In 1988, Davidoff launched Cool Water, a men's fragrance built on mint, sea water and rosemary by the perfumer Pierre Bourdon. It set the template for the marine men's scent, and on the same Wikipedia page you will find a nice detail: in 1993, Snoop Dogg shouted it out on Lodi Dodi, from Doggystyle. A fragrance does not get more lodged in the culture than that. Every sea-note cologne you have met since borrows something from it.

Allure Homme Sport is Chanel's version of that idea, and it is more grown-up than the name suggests. Allure Homme itself came first, in 1999, and was Chanel's first pair of scents for men and for women, made by the house perfumer Jacques Polge. Sport followed in 2004, then the Cologne in 2007 and Sport Eau Extrême in 2012, according to Fragrantica. The notes are orange, sea notes, aldehydes and blood mandarin on top, pepper, neroli and cedar in the middle, and vanilla, tonka bean, white musk, amber, vetiver and elemi at the base. Chanel's own description calls it fresh and woody. I think of it as a clean shirt more than a gym spray.

The trick is to choose by weather, since the first grid is really the same idea at different strengths. The Eau de Toilette is the original Sport. The Cologne Eau de Toilette is the lightest, and the one I would wear on a hot day. Eau Extrême Eau de Parfum and Superleggera Eau de Parfum Spray are deeper, better for cooler evenings. The All-Over Spray and the Deodorant Stick finish the job, and the plain Allure Homme Eau de Toilette and All-Over Spray sit there for anyone who wants the original, without the Sport.

Wear a fragrance on one wrist and a different one on the other for a day. You learn more about the house than you would in an hour at the counter.

Bleu de Chanel is the obvious next stop, and the grid is generous with it. There is the Eau de Toilette and the Eau de Parfum Spray for the standard choice, and Bleu de Chanel L'Exclusif Parfum for the most concentrated bottle here. Around it sit an All-over Spray, a 2-in-1 Cleansing Gel and an After Shave Lotion, which makes Bleu one of the few men's scents you can wear from the shower onward, in a single family.

Platinum Égoïste is the quiet one, in an Eau de Toilette and a matching Deodorant Stick. I like it for someone who does not want to smell like anything trending, and who would be happy to be remembered for a good jacket instead.

A pairing I like: Allure Homme Sport by day and Platinum Égoïste when the dress code goes up, or the other way round if you want.

What I would skip: layering the All-over Spray over a different fragrance. It is meant to stay in its own family.

Smell the top notes, then put the bottle down and wait twenty minutes. Fresh colognes are the fastest to change, and the sharpest citrus is usually gone before you leave the store.

Acqua di Giò Eau de Toilette, from Giorgio Armani, is the clearest neighbour to Allure Homme Sport, and the one I would try first. Dior has two here, Homme Cologne and Eau Sauvage Eau de Toilette, and they are the two Dior names in this grid. Prada's Luna Rossa Ocean Eau de Parfum and Versace's Eau Fraîche Extrême Eau de Parfum lean sea and sun, as their names suggest.

Montblanc has Explorer Extreme Parfum and Legend Spirit Eau de Toilette, both of which I would sort into the easy, office-friendly pile. Yves Saint Laurent's Y Iced Cologne Eau de Toilette Intense is the cold-drink one, for a summer afternoon.

Compare at most three at a time. Pick one sea-leaning bottle, one citrus one and one woodier one, and you will know within a week which direction you prefer. After that, buying the next one is easy.

What I would skip: any cologne you only tested on a paper strip. Skin changes everything, and the paper lies.

Pack the bag the night before, and keep a full routine in it. A fresh scent does not survive a bad shower routine.

Nutrafol's Men's 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner and Clinique For Men Charcoal Face Wash Gel cover the shower without taking up a shelf. Dr. Squatch has three things in the grid: Coastal Mist Deodorant, which pairs with a sea-note cologne, the Natural Wood Barrel Bourbon Deodorant Spray, and a Natural Moisturizing Lip Balm. Suave Men's Barber Essentials Strong Hold Styling Gel is the finishing touch for short hair.

The two sunscreen sticks are the ones I would put in every bag: Kiehl's Better Screen UV Serum-In-Stick Sunscreen SPF 50+ and Supergoop's Unseen Sunscreen Stick SPF 40. A stick is what you actually reapply on a run or a pitch, because it takes no time.

Coastal Mist goes well with a citrus cologne for the summer, and the Bourbon spray with something woodier once it gets cold. Keeping the two in the same family means nothing clashes by the time you reach the locker room.

What I would skip: a strongly scented deodorant on top of your cologne. Choose a fragrance-light one, or one in the same family.

For most men, my suggestion is the Cologne or the Eau de Toilette, and to treat Allure Homme Sport as a clean-shirt scent instead of a workout spray. Then decide on the strength by the season: the Cologne in summer, Eau Extrême when it cools down.

Add one more bottle, such as Bleu, for contrast, and leave it there. If you want a third, pick it from another house and give it the same full-day test before it earns a place on the shelf. Davidoff gave us Cool Water in 1988 and a lot of men a signature. Chanel gave the same man something better dressed.

Allure Homme Sport works well next to something with a different mood, so this last set is for the second bottle and the small extras. From Chanel, the Bleu de Chanel Parfum Twist & Spray set and the Refillable Travel Spray Set are the easy ones to pack, and Antaeus is the old-school contrast. Dior Homme Sport and Homme Parfum cover fresh and warmer, while the Montblanc Explorer and Legend Elixir suit an evening after the gym. Then come the extras: the Bleu de Chanel Deodorant Stick and the Versace Man Eau Fraîche Deodorant Stick go straight into the bag. What I would skip: the Armani Beauty Crema Nera Acqua Pantelleria Essence as a gym bag item, because it belongs on the bathroom counter. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Moschino Toy Boy and Other Rose Colognes for Men and Jimmy Choo Cologne.