Men's Fragrance Trend: Unisex Appeal
What is the scent of a man? For most of us—especially those born in the ’70s and ’80s—our first thought is likely to be a clean yet spicy eau, the whiff we got a noseful of when we hugged our fathers or kissed junior high school boys: Brut, Polo, Drakkar Noir…fragrances evocative of muscles, clean sheets, stiff drinks. In those days, to paraphrase an Aerosmith song, dudes may have sometimes looked like ladies, but they certainly weren’t okay with smelling like them. Now, though, there’s something new in the air—and it’s decidedly flowery.
Traditionally, men’s and women’s scents have fallen into categories: In general, the fellows wear fresh-but-earthy fougères (from the French for “fernlike”), citruses (the basis for all true colognes), and woody notes, while the ladies float about on clouds of florals and fruits. Recently, however, notes typically assigned to women’s scents have been creeping over into the men’s department like olfactory cross-dressers. The Chris Evans–fronted Gucci Guilty Intense Pour Homme, for example, has the ladylike orange flower at its heart; lily-of-the-valley and jasmine bloom in Clive Christian’s self-proclaimed most expensive scent in the world, No.1 For Men ($865 for 1.7 oz); Ralph Lauren’s Polo Double Black features a bright mango note; and Paco Rabanne’s European-market-dominating 1 Million—really, that’s what it’s called—contains a distinct whiff of rose, as does Burberry Brit.
