5 Business Fragrances for Men
ACCORDING TO JENNY RYDHSTRÖM

Besides being fascinating from a technical perspective, perfume is an excellent tool in your professional toolkit when it comes to business.

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Summary

  • The right business fragrance can enhance a professional presence by signalling elegance, confidence, and integrity without dominating the room.

  • Discreet, dry and less sweet fragrances that stay close to the skin are particularly suitable for offices, meetings, and formal settings.

  • Four selected fragrances illustrate different professional expressions – from charismatic authority to restrained sophistication.

I have previously written about how we humans, even subconsciously, perceive scent and how it can be used to your advantage. Feel free to read My 5 Best Negotiation Perfumes – for Women.

For a man, the conditions are partly the same as for a woman. It’s about compensating for your weaknesses, highlighting your strengths, and challenging preconceived notions – all with the goal of achieving your objectives.

The difference between men’s and women’s fragrance choices therefore depends entirely on which strengths, weaknesses, and stereotypes you want to control. I am myself an extremely strong personality who can sometimes come across as a steamroller with the motto “Forward.” I compensate for that with a soft fragrance that smooths my sharpest edges. A power fragrance on me would be both counterproductive and disastrous – at least if I want to keep any team members. You need to conduct the same analysis of yourself.

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Here are my best tips for men who want their fragrance choice to work for them rather than against them:

First, throw away all 90s fragrance brands such as Hugo Boss, Paco Rabanne and Jean Paul Gaultier. If you are a middle-aged white man, you are already at risk of being placed in the category of everything passé, dated, and dusty (sorry for the brutal honesty). A preconceived notion from your surroundings must be disproven – not reinforced.

Second, avoid fragrances you would wear on a date or that allude to sex. This includes most perfumes containing organic notes such as musk, amber, the “dirty” variety of oud, and other animalic notes intended to evoke skin, sweat, and bodily fluids. Yes, they are very common – and I can promise you that you’ll find them in most of your fragrances at home.

Third, and not least, avoid all fragrances containing sweetness or anything you might consider wearing to a nightclub (often the same scent).

As always in business, maintaining a professional level is key

As always in business, maintaining a professional level is essential. The easiest way to do that is with fragrances that are discreet and dry – meaning without sweetness and staying close to your body.

1. Creed Aventus. Perfect for a regular day at the office. This fragrance stands out in no way other than its elegance and class. It stays close to the skin, is difficult to detect beyond 30 cm, and never takes over a room.

2. Di Ser Kyara is my personal choice for tough negotiations, but works equally well on men. It is cool and dangerously sharp in its discreet patchouli disguise. To the untrained nose, patchouli can resemble the scent of a damp basement and is a stringent ingredient in many business fragrances.

3. Widian Liwa breaks many rules. It is almost too sweet, almost too spicy, almost too… rebellious to qualify for this list. Yet we have all likely met this enfant terrible in professional settings. Young, impossible to leash and absolutely… brilliant.

We both know it – and it’s extremely irritating.

4. Finally, there is of course a wildcard. Profumum Roma Arso. A heavy, burnt fragrance that radiates either confident alpha male or forest fire – certainly not for everyone. This is how a businessman smells who rarely follows protocol but somehow always manages to secure business advantages. We both know it – and it’s highly irritating. For me.