For this episode of Inside the Perfume Cabinet, I bring you a creature rarely spied at Now Smell This: a regular guy who doesn’t know Guerlain from Garry Shandling. Andrew Shayde has been wearing scent since he was fifteen years old — so, for twenty years now. He likes fragrance and can’t imagine not wearing it. But to Andrew, words like “flanker” and “niche” draw blank stares. In other words, he’s like most of the scent-wearing public.
First, a little background. Andrew is from Kentucky, and his father is a minister. (Some of you might have seen him and his father competing on The Amazing Race.) He’s a handsome, laidback guy with an easy smile, and I know at least three people who describe themselves as his best friend. He is first in line to any movie featuring superheroes, and can often be found with a Mountain Dew in hand. He has spent most of his career in HIV prevention and is now an events organizer for an AIDS service organization. He’s also the writer behind the Monsters Among Us comic book series.
Andrew’s earliest perfume memories involve his three pet mice, Shadow, Chance and Sassy, named after the animals in The Incredible Journey. His sister objected to the aroma in their cage and sprinkled it with Barbie perfume. The mice didn’t survive.
Andrew was first inspired to wear scent when he was “starting to flirt. At that age you want to show you’re a man.” He proved his manhood with a bottle of body spray called Bod Really Ripped Abs. (We both guffawed at this.) “The bottle was shaped like a torso. It actually had a six-pack,” he said. He described the scent as “powerful, clean, like a cheap version of Cool Water.”
At about seventeen, he decided he wanted a serious bottle of cologne, so he went to the Macy’s in Lexington, Kentucky. After garnering condescending stares for mispronouncing Joop and Acqua di Gio, he brought home a bottle of Liz Claiborne Mambo. He liked it because it smelled “unique.” No one else he knew wore it.
This became one of his criteria for choosing a cologne. “Men are like gorillas,” he said. Scent is a weapon of seduction, and they don’t want anyone else smelling like them. For that reason, he keeps an eye on new fragrance releases, and if he likes something, he’ll buy a bottle right away. That way, people know that the fragrance is his, and they won’t poach it.
These days, Andrew relies on four bottles of fragrance, which he keeps in a drawer. For the gym, he wears “one spray of Blue by C.O. Bigelow (shown above right) sprayed a foot above my head.” That way, it’s light enough to counteract gym smell. He calls it “clean, simple.”
For everyday — work and dates, for instance — he wears Montblanc Legend Spirit. (He used to wear the original Montblanc, but people kept confusing it with Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce, so he dropped it.) He likes Legend Spirit because it “smells good, clean, not obnoxious.” He says that sometimes he likes to change up his everyday fragrance to keep a guy’s interest, so he’ll occasionally put Hollister Jake or Burberry Sport (above left) into rotation on dates. (Andrew’s pro tip: washing your hair with a dab of scented shower gel is a nice way to bring scent to bed without being overwhelming.)
For suits and high-end occasions, he likes Jimmy Choo Man (shown below). “People ask me what I wear, and I can say ‘Jimmy Choo.’ I feel fancy.” (He swears that people don’t look at his feet when he tells them the name of his fragrance.)
He likes his apartment to smell good, too. He used to use scented candles, but the smoke from their wicks was dirty. So he switched to Scentsy wax warmers. He has three of them, each burning something from the Scentsy Man series.
Andrew isn’t keen on fragrances that are too flowery or have cucumber or melon notes. For instance, he’s not a fan of Paco Rabanne Invictus or L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme, and he doesn’t like a super spicy scent. He likes “dark, moody” fragrances, but doesn’t think they suit him, and he doesn't want to smell like "a cigar box." If he were king of the perfume world, he would require the “sport” versions of fragrances to be actually fresh and light enough to be suitable for sports.
Secretly? I think Andrew is waiting for Captain America Eau de Cologne.
This is great, Angela. Just wondering if you gave him any perfume recommendations or suggestions based on what he likes?
I will! Maybe I’ll start by bringing him a few samples. I bet he’d love Mugler Cologne.
