Fellas, take a wiff of this

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| Wednesday, November 26, 2008 2:10 PM CST | () comments

The Associated Press

Gentlemen, it’s time to admit that Right Guard is not the smell that most women like to nuzzle up to. As the Christmas-list season hits full stride, it’s time to pay attention to manly scents — or the efforts to mask them.

And, luckily for us, Jennifer Lopez, who wasn’t interested at first in adding men’s products to her fashion and fragrance collections, changed her mind — sort of.

“I know women’s stuff. ... I don’t know men’s,” she says. “I thought that women’s clothes was enough of a drama.”

Deseo, a floral-woody perfume launched in February, is different, however. “If you see the bottle, hear the name, there’s an outdoor theme. It seemed right,” she explains.

Creating the juice wasn’t easy: Lopez wanted masculine but not something too common such as a musk. “I wanted to think outside the box,” she says. The starting point was the smells of red hot sauce and whiskey, while the final result has notes of lemon, tobacco, suede and amber.

“I’m a stickler for the fragrance. I’ll go back that one more time to make sure it’s perfect. I want to feel like I love it,” she says.

Other recent launches for men:

* Euphoria Men Intense by Calvin Klein. An offshoot of Euphoria, this embraces darker, spicier notes for a finish that’s supposed to be richer. Ginger pepper, sage, labdanum.

* Pi Neo by Givenchy. Perfumer Antoine Lie aimed to create an aura of mystery by using clean, spicy notes with classic masculine scents. Aniseed, tobacco, musk.

* U by Ungaro for Him. Ungaro’s new scent by Avon aims to be fresh and powerful. Green mandarin leaf, ruby red grapefruit and pomegranate.

* Zirh Ikon. Known as a skin-care brand, Zirh offers a no-nonsense, masculine fragrance that’s woody and spicy. Cardamom, black cinnamon and vetiver.

* Porsche Design — The Essence. Think cool: Perfumers tried to capture a fresh, icy sensation in this first fragrance from a subsidiary of the automaker. Juniper, Siberian pine, fir balsam..