btw I already have a bottle of Standard
― mh, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 20:05 (nine years ago) link
I just ordered a bunch of tiny samples! I've worn the same fragrance for years and this thread got me thinking it's time to have a bit more fun with smells.
― kriss akabusi cleaner (seandalai), Thursday, 26 March 2015 01:30 (nine years ago) link
wonderwood is amazing. all-time classic.
― Junior Dictionary (LocalGarda), Thursday, 26 March 2015 01:42 (nine years ago) link
Odeur 53: jfc what is this? this is very, VERY feminine. Does not feel particularly "avant-garde" or interesting or anything, it just smells like a not-unpleasant lady's perfume but not something I would ever choose to wear.
I think I am going to go wsh this off.
mh I NEED yr 2c abt this frag
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 26 March 2015 12:39 (nine years ago) link
wish I got a Wonderwood sample! maybe I'll go to the CdG store in Chelsea and spritz a little spritz while I'm in NY this weekend.
this whole fragrance adventure is making me think a lot though, like who are these for? Who are these ppl that use all of these weird words (nail polish! burnt rubber! desert sand! gasoline!) to describe this ultimately kind of regular-smelling perfume?? Maybe this is "avant-garde" to ppl who are immersed in this world but to someone who does not wear frags it smells v reg and not at all the "Oh huh, isn't THAT interesting!" that I thought I was going to get from this.
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:00 (nine years ago) link
also learning that you can get a sense for a thing when you read about film, about music, about food, about art, about books, about virtually any type of thing that people would write about descriptively or evocatively, but basically everything you read about a fragrance will be complete bullshit and is way, WAY farther removed from experiencing the product for yrself than any of the above mediums. The concept I formed in my head of these smells from reading about them smells absolutely nothing like the smell itself smells to me; language seems completely ineffective in representing these things. Maybe that's what makes it cool. I mean, what other objects in the world are absolutely impossible to experience even vicariously w/o engaging w/ the object itself? You can look at a photograph of a sculpture, you can read a synopsis of a film and a breakdown of its cinematic techniques, but what of smells?
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:09 (nine years ago) link
You should read The Emperor of Scent by Chandler Burr. It's really interesting and satisfying.
― groundless round (La Lechera), Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:12 (nine years ago) link
this might be something you would find interesting, arts festival that did a scent/audio/visual thing:http://www.unsound.pl/news/unsound-launches-ephemera-a-perfume-series-connecting-scent-and-sound
― mh, Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:32 (nine years ago) link
last vestiges of my head cold were acting up last night, didn't think I would get a good read (sniff?) so you'll have to wait a bit
stevie, are you smelling these on their own or on you for each? they smell diff on people than on their own
― mh, Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:34 (nine years ago) link
on a somewhat unrelated note, it's interesting to me how closely I associate certain smells with memories
In certain contexts, Chanel No. 5 makes me really angry now due to past experience
― mh, Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:36 (nine years ago) link
nah I'm putting them on and then commuting to work and sitting in my cube and thinking abt how I smell rn
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:37 (nine years ago) link
everyone who has a sense of smell closely associates smells with memory! it's a powerful trigger.
― groundless round (La Lechera), Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:37 (nine years ago) link
You should really read that book Stevie
The Emperor of Scent tells of the scientific maverick Luca Turin, a connoisseur and something of an aesthete who wrote a bestselling perfume guide and bandied about an outrageous new theory on the human sense of smell. Drawing on cutting-edge work in biology, chemistry, and physics, Turin used his obsession with perfume and his eerie gift for smell to turn the cloistered worlds of the smell business and science upside down, leading to a solution to the last great mystery of the senses: how the nose works.
― groundless round (La Lechera), Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:42 (nine years ago) link
xp yeah! frags seem way more of a subjective means-to-an-end than any other medium, less abt what they actually smell like and more abt how that smell makes you feel. v powerful stuff.
