A lot of guys assume the mall is the only place to buy a scent. Not so: We’ve now got options, men. Sure, there are department stores—both mainstream and high-end—but also consider clothing boutiques that stock carefully curated selections, as well as the scent-dedicated specialty stores we’re seeing more and more of lately. The key is to shop for a scent the same way you shop for clothes: You want to find somewhere that really gets your vibe. Once you’re there, smell everything that beckons, sit with each for a bit, then trust me, or rather, trust yourself: Your gut will always respond. I took out three guys who needed an upgrade and helped them on their hunt for a new signature smell.

As the 45-year-old general manager of the Standard Grill in Manhattan, Niels Koizumi needed something sophisticated. I knew that the massive high-end selection at Barneys was the right spot to dig in. My first thought was a geranium scent, because he said he liked grassy smells. His first thought: "What is that? Vicks VapoRub?" So we tried a few others, but they all seemed too strong. I squirted a little of Arquiste’s L’Etrog, which is warm, almost floral, and, in short, hard to categorize. Once he smelled it, he simply sighed like, "Yeah."

Arquiste L’Etrog

$165, available at [barneys.com](http://www.barneys.com)

Packed with indie juices no one else will be wearing, Aedes de Venustas in N.Y.C.’s West Village was ideal for a hipstery 31-year-old art student like Charley Lewis. The thing with unusual scents? They remind you of unusual things. One smelled to him like cigarettes, which for an ex-smoker wouldn’t fly. Another, Kilian’s Straight to Heaven, conjured "strange fucked-up wood!" Then I reached for Sel de Vétiver. "I used to work as a tree surgeon," he said, and grinned. "And this smells like a live plant." Sold.

**Sel de Vétiver by the Different Company

**

_$195, available at aedes.com _

Tony Calabrese used to be a minor league ballplayer, but now, at 33, he works in finance. It’s a job that requires a scent that’s conservative and business-minded. Any department store would’ve done, but we hit up Macy’s. I had him try Polo Double Black early on. It’s a spicy, chocolaty scent that’s the bottled equivalent of a business suit. Tony’s not an emotive guy, but I could tell he liked it. Still, we tried more. Some were too feminine. Others he just wouldn’t want to smell all day—a crucial consideration. All of them sent him right back to Double Black.

Polo Double Black

_$73, available at macys.com _

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