Perfume for Men or Only Cologne?

One of the first books I read on the topic of scent was Perfume by Luca Turin. He includes lists in the back of his book like "Top 10 Colognes for Men" "Top Ten Perfumes for Women" and "Top 10 Women's Scents that Men Ought to Wear." It was nice to be given permission to try them out. It seems that here in the USA men approach scent very strictly, only wearing what is deemed "cologne" and avoiding anything remotely labeled perfume.

Something I find intriguing is the fact that in the early 1900's men's scent veered into more florals than what is on the market today. With scents including such notes as Violet, Lemon, and even Lilac. All three of which I've liked the smell of on me.

It's becoming clear to me that the idea of scents being gender categorized is a quite new idea. I wonder if this phenomenon is due in part to the influx of advertising? I think of society when advertising wasn't as deeply saturated into people's everyday living, and wonder if people were making their buying decisions based more on what they personally responded to, instead of the mild brainwashing of advertising.

What I have found while sampling independent perfumer's scents is they don't label according to gender, rather by scent notes. A couple scents that I've tried and gotten rave compliments while wearing are not necessarily mens but arguably womens. And vice-versa. Unisex is the politically correct term. Green Oakmoss by Liz Zorn and Parfum De Maroc by Mandy Aftel aren't on the "men's" page. Likewise the scent Vanillaville and Fir are on the general women's page but smell very "masculine" to my nose.

All in all when it comes to scent I am striving to let my nose be my guide for what I like to wear as a scent.

"...I kindly ask you: don’t trust what they [perfumers] tell you... trust your nose. Your nose will tell you whether you smell something interesting, whether you smell something that’s worth investing money in. And whether it’s something that you’re going to wear two years from now." -Andy Tauer, Basenotes Interview