Create a "Manly" shampoo scent

[MacTech]

Since I just ran out of my normal shampoo, i had to get a new bottle, a big, industrial bottle of Suave For Men somethingorother....

It's not too bad, nice thick lather, but the biggest problem is that they made it smell like watermelons.....

I don't want my shampoo to smell like tasty foodstuffs, that would make my brains too tempting for the inevitable Zombie Uprising, what we REALLY need, is a shampoo with a more "Manly" scent....

My ideas for Manly Shampoo smells.....

Hoppe's No. 9 Nitro Solvent
Cordite
WD-40
Diesel fuel
Pre-mix gasoline.....

What would your choices be?

[Ulfreida]

Sweat, with top notes of used engine oil and unwashed levis. mmm.

[antonio107]

I don't wanna smell like gasoline or WD-40 after a shower!

But considering the premise, I guess watermelons and other produce are "womanly" foods, so the alternative would be shitty, unhealthy foods in scent form. I propose:

-Bacon
-Oregano (pick the Italian food of your choice)
-Chili
-Mustard
-Jack Daniels

[Taomist]

The BBQ mixture up there would work! (Why yes I *did* get MrTao candles that smell like both bacon AND bbq, why do you ask?)

On a more serious note, sandalwood.

Or, hell, sandlewood bbq! The smell your woman would find finger-lickin' good, if ya know what I mean.

[LawMonkey]

My favorite and very manly (and discontinued, I think) soap was vetiver and cedar. Add some sandalwood if you want. Patchouli can work too.

[Girl From Mars]

Diptyque (famous French scented candle brand) does/did a John Galliano scent, which I think would fit the bill. It's very masculine with the scent of leather, of birch wood embers smoldering on an open fire and hints of iris, musk and vanilla.

[rowrrbazzle]

Leather.

Pipe tobacco smoke.

Other ideas at man candles: http://www.mandleco.com/default.asp

[Suburban Plankton]

Beer.

It's supposed to be good for your hair, isn't it?

[stw004]

Ribeye steak grillin over mesquite charcoal.....mmmmm

[panache45]

Semen.

[TriPolar]

Napalm in the morning

[NoiseBomb]

I would so totally let my hair grow out and use a shampoo that smelled like freshly burned gunpowder, if such a thing existed.

[Sudden Kestrel]

Originally Posted by Ulfreida

Sweat, with top notes of used engine oil and unwashed levis. mmm.

^ This, but with the addition of well-worn leather. I had a male friend who smelled like this and he was irresistible.

BTW, I'm a woman, and I don't want my hair to smell like fermented mangoes any more than men do. I finally found a body wash that doesn't make me smell like a fruit salad, but I haven't had any luck with shampoo. I think I'll have to start making my own.

[Mangetout]

Durian.

Oh wait, you said no foodstuffs...

[Becky2844]

the way leaves on the ground smell out in the woods

a damp wool shirt

the slightest whiff of well-worn shoes

[Mr. Moto]

Bay rum.

[kmshrader]

Leather, sawdust, and gun oil. That's a female perspective, anyway.

The bigger problem, for me, is that a product advertised as more "manly" is watermelon scented. What the hell?

[pancakes3]

Mulch
Plastic
New Car
Lacquer

No smell.

[Senegoid]

I'll second the motion to veto any watermelon or other such fruity scent.

Shampoos are already so loaded with vitamins and minerals, I don't know if I'm supposed to scrub my scalp with it, or swallow two tablespoons-full every day.

The above-suggested semen scent (post #10 above), by the way, needn't require a phalanx of donors to produce. It can be obtained from botanical sources too. (See also: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...d.php?t=321896)

[Nunzio Tavulari]

The idea is to attract women. So new shoes, wine boxes and cell phones.

[Arabella Flynn]

Originally Posted by LawMonkey

My favorite and very manly (and discontinued, I think) soap was vetiver and cedar. Add some sandalwood if you want. Patchouli can work too.

This is actually a traditional male cologne combination. A citrusy thing and an earthy/woody thing, sometimes with a piney thing, is apparently a guy scent. I don't know if there's any logic behind it, other than "this combo sells well to men, because this is the combo we've always sold to men", but it's well-known enough that it's its own category of perfume, called "chypre".

[ZenBeam]

Unscented. A real man smells like himself.

[Happy Lendervedder]

What I use: Grandpa Brand Pine Tar Soap. It comes as a shampoo and conditioner and body gel too. But I don't dork around with all that liquid shit in the bottles. Too frou-frou. Just give me a nice solid brown bar of pine tar soap and I'm good to go.

The scent is a cross between campfire, raw lumber, rubber and baseball mitt with a slight undertone of motor oil. I'll never wash with another soap again. It doesn't leave much of a lingering scent on your skin or hair, despite the strong scent coming from the bar itself. The smell it leaves once you rinse is very subtle. But manly.

In fact, it is damn straight the manliest scent for a personal grooming product you will find on the market. I'll stake my clean, yet subtly-scented, hairy man nuts on it.

[InternetLegend]

If I could find an unscented shampoo, I'd buy out the stock.

Head & Shoulders used to have a borderline-unpleasant medicinal smell. I liked it. Now it just makes Mr. Legend's head smell like he's just come back from lunch at a French whorehouse. Blech.

So I vote for pine tar and teatree oil scent. That should be horrible enough.

[Slithy Tove]

Pine Tar soap is an honest smell, but it doesn't last. Same for sandalwood soap. You need to rub something into your pores without washing it away; something made to react to the acidity of your perspiration.

As with Coke vs Pespi, it's a matter of citrus vs spice. Women are traditonally floral (citrus). Note how their clothes, beadspreads, etc. are decorated with them: because flowers are a fertility symbol. Men are symbolized with action/arousal: spice, peppers, saltiness.

Me, I use a mixture of bay rum and anise extract.

[TruCelt]

The scent of orange spice tea. I know, I know, it is a foodstuff, but not a girly one.

I do like both Bay Rum and Royall Lyme as well.

[Robot Arm]

Originally Posted by Nunzio Tavulari

The idea is to attract women. So new shoes, wine boxes and cell phones.

How 'bout just money?

[Happy Lendervedder]

Originally Posted by TruCelt

The scent of orange spice tea. I know, I know, it is a foodstuff, but not a girly one.

I do like both Bay Rum and Royall Lyme as well.

Royall Lyme is a very nice complement to the pine tar.

[bldysabba]

Petrichor. Or how parched earth smells after the first shower of rain.