Scented Men
Am I the only one? Or do other women find men’s cologne to be a huge turn-off? When I smell a man wearing fragrance, I have an immediate negative reaction.
Do any of my friends who were in high school in the 1960s remember Jade East? How about Hai Karate? Or Canoe? The boys in high school who wore these also tended to wear penny loafers and pastel colored sox to match. I remember having a crush on one in particular, he wore Canoe. And my favorite of his outfits was a french blue colored button down shirt with matching socks. And a sleeveless sweater vest. I guess I didn’t mind men’s cologne back then.
After the 60s and 70s came the high-powered 80s & 90s. That was when every woman wore shoulder pads and every man in a white collar profession, actually wore white collars.
They also wore overpowering scent. Women wore Obsession, Channel #5, & Georgio. And men tried their best to smell just as strong. Who can forget Aramis? Or Obsession for Men? Or Brut, Stetson, and Polo? I think this is when I began to develop my distaste for perfumed men.
It seems to me that fragrance use by both men and women is in steep decline. I can remember being surrounded by clouds of it every where I went. Now, it is rare enough that I actually notice (albeit unhappily) when someone wearing scent is near me.
I equate it with smoking. We used to live in a cloud of smoke haze. On planes, in offices, everywhere. Now, our air is so much cleaner. Maybe there is a direct connection. Maybe because we don’t have to live with smoke any longer, we also don’t need cologne to cover it up.
I don’t know, but I am grateful.
I know what you mean! There are still men that show up at my gym wearing cologne, and once they begin to sweat, waves of smell roll off of them. Ick.
I do remember the good old 80s and 90s, days of Obsesion, Eternity, Polo, Ferenheit… not fondly. I don’t know if it was the scent or the over use of it. The worst is when you would come within inches of those who wore it and you yourself would come away wearing the aroma. Use soap, at least you smell like you cleaned up instead of covering up that you didn’t.
I am with you. I can’t handle the strong colognes some men like to wear. At one of my previous jobs, I would know that my co-worker arrived to take over when I smelled his cologne scent. Let me tell you, I was glad that I was leaving and didn’t have to deal with that.
It is not just you, Deborah! I do not like cologne at all. There used to be a cheap one called Old Spice – ugh!
As someone who gets migraines from an perfumed scents (which include men’s colognes), I am very grateful to everyone who refrains from wearing any type of fragrance.