Boys smell different from girls, the further from the shower, the more pronounced. But that 'real guy' smell is not shower fresh, its that 'worked all day' smell. Not bad, not locker room rank, but sweat, with a little dirt, some oil or grease mixed in, perhaps that aroma of 'new cut grass' or 'fresh sawdust' as the base note. And the union guys I work with (craft union) never use any cologne, that's for the cubicle people. Any guy (or girl either, with perfume) really working, really sweating, ---- working hard physical labor --- knows that stuff don't last, so why bother?
At the end of the day, guys smell like work, because that is what guys are supposed to smell like. We often go drinking after work (just like office people) and we're drinking in the same bars sometimes, and the reaction is strange. The guys don't like the smell (it reminds them of the fact that in reality, they are not working, and they should be) but don't dare say anything, and the girls tend to like us all sweaty, dirty, with tools. At least they are thinking "Gee, that dryer might get fixed at last."
When I think about the 'real guys' I know, and have known - its all about the work. How hard you can work, how you can be trusted to do the work right (the first time), how little you snivel about it, is pretty much how they measure other guys they really like, admire, and trust. (and that goes for girls who work with us too - we respect that in them also, which makes them 'one of the guys." That, and that smell.
