The Prophet (peace be upon him) distinguished between the scents to be used by men and women.
He told us that the scents used by men should be strong but not colorful, whereas the perfumes used by women should be colorful but not strong. [
Sunan Abî Dâwûd (1859, 3527),
Sunan al-Tirmidhî (2711, 2712), and
Sunan al-Nasâ'î (1528, 1529) – and authenticated by al-Albânî]
We find that today, there are indeed clear differences between the perfumes used by men and women, but they are not the same as the differences described by the Prophet (peace be upon him) above.
It is preferable that men use their own perfumes, and avoid women’ as much as possible, and vice versa.
There is another hadîth where the Prophet (peace be upon him) encourages men to use scent when they go out for their Friday prayers. The Prophet (peace be upon him) allowed men to use perfumes regarded by the people of his society to be women’s perfumes if they could find nothing else.
He said: “…even from women’s perfume”. [
Sahîh Muslim (1400)]
This shows that it is merely disliked to use the perfumes of the opposite sex, but that it is permitted when one needs to use perfume and cannot find something else.
Ibn Hajr comments on this hadîth, saying: "Using women’s perfume does not come under the severe warning for those men who try to imitate women, because it was permitted by the Prophet (peace be upon him)."
However, actions are by their intentions, so if someone uses a certain perfume with the express intention of to imitating the opposite sex, that person will come under the warning against doing so.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Allah curses men who emulate women and women who emulate men.” [
Sahîh al-Bukhârî (5885)]
Ultimately, what scents are deemed suitable for men and for women is something determined by local norms and customs. These customs can change from one time and place to another, and they are not something fixed. You should follow the norms of the society in which you live with respect to whether a certain scent is suitable for use by women.
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