Not everyone wants flowers, and that is fine. This is the shelf for the person who wants to smell clean and grounded, with wood doing most of the talking. Jo Malone London Amber Labdanum Cologne Intense is warm and resinous with bitter orange up top. Yves Saint Laurent MYSLF Eau de Toilette Intense is bergamot and orange blossom over warm woods and white skin musks, the brand's own description of a second skin feeling. Jo Malone London Wood Sage & Sea Salt goes the other way: fresh, mineral and breezy, with ambrette seed and sage. BURBERRY Hero Parfum is a cedarwood scent with cypress and amyris oils, and BURBERRY Hero Elixir de Parfum is the sweeter sibling, with vanilla and leather under the cedar. Commodity Moss+ Bold is oakmoss and juniper berry with patchouli, a green and earthy one. Yves Saint Laurent L'Homme is the classic here, with bergamot, ginger and vetiver. Obart Ambre Animal is amber with smoky incense and rum, the smallest bottle on the list and the most personal.

Pairing tip: wear the fresher woods on skin after a shower and keep the amber ones for a jacket collar or scarf, where they linger.

What I would skip: the heavy amber scents on a hot commute. They sit on the air around you all day and get loud in a small space.

Evening fragrance is where you can be a little theatrical. DIOR Sauvage Eau de Parfum is the familiar one, with Calabrian bergamot, patchouli and vanilla absolute. Maison Margiela REPLICA Lost Eden is a candied apple accord with vanilla and oud, sweet and smoky at once. Gucci Intense Oud brings saffron, Bulgarian rose and natural oud, and the brand calls it unisex. Yves Saint Laurent Tuxedo is built around a sharply tailored patchouli, with coriander and black pepper. Montale Oud Sapparot is the surprise, a burst of pineapple with leather and sweet vanilla. Carolina Herrera Bad Boy Cobalt is pink pepper, lavender and geranium over cedarwood, and Bad Boy Elixir turns to sage, leather accord and cedarwood. CHANEL BLEU DE CHANEL PARFUM is the most intense of the Bleu family, with cedar and sandalwood.

How to wear them: one spray on the chest and one on the back of the neck is plenty at night. Evening scents bloom in warm rooms.

What I would skip: Montale Oud Sapparot for a quiet office or a first date in a small restaurant. It is bright and loud, so save it for a beach night or a party.

If Moschino Toy Boy is what brought you here, start with the rose and pepper bottles and see how you feel about a floral on skin. If rose sounds like too much, go to the woods. If you are shopping for someone else, think about how they dress: a fresh wood for the man who lives in a white tee, an amber or vanilla one for the person who wears a dark jacket. Test on skin, not on paper, and give it a full day before you decide. The right cologne is the one you catch a whiff of on your own sleeve at four in the afternoon and quietly like.