what are the recent trends in masculine fragrances?

[poppy567]

Hello people, the recent trend of masculine fragrances seems to be light aquatic fragrances? I want to have some opinions on the recent trends of masculine fragrances as i want to buy some masculine perfumes and compare to the older generation masculine perfumes of my father's.

Discuss.

[hednic]

Still seem to be riding the "oud" popularity wave.

[docluv45]

Blueness.

[SneezeFreeze]

Oud all the way. some sea salt/aquatic with oud will be interesting

[Quiptos]

I would also say oud at the moment but in addition to that, most of the high end places I go to are tending to blur the lines of Masculine and Feminine and move into the Unisex area on almos everything. Which is awesome, maybe I want to smell like coconut and flowers !

[noirdrakkar]

oud and vetiver are the current trends.

but trends are always one step behind

[TeenfragGent]

Tea is coming back.

[Romeo0119]

Unisex

[Paninaro]

Hmmm... I would say sweetness.

Some of recent male releases are absurdly sweet.

[silentrich]

Trying to smell too much like an alcoholic beverage.

[Jack Hunter]

Putting hefty price tags on mediocre fragrances.

[tonghpafu]

Putting hefty price tags on mediocre fragrances.

haha yes!

[Shanester66]

I agree...Oud is still big but I think its heading into the sunset a bit....anyone for a New Montale flavor? lol

[senore01]

Putting hefty price tags on mediocre fragrances.

Could not agree with you more. Even worse is that people continue to pay for mediocre fragrances.

[Milan SRB]

Weak but expensive smells, and discontinuing good ones and reformulating the rest

[L'Homme Blanc Individuel]

Hmmm... I would say sweetness.

Some of recent male releases are absurdly sweet.

THIS.

Really, it depends on which recent trends you're interested in: Designer or Niche. They differ since they're targeting quite a different buyer. Think of it as mass appeal vs niche appeal, though that isn't always the case. Aventus, for example is absolutely a mass appeal fragrance.

On the niche side, we see trends like oud and the fact that more and more scents are unisex, which makes sense since niche buyers are more likely to realize that most scents are unisex even if they're not labeled as such.

On the designer side, it seems to me the trend is amped sweetness and targeting younger customers. 1 Million: hyper sweet and young. Guilty: hyper sweet and young. Both have been a smash success and I'd be shocked if we don't see more and more of the same. It makes sense for a house to have a young scent that brings new customers into the brand. Lure them in with a young scent and in years to come, they're more likely to grow into others in the line. I definitely think that was Paco Rabanne's strategy with 1 Million. It's wise.

- - - Updated - - -

Putting hefty price tags on mediocre fragrances.

Sadly, yes.

[martinijo]

Agree with all of the above.
Was just going to say the last generation had the better deal.

[bigsteve]

With alot of the newer ones, it seems the "recent trend in masculine frags" is femininity. Sweet, powdery, etc
The thing is, these seem to be what alot of women like on guys now.

[senore01]

Weak but expensive smells, and discontinuing good ones and reformulating the rest

Exactly!!!

[Andrè Moreau]

1 Tuning-down all the scents.
2 Fragrances used almost in homeopatic concentrations.
3 Aromachemicals at the top.
4 Niche perfumery with absurd price tags.

Not only one good news

[knightowl]

Trying to smell too much like an alcoholic beverage.

Hey now, there's nothing wrong with smelling like Eau de Jack Daniels. <hiccup>

[L'Homme Blanc Individuel]

With alot of the newer ones, it seems the "recent trend in masculine frags" is femininity. Sweet, powdery, etc
The thing is, these seem to be what alot of women like on guys now.

Here's an interesting thought to ponder: Surveys suggest that a third of all women buy men's fragrances to wear for themselves. And half of all women buy men's fragrances for men. That means most men's fragrances are bought by women. It makes sense how much female tastes dominate men's fragrances. The reverse of those statistics is not true at all. Most men don't buy women's perfume - not for themselves or for the women in their lives. The same thing is true of clothing. Women sometimes wear men's clothing and they definitely buy it for men, but men rarely buy women's clothing.

