Even though perfumes for men have been a part of men’s grooming routine for centuries, there was a dip in the middle when men steered towards deodorants (or deos) and body sprays. Although perfumes are a sign of sophistication and offer an aromatic experience like no other, with the curse of wrongful and misleading marketing, deos and body sprays became the go-to choice for men.
Deos and sprays were advertised as instant cat-nip for women and a sign of masculinity for men. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Deodorants, body sprays, and aftershave are not perfumes, they are simply antiperspirants that reduce the stink caused due to the body heat and sweat and mask the body odour. They don’t add anything to your olfactory senses and simply stop your body from exuding any foul smell, making it vastly different from perfume.
Perfumes for men, on the other hand, are rich, intense, and sophisticated fragrance contributors for discerning gentlemen. Men who not only want to mask their body odour but also want to ooze excellence, charm, and elegance. Perfumes for men last longer and offer a dynamic experience to your senses and the people around you. They also are very complex in nature with the multitude of notes they offer and how with every passing hour there’s a different experience to be familiar with. Let’s look at the different notes a perfume has and how you can choose the ideal perfume for men depending on the notes and ingredients.
Different Notes In Perfumes For Men
There are basically three types of notes in perfumes for men that give them a rich complexity and dynamic aromatic experience. They are top notes, middle or heart notes, and base notes. Let’s look at these notes in detail for a better understanding.
- Top Notes
The top notes are the ones that you smell as soon as you wear the perfume. They usually last 15–20 minutes from the time you apply it. They pave the way for the way you smell and they are usually light smells that make you feel nice and fresh instantly. Because top notes disappear faster they are fruity, floral, and fresh notes such as jasmine, lemon, blackberry, and strawberry. They are intended to make you feel fresh and awake as and when the more deeper and long-lasting fragrances make their way.
- Middle / Heart Notes
As the name suggests, these notes are what the perfume is defined by. These notes act as a carrier for the heavier more base notes to travel as time passes. The heart notes combine with the top and base notes to create a comprehensive experience. Since, a singular fragrance would be too one-dimensional, a complex blend of multiple notes perfectly synced together is far more enjoyable, but to make this experience smoother, we need to experience it in an order and that’s how heart notes help. They help us transition into the deeper notes once the top notes wear off and make it easier for us to enjoy the base notes more. The heart notes can last up to an hour. These notes often include the pure fragrances found in nature such as cinnamon, lemon grass, pepper, and cardamom.
- Base Notes
These notes form the foundation of perfumes for men, they decide the nature of the perfume and what emotion it evokes as a whole. Base notes are heavier and they last the longest. They are very complex and instead of natural fragrances or fresher notes such as fruits and flowers are not included in these notes. Base notes offer an experience such as musky, earthy, woody, fiery, ambery, and vanilla-y. These notes last up to 4–6 hours and create a vibe with its fragrance. They kick in along with the heart notes to help us transition to these scents when the heart notes wear off.
These are how perfumes smell dynamic as time passes making you feel olfactorily engaged throughout, making them vastly different from deodorants and body sprays that only work as a mask to your body odour.
How To Choose A Perfume For Men
While picking perfumes for men, look at all the notes – top, heart, and base to get an idea of what you will be smelling like the whole day. Start by looking at the base notes because they are the ones that are going to stay with you the whole day, then look at the top notes because that is the scent that is going to kick in as soon as you spritz it. The heart notes help combine the whole experience so look at heart notes that you enjoy with other scents. Like any other gift, it is not an easy task to buy perfumes for men.
Parting Thoughts
When buying perfumes for men, it is ideal to take the person with you. You should absolutely know what the person likes and dislikes when it comes to fragrances. Perfumes for men are not just about smelling nice, they evoke an emotion and project the person’s personality to the world. The wrong scent puts the person in a weird mood and creates a misleading impression in front of others too. Look at the keynotes and ingredients in each of the notes before buying the ideal perfume for men.
