Men's Grooming Tips And Advice

Introduction

I have seen a few fragrance buying guides, and they all have something in common; They separate the scents by the type. Most people I know who are casual scent wearers or looking for a gift for someone would not look for fragrances this way, they may not know if an oud would be good for their dad or if something citrus would be suitable for their grandad.

So to make it easier for you, I am going to recommend what scent is best for the type of person you’re buying for 🙂

If you want an in depth look at some of my fragrances, you can check my men’s fragrance reviews. There’s a lot of fragrance tips out there, but something I hate about them is people advise on buying scents which they don’t own or haven’t even tried! ALL of the scents in this guide I either own or have sampled, so these are truly my personal recommendations 🙂

Fragrances For Dads – Cool, Laid Back Style

He doesn’t like something really heavy and musky, but likes to smell nice. Something not too sophisticated or expensive, not in your face or offensive. For this kind of dad then you want something which touches on some of the notes and is not particularly heavy especially in woody, musky or dark types of notes. What’s good for this?

YSL Libre – It’s a fresh and soft spicy style, and has quite a green smell to it, light enough to wear through the day. £42.50 @ Debenhams

D&G Anthology No.1 Le Bateleur – It has very slight woody notes, but is mostly aquatic and light. £34.52 Direct from Amazon (not a 3rd party seller!)

Lacoste L.12.12 Blanc – Floral but masculine, light and inviting. It’s clean, fresh and unobtrusive. Buy a little gift set from Debenhams for only £25

Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue – Aquatic and slightly spicy but fresh. John Lewis has it for £38.20

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Fragrances can be quite expensive, and depending on your taste and favourite designer, they can be get very expensive indeed.

The few big name retailers on the high street are usually quite expensive, but fortunately we have this little known invention called the Internet which we can use to buy fragrances, aftershaves and the like for ourselves and others.

The biggest problem is the fakes, counterfeits and non-genuine products which are now being sold; Unfortunately we cannot tell from a picture whether or not you’ll end up receiving the real deal or a cheap knock off. So, where is the best place to get cheap fragrances? My top pick is Amazon, but it comes with a big warning!

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This week’s men’s fragrance review is another trip down memory lane, it’s Givenchy Very Irresistible Fresh Attitude For Men. Very Irresistible by Givenchy actually has a few different flavours and variations, the one I have is the Fresh Attitude version.

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For this week’s aftershave review I want to talk about a classic, Emporio Armani Remix for men. It was released in 2006 and I got it around that time, and it holds many memories, and is a really nice smell. I’ve recently learned that it’s now been discontinued, which is a real shame.

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This week’s men’s aftershave review is John Varvatos Artisan Eau De Toilette. Artisan was released in 2009, but like the other fragrances from John Varvatos they have not been too common up until recently in the UK. The bottle is very distinctive, and is a wicker basket style of bottle which will stand out on your shelf or in your drawer.

The scent itself is a light and citrus type of smell, it has lots of orange type notes but the smell of the orange is not overpowering and you can easily smell the other notes. It is quite light and sweet, and definitely one for day wear in the spring or preferably summer. It’s not a very masculine fragrance, so if you like woods, musk and aromatic or spicy scents this is not one of them; Having said that I always believe you need a lighter scent in your fragrance repertoire.  This is quite a pleasant smell, but if I were to choose a day wear scent there are better options out there, such as the Lacoste L12 and Acqua Di Gio.

Best season to wear – Spring/Summer
Scent type – Orange/Citrus, Sweet
Age Recommendation – 18+
Best Worn – Day Wear, Casual

Top Notes – Sicilian clementines, Juicy tangelo fruit, Mandarin oranges, Wild thyme, Marjoram from Spain and Greek lavandin

Middle Notes – North African orange tree blossoms, Indian Murraya, Essence of orange jasmine tree, Ginger extracts

Base Notes – Kephalis, Georgywood, Ambery belambre and musky serenolide

I recently got a Hydro 5 groomer kit from Wilkinson Sword, and it could not have come at a better time. Movember is here, and this year I have decided I would take part and grow some facial hair 😀 I have never had a beard, moustache or anything like that, I have always preferred to be clean shaven ever since I started shaving in my teens. The groomer kit contains the new Hydro 5 groomer which has a 5 blade shaver at one end with a flip down edge blade to get a perfect straight edge, along with a hydrating strip. At the other end there is a battery powered trimmer for creating whatever look I want to go for. The razor is complimented with the transparent gel which does not foam, so is perfect for shaving.

Since I have never had a beard or tash before I don’t really know what style to go for, Wilkinson Sword have created this video to give some tips and ideas; I don’t think I will be able to pull off anything so elaborate, but if you’re handy with a trimmer you could give it a go 😀

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaCu6yYEvCE

This week’s fragrance review is John Varvatos For Men. Introduced in 2004 it’s quite an old fragrance to the U.S. or international market, but relatively new on the shores of the UK. The bottle is a classic and sophisticated style, a smart black bottle which is simplistic and masculine.

The scent is a warm, woody and spicy kind of smell. It’s slightly strong however it’s not too overpowering, and is a real masculine style of fragrance. I think this would be best worn in the autumn or winter on a cold evening, and can be use in both casual and formal situations. It’s strong enough to get you noticed, but not too pungent to be off-putting.

Best season to wear – Autumn/Winter
Scent type – Woody/Warm/Spicy
Age Recommendation – 23+
Best Worn – Evening, Casual, Formal

Top Notes – Medjool, Date Fruit, Mediterranean Herbs, West Indian Tamarind Tree Leaves

Middle Notes – Coriander Seed Templar, Clary Sage Flower, Indian Ajowan

Base Notes – Auramber, Vanilla CO2, Balsams, Eaglewood, Vanilla, Black Leather

This week’s fragrance review is Artisan Acqua by John Varvatos. Artisan Acqua is a new scent launched by John Varvatos in 2014, and I have had a smell of this, which I like. Like the other Artisan bottles, this one takes a similar design, with a hand-woven rope style.

It is quite a masculine style of scent, and is an aromatic, warm kind of style with a hint of spice and woody notes. It definitely feels like a grown up fragrance, so if you’re looking to wear something a bit more formal, or something non-offensive this is a contender.

It seems to be pretty hard to come by, after having a bit of a search it seems that Debenhams is the only place out of the big perfume/aftershave retailers which are selling this.

An aromatic style of scent is something you should have in your fragrance wardrobe. If you haven’t already got one, this is worth considering. It’s something which will sit in between a light, citrus EDT and a musky, woody EDT.

Best season to wear – Autumn/Winter
Scent type – Aromatic, Warm, Spicy
Age Recommendation – 21+
Best Worn – Evening, Casual, Formal

Top Notes – Tangelo, Mandarin, Paradisamide, Galbanum, Lentisque, Angelica root

Middle Notes – Clary sage, Lavender, Coriander, Toscanol, Basil, Geranium, Palmarosa, Jasmine sambac

Base Notes – Moss, Patchouli, Fir balsam

Another trip down memory lane in my fragrances takes us to Intimately Beckham For Men By DVB. This was one of the first ventures into the fashion world for “Brand Beckham”, and is one of many of the celebrity fragrances which have been launched.

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Another visit to my old fragrances and this is Prada Amber from around 2006.

Despite it’s really nice smell it’s another which I have not used a great deal, partly because at the time there were so many other ones I liked better, and partly because it’s not a spray bottle, rather an old fashioned proper aftershave style of bottle which I like less.

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