Masculine cologne that brings compliments

I first discovered this scent when a buddy from college raved about it back in 1993. So I decided to try it and received many compliments from the young ladies back then, including my would-be wife. I am old now (30)... married with children and although I am open to change, my wife continues to maintain my stock of Drakkar. She is still crazy about this particular scent, probably because she has a very keen sense of smell and can develop headaches quite easily simply walking past the cologne section in stores. Apparently Drakkar is subtle enough where it doesn't give her a migraine. I still get compliments from other women too when I sport Drakkar, some saying: "You smell really good... I wish I could get my husband to wear cologne."

Men, and ladies buying for their man, can't go wrong with Drakkar Noir Eau de toilette spray, introduced by Guy Laroche in 1982 and recommended for casual use by the retailers. Other fragrances are recommended for daytime or evening use. I guess what they mean is that Drakkar Noir has a richer fragrance as opposed to some of the fresher fragrances out there (i.e. Davidoff Cool Water). I'd like to know of a fragrance that isn't for "casual, daytime or evening" use but simply for blue collar, hard working, hard bodied men... possibly WD-40?

Don't ask me what "Eau de toilette" means... for all I know it translates to "from the toilet", Which I guess is somewhat true because I think of France as a toilet with it's ungrateful and antagonistic people, and that's where Drakkar is from. But unlike some other colognes which truly smell like toilet bowl cleaner, Drakkar has a smell that is sure to please, so I'll give the French that much.

This popular scent features top notes of bergamot, lemon and rosemary, accented with masculine undertones of basil, amber, patchouli, cedar, leather and sandalwood. The best way I can describe the scent is subtle, warm and masculine. I emphasize masculine because some of the other scents out there for men smell no different than the women's version. If you want to smell like a woman go right ahead... I prefer to smell manly. Any time you see Men's and Women's fragrances of the same name side by side that should be a red flag. As far as I know there is no women's equivalent to Drakkar Noir, so you should be safe. Although matching deodorants are available for Drakkar, I have found that it is easy to similarly match Drakkar's scent with various brands of deodorants/anti-perspirants.

Some people will say that Drakkar Noir smells "dated"... typically the people that are on the cutting edge of every trend possible. The same people that have no problem coming right up to you and telling you if your clothing doesn't match. The kind of snooty people whose opinion I could care less about. If your lady likes it... that's all that matters. If other women are complimenting you in addition to your wife or girlfriend... consider it a bonus. I've had Cool Water in the past, and although it smells fresh and "new", I can't recall ever receiving any compliments on it.

When purchasing Drakkar, I would say skip the expensive department store and the gifts sets, unless there is something essential offered for free, or you're one of those aforementioned snobs who care more about WHERE you buy stuff vs. WHAT you buy, and instead head over to your friendly Wal-mart, Target, or Kohls.

Wal-Mart has the Drakkar Noir 1.7 oz bottle of spray for $29.96, and a 3.4 oz bottle for $41.96. Do the math... for only $12 bucks more you get twice as much! The price has come down some since I first purchased Drakkar, because I remember the 3.4 oz bottle being close to $50.

If you want a nice, pleasing, masculine, yet not overwhelming cologne that doesn't smell like toilet bowl cleaner and won't cause migraines, but will garner many compliments... then you can't go wrong with Guy Laroche's Drakker Noir Eau de toilette spray.