

Wear what you enjoy. Fragrance is genderless.

BIG +1 on this and I will add one of my fave quotes on the subject. "Fragrance has no genitalia"

I work at a major dept store selling frags, I'm just at the men's counter now but used to work women's as well. When something new would arrive in women's and I didn't find it too offensive I would wear it mainly to see how it lives on the skin and how long it lasts. There were many times where I would put on a women's frag and go to a friend and ask them if they liked what I was wearing, I don't think any of them ever guessed it was a women's frag. For example, one of my faves from Estee Lauder is Bronze Goddess and it's definitely made for women but I love that it reminds me of Coppertone tanning oils from back in my youth. Everyone liked it on me and no one thought it was feminine at all.
Wear what makes you feel good and don't worry about being "caught" wearing something not marketed to you.
I totally understand where you're coming from though and I'm sure you'll come around to wearing what you like and not worry what others think. Who knows, maybe you'll get respect for being a renegade

After smelling 30 or 40 masculine fragrances they start to get boring. I think many "masculine" scents have a really narrow set of qualities and they don't really venture out of that. So when I started wearing unisex and feminine fragrances the world of scent opened up for me again.

I still have favorite "masculine" scents but for me personally, I knew there were many women's frags that were getting really great reviews that I just had to try, even if I don't go around wearing them every day. And some of my favorite scents like Fille en Aiguilles and Feminite du Bois are pretty much gender neutral in my opinion. But I admit, if I had tried FdB in earlier in my 'journey', I might have thought it was too feminine.

Can't do it. Not because I have anything against female fragrances, but because I have yet to find any that are my taste.

Many years ago the line was clearly defined in what was masculine and what is feminine. These days though many scents can swing either way depending on your perception and where you draw the line.

Yes. When I started out not too long ago I found a lot of men's/unisex fragrances rather feminine, Bvlgari Black, Insense, Le 3me Homme, Arpege pour Homme, Obession Night, etc, didn't take too long to get used to them or to get used to wearing quite a few feminine fragrances (some more unisex than modern men's fragrances, imo). Just wear and enjoy them.

No matter how much effort I have put into it, I cannot feel comfortable wearing a female fragrance. Even most so called, unisex, fragrances come off as too feminine for me. I am not happy about this as I am losing out on a great, many fragrances.

That is your problem "senore". I believe that the sense of smell is a source of great pleasure, and one that is not used by the majority of people. Basenoters have shown, by there very presence here, that they enjoy smelling stuff. The only reason not to wear a fragrance is because you don't like it. To enjoy a fragrance but not wear it because you think it too "feminine" is really cutting your nose to spite your face. To admit to "losing out on a great many fragrances" is to admit to deliberately not allowing yourself pleasure. How foolish.

I'm not sure about this. I can like and appreciate a lot of feminine fragrances on my partner, but would feel uncomfortable wearing them myself. I believe that some fragrances can be instantly classified as feminine, for me anyway, and other so called 'feminine' fragrances are more ambiguous, especially leather based ones. Perfumers are given a brief and one of them would be the 'target audience' so in that respect they are designed with genitalia in mind. Can any man admit to actually wanting to wear Amarige? well not many women would but you get my point?

Very quick story.....

One day I was getting dressed for work and my lady was in the bathroom as well, I just so happened to walk directly behind her as she sprayed on Angel for women.... the thing is she missed her entire neck and hit me directly on the shoulder. She said sorry babe! I responded its fine, you might as well give me one squirt on the neck cuz I don't have time to wash it off. So she gave me a spritz on the neck.

Throughout the entire day at work and just out and about I received more than a few compliments from women saying how good I smelled. When they asked what I was wearing and I told them, they were absolutely blown away, they couldn't believe I was wearing Angel.

I thought it was just alright on me, but the women loved it and thought it smelled amazing on me. I never wore it again just because it didn't appeal to me.

I said all that to say, don't care what others think, if you love it and they hate it wear it, if they love it and you hate it don't wear it!!!

Hey, it's really OK to accept the fact you have comfort zones you'd much rather stay within. But on the oft chance others are not likely to smell this so called feminine fragrance, you might also feel like risking a single spray under your shirt or have a few dabs on your collar bone for personal enjoyment. After a few days of such sneaky adventures, when you realize nobody is going out of their way to tell you 'you smell like a woman' or spout similar nonsense, the truth will hopefully hit home - apart from us freaks in here, NOBODY gives a damn what fragrance you got on.

