What I Smell Like

I’ve worn the same brand of cologne now for thirty years.
Halston Z-14 is, hands down, my favorite.

I first encountered it during my freshman year in college. My roommate and best friend, Mark, wore it. We were inseparable during our first year of college.

I had come from my little-bitty home town where I’d received, like, a dozen bottles of Jovan Musk or Old Spice for graduation. Mark was from the huge, sophisticated city of Houston and he wore this very sophisticated cologne. I loved its woody, cinnamony, spicy scent. Still do.

It’s not like I’ve never worn anything else. Sure, there was the brief flirt with Polo by Ralph Lauren back in 1980. One whiff of that, and I’m instantly transformed to my junior year of college and New Wave clubs in Dallas.

Do you remember the Obsession obsession of the mid-eighties? God! Some guys wore that so thick that there would be a sickeningly sweet Obsession-fog following them around. I hated that stuff.

Then, in 1987, I was visiting a friend in Toronto and found Lacoste (you know, with the green alligator). It has a light, lemony, herbal, vanilla-like scent that’s very unique. The thing is, it was only available in Canada. When I moved to Toronto for graduate school back in ’99, I wore it almost continually.

You know how your sense of smell has the most sense of recall? For example, if I smell sweet pickles, it reminds me of the next door neighbor’s kitchen – when I was three years old!

So, Lacoste reminds me of Canada and Canada is a happy place for me. (Socialized medicine rules!)

Now, thanks to Froogle.com, I can remain well-supplied of Lacoste. It’s my second-favorite cologne to wear.

And my best friend, Mark, from college? He transferred to Cal State a year later but we’ve stayed in touch all these years.

Mark’s on his third marriage, but I’ve remained faithful to Halston for thirty years now.