Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 6, 1990                   TAG: 9005040012
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PADDY CALISTRO LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MORE WOMEN ARE SPRITZING THEMSELVES WITH MEN'S COLOGNES

Like Currier, more and more women are heading for the men's fragrance counter. Tired of the overpowering floral notes and dramatic Oriental scents that have characterized women's perfumes for years, they are spritzing themselves with less pungent essences of citrus, lavender, herbs and forests.

Although 60 percent of men's fragrances are purchased by women, no figures exist to indicate how many women actually wear them. But retailers report that Calvin Klein's Obsession for Men and Eternity for Men have a strong female following, as do Aramis' New West Skin Scent, Christian Dior's Eau Sauvage and Fahrenheit, Giorgio for Men, Guerlain's Imperiale and Armani by Giorgio Armani.

"Right now more women are wearing men's scents than ever before," says Annette Green, executive director of The Fragrance Foundation in New York, an educational organization for the fragrance industry. She reasons that the increasing number of women in the work force is influencing the trend. "Most working women don't want to wear sexy scents to the office, so many of them are turning to men's fragrances that they don't perceive as sexy," Green says.

But other factors are influencing the trend. "Many times it's just a matter of a woman's being independent and not wanting to wear what everyone else wears," says Marvin Adelman, a vice president of Aramis.

Fred Hayman, the Beverly Hills retailer who developed 273 perfume and 273 for Men, says that because women are the predominant fragrance buyers, "a man's scent must please a woman. So it's quite natural that she might want to wear it. If the scent is clean and fresh, there's no reason why she shouldn't."

Hayman and other fragrance marketers test women's reactions to men's scents and weigh those responses carefully. Gun Bauchner, vice president of creative development at the Perfumer's Workshop Ltd., explains that two colognes were tested on both sexes before the final choice of its new Samba for Men was made. "The men were evenly split between the two, but the women unanimously voted for the woody, aromatic blend," she recalls. "They made our decision for us."

Perfume manufacturers usually don't create a men's scent with crossover sales in mind. "Our goal is to create a scent that a man likes to wear and that a woman finds appealing," says Linda LoRe, senior vice president of marketing at Giorgio Beverly Hills. "But we don't set out to attract a female customer - that's what the women's fragrances are for."

Although it is categorized as a men's fragrance in department stores, Aramis' New West Skin Scent was originally intended as a unisex product. Pamela Baxter, regional marketing director for Aramis, says she wears it exclusively. "I have always worn men's fragrances, because I like green, outdoorsy scents," she says. "Years ago I wore Dior's Eau Sauvage, then I switched to Lauder for Men. I've never liked flowery fragrances."

Like many beauty and grooming trends, this one has been seen before. Men's colognes such as Imperiale, Paco Rabanne and Colonia's 4711 were popular with women in the late 1970s, but in the 1980s women seemed to prefer potent feminine scents along the lines of Giorgio and Obsession. Those perfumes spawned complementary men's versions, and the cycle began again.

Is it a coincidence that fragrance manufacturers are saying that future women's perfumes will be herbaceous, outdoorsy fragrances with more citrus notes? Not at all, Green says. "Women turn to men's fragrances because they're looking for something different - they want the fresh scents," she acknowledges. Liz Claiborne's Liz, a subtle sport fragrance, has been a tremendous success, and Ralph Lauren's new Safari has masculine overtones. "We'll see more women's fragrances that follow this trend in the very near future," Green says.

But many women now devoted to wearing men's scents aren't likely to switch back. "I'll always wear men's scents because they're distinctive on a woman," Currier says. "And no, I never worry that I smell like a man. It just doesn't happen."