You know, when my wife and I were both testing Creeds, we both thought Millesime Imperial were intended for our own sex. I had no idea it was marketed as a unisex fragrance. Then we went to the Hermes counter and tried Un Jardin en Mediterranee and had the same experience. We both wear both of them.
I took it to "feminine" fragrances by wearing Black Orchid, which I didn't think was that feminine.
All-in-all, regardless of what a fragrance is marketed as, there is definitely a subjective sliding scale of masculine to feminine (not the other way around.)

I think you can get used to smelling what you would consider more "feminine", as your tastes expand and grow, your confidence increases and you begin to care less and less about what others may "think." I truly believe that the majority of the time, people smelling a fragrance on you will either think it smells nice or it doesn't, first and foremost. Now, sure, there are extremes that probably don't work very well on both ends, but overall, I don't think most people are too worried or conscious over whether you smell one way or the other. People just know if you smell good or not.

Personally, I just have my own litmus test. If I sample a fragrance and just can't picture myself wearing it with confidence in most situations, whether that's because I don't like the smell, don't find it appealing, wearable enough, or too feminine on me, then I simply don't buy it - even if I do appreciate it.

I think the question is whether you can get past the association of certain notes and structures with being "feminine" - not so much whether you can get used to or stop caring about smelling feminine. These associations are cultural - not absolute.

As I've tried more and more perfumes, my range has broadened. Very few fragrances now seem absolutely masculine or feminine to me now. I wear many things I would have considered "feminine" in the past. So many of the real masterpieces in perfumery are feminine-marketed perfumes, so I'm happy to not miss out on them. I am straight and live in Texas, by the way. I mention this only because few gay men have this gender association hang up to begin with.

Here's another southern guy who has recently "seen the light":


Congrats, southerngardens! Keep it up!

No all will come to see things this way. Silentrich for example ...


That's ok too. To each his own - there is no wrong answer as we are all different.

As for you, only you can say. It sounds like you want to get past this and be able to enjoy what you're missing out on.

I say buy and wear the ones you love - at home if you must. I think you'll be wearing them wherever before long.
But even if you never feel comfortable wearing feminines out, what's wrong with just enjoying them at home?

I am a newb to this fragrance thing but I really like some women's fragrances. I have bought a few of each (male and female) and really prefer the females for the most part. But...I wear them for my own enjoyment and would not wear them around people I know. I've gotten to where I feel confident going to work or out in public with the lingering remanents of a fem frag (from the night before) on me but I'm confident at that point no one is smelling it but me and then only when I put my nose right against my skin. I would not apply a fem frag in the morning before work or when I expected to be around friends or family.
I'm a blue collar working man and not at all what would be considered "metrosexual." All that said, the female oriented frags I like most are apparently considered fairly unisex gourmands.

I own, use and like few feminines, but then again, I was never good to perceiving gender-based differences in frags (OK, apart from the fact that most are explicitly marketed for one or another specific gender) anyway, and while my scent wardrobe now is teeming with powerhouse offerings, in future, I might find among feminine scents just that one chypre, citrus, leather, even floral association of notes I was searching for quite a while.

NO! I cannot. Only if worn by my wife or other lady.

OctaVariuM... I am just like you, bro. I have a hangup about wearing anything that might be construed as feminine. I lean toward the very masculine scents, and am even thinking of getting rid of a couple I have that are a bit too powdery or sweet for me. And unisex or feminine just don't cut it.
But this "frag" game is so subjective... and I don't begrudge those guys who wear/enjoy the fem or unisex scents. To each his own.

Many many fragrances that you think are feminine on a woman, isn't perceived feminine on a man and vice versa. I've gotten compliments on my "nice perfume" when I've worn Fahrenheit. People see you, they see a guy, and they won't assume that you're wearing a "women's fragrance" so they'll just react to whether or not they think you smell nice.

There are some fragrances that I think are too "pretty" for a rugged masculine kind of guy to pull off, but they are rare.

I think your question is perfectly reasonable, and it speaks to far more than just scents. It's about what we're used to and what we think is appropriate. Sometimes we're right. Sometimes we're wrong. But how to figure out the difference?

I have a female friend with wavy hair. She grows it long because she thinks women are supposed to have long hair. One day, a stylist convinced her to cut it short into a sort-of pixie cut. She Looked AMAZING! ...buuuuuuuut, she couldn't get past feeling like a boy with a short haircut (even though it was very feminine). She grew it out again and looks kind of dumpy. Ah well.

The trick is to find someone whose opinion you trust. When in doubt about how something smells on me (to anyone other than me, I mean), I have a few friends whose opinions I trust.

Like you, I admit, I have issues with scents smelling too feminine for what I think I should wear. For me, it's that I'm single and enjoy dating. Feminine isn't the impression I want to give, but I've been surprised by how often women will rave about a scent on me that seems pretty feminine to me.

