fragrance
Potentially this is a road to nowhere as Fragrance can be such an individual taste. However approximately 60% of men's fragrance market is dominated by three manufacturers leading to the conclusion that people are more herd like and just play it safe sticking with market leaders.
There are a lot of resources regarding mens fragrances and over time I have settled on the user reviews published on http://www.fragrantica.com and the YouTube channel of Jeremy Fragrance, https://www.youtube.com/Jeremyfragrance. Jeremy Fragrance has reviews and views from many different people and angles all done in a fresh lighthearted way.
Personally if at all possible I would always try a fragrance on before purchase as no matter how good the reviews are - you never know, it just might be repellent to you for some reason. Either ask for a tester strip or spray on the back of your hand and leave alone - don't rub. One fragrance for each hand. Later you can revisit and smell each over time and preferences will emerge. Importantly you can ask friends and colleagues what they think.
You will find that there is a lot of people are are "totally into" fragrances and this can lead to jip when someone like Zara produces something that is actually really good for £10. You really need to ignore these people. The cost of the ingredients is a very small percentage of the overall cost of the fragrance, with packaging and marketing making up the bulk. If a company attempts to make a clone (a close copy of an existing fragrance) this is being done with professional perfumiers not some Joe off the street. The fact is you can experiment and acquire quite a selection of marvellous smelling scents at a very reasonable cost.
Selected FRAGRANCES
HUGO BOSS
One of the 60% ers
Hugo Boss makes a very wide range of men's fragrances and is one of the big three making up the bulk of sales. I personally have "Unlimited". I wear this often, last for ages but unlike some HELLO I AM HERE fragrances like Bleu De Chanel (marvellous but pricey), people know you are wearing something that's mainstream with quality and sophistication.
ZARA
Crafty ...
Whilst researching fragrances I noted one particular wheeze carried on by certain fashion chains. What they would do is create a fragrance that was a VERY close copy (clone) of a much more expensive fragrance and sell it for peanuts. The trick was though not to bother telling anyone of the similarity - letting instead purchasers and reviewers pick up on it. One "tribute" fragrance is Y by Zara for Men. This fragrance has been compared closely to the original formulation of Yves Saint Laurent La Nuit de l'Homme a very highly regarded fragrance indeed. Other Zara fragrances of note are Orange Zest and Blue Spirit.
GIORGIO ARMANI
Your Subitle Here
I remember going into Browns of Chester UK England and upon entering the huge fragrances department asked the assistant if I only had to choose one fragrance what would you recommend. The answer Armarni Code. The only issue I have with blockbuster fragrances is most likely everyone else is wearing it to - like Paco Rabannes One Million. This however does not detract from the fact that Armani range is solid quality. The current go for in the range is Aqua Di Gio Profumo.
YVES SAINT LAURENT
Class
No fragrance collection is complete without YSL. Read up, test and enjoy.