Colognes were discovered in 1700s when the Italian perfume maker brought a perfume to his hometown Cologne and then named his perfume after the name of his hometown.
Initially colognes were a simple blend of citrus oils and ethanol.
Today a large variety of oils are being used for making scents such as oils of woods, smoke and earth also.
Cologne is supposed to be something very personal.
People often relate smells to other people and scents make a symbol of memory.
Smell of not only people but of other things like food items are also used for memorizing things.
The smell of an apple pie brings a very delicious image to the mind.
One should be very particular while choosing cologne because it will get associated with personality of that person.
One should be very careful not to choose a weird smelling perfume as it can have a negative impact on the people around.
Men should be particularly careful while selecting perfumes and colognes.
There are a few things that can help man select good cologne.

• The first thing that a man should keep in mind is that what kind of reputation and personality he has.
  Is he a school or college going student or is he a corporate big shot in his fifties? It is very important that the cologne goes well along with the personality of the person who will be wearing it because like clothes even perfumes can be misfits.
  
• The second and most important thing is the occasion where the perfume has to be worn.
  There are perfumes made for different occasions.
  For a formal dinner a person can wear a pleasant and soft scent but if the person is going for a dance party then it is necessary that the person wears a strong scent that stays on for long time.
  
• The third thing is the season that is going on.
  Scents react differently to different temperatures.
  There are different perfumes for hot and cold climates.
  
• Last of all is the budget.
  Colognes can be very expensive also and literally there is no limit to the amount which a person can spend on scents.
  It is very important that a person decides a limit the amount he is willing to spend on a scent before hand and sticks to it to avoid over spending.
  

A perfume can also be worn according to the age.
For instance, young men can go for fresh fragrances and elder men can go for heavy musky fragrances.
For those people who work outdoors they should wear scents that are long lasting but they should be careful to choose such a scent that blends with the natural body odor.
Some of the perfumes do not blend with the body odor and produce very weird smells.
One should also be careful to choose a scent especially if one has sensitive skin.
Some cologne can also react with the skin and form inflation.