The Library of Fragrance Masculine Colognes

You may be aware of The Library of Fragrance (Demeter Fragrance in the US), a brand renowned for their slightly quirky, unusual and single note colognes. Within the beauty blogging world the floral and more obviously feminine choices have taken central stage but there are some hidden, deeper and altogether unisex veering on masculine options too.

The great thing about The Library of Fragrance is not that they are pretty kind on the purse strings but as they are single note colognes you can combine a good few, to create a custom blend and of course wear them as stand alone scents. As an added bonus you can also layer with your favourite perfume to add a little something extra - for instance I like to mist on The Library of Fragrance Black Pepper Cologne with my beloved Thierry Mugler Alien to make it a little different and unexpected from the norm.

If that sounds intriguing, or perhaps you are a male reader, let me share four of my must try edgier The Library of Fragrance colognes:

Black Pepper - spicy and somewhat aromatic, I wouldn't personally recommend wearing this as a solo fragrance as it is pretty true to life - it does however work really well layered with other deep scents to add a little more depth and longevity.

Leather - soft, buttery and really easy to wear. If you are a fan of the likes of Tom Ford Tuscan Leather Eau de Parfum then this is one you need to add to your collection, the same applies if generally the scent of real leather appeals to you. From a female perspective this layers beautifully with anything vanilla based.

Mahogany - out of the four this is the one I'd be most inclined to wear as a stand alone fragrance, yes it is of course a woody cologne but it is so much more than that! Deep, somewhat spice based and oh so addictive. Again I have been experimenting and find this works best layered with oriental florals and of course already woody fragrances. As a side note I really like this blended with either The Library of Fragrance Leather or Black Pepper colognes, and if I'm feeling extra fancy all three together!

Whiskey Tobacco - again a very Tom Ford-esque option and not a fragrance everyone will enjoy. I will straight shoot and state that this is quite pungent and smells just how you'd imagine. As a stand alone scent it is not something I'd recommend - unless you rather enjoy the whiff of whiskey then chances are you will use this a mixer (pun somewhat intended). As this is very unusual I don't layer it with anything other than The Library of Fragrance Leather Cologne, then end result is a deep and unusual, heedy blend that you'd spend the best part of £100 from Selfridges.

At just £15/30ml a scent The Library of Fragrance colognes are something everyone needs to try at least once! You can find select colognes via Boots - link and purchase direct from the The Library of Fragrance -link.

This post contains press samples.