Male Fragrances & Stripper Reactions
minnow
Any place that interests me.
Before I dive into the meat of the article, a word about terminology. Notice that title said "Fragrances." Men's fragrances are often called colognes, and women's fragrances perfumes. Technically, all fragrances are diluted perfume oil to varying degrees. The 3 most common concentrations are as follows:
1) Eau De Cologne-(EDC)- 2% to 5% perfumed oil
2) Eau De Toilette- (EDT)- 4% to 10% perfumed oil
3) Eau De Parfum- (EDP)- 8% to 15% perfumed oil
There is some overlap between categories. Indeed, I have seen some EDT's with greater projection and longevity than EDP's. Just another reason to try before buy, and not get taken in by hype or higher classification.
Now for the meat of the article, I have broken down the fragrances into 3 groups. Group A are fragrances that I personally like, AND have garnered the strongest positive remarks/ highest percentage of compliments. Not just "you smell nice", but going so far as asking what it is I'm wearing. Saying things like "you smell so damn nice", "I don't want you wearing anything else", etc. Group B are fragrances that either got a good amount of mundane "you smell nice" comments, or else didn't get that many, but the few they did get were a stronger positive reaction. Group C are fragrances that I like, but either elicited virtually no complements, or got mixed reviews. Group A is ranked in order, Group B and C in no particular order.
GROUP A: Reyanne Insurrection Pure 2, Bleu de Chanel, Polo Blue, Joop Night Flight, Ferrari Essence Oud.
Insurrection Pure 2 was far and away the leader. I've had 2 dancers at different clubs ask me if I was wearing Creed Aventus (a $300 plus fragrance, very well reviewed). IP2 only cost me ~ $25 online, so some good bang for buck there. The other 4 were well complimented too.
GROUP B: Polo Black, Dolce & Gabbana The One, Mont Blanc Individuel, Perry Ellis M, Perry Ellis 360 Black, CE Bigelow Elixir Blue, Issey Miyake Bleu. The last one is one of my favorites that didn't get that many compliments, but one dancer flat out called it a Pantie Dropper.
GROUP C: Cartier Roadster, Boucheron Jaipur Homme, Givenchy Gentlemen Only, Halston 1-12. The later (H 1-12) got a few basic compliments, but one night a dancer asked me if I was wearing Old Spice. (Translation- "you smell like an old man") Roger that, I confine H1-12 to church and appointments with my financial advisor.
WHERE TO BUY: Even in today's online world, I suspect a lot of people still want to try, and buy off the shelf. For people living within 5 miles of a major mall, Macy's, Sephora, etal, are no-brainer choices. For many people, it comes down to "Wally World." (Walmart or Walgreen's). The later because you live in a small town, or you're on a trip, and the only place you can find open for your 10pm club visit is, well, "Wally World." Amazon is a very obvious choice for online buying. You can get many fragrances amazingly cheap there. They carry many that you just can't find in department stores. One downside to blind buying is many online retailers don't accept returns, though in 2 cases I managed to at least get a partial credit of sorts.
FRAGRANCE WEBSITES: I would suggest www.fragrantica.com or www.basenotes.net. Either site is good for being an educated consumer, with reviews and forum sections. IMHO, Amazon reviews aren't that helpful because most of the people writing the reviews already like the fragrance and are utilizing Amazon as the best place to buy for cheap. Those 2 aforementioned sites have many avid fragrance enthusiasts on board who like trying every fragrance under the sun, and aren't bashful about expressing their opinions, good or bad. One reviewer samples the fragrances in the mall to kill time while his wife is shopping. He must have written over 200 reviews.
SOME TRAVEL AND BUYING TIPS
Those of us who do any amount of airline travel know about the 3oz rule for carry on liquids. I personally prefer 1 oz or less in carry on. I'm not a big fan of decants (often 1 to 2 ml.) One thing I noticed about air travel is that multiple cabin altitude cycles makes the fragrance noticeably stale. It takes a few days to recover to normal. In several cases, I wouldn't bother taking fragrance, but instead would go to "Wally World", and get a small travel size bottle to smell fresher for my club visits.
