A man's ultimate guide to smelling good.

TL:DR - Avoiding the stink is the most important part. Then when you need more, get scents for men, the options have never been better.

Another specific topic that doesn't seem to be spoken about here, but it's value just can't be underestimated.

Learning to smell like a high value man.

Or as a first step, learning not to stink.

Smell is in fact, our sharpest sense, a 150,000 times more sensitive than vision. You can't taste a thing without it either. Your scent might not be a match for your dog's, but it is capable of detecting maybe a trillion different odours! That is not an exaggeration.

Women's sense of smell is especially sharp, and they're using it to sniff us out even if they aren't aware of it. Smell is extremely arousing when done right, and when done wrong it can turn off a partner in nanoseconds.

Don't just spray deo to hide your stink or the fact that you're too lazy to bathe in the morning.

Now there is a subset of people who naturally smell good. All they need to do is take care not to stink, and their natural scents and pheromones can be pleasant, even arousing. Not everyone is like that, not all climates even favor that. I come from a hot and humid part of the world, and I often have to take public transport. And a lot of people ... stink...

EDIT : I split the post into 2 parts.

Part 1 is about using scents to boost how you smell.

Part 2, and that's more important, is all about avoiding the stink and maintaining a naturally good odour, which IMHO is actually the real 80% of the work.

PART 1 - Using scents and colognes to smell good

Note : I do not spray anything directly on my skin - some nasty deo burns means I no longer use deo, only aftershave and cologne. I spray perfume on my clothes, a drop here and there. Lasts all day.

IMHO it's best to spray scents on your clothes. Spray perfumes and scents on your shirt / T Shirt, on the chest, the back, the armpits, and if needed the back of the collar. Sprinkle your pants at the V with a bit of scent as well. Trust me on that.

The best source for scent heaven is Amazon. Check out all the male and unisex brands out there for body sprays, deos, colognes and perfumes (there're far more than you could ever discover) - and then the most important part - Always purchase a new scent in person. Find a store nearby and try out all the testers, only then buy a brand - when no one's going to see or smell you, even check out a few female and unisex brands so that you can tell the differences apart - this will help if you're buying perfumes for others as well. Use your nose well - many perfumes come in layers and their smells change over the day.

https://www.amazon.com/Mens-Fragrance-Cologne/b?ie=UTF8&node=11056761

Over time, my nose got really good at this and telling brands apart - to the point where people in my family who prided themselves on their make up kits ask me for advice now.

https://www.realmenrealstyle.com/top-10-mens-colognes/ - The difference between a Eau de cologne and a Eau de Parfum, versus a deo / body spray and how scents work.

https://www.fragrantica.com

https://www.realmenrealstyle.com/introduction-to-fragrance/

Eventually one will even learn how to mix and match combinations together. What they don't tell you is that the differences between men and women's or unisex perfumes is not always clear cut, sometimes you can mix up a predominantly spicy masculine base for cologne on your face and arms with an addon of a bit of fruity flavour on your armpits and it won't look out of place. That needs experience. It's also entirely possible for perfumes to smell different on different people and fabrics and how they change over the day or combine with the smell of your sweat and your natural scent.

http://colognebuys.com/womens-perfumes/the-real-difference-between-mens-and-womens-perfumes/

There's even a best seller for men on Amazon that claims it has pheromones...

Ideally there must be quite a few to mix and match. Or else you'll soon become all too identified with one smell... I personally have a large collection now. It's an art form. Don't bother about the investment, perfume and cologne bottles last long, really long.

You have many many options out there, I keep throwing out links, but google can give you so many more : http://colognebuys.com/

There are different smells for different occasions and even the kind of dress you're wearing - if you're wearing a suit to work, what you'll use will be subtle and formal in comparison to casual outdoors or at a family gathering. If you're in the gym, there must be the sweat, but not the stink. The intensity also varies depending on whether you're indoors or outdoors and how discoverable you want to make yourself.

I don't advise directly spraying on bare skin of sensitive parts like armpits - I tried that, had some burns and a fungal infection once, then my dermatologist warned me never to spray on bare skin again or use deo/body sprays. Having a bit of perfume on your handkerchief (and this is important) is recommended.

Don't however go overboard that no one in the whole floor can breathe thanks to your scents. That's how women do it (and some amateurs). In general, men's scents are subtle and discoverable.

Here's a handy tip. If you sweat a lot or feel your clothes might stink by the end of the day. Have a small 100 ml bottle of scent in your bag at any time when you travel outdoors. Spray it on your clothes where you sweat more and it'll mask the smell very well.

Subtle is important for men. It's totally ok to be completely natural, but not stink (if you're really casual like being at home). You must never smell more than necessary in a crowd, but at no cost can you stink either.

The most important part is to understand the impact of your smell and how scents can blend and alter that. Do not blindly use scents indiscriminately and make sure that your odour is appropriate for the situation.