As Izzie pointed out, it's pretty amazing how something can smell so different on different people, and how scent is only one piece of the puzzle people use to judge ho something smells, bizarre as that may sound. The more dressy the man, the easier it is to wear more stylish - and maybe even more feminine - scents. People see style and they then associate what they smell with that style. It's weird, but people do it all the time.

So... if you love Noir de Noir, I'd say, dress up!

The only fragrance that I really like that I can't pull the trigger on is Chanel No 5. It's just to recognizable as a feminine scent for me to wear it.

I perfectly understand your fear. I'm a gal leaning towards masculine scents simply because I prefer woody, smokey and leathery over floral. however I try to choose those that are not too in the face masculine and wear them for work also (lightly applied). Anyway, I also bought some more obviously male scents like bel ami. and these scents make me feel self-conscious sometimes. especially when someone comes close. some compliments on these scents by friends have given me more confidence. But these were perfumistas, doesn't count. however it was very comforting when my non-perfumista friend qualified l'air du desert marocain as very feminine on me, maybe too feminine for him to pull off. so people don't reqlly seem to identify the gender of a scent unless maybe it is a very well known scent.

on the other hand I kind of got worried when I myself smelled a fume on a man which smelled sweet and powdery, very feminine. it was really weird. plus I smelled a cheap aftershave smell on different women (one was a very butch looking taxi driver, the other one a female loo

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...female looking stewardess...
It came off as weird. maybe the notes were too obvioud plusvI didn't really like thevscents. but I wandered if gor instance bel ami comes off as strange on me...
But you shouldn't worry about Noir de Noir, that's not too feminine.

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I perfectly understand your fear. I'm a gal leaning towards masculine scents simply because I prefer woody, smokey and leathery over floral. however I try to choose those that are not too in the face masculine and wear them for work also (lightly applied). Anyway, I also bought some more obviously male scents like bel ami. and these scents make me feel self-conscious sometimes. especially when someone comes close. some compliments on these scents by friends have given me more confidence. But these were perfumistas, doesn't count. however it was very comforting when my non-perfumista friend qualified l'air du desert marocain as very feminine on me, maybe too feminine for him to pull off. so people don't reqlly seem to identify the gender of a scent unless maybe it is a very well known scent.

on the other hand I kind of got worried when I myself smelled a fume on a man which smelled sweet and powdery, very feminine. it was really weird. plus I smelled a cheap aftershave smell on different women (one was a very butch looking taxi driver, the other one a female loo

It's funny, I bought Tom Ford's Black Violet and the SA threw in a couple of samples of Black Orchid. When I looked it up when I got home, it was classified as a feminine fragrance. It was an interesting choice from the SA. I don't think many SAs would have the courage to give a man something classified as a woman's fragrance.

When I was first introduced to the world of some great fragrances by the knowledgeable basenoters, I did some further research on the recommended fragrance houses. There was one particular fragrance another SA showed me, "Portrait of a Lady". An extremely floral, sweet number. I ended up with a sample and for months was too scared to wear it - for two reasons, it was verging on sickly sweet and because I thought it was so feminine. I ended up trying it on a weekend when I went grocery shopping or something equally as banal. After wearing it a few times and getting used to it (and getting over the fear of wearing a woman's perfume) I know wear it to work and on the odd occasion, I even get a complement or two!

My suggestion is to push your limits and see where you end up. Do the limit pushing somewhere where you're just an average joe - like grocery shopping - until your more comfortable to wear it where people know you. Explore and have fun.

I felt the same with Noir de Noir. It smelled too much like a woman's perfume at first, but I was intoxicated with it. It's so dark, mysterious, and sensual. It's now one of my fave from the Private Blend line. I wear it with confidence and don't care if it is feminine smelling. That being said, you won't catch me rocking Chanel No 5...I'm not Brad Pitt.

Wore "Angel" to a Tractor Supply store today! Very old school country style environment. The girl at the check out definitely noticed! What did she think? Who cares?

I've been harbouring these thoughts and feelings for so long mysefl that I decided to throw caution to the wind and just start giving it a go. Sampling and wearing what I pleased and what other wiser heads recommended. My eyes have been opened.

You can read all about my experiences as a human guinea-pig trying out the womens scents for the guys on the thread 'what female scents are even deadlier on the male?'.

So far I have to say so good and the reaction of others has been overwhelmingly positive.

I just now found and read your thread. Enjoying your reviews, will be following along.

If boys came into this world smelling like Acqua di Giò and girls like Black Orchid, then I'd be a bit more wary of wearing the latter. But as it stands, I have no problem wearing—and loving—a "feminine" frag like Black Orchid because there's nothing intrinsically "girly" about it to me.