Funnily enough, I know exactly what Andrew means about sport scents. I just came home from the gym–but before I went I applied an incense fragrance very lightly. I love the way it smells as my skin warms up, but I wouldn’t want to make anyone else uncomfortable with it at the gym.
I’m not sure that I buy that he is not a perfumista in waiting. “[H]e wears Montblanc Legend Spirit. He used to wear the original Montblanc, but people kept confusing it with Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce, so he dropped it.” ??? Sounds suspiciously cognizant of the WWF (wide world of fragrance).
Thanks Angela for the fun piece, and thanks Andrew for sharing!
I think you might be right about that “perfumista in waiting” observation. He’s pretty firmly anti-snob, but with a few carefully selected samples, I might be able to bring him over.
Very cool to pick a collection from someone who does not identify! And a man! My early recollections of my dad wearing “scent” in the mid-70s was that he always said: I’m putting on my stink. He used to wear Dunhill which I’d love to have a vintage bottle of. My husband doesn’t normally wear fragrance, but he’ll indulge me spraying him with some sort of EDC, like Hadrien or 4711 if I think he is worn out and wilted at the end of the day. And he likes the earthy smell of the Aveda Chakra #1 (vetiver and patch). I think our new friend Andrew needs something with some decent oakmoss in his collection – the Bottega Veneta Eau Legere would be perfect for a guy who doesn’t want too much but wants the smell to be interesting and unique.
“I’m putting on my stink”–I love that! That’s hilarious.
The Bottega Veneta Eau Legere suggestion is a great one, too.
Perfume and booze–but not boozey perfume! 🙂
It was interesting to read a different take on scent and perfume collecting.
I love this series. Thanks!
I’m so glad you like the series! They’re fun to do. Andrew did the photo styling himself.
Which is great, btw.
I’ll let him know!
Ditto!
This was such a fun read! I would love to hear David Attenborough narrating it …
That’s hilarious! I’d pay good money for that.
Thanks so much for this peek into Andrew’s perfume collection and choices. He’s charming!
If he can’t find Captain America EdC (lol!), I’d be curious to hear his take on Terre d’Hermes Eau Tres Fraiche. The perfume nut in me wants him to also try the Atelier Cologne Cedrat Enivrant and Bois Blond. To be fair, he seems like he’s got a solid collection that suits him well.
Those are some great suggestions. I’ll made a list for him. I bet a few of the Atelier Cologne series would be great.
I use the ‘spray a foot above my head’ technique a lot these days. It’s not the only spritz I take, but I’ve replaced one spritz that I would have applied to skin with one over my head. It’s a nice ritual and you are unlikely to over apply. Makes the room smell great too.
I love that shower gel idea!
The spray above the head technique is nice, too, because you’re likely to smell it–it’s nice and close to the nose.
I do this as well as I can’t stand most perfumes directly on skin!
If I remember right, you have to be careful about wearing fragrance at work, too. This would be a great way for a light application.
Yes, although for certain anemic fragrances (I am looking at you 28 La Pausa), a heavy application of a light fragrance is called for!
Heavy and often!
Thanks for the fun read! Oh to be back to having single digit FBs! It feels like he had achieved his Perfume Zen and I don’t want to upset that balance by suggesting anything else!
I know–the good old days of being satisfied with a handful of bottles. *sigh*
Surely there isn’t a Captain America cologne, I thought. But then I remembered that even Burger King had a cologne at one time, so of course there’s a Captain America scent out there: http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Diesel/Only-The-Brave-Captain-America-12363.html
I remember Andrew and his dad on The Amazing Race. IIRC, they were in the early, golden years of TAR. I’ll bet he’s got stories to tell about that!
Oh, Andrew is so going to love that! I’m shocked he doesn’t have one already!
For a second I thought Jagermeister and Chivas were making colognes now.
And I wouldn’t be surprised if they have–or will!
Great guy and great post, Angela! How about SNM Melograno?
Oh, I want some of that for myself! At least a bar of Melagrano-scented soap.
“Secretly? I think Andrew is waiting for Captain America Eau de Cologne.”… Hilarious, I almost lost my tea. Good to start the day with an interesting peek into a guy and his scent and a laugh to end it on.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I can’t wait to tell him there’s a real Captain American cologne out there.