Non-Traditional Fragrances For Men

(Fragrances for men who don't really need a fragrance.)

I use fragrance for pleasure. No other reason. I give my wife fragrances for her pleasure, and the pleasure it gives me when she wears them. Does a man need to wear fragrance? Look how it's sold. If the man buys it for himself, it is because other guys have told him it's a great panty dropper. But more likely he wears it because a girlfriend or wife (hopefully not his mother!) tells him it smells nice on him. So he uses it. But he didn't select it. He didn't even know he would be "improved" by the use of her favorite men's fragrance.

Suppose you were free to make all the decisions. Suppose you could decide -- YOURSELF -- to use or not to use fragrance. Suppose there were no ads, no wives or girlfriends (or mothers!), no guy pressures. Would you wear fragrance?

I love fragrance for the way it smells. The aroma. My nose feasts on the beauty of (certain!) fragrances the way my ears feast on (certain!) music and my eyes feast on (certain!) art (and other things.) I love fragrance for the pleasure it gives my nose -- not because it helps me pick up girls, not because it goes well with my new suit, not because it will show others I have sophisticated tastes. I just want to feast on the aroma.

I've written a good deal about the history of perfume. I've used 4711 and Farina's Kolnisch Wasser, Fougere Royale, and Jicky. And Drakkar Noir, Cool Water, and CKFree. When I sit down to create a men's fragrance, I know most emphatically what I do not want it to be.

A first encounter with Toxic is likely to leave a person shocked. The thought is, "that's not how a man's fragrance should smell ... what was he thinking!!!" It's like a culturally sheltered person's first encounter with modern art. It takes a bit of mental adjustment. Then you begin to understand what's going on and appreciate it -- or you rush back to paintings of hunting dogs and ducks.

For me, I see an opportunity to create for men in a way that would make no economic sense for a commercial perfumery bent on making its numbers. For me, creating a fragrance I WANT TO USE MYSELF involves discovering themes in unusual places -- non-traditional places where classic perfumers would not dare to go -- and then using my mental impressions from these themes to build new aromas. Non-traditional aromas.

My way of looking at the world may seem strange to some but I believe in letting the fragrance speak for itself.