What scents are masculine? Gender-neutral?

[jules]

what are the best masculine scents

[Spastik_Kitty]

what are the best masculine scents

 

For what I like on my husband, that would be Wilde, Bluebeard, De Sade, King Of Diamonds and Magus (for a top 5, more traditionally male). Now he would pick Laudanum, Malediction, Brimstone, Saint-Germain and The Lion (more gender neutral).

 

It really depends on personal taste.

[pickman's model]

On my sweetie, I'd say Tezcatlipoca , Rat King (warm, yet masculine) and Thanatopsis.

 

Can't stop nuzzling him when he's got those on.

[ayelienne]

On my husbandman, I like Luperci and The Bow and Crown of Conquest, among others. I'd guess his favorites are Nero, Jolly Roger, Wolf's Heart, Voodoo, and Herr Drosselmeyer. And I'll second the Thanatopsis -- he says he likes to wear it at home because it makes him feel "hobbit-y"

[bheansidhe]

There are gender-neutral scents, and then there are scents that I can't wear because I keep looking around for the gorgeous man who's obviously standing right behind me.... very masculine scents.

 

As with anyone, scents will smell different on different guys. Here's a list of ones I've tried that are too masculine for me to wear (M), and gender-neutral scents that smell good on men (N).

 

Generally manly:

Casanova (M)

Golden Priapus (M)

Jabberwocky (N)

Saint-Germain (M)

Vicomte de Valmont (M)

The Lion (N)

Al-Sharain (N)

 

 

Musky / resinous / smoky / leather:

Coyote (M)

Sri Lanka (N)

Magus (N)

Perversion (M)

Serpent's Kiss (M)

Tombstone (M)

Snake Oil (N)

Perversion (M)

Umbra (N)

Depraved (N)

Black Forest (M)

Dee (M)

Fenris Wolf (M)

 

 

Traditional lime / bay rum types:

R'lyeh (M)

Jolly Roger (M)

Port-au-Prince (M)

[Summerpixy]

Dracul is my favorite masculine scent... but I may have said that before. It's delicous.

[Silentlover]

I don't think there should be a "Male" section. I mean, there isn't a female section, so why start up that whole thing?

 

I like how it's all unisex. Of course there are some scents which are obviously more feminine and others more masculine but honestly it comes down to how comfortable each person is and how good they feel when wearing a scent that appeals to him/her.

 

I am a male and I've recently ordered my first 4 imps. Three of them did come from the suggest male list but one(Black Rose) wasn't on there(at least I didn't see it lol!). At first I was like "Oh, I hope it's not terribly feminine" but it sounded like it'd work for my body and that's what I'm hoping. Eh, I like taking the risk.

[Avery]

I have sniffed many of the 'traditionally masculine' scents and said "whaaaaa?" to myself, unable to imagine what man would pull off the smell that to ME was almost too girly to wear. I tend to prefer the gender neutrals, but my favorite favorite by far catalog scent is Tombstone, and it smells just heavenly on my feminine skin. Thinking that this was the way things would go, I put on Dee the other day and POW! Man smell. A little oil got onto my box lid so I could see how good it smelled, but it was the first BPAL I have tried (aside from Juke Joint or Villain, neither of which smelled good to me) that I liked but that was powerfully manly on my skin, far too much for me to wear.

 

But Dee must smell heavenly on the right guy!! Leathery YUM!!

[midnight_aeval]

My husband loves Dracul, Titus Andronicus, The Great Sword of War, Dorian, The Bow and Crown of Conquest, and Usher. He decided last night he also likes The Mock Turtle's Lessons (and insists a bottle be bought RIGHT NOW).

 

I stole the imp of Golden Priapus because it smelled so good on me

[stacyinthecity]

Seems from reading through this thread, I definately trend towards the masculine/nuetral scents (I'm female, and not even particularily tomboyish!). I'm finding, as I work my way through the scents, the the more florally/fruity scents just don't agree with me and I just don't enjoy them as much, but the more earthy, woody, spicey scents are just delicious!

 

Looking at the lists people have created, or the scents their men wear, those are either ones that I already own and LOVE, or they are ones I've been wanting to try.

