Finding a BPAL fragrance for myself

[Flyntflock]

I'm fairly new to the forum, as well as BPAL in general, and I've had difficulty finding a decent fragrance that'll truly be a signature to me. But anyone know any masculine or androgynous scents in BPAL?

[clockworkcrypt]

Honestly, I've just had a lot of fun trying decants, and finding out what I like from sellers on the forum.

I'm hardly the guy to be concerned with gendering what scent I'm wearing, but it really comes down to personal preference even in the more masc area of things. 

Do you have any idea of what scents you like to wear, or scents you like to smell?

I started from there, and have been slowly branching out and exploring.

There are a lot of standard favorites that people more qualified than me can tell you about, but personally I'd recommend just... browsing the general catalogue and seeing what tickles your fancy and trying to track down some of that here! Best of luck!

[Soupy Twist]

I find aquatics, citrus, mint, pine, and snow to be pretty non-gendered.

 

Things which smell masculine to me are herbs, woods, "cologne" (that generic aftershave kind of smell), and maybe tobacco. My notes say Protoplasmic Ooze "would probably be amazing on a guy," and Odin is "masculine."

 

 

[Flyntflock]

1 hour ago, clockworkcrypt said:

Honestly, I've just had a lot of fun trying decants, and finding out what I like from sellers on the forum.

I'm hardly the guy to be concerned with gendering what scent I'm wearing, but it really comes down to personal preference even in the more masc area of things. 

Do you have any idea of what scents you like to wear, or scents you like to smell?

I started from there, and have been slowly branching out and exploring.

There are a lot of standard favorites that people more qualified than me can tell you about, but personally I'd recommend just... browsing the general catalogue and seeing what tickles your fancy and trying to track down some of that here! Best of luck!

I do like a lot of woody scents, and general wood, cinnamon, and citrus scents seem to fit me best, but every time i had a crisp citrus or floral scent, it never really sticks to my skin.

[neptuneanblues]

There are lots of past discussions about masculine and gender-neutral scents, I might try to come back and link to some of them if I get the chance (*EDIT* here is the obvious one, linking to the last page since it's most likely to refer to currently-available stuff). If I personally think about scents that fall somewhere in between gender neutral and masculine but aren't citrus/floral, I think of Antikythera Mechanism and Tombstone (it's too close to bedtime to try to go through the contents of my husband's imp box, but I wanted to at least mention a couple of actual scents). But of course this is all heavily dependent on skin chemistry (for example, Tombstone is somewhat sweet on me so would lean more neutral than masculine, but some people get just cedar shavings from it), so I concur with the folks who have recommended trying a variety of scents. 

Edited May 1, 2019 by neptuneanblues

[supreme_c0rt]

Hi!  I am also a masculine/neutral* scent lover. Check out my Top Ten for my favorite blends. For reference, I don't tend to like overt florals, fruits, or food scents. I amp sweet smells like a mofo (even though I don't like them). So finding truly non-sweet (or barely sweet) scents has been a journey.

 

If you like wood/cinnamon/citrus I would recommend Djinn and Azathoth to start with. Pop those into the site then see what else the algorithm recommends. If the description grabs you, try an imp. Worked for me. Trying a handful of imps, then taking my time testing each one --- really sitting with it, and writing notes --- helped me figure out what I was smelling and what was working. Then I could use that to figure out what other blends would be fun to try. You're only out about $25 bucks. Then you have somewhere to start plus some imps to swap that didn't work for you (the people on this forum have been amaaaaazing at guessing stuff I'd like and including imps that were great for me). 

 

Welcome to the smelly cult. O_O

 

*smash the gender binary

Edited May 1, 2019 by supreme_c0rt

[torikitty]

Looks like you have some good suggestions. Jump into my IMP Giveaway, I have a decent selection of things to send you.

 

 

[Flyntflock]

You guys really helped me out with this. 

2 hours ago, torikitty said:

Looks like you have some good suggestions. Jump into my IMP Giveaway, I have a decent selection of things to send you.

 

 

I already sent a reply to you, and i do hope that one of them works out. 

4 hours ago, supreme_c0rt said:

Hi!  I am also a masculine/neutral* scent lover. Check out my Top Ten for my favorite blends. For reference, I don't tend to like overt florals, fruits, or food scents. I amp sweet smells like a mofo (even though I don't like them). So finding truly non-sweet (or barely sweet) scents has been a journey.

 

If you like wood/cinnamon/citrus I would recommend Djinn and Azathoth to start with. Pop those into the site then see what else the algorithm recommends. If the description grabs you, try an imp. Worked for me. Trying a handful of imps, then taking my time testing each one --- really sitting with it, and writing notes --- helped me figure out what I was smelling and what was working. Then I could use that to figure out what other blends would be fun to try. You're only out about $25 bucks. Then you have somewhere to start plus some imps to swap that didn't work for you (the people on this forum have been amaaaaazing at guessing stuff I'd like and including imps that were great for me). 

 

Welcome to the smelly cult. O_O

 

*smash the gender binary

Djinn and Azathoth sound like WoW creatures, and once the pay rolls in, I'll definitely grab Azathoth.  Djinn might have to come around the second paycheck.

[sprout]

Off the top of my head, these following general catalog scents you should be able to find inexpensive samples of to try? ( these could be in your wheelhouse) and I find fairly androgynous or at least not too girly:

 

The Lion

Anubis 

Coyote 

Bloodlust 

Fenris Wolf 

Golden Priapus 

Jersey Devil 

Antikythera Mechanism 

Tombstone 

The Black Rider 

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by sprout

[Lucchesa]

These are all great suggestions.  Because you like citrus, I would also add Mad Hatter, Villain and Whitechapel, all of which are unisex trending dudely with a citrus component.  

 

This recent thread has some other good GC suggestions:

https://www.bpal.org/topic/95327-recommendations-for-a-single-man/?tab=comments#comment-2773104

 

I cannot agree more with the advice to try a lot of GC imps and learn what you like.  And it will change.  What I thought I liked when I started trying BPAL and what I know I love now overlap but are by no means identical.  Enjoy the journey!

[biggnerd]

I recommend Dee for a sweeter, woody, incensey masculine scent.  It's one of my favorites.  It's so cozy and comforting.  

 

I agree to keep trying stuff.  I've found myself loving scents I never would have gravitated to on my own (those dang frimps).  Also, it's just fun to smell things.