Perfume / Cologne

I bought Le 3e Homme along with Pour Un Homme and Yatagan, and I think they're all wonderful. Le 3 is the one that resonated with me the most, and my lavender-loving girlfriend likes Pour Un Homme for herself--her reaction to smelling it on me the first time was "Wow, I want to smell like that all the time." Which is fine with me!

i had a sample of the le 3e homme and i thought it more or less was a precursor to later 90s light fougeres like eternity and egoist platinum, just because it also seemed really familiar to me but i'm sure i never encountered it at the time it was released, so there must have been something about it that was replicated in things i knew of. i dunno. fragrantica says this reminds ppl of pour monsieur, lancome sagamore, mitsouko, eau sauvage, insense, passion for men, bel ami, and even stetson, so who knows. doesn't mention eternity or egoist platinum, but it doesn't exactly smell like those, the connection wouldn't be that direct. being a perfume detective is hard work and i haven't even been paid yet. then there are also things like paco rabanne xs and ysl l'homme which aren't structurally or categorically similar but are function progeny, ie, carefree anti-macho-bullshit stuff for the regular guy who still plays the bass in his suburban basement sometimes and remembers the time thurston moore was in the audience for his college band but now the highlight of his week was when his son malachi almost scored a goal. you should have seen how happy malachi was. we all piled into the mini-van and went out for pizza and i remember looking at my wife sarah and thinking i'd trade all my dreams of being a famous graphic designer in the david carson mode to do it all again with her for the rest of eternity. that's l'homme, it's who you are. i think i lost the tread but i think le 3e homme might be the genesis of the comfort scent, not in the sense of comfort scents being a surrender, but an embrace of what's close.

also i still haven't smelled dior jules, chanel egoist, or ysl jazz or live jazz. or anteus. i hope they're like rive gauche. it was this great thing i didn't have and then i got it. i don't know what i'm expecting from jules et al, but, i just sprayed on rive gauche, and it's glorious. it's not the height of artistic expression qua artistic expression in absolute terms, but it's the intersection of that thing and a world that i can touch that has buildings with businesses inside them and people that make them work and highways and plastic packaging and songs that were on the radio and standing in the soup isle for fifteen minutes figuring out whether i want the creamy chicken noodle or the butternut squash. if you shoot an arrow and it goes real high, hooray for you. niche arrows can go really high because what do they have to lose but designer arrows have to penetrate a much denser atmosphere, i think, so if there's any artistic achievement at all i guess that bronze medal is as good as gold.

Would subscribe to a slugbuggy fragrance reviews substack.

^

i like it here just fine. i don't know as much about fragrance as i know how to go off on tangents that end up somewhere else so i'm good with starting off with low expectations and seeing where that goes. hopefully that adds to what i was trying to talk about.

It’s not an insult, your posts are great to read, that’s all we mean!

Absolutely - you are a star sb!

oh, i'm greatly amused by the stuff i post, but then i'm embarrassed by acting out in public. i just figure ilx is a nerd community where you can nerd out in yr own particular way but the emphasis is still on whatever it is we're talking about.

Sluggy you gotta try Antaeus. It's not like Rive Gauche though. It's a luxe rose/patchouli with gothic dandy vibes. Makes me feel like a rock star with a private jet for a couple hours.

Jules was harder for me to wrap my head around, but it's real nice too. It's proper PERFUME. Green cooking herbs + jasmine + cedar + piss (might be the sage that gives it that urinous quality).

you have to forgive me; my english is inelegant. by "like rive gauche" i mean in the sense that rive gauche was purported to be this really great thing, and it was! if it were still on the shelves it'd be my main man in the way ewan mcgegor uses that phrase in velvet underground. i think jules or anteus or egoist could be my main man, but i haven't been there yet to know.

also, which version of jules do you have? the vintage or the recent? either way, hard to get, i assume.

also, have you smelled voleur de roses by l'artisan? it's mostly patchouli and rose with plum and it's too described as gothy but the sample i got turned rancid on my skin so say no go (i can't go for that) but maybe it was just a bad sample. it smelled great out of the vial, though. don't know how it compares to antaeus.