 

My favorite notes are patchouli, musks, rose, vanillia, sandalwood, cedar, other various woods, vetiver, spices, and so forth.

 

I love that BPAL doesn't stress what gender the scents are for, and as such, I'm more "free" (in my own mind at least) to find what *I* like, and what smells good on me, without feeling dumb for liking a men's cologne!

 

Stacy

[jessiesquash]

Shhhh..........I'm saving Geek only because I think it would smell divine on a guy. It's too masculine for me. And I'm single!

[outofrhyme]

I've tested a few scents on my boy - Geek (yummm), Fallen and Villain. Usually he makes fun of my bpal, but today he REQUESTED to use Villain, and said that it's something he would wear regularly. I still think I prefer Geek on him, but since he likes Villain, I'd love to try some similar scents on him that he might also like. Just glancing through, I'm thinking maybe Whitechapel or Mad Hatter... but does anyone have any other suggestions?

[Electra]

I was going to suggest Whitechapel (for the lime). You might also want to give Saint-Germain a whirl - it's gorgeous and sexy, and it has lavender in it (Villain has lavender fougere), so he may find it an acceptable alternative. It's a much lighter scent than Geek (which I love and wear myself ).

 

I have sniffed many of the 'traditionally masculine' scents and said "whaaaaa?" to myself, unable to imagine what man would pull off the smell that to ME was almost too girly to wear.

 

Word (though I'm going from forum reviews rather than the official BPAL list). And like you, some of my favorite BPALs are what I would personally consider gender-neutral - or actually really traditionally masculine ones, like Geek and Saint-Germain. I was so surprised when I read so many reviews of Theodosius talking about how masculine it was - it's really sweet and sugary (and very nice ) on me. I'd be interested to smell it on a man, actually, because I honestly can't imagine it! Perhaps it's a skin chemistry thing. I've also read about a number of men wearing Dorian - same thing. Totally can't imagine it, smells like sugary gingersnaps on me, would have to actually smell it on a guy to comprehend it.

 

Different strokes! I always find the "BPAL for guys" threads SO interesting because of that.

 

(Edit - and yes, I realize that both Theo and Dorian were inspired by/created for Puddin' .)

Edited December 5, 2006 by Electra

[merivelle]

The boys in my life have liked Villan, Villan layered over Snake Oil, Santo Domingo, Doc Constantine, and Herr Drosselmeyer. I personally think that the BPAL scents come in such a wide variety that you don't really ever need to think of macsuline/feminine boundaries, except in the case of some very floral scents.

[Teggy]

Yes! Villian is fabulous for a man. As I mentioned in my review, it smelled like the Old Spice shaving cream (old school style!) my dad used to use. It's a nice gentleman's scent. Very classy...in a Lucius Malfoy kind of way!

 

I also reccomend Coyote for something a little more rugged and less formal than Villian. Funny, cause I happen to be wearing it right now. It's a nice, masculine scent without having overpowering throw that might turn a guy off. Good for daily wear.

[glass_cat]

I'm sure it varies from person to person, but these are the ones that have been popular so far with my man.

 

He likes a lot of the lighter old-fashioned gentleman's blends, especially Mad Hatter and Dorian. He wears both of those often. However, lately he's been hitting Absinthe pretty hard, and I must admit that it's a wonderful one to smell on a man. Others that I've given him that proved to be big hits include Dracul, Al-Shairan, Fenris Wolf, and Casanova.

[klavierbarrette]

antony is the only scent ive tried that just screamed 'MAN'

[BlueSakura]

I really think whether a scent smells masculine or feminine depends a LOT on skin chemistry. I am very much into florals, and I usually buy scents that are labelled "feminine" in the reviews. When the imps arrive, I always test all of them on my boyfriend, no matter how girly they might seem at first. (I'm trying to find a nice scent for him to wear every day~ although making him try on my flowery blends probably isn't the best way to go about it. ) Surprisingly, I've found that Moscow (a blend that's described in the review section as "feminine" and "womanly" in every other post) smells very masculine and spicy on him. He loves it, too! My best advice is to try out as many blends as you can~ you might be surprised at what your skin chemistry can do!

