Anyone know a good unisex word that refers to both cologne and perfume? I'm trying to describe the general smell you'd get at a party or the middle of a dance floor.
I thought about that, but same problem. It might need modification to signal that I'm talking about perfume/cologne instead of sweat or farts or fabric softener. And then I'm using seven or eight words instead of one. I'll probably just use cologne or perfume depending on how the syllables and alliterations line up.
Are you not going to need a modifier anyway? The general smell I notice when I am at a party or the dance floor is alcohol (But I am guessing that is not the smell you are going for.) Saying "He had a strong cologne on." is an abstraction. There are hundreds on colognes out there, I have no idea which one you are talking about. Saying "He has a Mint-like cologne." Gives me a better idea of what you are talking about. Though to be honest, I don't really know what your sentence entails.
The bodies on the dance floor writhed to the pulsing beat. The fragrance they'd drenched themselves in before leaving their homes was pungent in the air.
It's the "they'd drenched themselves in" part I was trying to avoid... cologne wafted toward the mezzanine was more of what I was looking for... only I was hoping there was a super cool unisex word for cologne that wouldn't require a dictionary...
Naw, I've always used the phrase "dope smoke" for that. Always loved the way it looked and sounded. Hard consonant and long "o" alliterations.
Maybe name some specific brands and mix them with as a pungent rainbow of... Or rainbow's equivalent. sweaty air of...
Perfuuuuuuume! Unfortunately, I have nothing for you. I could explain eau de cologne, cologne, eau de toilette, eau de parfum, parfum/extrait, and so on and so on, but that's not the point. I don't know of a single word that refers to the whole concept in the context that you want. When men are involved, the generic word is usually "cologne". Women, usually "perfume". When I write a review of one of these things, my tags include "fragrance review". But none of those things help. You could get specific: "A heady fog of fragrance, everything from Chanel No. 5 to Grey Flannel." But that would tend to date you. Those two are classics; if I came up with something current, then they would be old in three years. Now, if you were deliberately trying to date yourself, you could choose based on that. ("...a heady fog of Opium and Brut..." for the Eighties, for example.) Perfume notes? ("...a heady fog of jasmine and musk..." "...jasmine and cheap musk..." "...jasmine and aftershave..."?) Anything there that works for you? I'm not crazy about Brut for my Eighties example; if the idea of the example were usable, I'd find something else.
The dance floor reeked of AXE and sweat.... In my experience, it's generally the young men that over-apply the scent of the season. Now it's AXE, but in my day it was Obsession or Drakkar Noir.
In my experience it is the older guys. Young men 'don't need it,' they are so 'sexy,' they think, but after thirty a man begins to realise his natural scent is not the magnet he thought it might have been. With more courtesy he washes and stuff like that when he is older. For example, my Christmas bottle is empty. What does that say about cologne? Same goes for mouthwash.