Lastly, whatever you do, don't rely on paper strip spray samples for purchase decision. Try it on your skin for at least an hour to see how it develops over time. In one case, I was initially enamored by the rich honey like opening in one sample. After 45 minutes or so, it took on a fertilizer like odor that just would not go away.
SOME CONCLUSIONS: Although YMMV caveat applies to fragrances too, it seems like dancers generally respond more favorably to Aquatic Type fragrances, versus Oriental, Spicy, Fougere, etc. I hope this article provided some enlightenment, please feel free to share your stories.
Want 4 weeks free VIP to tuscl?
Write an article
43 comments
When I was young, I would wear David Beckham Instinct, a rather inexpensive cologne. It is perfect for younger guys. Many of the younger (21-25 y.o.) strippers would compliment me.
Eventually I tried Azzaro Chrome, and that became my fragrance of choice up until this past year. It also got me a ton of compliments.
In the last 6 months, I have tried Armani Code, Versace Eros, and Yves Saint Laurent La Nuit de L'homme. Out of these 3, I have received the most compliments from Versace Eros.
As for where to buy, all but one of my fragrances (YSL La Nuit) have been purchased at a big box retailer. A lot of the nicer fragrances can only be found in department stores or online retailers like Amazon.
If you travel and your only option is Walmart, they sell Versace Eros for a very good price. A 1.7 oz bottle is approx. $43 at Walmart while a department store sells the same size bottle for approx. $65.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8CGtuR9…
Also, check out Groupon for discounts on cologne. I recently bought a bottle of Mr. Burberry for $24.99 from Groupon.
25: If you haven't tried Acqua di Gio Profumo (the original is an EDT), you owe yourself a sniff.
If you guys would like to step up a notch or 3 (alas, with prices to boot, but you can pick up samples first to make sure you like them, and then order a small decant instead of shelling out $$$ for a full bottle), based on the two you are wearing, I'd recommend trying:
Dior Homme Cologne 2013: fresh and clean like VMEF, but it is less synthetic-smelling and is just evocative of clean linen on a spring afternoon. Some strippers like synthetic-smelling colognes, but most will like this better
Bois 1920 Oltremare: Bois 1920's beautiful fresh aromatic aquatic, but heavier on fresh and wonderful, and lighter on aquatic
M. Micallef's Osaito: One of the most beautiful, understated aquatics ever made. It lacks AdG's big synthetic punch, instead going for a subtly beautiful, natural-smelling fresh aquatic
I can fill up screens full of other recommendations, just some that popped into mind. AGain, some strippers have a teenager's love for synthetic (and abrasive, to most adult noses) smelling colognes, and all of the above are less abrasive and more natural smelling (all colognes are made with synthetic chemicals, some just don't smell that way)
Several choices other posters mentioned are readily available in big box mall store, and /or "Wally World."
There are legit discount sellers that are safe: Fragrancenet, FragranceX, Beautyencounter, Notino, for example.
If you want to sample other types of colognes, I recommend decantshop and Surrendertochance. If you decide you love a cologne but can't afford to buy a whole bottle (A 50ml bottle lasts me a lifetime anyway, I almost never need a full bottle), check out crystalflacon
My experience with it in the clubs has been great. I get the usual "You smell nice " followed by either "It's Curve" or "What is it?"
Macy's has a 4.2 oz bottle for $54. Walmart also sells it.
Like I said, obviously as with everything with strippers, you should consider it all hustle. But if it were JUST hustle, every scent would get complimented the same amount, and that's not the way it is. The girls practically try to eat me when I'm wearing Rochas Man; no such reaction to many other scents.
During the summer I tend to lighter scents--Light Blue from Dolce & Gabbana.
