But who could have had the idea of gendering odours? Under what pretext was it said one day that women must smell of roses and men of cedar wood? Certainly another blow from the marketers, who have managed, according to criteria on which one wonders, to make a distinction by qualifying odours as “masculine” and others as “feminine”, and to anchor this in mores. Enough to pose barriers where there shouldn’t be any since ultimately it is above all with your nose that you appreciate a smell and not according to your sex or gender.
Fortunately, borders tend to be abolished more and more, encouraged in particular by niche perfumery, which has long been claiming unisex fragrances, with relatively neutral universes, which are chosen above all for their subtly elaborate juices, according to our olfactory sensitivities, which go far beyond gender stereotypes.
Can a man wear “feminine” perfumes?
However, if you needed to be reassured about this, yes, you can be a man and appreciate and wear so-called “feminine” perfumes and vice versa, without being ashamed of it. If in the West, the universe of perfumery remains very “gendered”, in certain countries, men and women naturally and culturally share the same perfumes without this being perceived as an obstacle to their masculinity or their femininity. In the Middle East, for example, Shalimar by Guerlain is one of the most popular perfumes for men, even though it is sold and considered to be a “feminine” perfume.
We, therefore, free ourselves from these obsolete precepts and we dare to venture into olfactory lands that we were thought to be “forbidden”. For all the men who don’t like to smell like “the man” in the stereotypical sense of the term, here is a selection of equally delicious perfumes that won’t damage your manhood.
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