[dixiehellcat]

I too am sooo glad BPAL doesn't stick scents in boxes by 'gender'. I'm as girly as can be but my fave notes are things like sandalwood, amber, patchouli etc. It still kills me that a scent with a name like Faustus, which sounds like it should be so guy, is one of my absofreakinlute faves. *g*

 

That said, I have imps of Ogun (frimp) and Namaste (bought before I read reviews & such) which I consider very male, and very nice, stashed in my 'dont wear but do something with' box. Now, to find the right male to put em on...hehe.

 

ETA cause I got a frimp of Casanova in my last lab order...smelled it & immediately thought of a guy I know of but have not had the pleasure of actually meeting, who I find extremely hawt...& 2 days later a friend asked if I wanted to come with her to a backstage party with this guy. You better bet I'm taking that frimp to him & enabling my butt off. Except if he puts any on, & it smells like I think it might, I may just do unspeakable things to him in public.

Edited May 11, 2007 by dixiehellcat

[Kiera]

My guy loves Dorian and Hunger Moon. They both smell awesome on him.

 

Actually, everything smells awesome on him. He semms to have perfect skin chemistry. He can even pull of Brides of Dracula, which he chose on his own.

 

In my opinion, if you're looking for a guy musks smell great, especially white musk.

[Koukla]

My Mom always liked to wear men's colognes, and I guess I must've picked it up from her somewhere along the way. Although I've never had any interest in traditional men's colognes, as soon as I discovered bpal I started to realize a lot of my favorites are the more "masculine" ones. His Station & Four Aces is in my top ten, for example.

 

I do think it can go the other way, too, though. I just recommended Centzon Totochtin to someone who was looking for a scent to give to her favorite teacher/friend (traveller, sophisticated artist, journalist, will be teaching in Peru, he makes her think of coffee and newspapers). I'd never thought of it as at all masculine before it popped into my head for him. But now that it has, I can't stop thinking of how that scent of smoky coffee beans, bitter chocolate, and sweet wine would smell dead sexy on a man.

[Jenesis]

I've found that "masculine" scents smell dead sexy on me! I remember going through the Avon catalogue (with its "rub wrist and sniff" pages) when I was about 12 and thinking that the mens' colognes were much nicer than the perfumes

 

My favourite scent, Geek, is very much a manly scent to me. It reminds me a lot of cologne (expensive, not cheap!) and the cedar and leather are both traditionally masculine notes. Some of my other favourites, such as Dorian, are also in the masculine or gender-neutral band. I think that may be the vanilla/tea combination.

[Vampy]

I'm with the girls who love the masculine scents. I adore Doc Constantine! Most of the more traditionally "feminine" scents don't work well on me - with a few notable exceptions, like Scheherezade and Fae, but most of them don't. Gender neutral and masculine all the way for me, baby.

 

I don't get the whole not wearing something because it smells too "manly" thing. (Not that I'm criticizing anyone - if something smells discordant in conjunction with your personality, it just does, and there's nothing for it. I just don't get it, is all.)

 

I think having a list of scents with "traditionally masculine notes" is a good idea for the poor menfolk without enough confidence in their masculinity. I mean, most guys are afraid of smelling too "girly", and BPAL is a business and all, and they want to bring in more customers. (Not to mention it makes a good reference for me, since the manly scents are more frequently the ones I like.) It could stand to be a little easier to find (and updated more often), maybe, but a special section for men's scents? Naw. I don't think that jives with Beth's vision and the purpose of her scents - excuse my presumptuousness, here, it's not like I'm privy to Beth's vision, but that's the impression I get.

[hkhm]

i just recently got my guy hooked on bpal. he's been putting up with my ever-increasing orders for a while now and i finally started selecting imps for him.

 

his absolute favourite is umbra, i just ordered him two more bottles. he also wears nephilim, al-shairan, satyr, himerus and zombi. then, he jacked my brand new bottle of depraved (which is hilarious because when i first put in on he said it "reeked" and now he's stolen my new bottle) and my bottle of penny dreadful. i just ordered him an imp of plunder and a bottle of crowley, i hope they work out for him.

[Rikadyn]

I get compliments all the time from wearing Snow Flakes of all things