Cologne and Deodorant: How Much Is Too Much

Fragrance should be discovered, not announced.

This is the entire principle, and yet it appears to elude a staggering number of men who spray themselves as though preparing for chemical warfare. Cologne is not a forcefield, nor is it a substitute for bathing; it is a finishing note, a quiet suggestion that you have given some thought to the matter of existing near other people, and that your consideration extends beyond the merely structural.

Deodorant is not optional. This should not require saying, and yet here we are, which tells you a great deal about the state of affairs. Apply it after showering, to clean and dry skin: an antiperspirant if you perspire heavily, a deodorant if you simply wish not to offend. These are different products with different purposes. Read the label. It will not bite you.

As for cologne, the application is two sprays and no more: one on the chest, one on a wrist, then touch the wrists together briefly. That is the end of the matter. Not the neck. Not the clothing. Not a cloud through which you walk like a man entering a stage production of his own life, because that is what you will resemble, and no one in the audience is impressed.

The people nearest you should catch it faintly. The people across the room should not know it exists. If someone three metres away comments on your fragrance, you are wearing too much; if someone presses close and notices, that is correct, and that is the only correct distance at which a fragrance should announce itself.

Do not reapply during the day. Your nose has adjusted, the scent is still present, and you simply cannot detect it any longer, which is by design. Trust the process, for the temptation to add more is the precise moment at which you should stop, and yielding to it is how a man transforms himself from pleasantly scented to publicly objectionable.

One final note, which should perhaps have been the first: deodorant and cologne are not the same conversation. Deodorant is maintenance. Cologne is discretionary. Handle the first before you consider the second, for no amount of the latter will compensate for the absence of the former.