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Why Quitting Antidepressants Is So Depressing, Glenn Close and the ‘Other Woman’ Archetype and What Guys Don’t Know About Cologne

I’m a total fragrance newb. The last cologne I bought cost me probably 20 bucks at Pacific Sunwear. And when I say “me” I mean my mom, because I was 12.

Since then I’ve been lucky enough to be gifted at least a couple of bottles ranging in olfactory quality from fair to great, none of which I use(d) with any regularity, probably because cologne intimidates me, and reminds me of a kind of guy who I’m not quite sure I want to be.

You know who I’m talking about.


Which made this conversation between Zaron Burnett III and one of the fragrance industry’s leading experts so fascinating to me. Mainly because it dispelled a lot of the things that had intimidated me about cologne in the first place, and also because it makes choosing a personal scent and using it the right way kind of exciting.

I still can’t kick the feeling that it’s mostly for sweaty club bros, however.

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The Other Woman

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Do You Even Bench, Bro?

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‘Fortnite’ to the Rescue

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Eau de You

Michael Edwards, the perfume expert’s expert, is a man who knows his scents. He’s the guy behind the annually updated Fragrances of the World guidebook (known around the industry as the “Fragrance Bible”), and in 2018 alone, he reviewed more than 2,700 different fragrances. In other words, he’s hot shit (he smells good, too). And if there’s one thing that sticks in his craw in the three decades he’s worked in the business, it’s how little men know about choosing (and using) their fragrances.

Basic Dad: ‘Mommy and Daddy Were Just Tickle-Fighting’ Edition

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