Scientific testing? Pshaw

I conducted my first test this morning, and I'll be publishing the results very soon, but I wanted to first explain a little bit about the testing method.

I spray the cologne on my wrist, give it a few minutes to settle, then one at a time ask a friend to smell it and comment. I ask them one at a time so that the participants don't play off each other's responses; so that peer pressure doesn't sway their opinions. If I get a terse response like "that's nice" or just "I like it", I will try to dig a little more out of them by asking questions like: Would you describe it as...

Sweet, fruity, musk, citrus, flowery?

White collar or blue collar?

Business or casual?

Night life or office?

Nice guy or bad boy?

And my favorite:

How would you describe it to somebody over the phone?

I then take notes on their responses, which I'll compile into a nice write-up and post here as soon as possible.

Never go cologne shopping alone

Let's start this blog off with a bang by setting a hard fast rule. Guys, never go cologne shopping alone. Always take with you a woman whose taste you trust and respect. When she says, "That smells good on you," you've found a winner.

Now let's break that rule.

Some things are easier said than done, and we don't always have the luxury of female companionship on our shopping trips. And Lord help you if you take the advice of the pretty girl that works at the store; she just might have an ulterior motive related to commission or promotion or simply getting rid of an overstocked poorly-selling item. That, my dear friends, is why I'm starting this blog.

I own a lot of different colognes, and I acquired them all by following the aforementioned rule. In the coming days, I'm going to start blogging about each scent in my collection. And, in my posts, I'm going to share the comments and criticisms of a few close female friends, in the hopes of gaining some insight into what's hot and what's not, and why. Then, perhaps the next time you find yourself flying solo at the perfume counter, you'll have a much better chance of picking a winner.