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:44 (nine years ago) link
ugh god I just smell like I gave my grandma a big hug or like some jackass aggressively sprayed me with a perfume that is v much not mine; i don't want to wear Odeur 53 anymore.
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:49 (nine years ago) link
I like that one but I can't imagine wearing it full time
just pretend you are John Waters right now
― mh, Thursday, 26 March 2015 13:57 (nine years ago) link
yeah I am trying that and it is just totally not working.
what does it evoke for you? what does it smell like to you?
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 26 March 2015 14:47 (nine years ago) link
again, I'll want to smell again with a clear head, but I got kind of a clean baby smell, crossed with a little bit of a musty-but-not-unpleasant vibe, with kind of a kicker of overripe fruit that you left in the garbage can
― mh, Thursday, 26 March 2015 14:51 (nine years ago) link
I really enjoy the review I found on some website This smells like my catBy Anonymous on 3/10/2007
― mh, Thursday, 26 March 2015 14:52 (nine years ago) link
oh whoops sorry I didn't read what you'd said earlier
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 26 March 2015 15:23 (nine years ago) link
This book is also awesome--who knew perfume reviews could be so amusing?
http://www.amazon.com/Perfumes-The-Guide-Luca-Turin/dp/0143115014
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Thursday, 26 March 2015 18:04 (nine years ago) link
I have no real way to describe how my cat smells, but I would perhaps have a stuffed animal at work that I would spray with his fragrance if I could buy such a thing
― mh, Thursday, 26 March 2015 18:06 (nine years ago) link
philosykos
― hot doug stamper (||||||||), Thursday, 26 March 2015 18:33 (nine years ago) link
further reviews of Commes des garcons
wonderwood - this makes me think of a really high quality, very normal scent. high, sharp green notes w/a very subdued musk. maybe a bit of a juniper thing?
black - I had a lot more of an incense feel to this originally, but the second time it really reminds me most of a humidor that's had nice pipe tobacco in it. some muskiness and pepper notes. malin + goetz have a "tobacco"candle scent that has some similar notes
― mh, Tuesday, 31 March 2015 01:38 (nine years ago) link
so wait these are all colognes by the same company (or designer?)? Just out of curiosity why are you, mh and Stevie D, sticking to this one brand?
― from batman to balloon dog (carl agatha), Tuesday, 31 March 2015 01:42 (nine years ago) link
I am not, it's just a recent interest!I do not speak for Mr. D tho
― mh, Tuesday, 31 March 2015 01:47 (nine years ago) link
my relatively inexpensive default is Kiehl's Musk
― mh, Tuesday, 31 March 2015 01:50 (nine years ago) link
I am v perfume-dumb but I am such a massive fan of CdG's aesthetic and just playful things that make you go hmmm in general and the frags are so fascinating to read about that I guess I'm kinda jumping off w them.
the more I wear Margiela's (untitled) tho the more I think it's The One For Me
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 31 March 2015 03:45 (nine years ago) link
Some of the CdG frags are like almost antagonistic in their aggressive weirdness
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 31 March 2015 03:46 (nine years ago) link
I think they want to be!
Their collaborations are kind of cool, although the Pharrell Williams one was ehhh. Kind of wondering what their Monocle magazine ones smell like, except, lol Monocle
― mh, Tuesday, 31 March 2015 14:10 (nine years ago) link
btw I was wearing some of the Black one over the weekend when I went to a new restaurant and had this whiskey cocktail that was served in a whiskey bottle filled with wood chip smoke and between that smokiness, the cologne, and some savory food I was pretty much in rich texture overload
― mh, Tuesday, 31 March 2015 14:12 (nine years ago) link
I want to smell you guys!
None of the men in my life wear cologne (well, Jesse did but he can't smell anymore ;_;) and I'm so intrigued by the scents you two are describing.
― from batman to balloon dog (carl agatha), Tuesday, 31 March 2015 14:19 (nine years ago) link
I should buy some for Jesse and just put it on him when he's around me.