probably every niche house has a patchouli plus rose thing. it seems so obvious, but in whatever the inverse is of retrospect, i assume antaeus outshines them all. don't and can't know yet. because of my primary thesis statement, which is that any individual niche achievement may reach such great heights because niche houses are free to pursue artistic achievement without regard to mass culture, but designer efforts have to take into account the entirety of the zeitgeist and landscape and still dare to be stupid, i figure antaeus has to be this outstanding accomplishment.

dreaming by blondie or beautiful world by devo are such distillations of the the time period they were rooted in that when i die and am reborn i'll have them in my pocket as a remembrance of the person i was just because i was alive back then, and i figure antaeus is the same for those who have it deep inside their psyche, it's forever 1981, and me too, once i smell it. no pressure, jacques polge. this is what i,m expecting from antaeus, although there's a good chance it might just be pretty much ok. i'm cool with either outcome.

have you seen the video for dreaming? that smile debbie gives to the camera at the beginning, it means so much. the people in the video are bopping along like it's a fun pop song but debbie is deconstructing your romantic fantasies and leaving you with the bare banes of human interaction. you're better off even if you don't know what just happened. but she'd build a road of gold, just to have her dreaming. antaeus is a dream in which everything that rises must converge, but you know, i'm no debutante.

i expect antaeus to be pretty good, is what i'm getting at or at least better than ok.

i never met antaeus, i'll never forget antaeus.

I’m wearing Alien today, which is still incredible. I know it’s a bit much for some people but it’s always felt perfect to me.

xps @Sluggy, I have the current Jules. Not at all hard to get; I blind-ordered it directly from Dior and it shipped to me in NYC in 2 days. If you're just looking for a sample you might find it on one of those decanting sites or eBay, but I guarantee you're not going to encounter it in an IRL store these days. The online consensus re: current Jules is that it's pretty high quality compared to the original, though as usual there are still some folks out there claiming it's a "shadow of its former self." It smells complex and expensive to me, so I'm in no hurry to get my nose on the vintage. It doesn't hit my pleasure centers as squarely as either Kouros and Antaeus, the other early 80s animalic masculines I'm familiar with, but there's something about it that's more intellectually stimulating than most other perfumes.

I have not smelled Voleur de Roses, but you're definitely right about every niche house doing a rose/patchouli thing. I think Malle's Portrait of a Lady is the modern benchmark for that kind of thing, but Antaeus is enough for me. Also, come to think of it though, I don't really do "layering" but I'll make an exception for Diptyque Eau Rose + Santa Maria Novella Patchouli for another version of that combo.

I wasn't born until 86, and I don't recall ever smelling Antaeus before I got it last year (the biggest olfactory touchstones of my youth are Drakkar Noir, which my dad wore in the early 90s and which I'd frequently steal sprays of, and CK Eternity, which my elementary school best friend's mom wore heavily). It smells less dated than either Jules or Kouros to me, or maybe "outside of time" like some early Guerlains. I just watched the Blondie "Dreaming" video and sprayed some Antaeus in the air, and there's definitely some synergy there. For its reputation as a "masculine powerhouse" Antaeus actually radiates strong feminine energy to my nose. I mean its definitely a man's perfume, but there's a powdery softness to it as it dries down, hence the "dandy" aspect. I don't think you'll be disappointed in the least, but either way I'm excited to hear your thoughts once you finally get ahold of it.

Egoïste, Polge's other towering masculine masterpiece, was my girlfriend's Christmas gift to me last year, so I'll forever associate it with that time of year. Which is appropriate, I think, for its blend of warm sandalwood/watery rose/cinnamon/tobacco. Absolutely beautiful--in theory I think a guy could start and end his collection with Antaeus and Egoïste and be set. That guy is not me, but my bank account definitely wishes it were.

