Fragrance Makes the Man

east coast mark doesn't have a 'Mission Statement' per say - but if we did, it would include a line about helping my fellow man move beyond the 'frat boy' stage of life. That said, it's time we discuss fragrance and cologne.

east coast mark feels you should never leave the house without fragrance. Your scent is a primitive calling card to those around you and lets them know you're around...and that you mean business. At a subconscious and animal level, your scent and pheromones telegraph a sense of vigor and prowess to the opposite sex. Long story short - you want to telegraph the right story.

Still, there's so much confusion amongst men about which cologne to wear, when to wear it, and how to apply it. I'm here to help.

First off, buy a decent cologne(s). That bottle your mom gave you in 10th grade is not going to cut it anymore. Spend some time at an upscale store - Nordstroms or Macy's - and smell 10 or 15 different scents. My belief is that you need two different colognes - a daytime and an evening. A fragrance you wear to dinner with a woman is not necessarily the same fragrance you should wear during the day closing an important deal, or meeting your key clients for lunch.

Secondly, how should I apply my fragrance? A common mistake is applying the cologne to your clothes. Many men think that spraying your cologne on your shirt will allow it to last throughout the day. This is actually the complete opposite of what you want to do. You want to apply the cologne to the areas of your skin that will generate heat, and allow the fragrance to mix with your natural pheromones. I recommend the neck, behind the ear, and on your wrist. These are areas where the skin is thin, and the blood is pumping. Picture a quiet dinner with a woman - and you lean in to hear her whisper into your ear....and in return, she gets a pleasant scent from the cologne gently emanating from behind your ear. You get the picture.

Some dont's:

• Don't apply more than 2 sprays of the cologne. You're an upscale gentleman - not a frat boy with a collection of 30 Abercrombie T-shirts.
  
• Don't think certain situations don't require cologne. A scent is your calling card - and better to smell pleasant than to smell like stank sweat sock. I never leave the house without fragrance. I mean, you never know - right?

Every time I go home to visit my parents, the same situation invariably repeats itself - almost verbatim: I'll typically spend the day with my family, but often go out to meet old friends in the evening. After a shower - I always apply fragrance and dress for the evening. When I say goodbye to my mother, she detects the scent and ALWAYS says, "Oh. So do we have a date tonight? I can smell you. You must have a date. Who are you meeting?"

If you can learn anything from my mother - it's that your scent means business, and it's time you get with the program. Me? I wear Polo Blue during the day, and Polo Double Black in the evening and winter. Grab a sniff of these two next time you're by the cologne section of the store - and you can take a little piece of east coast mark with you.