PART 2. Now, for the part that's even more important than smelling special - not smelling bad + Smelling at your natural best. Something which the majority are oblivious of.

Do you really know how you naturally smell?

Make sure to clean your tongue free of all grease and grime, get a good tongue scraper, use mint or a mouth spray and floss, and drink a lot of water - your toothpaste matters, seriously, bad breath is a total killer, especially when people want to come close to you to smell or talk to you. Try some plain toasted bread slices, they clean up your tongue and your throat in a jiffy.

If you have tonsils, check the back of your mouth for tonsil stones if you've had colds and sore throats. They are full of sulphur and can give you really foul breath, but they come out with a bit of pressure applied around the area.

This goes up to your hair and skin - your shampoo and the soap you use all matter. Washing those legs. Use a bit of moisturizer to avoid dry flaky skin on your calves, especially in winter. Smelling naturally good itself can account for most of the good smell, especially when casual.

Face powder matters as well, though some people's noses may be irritated by talc. It also helps if your skin tends to be the oily type.

Check your skin for stuff like jock itch (on your pubes) or athlete's foot (on your feet) or fungus on your forearms. Places that sweat a lot get fungal issues more often that you'd think. Fungus has a peculiar nauseating smell and must be treated asap. Anti fungal powders and oral medications are out there. They do the job and the powders smell good too.

Checking that shoe polish - even that matters, yeah, when you pay attention, you can smell everything. Shoes do stink, so they must be kept well ventilated.

And this, shaving those armpits weekly! Bathing daily or once more if you're coming from a long sweaty day outdoors. Do consider smelling natural or subtly good (very subtle, not strong) at bedtime, it does matter.

Having a facewash for men with a fairly noticeable scent and a bit of cologne on hand wherever you go is very helpful. Not only does your face look good, but it also smells fresh. Sebum has a noticeably oily and dirty smell and it can give it away just how sloppy you are (this is also an open invitation to acne and pimples if you're the oily skin type).

Wear fresh clothes everyday. More than your skin, it's wearing that same sweaty shirt day after that's gonna stink. Never wear sweaty stinking clothes a second time without sending it to the washing machine first. Even if they don't stink, do not wear that shirt or T shirt on back to back days - let them hang in a well ventilated closet for a full day at least before wearing them again. After that, they definitely acquire a sweat stink and must be washed.

And for the love of god, wash your socks. And speaking of socks, cotton or wool are natural and it takes a lot before they start to smell. . But the most important thing -- DO NOT use polyester socks. Polyester stink belongs in another dimension of rotten. Ditto for polyester winter thermals, or polyester shirts. Polyester must absolutely be washed after each use.

Same for shirts, shorts, pants and trousers - Use natural fabrics as far as possible. Denim is especially good at resisting odour and not needing a wash for quite a while.

And I don't think I need to mention it, but one needs to watch out for those farts - it's almost always your diet. My life saver turned out to be beanzyme or beano (anything with alpha galactosidase and a bit of lactase in it). If your diet is rich in high protein, fiber rich foods, then this really makes a night and day difference (especially for vegetarians and vegans, because almost all fiber rich protein foods also contain lots of insoluble sugars that doesn't get digested without this enzyme. These sugars ferment in your large intestine, causing the stink. Milk too is not equally tolerated by everyone).

EDIT : Diet is quite important for overall body odour. Foods that are too spicy and contain a lot of sulphur can cause your body odour to stink. Fasting and a simple diet ticking all the boxes, as suggested by an EC below works well to boost natural smell.

Keep that colon empty as much as possible. And I don't know about you, but I infinitely prefer soap and water to toilet paper (I am not from the west you know) - the best investment I made in my bathroom was getting a cheap hand shower and keep my ass clean, it also saves water.

And last, smells need not be all about scents and sprays : https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/ultimate-collection-manly-smells/

PHEW!

PS : For those who think I'm overdoing it, I come from the tropics where winter does not exist and where I live the day temperature never goes below 25 C / 78 F even in December (for all those who wonder why I elaborated this much, I don't think many of you have been in such hot and humid climates. The summers can get to 110 F in the day with 60-70% humidity at night. So you'll be soaking in a pool of your own sweat without an AC. And I hope you've smelt dirty polyester socks, they are the worst, ever!)

EDIT : Thanks to all those who contributed. The thing about a good thread is people come to discuss and share stuff I wasn't aware of. I'll take note of it and try it out.

Thing is, this isn't just about girls - where everyone seems to agree on the power of natural pheromones. If anything, it'll matter a lot more at work, a job interview, a meeting and also at social and family gatherings. How sloppy or appropriately well presented you are for an occasion says a lot about you and how much you value yourself. As far as smells go, context and appropriateness and experience determines how you should smell for the situation.