Movember Madness has struck me this month and as well as attempting to cultivate a handsome portion of facial hair upon my top lip things have been a bit more man-focused on The Candy Perfume Boy. Sometimes one must remember that it’s important not to forget the boys and this month I am honouring my fellow Mobros in true Candy Perfume Boy style.

Those of you who read The Candy Perfume Boy regularly will know that I wear a mixture of feminine and masculine scents, with the ratio skewed much more to the former rather than the latter. That’s not to say I don’t like masculine fragrances at all, quite the opposite in fact, it just so happens that my favourite style of fragrances (earth shattering florals) tend to lurk on the feminine side of the perfume shelves.

When I wear a masculine fragrance I tend to go for something classic with a modern twist. I often find myself drawn to the floral-sweet yet dandified style of fragrances that can be classified as barbershop. For me there’s just something attractive about smelling well-groomed and well-oiled.

In this post I would like to showcase my top four barbershop scents, presented in the form of my Movember Barbershop Quartet. So without further adieu I present you The Lead, The Tenor, The Bass and The Baritone.

The Lead sings the melody and none are more suitable to sing the lead in this quartet than the world’s first ever fougère; Fougère Royale. Released in 1882 Fougère Royale is a very handsome blend of citrus, green notes, geranium and vanilla/hay-like coumarin.

Fougère Royale set the bar for a million masculines that followed it and whilst it may seem a little old-fashioned now, it perfectly epitomises all that is gentlemanly. Wear this if you want to add a little bit of a vintage twist to your wardrobe, just make sure you are enough of a gentleman to pull it off.

The Tenor harmonises above the melody and if there is one thing Fleur du Mâle has it’s a strong voice to sing high above all others. One spritz of this floral take on Gaultier’s classic Le Mâle and you’ll be taken into a man’s bathroom, in which you can smell the odours of grooming products, soap, floral toilet cleaner and one incredibly well buffed individual.

It is simply wonderful stuff and the contrast between the sweet heady flowers and vanillic coumarin facets makes for an incredibly enjoyable take on the classic barbershop masculine. I might even say that it is possibly one of my all time favourite masculines, but don’t hold me to that…

The Bass sings the lowest notes and L’Homme Infini (full review and giveaway to come tomorrow) showcases the deeper, richer notes of the barbershop style. L’Homme Infini is heavy on the black pepper and pairs it with warm spices and rich woods to create something quite butch.

What’s interesting about L’Homme Infini is that the butch-ness is tempered by soft powdery amber and vetiver (not to mention a generous slug of clary sage) which really give it an atypical barbershop vibe, leading one to think of an expensive shave cream or moisturiser.

The Baritone completes the chord and no barbershop quartet would be complete without Sartorial. It is perhaps the least barbershop-esque within my quartet, classifying itself as a modern remix of the traditional fougère instead.

Inspired by Savile Row tailors Nortons & Sons, Sartorial takes the fougère accord and mixes it up with the addition of aldehydes, ozonic notes and beeswax. The result is something familiar yet unusual and when one wears it one cannot help but smell impeccably well-groomed. All one needs is the bespoke suit to match.

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For daily updates and to make a donation to Movember please visit my Mo Space. All donations are welcome, even if it is just £1 and as Movember aims to raise money for men’s health charities, specifically in the areas of prostate and testicular cancer it would be going to a more than worthy cause. Don’t forget to select GiftAid if you are UK tax payer, so that the Taxman coughs up some cash too.

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Image 1 joshuachollis.wordpress.com. Image 2 noventa-grados.com. Image 3 dutyfreeshops.gr. Image 4 cafleurebon.com (cropped). Image 5 smallflower.com.