A few weekends ago I was talking about the rise of cologne and my friend had a story of her own. Apparently one weekend, two of our buddies rode their bikes to Dave’s Hot Chicken, followed by a trip to Ulta Beauty for cologne testing. Eighth grade boys living their best lives.
So I shouldn’t have been surprised when the youngest member of our household told me he also needed cologne. Scratch that… colognes. He tells me, “Yeah, I need two. You need one for summer that’s like fresh, beachy, and tropicaly. And then one for winter that’s vanilla-y, cozy, and warm.”
Every day after school my cologne tutorial continues. Turns out there are boys at school with “collections.” Sometimes they bring the bottles to school so they can all test them out. One day he tells me about atomizers. And then notes. He’s rattling off brands. I think he said Jean Paul Gaultier with a French accent. I ask how he seems to know so much on this topic and come to find out there are dudes on YouTube making videos about various signature scents. I learn he consumed several hours of said videos over spring break. This deep dive into a particular interest is VERY James.
He narrows it down to two brands he has to try: Afnan 9pm and Rasasi Hawas. I love messing with him as I mispronounce these UAE brands. The sportswashing is totally working.
We then find a second layer of this manly ecosystem that buys full bottles of cologne, transfers them to little sample sizes, and sells them on Etsy for a reasonable price. We check the mailbox every day for two weeks we’re so excited for them to arrive.
I go to Atlanta and FaceTime him and the first thing he shows me? His little bottles of Hawasi Rasas have finally arrived. It was agony.
Tomorrow I’ve promised a special late afternoon trip to Pismo. He literally just asked, “Mom, when are we going to Perfumania?”
I am not making this up. Cross my Rasasi and hope to Hawasi.