Do people recognize your presence because of the scent of your trademark cologne? Does your girlfriend or wife buy you the same men's cologne for your birthday year after year? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you may be in need of a slight change in personal fragrance. Put away your Old Spice and take a look at what's new in men's cologne at the fragrance counters.

chemical reactions

It's important to know that every scent or cologne smells different on every person. The way a scent takes to your body and your skin is a question of chemistry, and has to do with the chemical reaction between you and the particular fragrance. While your friend smells great in the latest Calvin Klein men's cologne, it could make you smell more like a gym locker.

With this in mind, it's always important to try cologne before purchasing it. Never assume that what smells good on everyone else will smell good on you. You would never buy a pair of shoes before trying them on, right? Well, the same goes for men's cologne.

how to select a scent

Go to the store and spray different types of cologne on a card. Do this if you intend on trying out a bunch of different ones. If you try them all on your arm, by the time you get to the fourth cologne, your arms and wrists will be drenched by the other scents. You won't get a good idea of the right fragrance unless you put each one on different cards or pieces of paper.

When the person standing in front of the men's cologne section at the department store is ready to attack you with a bottle of cologne -- ready to spritz and spray you with it -- stand back, and tell them to spray a card instead. That way your wrists remain scent-free.

Smell the different cards and evaluate which fragances you like, and which ones smell more like bug repellant. Start eliminating the ones you really don't like. After having sniffed and smelled all the cologne you are interested in -- or until you feel faint, whichever comes first -- take a breather and walk around the shopping center or outside the store for a while. According to one of my readers, if you sniff coffee between each cologne, you can get the full effect of each scent, since coffee refreshes your sense of smell. So if you're walking around the department store with a cup of Starbucks, you don't even need to take a break from sniffing.

You want to give your nose a little bit of a rest so that your sense of smell is rejuvenated before returning to the store to make your final purchase.

Once you do go back to the store to make your decision, you can test out how the cologne smells on you. At this point, you shouldn't have as many options since you won't be as bombarded by an array of scents and fragrances, after having already gone through an elimination process.

So which colognes are popular right now? Next >>

 
Article Suggested By: Jerry C.