Pretty Critical

Man Scents--Mystery Man, Business Casual, Shaka and Atlas Cedar

(warning--strong opinion just around the curve...proceed at your own risk)

I like man scents.  I really do.  Call me a snob, but my man scent preferences fall along the lines of Creed Aventus or Ormonde Jayne Zizan rather than Axe (fine if my man was 16---and I was too) or Old Spice (okay, I confess a fondness for Old Spice, but only because it was my beloved Grandaddy Ray's signature scent, and that man played a large part in my happy childhood memories.  Sure do miss him.)  I even have a little nostalgia for that incredibly cheap, heavy musk my first boyfriend used to pile on back in the musk-loving 70's, but dang, I don't want it in my house fergoshsakes.

Lately, Scentsy seems to think their man-scent demographic falls into the Axe-loving crowd rather than the Creed crowd.  And maybe they do.  There seems to be a lot of consultant love for  Business Casual, and now, Mystery Man, that, frankly, I find mysterious.  Throw Shaka and Atlas Cedar in with that lot, too.  For me, they are mood killers, rather than mood enhancers.

Yesterday I received Mystery Man, and while it doesn't make me run straight to the trash can, it also doesn't make me run straight to my warmer.  To be fair, I did pop a cube in just to give it a fair warm-scent trial.  Nope.  Yuck.  Cheap man's cologne/aftershave/deodorant.  Why, Scentsy, Why?  Scents like this just end up making me feel perplexed. It's the same feeling I have gotten with all of the recent Scentsy man-scent releases--Business Casual, Shaka, Atlas Cedar, and now, Mystery Man.

They're so disappointing to me that I find myself harkening back to days of Scentsy old---when fabulous scents like Zeppelin, My Dear Watson, and Route 66 were the standard bearers.  Throw in a little Vanilla Suede, and I was good.

But ho!  What do I know?  I often find myself on the wrong side of scent fashion as it is, with my aversion to the really sweet stuff, and love for woodsy, earthy scents that don't seem to enjoy any popularity. I swim up the scent stream, rather than with it.  Mark Twain said,

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

That really has been my life motto, and it appears to apply to scent along with just about everything else.  Go with the flow?  No thanks.  Ask my mother.  She'll verify the facts for you.  However, consider for yourself that my opinion is just that--an opinion--that may vary wildly from your own.  Mystery Man, Business Casual, and all the rest seem to enjoy a dedicated following, if The Forums are any indication.  By all means, consider trying them for yourself, if for nothing else, the satisfaction of telling me how wrong I am :)

The bottom line is, however, I dislike them so much I just can't bear to give the recent batch of man-scents a real review with ratings and all.  I'll stick to what Scentsy does best--fruity/floral or earthy/woodsy.

Until next time.....