Also, like a proper Chanel, Egoïste has finely calibrated citrus and aldehydes at the top. As good as the drydown is, I'm frequently tempted to re-spray it just to get that opening hit again.

I finally tried Chanel Cologne yesterday, I had no intention of buying it but this was the first place where the tester hadn’t run out! They were sold out of all their stock of it though, just like in the other places I visited. No such stock issue with the other Exclusifs. Anyway it seems pretty great, I’d want to try it a few more times, not sure if buying it is for me though (not that I’ll ever get the chance).

Also tried Petit Fracas which is a younger diffusion scent of the original Fracas - pretty interesting and nice but I’ll stick with the classic.

Btw speaking of Portrait of a Lady I have a voucher I was going to spend on a perfume and I’m torn between that and Monsieur (also Malle). Leaning more towards the latter because I own a lot of very feminine fragrances already but only a couple of more masculine ones and I really like a masculine scent on my skin sometimes (and this one is one of my favourites I’ve tried).

Also also also I really want to try Egoïste now as well

Egoïste is amazing but there’s something poisonous about it, for good or bad. I could imagine someone being turned off by it. Not as challenging perhaps as something like Bulgari Black, but not innocuous.

xp I'd definitely go for Monsieur over Portrait of A Lady too.

Re: Chanel Eau de Cologne I've been meaning to try that, will need to check it out the next time I'm around the Exclusifs. For me the Exclusifs are the epitome of "things I'll smell in the store and gladly accept samples of, but will probably never buy." Maybe one day when I'm in a better situation financially I'll splurge on a bottle of Coromandel or Boy or Cuir de Russie, but right now that's some pipe dream shit.

Would be curious to try Petit Fracas too. I think the original is the best women's perfume ever made, and to me it smells remarkably un-dated for something from 1948. What about Petit Fracas makes it "younger"?

i finally smelled the tf beau de jour and i agree. it's modern-day old-school. it reminded me of something i couldn't place and then i thought zino and when i looked it up on fragrantica zino was first on the smell-a-like list. i awarded myself points for that. still, bdj is kinda its own thing and a step in the right direction.

you'd think the clone houses like alexandria fragrances would do rive gauche. if anyone asks, tell them to do that, they'd make hella bank.

I haven't tried it, but "River Fougere" by Dua is supposedly a decent Rive Gauche clone.

Really like Miller Harris "smells" - particularly Etui Noir but also Feuilles de Tabac and Vetiver Insolent. I like the "Miller Harris-y"ness, which I can't quite define but something to do with it seeming to hang around ... but becoming slightly immune to it. Used to wear Musgo Real's Orange Amber but haven't for a while. Anything obvious (or otherwise) to explore?

I'm completely unfamiliar with both Miller Harris and Musgo Real, but you've piqued my interest; the note breakdown of Etui Noir in particular = WOW

all in your mind perfumery: the indie fragrance house that doesn't exist.

first offering: in between days. i proffered this ages ago, but this didn't not really exist until now. cold, so cold, and ozonic, so there's probably some violet leaf in there. narcisco rodriguez for him is supposed to be wan and grey, but i find it too rich, too perfumey. also this smells of dead flowers. not like potpourri, but florals + decay. so much decay. and coldness.

true faith: i also said this before, but i didn't say what it was. this shit pops so hard. engrams and synapses: gone. natural's not in it. it's the most synthetic thing you could imagine in the most beautiful way you've ever experienced. brighter than a million suns. you're welcome.

love is a stranger: trust me, you don't want this. it'll take you in and drive you so far away.

smells like teen spirit: smells like teen spirit. not everything we do is transportative.

blood and roses: great song, but as a fragrance, eww.

mary's prayer: you forgot you had this and put in the back of your shelf of fragrances but every time you come across it and decide this is a good day to wear it it breaks your heart with the realization of how fragile the condition of being a sentient being with real emotions is. i dunno, maybe there's jasmine or magnolia in there.

transmission: electrical fire. we have to have some difficult scents or we wouldn't be an indie house.

i'm being totally facetious but you just ordered the sample set and you forgot you did and then remembered five days later and you checked the mail and there it was and you took it inside and opened it up and your partner said the typeface on the box looked like it was some peter saville shit and you said i think that's elegant-grotesk but i'll have to look it up but you never did. you couldn't decide what to try first so you picked the true faith and it was just a lot of bergamot with some pepper and you thought this isn't bad but i was kind of expecting something awesome and then you had some friends over later and forgot to bring it up even though evan and fiona are also into fragrances and would have had opinions.

