Fragrance: A Field Guide to the Best and Worst Sniffs Out There

Fragrance: A Field Guide

Men aren't always great at figuring out what works for them -- behold the existence of cargo shorts. We're no better with fragrance than we are with fashion -- terribly inconsistent and unfaithful, hopping in and out of bed with any number of scents wafting our way at the airport.

To help narrow down your options, look no further than Perfume: The A-Z Guide, by fragrance freaks Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, a mine of pithy reviews of the best and worst scents out there. Turin, in particular, does not mince words. "The cheapness of the formula is the main reason why most 'fine' perfumes are total crap," he writes in The Secret of Scent, his exploration of the science of smell. "Other reasons include slavish imitation, crass vulgarity, profound ignorance, fear of getting fired, and general lack of inventiveness and courage." As for so-called sports fragrances, his advice is blunt: "Just say no." Below, Turin's greatest sniffs -- and four to avoid.

The Good: Beyond Paradise Men, Estee Lauder

"Its composer, Calice Becker, has miraculously found a way to bottle a never-ending dawn such as Concorde pilots used to see when flying westward, racing with the sun."

The Good: Blue Stratos, Parfums Bleu

"It's the classic hairy-chested naff fougere from 1975, the year Barry Manilow sang 'Mandy.' Whether Blue Stratos conjures memories or is seen as a period piece, it is to fragrance what aspirin is to headaches: It's cheap and it works."

The Good: Cologne, Thierry Mugler

"I assume that, when he's not pretending to be French to save trouble, Thierry Mugler travels with a passport that says 'Forbidden Planet.' His cologne is that rarest thing: a fun masculine fragrance, like the triple-distilled essence of a space-age barbershop."

The Good: Cool Water, Davidoff

"CW belongs to the category of things done right the first time, like the first Windsurfer and Boeing 707s. Countless imitations, variations, and complications failed to improve on it or add interest to this cheerful, abstract, cheap, and effective formula of crab apple, woody citrus, amber, and musk."

The Bad: Allure Homme Sport, Chanel

"Like being stuck in an elevator for 12 hours with a tax accountant."

The Bad: Black XS, Paco Rabanne

"A powerful, dry, woody amber the size of Manhattan or, to be specific, as if Manhattan were trying to lift itself, spires first, into your brain via your nose."

The Bad: Cacharel pour l’Homme, Cacharel

"Inaugurated an old and still continuing trend of masculine fragrances so skeletally barren and cheap-smelling that they have long been overtaken by spray starch and sneaker tamer."

The Bad: Erolfa, Creed

"I remembered Erolfa from 15 years ago as thoroughly nasty and was not disappointed. Anyone who wears this by choice probably dreams of buying a black Audi TT with his year-end bonus."