― from batman to balloon dog (carl agatha), Tuesday, 31 March 2015 14:26 (nine years ago) link
wearing currently:
Ivy perilla:Top notes are Celery Seed, Maillette Lavender, Bergamot, Himalayan Cedarwood, Pine, Juniper BerryHeart notes are Perilla, Lovage Root, Lavender Abs, GeraniumBase notes are Galbanum resinoid, oakmoss, Pine absolute, vetiver, patchouli
incredible
― clouds, Tuesday, 31 March 2015 14:28 (nine years ago) link
Do you still live in Chicago? Come here and let me smell you.
― from batman to balloon dog (carl agatha), Tuesday, 31 March 2015 14:32 (nine years ago) link
i'm surprised you can't now. i love this so much that i probably overapply but who cares.
― clouds, Tuesday, 31 March 2015 14:38 (nine years ago) link
CLOUDS I ilx-mailed you!
― from batman to balloon dog (carl agatha), Tuesday, 31 March 2015 15:06 (nine years ago) link
Today I'm wearing Comme des Garcons 2.
It's just a flowery perfume, quite pleasant and fresh, not at all cloying, but not terribly ~intriguing~ either. Still not really getting how any of these are niche/avant-garde
OH OH OH EXCEPT for the Series 1 Leaves: Tea which smells like a computer lab or like plastic!!! It's so strange and interesting! This is by and far the most intriguing one I have smelled so far. Not unpleasant but DEFINITELY nothing remotely like you would smell in a perfume.
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 31 March 2015 18:49 (nine years ago) link
All the other ones I have smelled smell like bad or weird perfume, whereas this just smells like not perfume at all.
― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 31 March 2015 18:50 (nine years ago) link
you need to smell Standard
― mh, Tuesday, 31 March 2015 19:28 (nine years ago) link
If you want stuff that's unlike perfume, definitely try those Demeter scents I mentioned upthread. There are about a hundred of them and they're all based on generic scents, like grass, bubblegum, laundromat etc. the "dirt" one is good as a scent.
― Junior Dictionary (LocalGarda), Tuesday, 31 March 2015 20:11 (nine years ago) link
wearing today:
Distant HeathTop notes: Coriander Seed, Peach, Wild Chamomile, Bulgarian Lavender, Celery SeedHeart notes: Armoise, Ylang Ylang, Frankincense, Jasmine Grandiflorum, Octanol-3 isolateBase notes: Liatrix, Oakmoss, Ambergris, Cardamom Abs, Guaiacwood
― clouds, Wednesday, 1 April 2015 17:27 (nine years ago) link
brown note y/n
sorry
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 1 April 2015 17:35 (nine years ago) link
it's okay, i know yr'e jealous~
― clouds, Wednesday, 1 April 2015 17:36 (nine years ago) link
Are you smelling these things or are they what is in the marketing?
― mh, Wednesday, 1 April 2015 17:44 (nine years ago) link
my friend who is an apprenticing scent maker put it together
i do smell the things i recognize
― clouds, Wednesday, 1 April 2015 17:45 (nine years ago) link
imagining the smell of those notes together IS making me quite envious tbh
ysi
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 1 April 2015 19:43 (nine years ago) link
― clouds, Wednesday, April 1, 2015 5:45 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
FYI clouds' friend who is an apprenticing scent maker is putting something together for me, too, and I am UNREASONABLY EXCITED ABOUT IT. It should be done May 20, he said. Can't wait can't wait! I will need to immediately find La Lechera so she can smell me.
Big thanks to you, clouds, for putting me in touch with him!
― from batman to balloon dog (carl agatha), Friday, 17 April 2015 16:39 (nine years ago) link
i wanna smell you!
i have switched from my winter to my summer scent and it's lifting my spirits a little
― groundless round (La Lechera), Friday, 17 April 2015 17:38 (nine years ago) link