Art of Manliness on Cologne

I’ve been a big fan of Art of Manliness for many years. Brett McKay always has interesting and relevant material on his website and his podcast is excellent as well. Here are some links I found interesting 

The Dos and Don’ts of Applying Cologne 
https://www.artofmanliness.com/style/acc...aea33c3ef7

Grandpa’s Drugstore Colognes
https://www.artofmanliness.com/style/sha...aea33c3ef7

The Colognes of Famous Men
https://www.artofmanliness.com/style/acc...aea33c3ef7

Grandpa’s Drugstore Colognes
https://www.artofmanliness.com/style/sha...aea33c3ef7

How did Skin Bracer NOT make that list ?

May I make a distinction and a comment? To me, cologne and aftershaves are very different things. Aftershaves should have lower perfume content, more alcohol and skin conditioners that colognes do not have so that they are effective after shaving. Most importantly, aftershaves generally fade to skin embrace scents after 30min. to one hour. That is important if you want to be office appropriate, or if you are going out you do not want your fragrance to upstage your lady's perfume. It is always a gentleman's job to make his lady the star of the show. His aftershave should never upstage her.

That is why I believe that men should not wear cologne or EDTs. If you are going out alone, you can always use an aftershave as a body splash and then it will behave more like an EDT.

I know that Pinaud labels some of their aftershaves as cologne, e.g. Lilac Vegetal and for some reason Citrus Musk (VIBR too?), but to me they perform like aftershaves and not colognes.

Your thoughts gentlemen?

Grandpa’s Drugstore Colognes
https://www.artofmanliness.com/style/sha...aea33c3ef7

How did Skin Bracer NOT make that list ?

Makes no sense. I’ve had a bottle of Skin Bracer continuously since I was 14. That’s 50 years of tradition.

Grandpa’s Drugstore Colognes
https://www.artofmanliness.com/style/sha...aea33c3ef7

How did Skin Bracer NOT make that list ?

Makes no sense. I’ve had a bottle of Skin Bracer continuously since I was 14. That’s 50 years of tradition.

Tedolph  I agree on your distinction between aftershave and cologne. Not everyone makes that distinction once you get outside the world of shaving and fragrance enthusiast forums. 

As to your thoughts regarding men wearing edt/EDP or any fragrance beyond aftershave, you’ll get some pushback. I used to be a strictly no fragrance guy. Not even aftershave but over the last 5-10 years I have come around to an appreciation of fragrance in all its forms (aftershave, cologne, edt, EDP). Obviously I fluke them all and I am still a believer in subtlety in use. Less is more and obviously venue appropriate use. Business vs pleasure and so forth and i agree that a man’s fragrance should never compete with his feminine companion. 

I was reading an article recently that mentioned that the younger generation of men is really into fragrance. Much more so than previous generations.

Tedolph  I agree on your distinction between aftershave and cologne. Not everyone makes that distinction once you get outside the world of shaving and fragrance enthusiast forums. 

As to your thoughts regarding men wearing edt/EDP or any fragrance beyond aftershave, you’ll get some pushback. I used to be a strictly no fragrance guy. Not even aftershave but over the last 5-10 years I have come around to an appreciation of fragrance in all its forms (aftershave, cologne, edt, EDP). Obviously I fluke them all and I am still a believer in subtlety in use. Less is more and obviously venue appropriate use. Business vs pleasure and so forth and i agree that a man’s fragrance should never compete with his feminine companion. 

I was reading an article recently that mentioned that the younger generation of men is really into fragrance. Much more so than previous generations.

It seems that we are broadly in agreement, and I acknowledge that my thoughts on colognes and EDTs for men are in the minority. I volunteer tutor at a local high school in a poor neighborhood, and I note that some of the freshman boys are really into fragrances, designer stuff, etc,

How did Skin Bracer NOT make that list ?

Makes no sense. I’ve had a bottle of Skin Bracer continuously since I was 14. That’s 50 years of tradition.

Exactly! To be clear, it hasn’t been the same bottle for 50 years.

Tedolph  I agree on your distinction between aftershave and cologne. Not everyone makes that distinction once you get outside the world of shaving and fragrance enthusiast forums. 

As to your thoughts regarding men wearing edt/EDP or any fragrance beyond aftershave, you’ll get some pushback. I used to be a strictly no fragrance guy. Not even aftershave but over the last 5-10 years I have come around to an appreciation of fragrance in all its forms (aftershave, cologne, edt, EDP). Obviously I fluke them all and I am still a believer in subtlety in use. Less is more and obviously venue appropriate use. Business vs pleasure and so forth and i agree that a man’s fragrance should never compete with his feminine companion. 

I was reading an article recently that mentioned that the younger generation of men is really into fragrance. Much more so than previous generations.

It seems that we are broadly in agreement, and I acknowledge that my thoughts on colognes and EDTs for men  are in the minority.  I volunteer tutor at a local high school in a poor neighborhood, and I note that some of the freshman boys are really into fragrances, designer stuff, etc,

So it’s true. That’s what the article said. High end, designer fragrances. Not sure where they get their money. That stuff is pricey. When I was in high school high end would have been Tabac or Brut. Maybe English Leather.

I love Neroli (essence of the orange flower) which is a staple in any cologne. But the nature of citrus smells
make any cologne very fleeting.

Old school cologne like 4711 is very nice but it is gone in 10 minutes...that is fine because it is
cheap and you can refresh it every hour if you like. I use their soap and its great.

But the prices on some of these high end cologne style fragrances have gone crazy.

Tom Ford does a Neroli (Neroli Portofino) where a 50ml bottle is $270, 100ml is $390
He has made it last a bit longer by using synthetic elements but people still complain
that it dissipates too fast.