Lol does Smells Like Teen Spirit smell like Teen Spirit soap? Can't believe that hasn't been done before. Comme des Garçons Odeur 71 definitely has electrical fire vibes.

I finally got a bottle of Jicky EDP (2021 reform) after smelling it in-store a few months ago. I don't wanna say "the search ends here" but for now this is all I wanna smell forever. It's in large part lavender, vanilla, and aromatic herbs, but it hits my receptors like a pastel kaleidoscope of absinthe, Coca-Cola, lemon pound cake, etc, permeating the air in a humid spa. I can't say how it compares to previous formulations, but I've read that Thierry Wasser et al. spent years developing a new sandalwood musk base to bring it closer to the 1889 original. And maybe the civet is toned down, because there's nothing off-putting about it to my nose. I can't imagine anyone reacting with the disgust of the Dr Sex Dracula, M.D. quoted upthread. I just hope everyone on earth gets a chance to smell this and decide for themselves.

odd question maybe but do people have any unconventional application spots ?

prompted by my experience with DS & durga's "debaser", which dried down to a moderately nice woody/cinnamon when applied on the wrist but retained much more of its very alluring fig/green/petitgrain when applied to forearms. seems bizarre but assume this is either partially because the forearm airs capture the oils in the scent better than the skin and/or the top of the forearms come into contact less with other surfaces (e.g. pulse points on wrists frequently touch laptop when typing)

I do mine on wrists and Ralph Fiennes voice the suprasternal notch. Have never tried crook of arm but I will I get home and shower. I know some people do a little bit behind the ears.

Just a hint on the Cary Grant voice intercostal clavicle, Susan.

I usually do one spray to each side of the neck and one to the top of each wrist (the hair on that side holds the scent longer than bare skin, good for surreptitious sniffs). Will spray more for weaker-performing scents

I’m very interested in this theory now cos I have some perfumes I love that like evaporate straight away - Cinéma is the worst offender - and I’ll experiment with locations and report back.

report back!

I tried the top-of-wrist method yesterday at noon, using Polo Blue EDP, which usually only lasts a few hours on me. Was still able to detect some scent just now (the following morning). Not enough to where other people would notice it, but still way longer than I usually get with this one. I'll have to try it out with other fragrances.

in related news, I love the green fig note in debaser. their creamy coconut note you associate w/fig scents is also really beautiful and understated

has anyone tried boy smell's "hinoki fantome" edp ? the original candle is very moreish

I finally got a bottle of Jicky EDP (2021 reform)....I can't imagine anyone reacting with the disgust of the Dr Sex Dracula, M.D. quoted upthread. I just hope everyone on earth gets a chance to smell this and decide for themselves.

― J. Sam, Saturday, May 28, 2022 4:17 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

I need to give this new formulation a sniff. Evidently I'm still scarred from 8 or so years ago, when I took a big whiff of the extrait and reeled, inwardly screaming "TOOTH DECAY and RUBBING ALCOHOL!!!"

I’ve noticed some success with applying Twilly on the outside of my wrists - seems to linger longer definitely.

Weirdly I got three samples of Flowerbomb with something I ordered online and it’s actually really good. I know it’s popular but I had no idea it was so rosy and I’m clearly really into rose-heavy fragrances atm so it was a happy coincidence. I have 3ml of edp so I’ll decide if I buy the actual stuff, but yeah. Love surprises like that.