Once it hits late fall I switch to Burberry Brit.
I've been using old spice aftershave, and it doesn't get compliments - except it does seem to attract dancers with daddy issues...
On the other hand, the EDT was about $80 and the cologne was $130, so it is not something you will buy at the local Rite Aid. Will last a while though
TT, I think you're exactly right, and also have the point of view of a normal person who isn't into cologne ... but, you might be missing the point, or at least the point of view of the fragheads here.
if skeets goes to the club wearing Bleu, the reactions of strippers loving his cologne are almost certainly real. How do I know? Because I know first hand civilian women love Bleu, I know on cologne forums guys from college-aged to old guys report Bleu gets them tons of compliments. Women love Bleu, and strippers are women. That doesn't mean skeets gets any special treatment, she's not going to ask to be his girlfriend or suck his dick for free or likely treat him any different than she treats you (other than maybe he gets a little neck nuzzling here and there, to get closer to smell him).
So, if it's just a utility thing for you, either it buys you something with the strippers or it doesn't, then your soap and water and old spice buys you exactly as much as skeets's fancy cologne. But the guys here who enjoy cologne aren't doing it just for utilitarian purposes, they just like cologne and they like smelling good for attractive young women. I wear cologne to the strip club, I also dress nice (not over-the-top, just as if I'm going to a bar to socialize), even though I know I could wear my old stretched-out jeans and whatever shirt and often get the same service. I figure that when I stop caring about coming off as pulled-together for attractive young women (whether they care or not), that might be a good time to hang it up :)
Another fave is just get some vetiver oil and use it as cologne. It's one of those scents that resembles nothing else and can work on a man or a woman. A hot ex wore it and I still associate it with her. But it's not a "girly" smell at all. It's musky and deep.
Hmm, I've never smelled vetiver oil. But I'll note that for me personally -- personal thing, not some transcendental truth -- many vetiver-based colognes smell old-man-ish to me. Just evocative of an old fashioned scent in general. I do have some colognes that I wear that have vetiver notes, but typically the vetiver is very highly restrained.
Someone once said that vetiver is an acquired taste. I'm with S-man in that I like vetiver more in a supporting role (especially if it has fresh cut grass lean vs dank smoky tobacco like lean) vs a prominent role.
1. Creed Aventus
2. Tom Ford Tabacco Vanille
Surprised to have not gotten any dancer comments on the Creed.
Got thumbs up comments from dancers on the Tabacco Vanille during private sessions. The smell is strong and lasts all night.
On way to club recently I dropped by department store and sprayed on Dior Sauvage based on recommendation from salesperson. Got thumbs up on that from dancer.
If you want to try the expensive fragrances, buy at Nordstrom. They have a great return policy and if the fragrance doesn't get the response you're looking for or if you don't like it, just return it. Nordstrom will take it back, no issues.
-->"If you want to try the expensive fragrances, buy at Nordstrom. They have a great return policy and if the fragrance doesn't get the response you're looking for or if you don't like it, just return it. Nordstrom will take it back, no issues."
I think that's a perfectly fine strategy if it works for you. For me, particularly with expensive fragrances, the strategy is:
1. Buy a 1ml sample ($4-$7) from decantshop, luckyscent, surrendertochance, etc. These sell the real thing, 1ml is easily enough for 4+ wearings, and that's enough to tell whether I like the scent or not, women like the scent on me or not, etc. In other words,
2a. Buy the full bottle from the gray market (fragrancenet, frangrancex, etc. -- basically any of the legit places I named above, NOT ebay, NOT amazon), where I'll save easily a hundred if not hundreds vs Nordstroms.
OR
2b. If I don't want a full bottle, buy 10ml-30ml decant on crystal flacon for a fraction of the price of a bottle. This is a good way to get a lot of great colognes even on a limited budget
Anyway, the sample lets me decide definitively if I want it or not, and going with fragrancenet or whether saves me a whole lot.