The word “perfume” does not fit in well when describing men’s fragrances – not in a masculine world anyhow. The preferred name or names if you like, are cologne or aftershave, even though these names are not necessarily technically correct.
Eau de toilette is another name – French of course – used for cologne, although it does tend to be a little stronger than cologne with a more concentrated make-up. And usually stronger goes hand in hand with higher price tag.
In all there are nine differing fragrances that can be blended in various amounts to attain what we have today in the men’s perfume range. These are fruity, leather, spicy, floral, powdery, woody, herbal, citrus and musk.
High end men’s fragrances tend to be made up of layers. There is the top or head notes, the middle or heart notes and the base notes. The first aroma you will smell when initially applying a fragrance will be the top note which very often will be fresh or spicy. The mid notes will often be spicy or citrus which provides for an undertone to the top notes. Finally the base notes can be produced from a variety of blends. The top notes fairly typically in a high end fragrance will last for 3 to 4 hours, the mid notes for a bit less and the bottom notes will stay for longer. A good perfume can last the whole day.
Citrus often being found in a top note will give a sense of freshness and confidence and encompasses such fragrances as lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit and pomello. For example, Calvin Klein’s Truth has citrus head notes.
When used as a top note, citrus will provide for a sense of freshness, acuteness and confidence. The term citrus encompasses fragrances such as orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit for example. Calvin Klein’s Truth is a fragrance with citrus head notes.
Sandalwood, cedars and patchouli – a bushy herb of the mint family – come under the umbrella term of woody. Again, often to be found in mid or base notes. An example of a woody fragrance would be Gucci’s Envy.
Keep in mind that each men’s fragrance will smell the same while in the bottle but after application will begin to smell differently, depending on the person and their surroundings.
The actual manufacturing process is highly complex and even if a recipe for one of the top men’s fragrances were to be made public, it would be very difficult for this to be copied by the layman, if not near to impossible. It can take many months of work to get a high end men’s fragrance just right hence one of the reasons why they are expensive.