Wear perfumes, not colognes (especially men).

I, like a suppose many men, grew up thinking perfume and cologne were based on gendered differences—not at all. The long lasting elements of the scents we wear come from oils, and the difference between a perfume and cologne is the amount of oil it contains: colognes have only 2-5% while perfumes can have 15-30%. Colognes then typically only last a couple hours and tend to be a bit “higher” or harsher at times. Perfumes last significantly longer meaning you need less of it and a small amount goes a long way. For the men out there or those who haven’t tried yet, venture into perfumes. My personal favorites are those from Paraphrase. There’s even more nuance you may come across including titles such as perfume, eau de perfume, eau de toilette, and eau de cologne, all of which are determined by the amount of oils they contain. Perfume being the most and eau de cologne being the least.

Perfumes and eau de perfumes have far more nuance, richness, and rounded smells compared to the harshness you can get with colognes (in my opinion). It can be the difference between being appalled by someone’s overbearing and sometimes even cliche scent in an elevator versus asking them what they’re wearing.

My recommendation is to ignore the gendered stereotypes and give it a try with some samples from a shop that piques your interest. Then when you’re done, put your samples in a dish on your bathroom counter for a refresher for guests.