It’s a question of timing because what is ‘masculine’ today may not have been ‘masculine’ a decade ago and it may not be ‘masculine’ two or three decades from now. The idea or ‘masculinity’ and ‘feminity,’ they are conventions and they are concepts that evolve with society.
When I started working in perfume 25 years ago, fruity notes were not appealing for men. What I mean by fruity notes- it could be pineapple or pear or apple, which are very commonly used in male perfume now but were not popular in male perfumes 25 years ago.
— Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian talks about gender and fragrance and his new fragrance, Maison Francis Kurkdjian L’Homme À la Rose. Read more in Francis Kurkdjian on creating a rose perfume for men at Wallpaper.
Everything is fluid over time. Before the 1940’s pink was always considered to be a boys colour & blue was for girls, this all flipped in the 40’s & suddenly pink was a girls colour & blue was marketed mainly for boys. I wear Black Orchid and many other florals & have female friends who happily wear Leather/incense/wood fragrances that are marketed at men – hopefully we’re moving into an age where anyone can wear whatever they like ! I see Aesop are producing a new ‘Unisex’ rose fragrance too – seems like rose is the note du jour
I think we’ve long since arrived at the age where many people wear what they like. But not quite everybody, hence we keep getting these explanations.
Perles de Lalique, a peppery rose, smells way better on my son and DH than on me! I like the trend towards unisex and hope it continues.