I have never finished a bottle of aftershave. Every Christmas I receive a new fragrance – I have five-year-old bottles sitting on my bathroom shelf. I have been using Geo F. Trumper’s Skye (£33 for 100ml; trumpers.com), a deliciously clean blast of sea air, all year. And somehow, 80 of the original 100ml remain.
Perhaps, by applying a quick splash, I am being too cautious. But surely the point of wearing fragrance is to carry a subtle and pleasant whiff of freshness, not to scorch the nasal hair of all who stray within ten paces.
Over the past couple of weeks I have tried more than 20 scents and am bewildered and unsure what I would like my new smell to be. Women keep a variety of options on the dressing table. Men prefer to find a pong they want to be associated with and stick with it.
I decided to apply the samples liberally. Confusingly, a female colleague was so taken by Viktor & Rolf’s Antidote (£52 for 75ml; shop.harveynichols.com) that she started wearing it herself. I was so free with Armani’s Code (£34.99 for 50ml; fragrancedirect.co.uk) that I felt as if I were about to emerge from a nightclub cloakroom after receiving a dousing from a tip-hungry attendant.
I thought I liked Christian Dior’s gingery Homme Sport best (£40 for 50ml; harrods.com). But then I tried Chanel’s Allure Homme Edition Blanche (£38.17 for 50ml; boots.com) and loved it. It was reassuringly familiar. When I checked the bathroom, I understood why. There, beneath a layer of dust, was a half-finished bottle of the original Allure.