When you’re in the club, surrounded by sweating, stinky, party people, the right scent helps you stand out from the crowd. Whether you’re looking for a significant other or one fun night, smelling nice makes a big impression.
But wait—Now’s no time to go to the club! What good will a signature cologne do you when we’re all stuck inside due to a global pandemic?
It might seem counterintuitive, but in reality, it can do you a lot of good. If you’re in close quarters with others, the right smell can defuse stressful situations and help you get more done when away from your ideal workspace.
A good personal fragrance is also an easy way to help you impress any socially-distanced dates. A pleasant scent works without smooth moves and impressive destinations made impractical or impossible by the pandemic.
Now that you know some of the benefits of using cologne, take a look at these nine key tips for choosing the right scent.
1. Choose a Mature Scent To Impress
If you’ve ever been around overeager teenage boys, you know how not to choose a scent. One of the biggest keys to choosing a signature scent is keeping it professional and mature.
That means you don’t want to create a thick atmosphere of Axe Body Spray all around you. It doesn’t impress high school girls when their male peers do it. As an adult man, you’re guaranteed NOT to get a date or a job that way.
Instead, take a look at department stores and other grown-up destinations like Perfume Price for your next scent.
2. Get Personal With Your Signature Cologne
A common mistake men make when starting with fragrance is trying to mask their natural scents. In actuality, the best way to use a cologne is by complementing your body odor.
Still, don’t be tempted to use cologne as a replacement for bathing and deodorant. Personal fragrance works best when you apply it right after a shower. Making sure it sits on the skin helps the bottled scent meld with your body’s smell.
Whether you realize it or not, you know your own smell better than anybody. For this reason, you’ll do better picking out your own fragrance. Something that smells nice in the store to a well-meaning gift-giver is in no way guaranteed to smell good at all on your body.
If a loved one hints they’ll be gifting you cologne, hint back that you’d rather get a gift card to the store or to go shopping with them. This will make everyone happy with the new fragrance and avoid wasting money.
3. Navigate Others’ Preferences
While it’s not a good idea to have somebody else pick your personal fragrance, that doesn’t mean that you should ignore their input entirely. If you have a person in mind when buying a fragrance, take notice of scents they like.
Now, your girlfriend’s love of strawberries doesn’t mean you should douse yourself in sickly-sweet Bath & Bodyworks spray for tweens. Instead, you could look into mature scents with subtler fruity or berry notes.
That’s one example, but what do you do if you don’t know who you’re looking to impress? The answer is easy—Look at cologne reviews! They’re full of people like you, but also teeming with significant others reviewing scents.
If you pay attention to what people’s loved ones say about colognes in reviews, you can get an idea of what scents woo singles or impress anyone else you’re targeting.
The ability to test fragrances in-store is a great help with making sure you balance the scents loved ones like with your own odor. You can also order samples of colognes from some manufacturer websites if you don’t want to go out.
4. Apply Cologne the Smart Way
Part of the problem with the teenage boy Axe spray crew is the spray itself. The scent often seems played out, overwhelming, and immature. The bigger problem is that they aren’t taking the time to learn to apply the spray the right way.
You don’t want to douse yourself in cologne. Instead, be meticulous about it and place fragrance in strategic places. Even a cheaper body spray like Axe can make a good impression if you’re careful.
Here’s how to apply fragrance the right way:
Focus on the Hot Spots
Correct placement is the trick to making fragrance waft from your body over the course of the day. By putting cologne on warmer areas of your body, you distribute the scent in an even, natural way.
The key areas for scent placement are your wrists, forearms, inner elbow, chest, neck, lower jaw, and shoulder. In no circumstance should you apply scent to all of these areas. That’s way too much fragrance and will overpower most anybody.
Instead, test with one area, like with a light spray on your chest. Once you know how to use the scent, you can add it to another spot or two.
Dab, Don’t Pour
If your cologne doesn’t come with a spray top, don’t pour it all over your body. Transfer a little onto a finger by pressing the bottle to your skin and tipping it with care. Then, dab the scent from your finger onto your chest, neck, or other desired locations.
Don’t Blend Scents in Too Much
You don’t want to rub the cologne in. Doing so ruins the delicate chemical bond that makes your personal fragrance work with your natural scent.
5. Consider Fragrance Life Cycles
The way scents develop with your natural musk throughout the day is called a fragrance “life cycle.” Quality colognes are complex and have a variety of scents hidden within.
The “top note” you get when you first spray a scent on is one small part of the scent’s effect, so don’t make your decision based on that alone. After 15 minutes to a couple of hours, the fragrance hits its “middle” or “heart note.” Finally, after several hours, the “base note” develops.
These components play off of one another and all add to the impression the scent gives. The top notes are lighter smells, like citrus and cinnamon. Middle notes include heavier floral smells like jasmine, while base notes are bold smells such as leather and tobacco.
6. Compare Designer and Niche Fragrances
Anything “designer” tends to sound more expensive, but designer fragrances are often the less expensive option. This is because they’re mass-produced by brands like Gucci, Armani, and even celebrities.
If you’re new to fragrance, a designer cologne could be the best way to go because these scents have a broad appeal. Always keep in mind, though, that the scent having a smell many people like doesn’t mean that it smells good on you.
A niche fragrance, on the other hand, is made by perfume artists and highlights unique and bold scents. If you’re looking for something more distinctive, this is the thing. Still, know that these fragrances are more expensive than many designer scents and are best used by people with lots of experience.
7. Don’t Ignore Irritants and Health Needs
Playing around with a personal scent is a lot of fun and a sophisticated way to develop your style. Still, keep in mind that some scents could irritate you or the people you’re around.
In the same way you take note of the smells you and your loved ones enjoy while planning a cologne buy, pay attention to things you all don’t like so you can avoid them.
What’s extra important is to make sure you don’t buy perfumes containing allergens or asthma triggers for your loved ones. Think of it like a bouquet of flowers: It’s a nice, romantic gift…until your wife starts sneezing her head off because she’s allergic to pollen.
Certain scents have similar health effects for some people. If you or the people you’re going to be around have asthma, allergies, or other respiratory conditions, be careful with fragrance ingredients to avoid disaster.
On top of that, be considerate when applying your scents. At the start of this article, you learned not to spray a thick cloud of cologne all over yourself. That’s a solid start to considerate scent use.
Another courtesy is not spraying scents in public spaces. You never know who might be around and have a bad reaction to the spray. If you feel a serious need to apply cologne in public, consider getting a solid cologne or scent with a pour-bottle.
If you can avoid it though, it’s best to put your scent on at home. You should apply it before heading out and let the scent mature instead of reapplying every couple of hours, anyway. Leaving your product at home most of the time will help you control your scent and avoid irritating unsuspecting bystanders.
Polish Your Lifestyle With Fun Articles
Now that you’re prepared to pick out a signature cologne, you’re ready to add a smart scent to your styling toolkit. You’ll make friends, family, and romantic interests impressed, comforted, and glad with your new smell.
If you want more ways to leave a good impression, take a look around this site for more exciting lifestyle articles. We have all you need to study, perfect your lifestyle, and emerge from COVID-19 social distancing as a more impressive version of yourself. Click on another article for a fun read with plenty of benefits to reap.
Featured photo by Castorly Stock from Pexels.