Anyway... yeah. Women's tastes dictate a lot of men's fragrance trends since women spend so much money on men's fragrances.

[bigsteve]

Here's an interesting thought to ponder: Surveys suggest that a third of all women buy men's fragrances to wear for themselves. And half of all women buy men's fragrances for men. That means most men's fragrances are bought by women. It makes sense how much female tastes dominate men's fragrances. The reverse of those statistics is not true at all. Most men don't buy women's perfume - not for themselves or for the women in their lives. The same thing is true of clothing. Women sometimes wear men's clothing and they definitely buy it for men, but men rarely buy women's clothing.
Anyway... yeah. Women's tastes dictate a lot of men's fragrance trends since women spend so much money on men's fragrances.

Very interesting stuff here.

[dodooo]

Weak but expensive smells, and discontinuing good ones and reformulating the rest

Unfortunately, it is true.

[senore01]

I agree with these postings and it explains exactly why I have been so disappointed with the majority of new male fragrances. They are simply too feminine. My wife says the same thing.

[knightowl]

I agree with these postings and it explains exactly why I have been so disappointed with the majority of new male fragrances. They are simply too feminine. My wife says the same thing.

Spicebomb is pretty good, but i expected something more masculine before trying it...not a sugar bomb.

[Roper-Hall]

Tea and dark berry notes.

[Osi1s]

I would say tea is at the tip of the trend, I think pepper is coming back along with berry and melon notes. Oud was leading the way for a while, Tobacco was pretty popular last season but much like leather and wood always a classic masculine scent imo.

I do think its hard to say theres definite trends as the variation between niche and designer can be quite large, I doubt most consumers even know what oud is etc. Of course hard to dispute the fact that theres a definite move towards unisex which isnt necessarily a bad thing, I actually think this has been occuring for many years and just usually leaves people pleasantly surprised when they come across something that has that distinctive masculine vibe.

[southerngardens]

Weak but expensive smells, and discontinuing good ones and reformulating the rest

I agree with this and it's a shame. I also think this overly priced niche market is a scam on some of us. I mean to pay $150-500 or more for a frag is ridiculous!!! There are plenty of beautiful men's designer frags out their to discover and since I dig feminine or unisex frags as well as men's frags, that doubles the designer frags for me.

[Birdboy48]

Putting hefty price tags on mediocre fragrances.

It does seem like frag makers are putting high price tags on their products in an attempt to buy credibility.

[null set]

I would also say oud at the moment but in addition to that, most of the high end places I go to are tending to blur the lines of Masculine and Feminine and move into the Unisex area on almos everything. Which is awesome, maybe I want to smell like coconut and flowers !

Unisex

THIS.
On the niche side, we see trends like oud and the fact that more and more scents are unisex, which makes sense since niche buyers are more likely to realize that most scents are unisex even if they're not labeled as such.

With alot of the newer ones, it seems the "recent trend in masculine frags" is femininity. Sweet, powdery, etc
The thing is, these seem to be what alot of women like on guys now.

Here's an interesting thought to ponder: Surveys suggest that a third of all women buy men's fragrances to wear for themselves. And half of all women buy men's fragrances for men. That means most men's fragrances are bought by women. It makes sense how much female tastes dominate men's fragrances. The reverse of those statistics is not true at all. Most men don't buy women's perfume - not for themselves or for the women in their lives. The same thing is true of clothing. Women sometimes wear men's clothing and they definitely buy it for men, but men rarely buy women's clothing.

I agree with these postings and it explains exactly why I have been so disappointed with the majority of new male fragrances. They are simply too feminine. My wife says the same thing.

Depending on what kind of time scale you are looking at, this might not be so much a trend as a return to the original condition of fragrance. They were always unisex to begin with, and most historical accounts point toward the gendering of fragrance as beginning in around the late 19th/early 20th century, kicking into full gear by the 1950s & 60s. From my perspective, gendered fragrance is itself just a longer-term trend from the 50s to the 90s, and has been on its way out since CK's The One.

couple sources in case anyone's interested:
http://boisdejasmin.com/2005/10/perfume_and_gen.html
http://articles.submityourarticle.co...e-versa--21652