Many fragrances meant for women have really taken off over the last couple of years. Brick-and-mortar stores, as well as eCommerce outlets, have all seen a significant rise in sales specifically when it comes to perfumes. A rather significant shift also really started to take place. Men were becoming more and more interested in scents that were specifically created for women.
This is why modern times see certain scents formerly exclusively associated with women in the men's section as well. Mocesma's "Celeb Eau De Parfum" is a great example: most people don't know it's a female-intended fragrance at all.
Men Can Definitely Wear Scents Meant For Women
Traditionally, when a scent is sweet, floral, citrusy or similar, it is associated purely with women and seen to be used as such. On the other hand, stronger scents involving musk and a particular spiciness are equated to men. As times change and gender stereotypes break over time, these are no longer vital rules to follow at all.
Women's and men's scents share plenty of ingredients in common. A lot of men's perfumes have some level of "women's" scents such as sweet, floral and citrus in their formula; in turn, a lot of fragrances meant for the modern-day woman actually have notes that are "men's": spicy and musky.
There's no law against a man wearing a woman's perfume: his actions are no less heinous than if a woman wore a baggy shirt instead of a tight dress. If a man would like to smell like flowers, for example, why shouldn't he? Best of all, there are quite a few things that gender-specific perfumes actually have in common across the board. This is despite rather pointed masculine or feminine scents, which seem to have been "gendered" in advertising and even packaging for the longest time.
It should also be noted that a person's body chemistry also plays a role here. Colognes and scents in general will vary in smell somewhat with each person, owing to individual body chemistry.
Colognes & Scents
Various studies have shown that both men and women’s body scents are very different from each other. Men’s perfumes tend to be made up of woods, spices, citrus fruits, and herbs. Women’s perfumes often have floral, musky, vanilla, or powdery notes, or they might have a fruity scent if not something sweet.
At the core, however, perfumes are all a matter of chemical formulations. Today's market hosts a wide range of perfumes that strike middle ground, ideal for both genders. So women that wear "men's" fragrances and men that wear "women's" fragrances will eventually break stereotypes. It's actually reached a point wherein perfume brands are not afraid to repackage scents once geared towards a certain gender as "for all" or "unisex" if they notice it's become popular to that end.
Conclusion
When it comes to scents, citrus and floral ones are immediately associated with women. Stronger ones like musk are associated with men. In truth, men should have no problems using scents "meant for women" largely because modern-day colognes for men generally have floral notes or citrusy notes anyway.
Seeking exotic fragrances? Shop at Alexandria Fragrances today! We carry fragrances for both women & men alike.