Why Your Favourite Perfume May Be Terrible For A First Date

Getting ready for a romantic date is a fertile ground for overthinking. Right from the outfit, the conversation, the restaurant, the inevitable “what should I wear?” text. Your perfume, thankfully, can be the easy part.

The best fragrances for a romantic date make work closer to the skin with woody, soft spice, amber scents to subtly make your date notice just how good you smell. Depending on your drop spot for a date night-- a vinyl bar, a Japanese restaurant that's newly opened in your city, or a movie night at the theatres, your fragrance should not act as an archnemesis sabotaging your date night.

Instead of focusing on wearing your everyday perfume that's rich, smoky and powerful for date night, you may want to pick a first date perfume that works well in the smallest or most enclosed setting. A lot of times, a strong perfume can be mistaken for a fragrance that feels elegant outdoors but much louder in a car, booth, or at an intimate restaurant. 

Most men choose fragrance according to occasion. Is it for a party or for special office meeting. But it should be as personality.

If you like dark, smoky oud, you wear dark, smoky oud. If you like something fresh and citrusy, you reach for it every morning. It becomes part of your uniform.

A first date is different. You're not dressing only for yourself; you're giving another person an introduction to you. And just as you probably wouldn't turn up to a first date wearing every piece of jewellery you own, you don't necessarily want your fragrance to occupy all the available space.

How you present yourself is as important as what you present. So a fragrance that feels seductive outdoors can become oppressive in a small restaurant. Something that smells sophisticated on a winter evening can turn syrupy in Mumbai's humidity or most likely fade out. And a perfume that gets compliments from your friends may simply be too familiar, too loud or too predictable for a two-hour dinner if you know the person already.

The objective isn't to smell like the most expensive person in the room, of course. It's to smell like someone worth sitting closer to.Look for fragrances that reveal themselves gradually. Woods, musk, amber, soft spices, vanilla and restrained citrus can work particularly well because they create warmth without necessarily overwhelming the person sitting beside you.

Look for fragrances that reveal themselves gradually. Woods, musk, amber, soft spices, vanilla and restrained citrus can work particularly well because they create warmth without necessarily overwhelming the person sitting beside you.

Having said that, here are some first date perfumes recommendations for you to consider:

₹11,200 (100ml)

Forget smelling conventionally “fresh.” Jazz Club smells like the aftermath of a good night: rum, tobacco leaf, vanilla and smoky woods. It’s warm, boozy and atmospheric and best picks for a date night.

₹ 13,800 (100ml)

Creamy tonka, citrus and woods make this considerably warmer and more seductive than its sporty name suggests. It has that elusive quality of smelling freshly showered, well-dressed and slightly addictive at the same time

 ₹10,350 (100ml)

Warm, spicy and distinctly evening-oriented, The One EDP is built for close encounters. Ginger and orange blossom open the fragrance before giving way to tobacco, amber and woods. It has an old-school seductiveness, but without smelling dated.

₹17,500 (50 ml)

Forget about smelling conventional. Comme des Garçons Wonderwood is a rich, woody fragrance centered around vetiver, cedar, and guaiac wood.

₹12,500 ( 50 ml)

Dark, woody and effortlessly polished, Cypress & Grapevine is Jo Malone's answer to the man who wants his date-night fragrance to feel masculine without becoming predictable. Cypress and grapevine mingle with moss and amber, giving it a dry, aromatic depth that's elegant rather than overpowering.