I read somewhere (sorry, don't remember the source) that in Australia men buy it more than women, so maybe not so strange.

I think you can get used to it and build up the courage to wear scents marketed to women. I've still got hangups about it, and my preference is usually for dry, smoky and woody anyway.

There are times when something with a light jasmine/white florals could be good. I enjoy l'ombre dans l'eau, but my wife accused me of smelling grandmotherly when I wore it (I blame the rose), so I try to avoid wearing it around her.

Increasingly Black Orchid seems to be sold as a unisex - more proof that even with expensive advertising if the houses try and throw something our way that doesn't sit right we can just ignore their marketing departments.

Wear whatever you feel comfortable with and smells good to you - ignore the packaging and the preconceptions of others...

Here in London, I smell it quite frequently, but always on men.

Wear what you want; there are so few fragrances (like Chanel No 5) that are so well known that anyone would recognize them anyhow. And even with those, people's perceptions are affected by the fact that you're obviously a man - see the Angel story above.

People who are really into perfume tend to overthink these things. Trust me, most people don't notice anything but themselves.

Thank you for saying this so well so I can save typing space and time.

I have tried and tried again to dive into the feminine fragrance market. Can't do it. Just does not feel right. But I will continue trying.

These points are brilliantly made particularly about scents coming in and out of fashion. This goes not just for individual fragrances but for whole categories.

Before the 20th century nearly all perfume was partly or even mainly floral in composition in Europe - because that was what was available - and was worn equally by men and when. It's only in recent times that iris and rose in particular have become associated with women.

Chypres are a classic example - the classic being Mitsouko, which seems more and more to be worn by men as some young women seem to find it quite off-putting, old-fashioned and aggressive.

Leather has gone on a similar journey, being and essential component in such feminine old timers as Cabochard and Tabac Blond it is now at the heart of such masculine ubiquities as Dior Homme and 1Million.

Finally, aldehydes, increasingly a turn off to young women tutored on fruit, flower and sweet perfumes may ultimately cross the divide in scents like Comme de Gacons 2.

Fashion will change, it has to, the perfumers depend on it doing so to keep the tills ringing.

Stay true to yourself and follow your nose.

Ok kids, I'm taking No. 5 out for a public touring tonight. I've done Shalimar and Jasmal wearings but this is gonna be kind of fun I think.

Interesting. Interesting.

I've been wearing it all day - it's just passed midnight thirty here in London.

I'll be posting my thoughts on the thread 'What female scents are even deadlier on the male?' tomorrow. Why not compare notes?

Let us know how it goes!

Sounds like a plan.

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I'm gonna have to do another over the weekend to get a true reaction from enough females for an accurate view of what other people think. Personally, I loved getting periodic whiffs of this masterpiece all night. Interestingly enough, it appears that my body chemistry has turned No. 5 into a very nice, light oriental vibe on my wrist when I give it the close up sniff after a few hours.

Sometimes one just needs to smell like this. Just go for it.
Attachment 17873

I'm going to post in full on this, but yes, after the initial stern, sexual scent I'd expected I did find that No5 mellowed in a way I just hadn't anticipated.

A revelation.

I would feel uncomfortable wearing most women's scents - e.g. Jessica Simpson Fantasy, Sara Jessica Parker Lovely, Eva Longoria, Miss Cherie Dior etc - because I really don't like them on me. If I spray them on my wrist, it's a case of "eeek".
Cheers,
Renato

Let me just say that many women would have the same reaction to those fragrances.

Keep trying there Senore01 - the range of female fragrances is just so vast, that there will be something beautiful out there waiting for you.

Eew. I'm a woman, and with the possible exception of Lovely, I wouldn't wear any of those either. Not all women's fragrances are celebrity-scent pink-powder fluffballs.

No. 19 extrait. _That's_ a woman's fragrance with more than enough power for any wearer.

Going back to the original post I'm reminded that you had a particular interest in florals - I've come to understand that in certain periods and cultures certain florals have been and are still continue to be regarded as very male or at least unisex fragrances.

Perhaps these might be a good place to start - with rose, violet and iris. Lavendar is of course an herbaceous flower but is so widely used in male fragrance that it doesn't count.

I have definitely gotten used to wearing feminine frags in the privacy of my own house. I would not wear it out in the world but tonight I'm wearing Ysatis. Very fem...no unisex here! I don't know why but it makes me happy to smell it. Some of the other female marketed frags I own are much more unisex. Ysatis and Fancy are probably the most utterly fem fragrances I own.