I'm tempted by a bottle of "de los santos" but fragrance - like so many other things - has become SO expensive. byredo stuff was already expensive at 135£ for 100ml previously... this is up to 182£ (!) now

Yeah. I only ever buy 50ml though, but Liberty has that amount for £127. Do you ever look at FragranceX, found it from being recommended in this very thread and you can authenticate the stuff you buy on there. I bought the husband another bottle of Bulgari Black (everyone should own this one btw). Not much use for Byredo but lots of good stuff is on there.

Where do you get Bulgari Black these days? I've got a bottle, but I want a backup.

Fragrancex like my post just said.

i usually spray the back of one or both hands, because i'm always sniffing during the various stages of drydown to smell whatever i can smell, because i watch youtube fragrance videos and am trying to discern the various notes those ppl say they can smell. that way, in case anyone notices i'm constantly putting my hand up to my face, there's a chance they just might think i have a cocaine habit and am constantly rubbing my nose because of cocaine=related drainage instead of the reality that i'm some fragnerd weirdo who's all the time smelling himself for data retrieval and analysis.

i got my brother the older formulation of dior homme that has the iris note and cacao and also blvgari aqva from the mall kiosk place. the dior is discontinued and is already going for stupid crazy prices and the bvlgari is getting there; i think that's probably discontinued too. we both have the bvlgari aqva marine and don't really need the regular aqva but now that it looks like you won't be able to get it i had to make sure i had it, for archival purposes, you see. the dior i thought was good but too fancy for the way i look and dress but then it was also gone so now i had to make sure we had it.

those mall kiosk ppl don't jack up their prices; the dior i got at the retail price from whenever they originally got it. on the other hand, they can't help themselves from spraying everything within reach on a card and sticking it in my face. give me some space; i'm going too buy something from you anyway.

i'm not going to try to slip an 80s song reference in here by relating it to what i'm saying re: fragrances but fourth of july by x is playing and i'm feeling so wistful; now how soon is now is on so i have to stop and regroup before i can continue. i think the real answer to how soon is now is that it's an existential question and the gen x ppl who took all this to heart should buck up buttercup and get on with it while there's still time left. we're older. but not too old. there was that scene in better things where frankie gave sam the ok, boomer treatment and sam was all like, i'm gen x; we're the coolest generation and i was like, yeah, we are, let's do something about that. i dunno. you used to make art until you got too much into your own head and started wondering what the end-game was; maybe you should try to pick up where you left off, before you're too dead to do anything about it anymore. now i'm just talking to myself.

in the same category of things i was on the fence about until you couldn't get them at decent prices are lanvin avant-guarde, van cleef and arpels midnight in paris, and gualtier kokorico. kokorico i know but not the other two. you can't have everything, because where would you put it?

i also got lacoste booster because the kiosk place had it and they're good with the pressure and it was something the scentland guy on youtube liked. i'm like 85% with him on things he likes. there's like three ppl on youtube who i can align with; if they like it at least i'll find it to be ok if not all that but likely be damn, son, this is just what i needed. i could have bought it online for way cheaper but you gotta support brick and mortar even thought the kiosk place is only renting the brick and mortar from the conglomerate that owns the mall. it has eucalyptus and mint in the opening so it's way green but that dissipates and then there's some florals and i think i'm picking up on the vetiver but it feels off a bit, and i'm not sure if it's in the good way like someone named svarn who lives in stockholm finds this to be a perfectly normal thing because things are different in different places but it's weird to me so i therefore like it or else maybe it's just weird to anyone in which case i'm fooling myself because it's objectively not that great, and it's just a chemical mess. i'm still gonna wear it for the duration of the summer since it's a high-heat type of thing.

guys my 13 yr old son likes girls and apparently this means he feels he needs to cover himself in disgusting deodorant… my wife has just about convinced him that this is bad not good but i can tell he wants to convey something “extra”…. any ideas for something cheap but classy for the teenage boy contingent??

Charcoal-based deodorant ftw

If you’re not picky just hit up some discounters like Nordstrom rack, Ross or Burlington. They usually have pretty good designer colognes for around $20-35.