Perfume / Cologne

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So what kind do you wear? Do you wear any? Is it pricey? Cheap? What's it smell like, because really just saying the name generally isn't enough. Are any of you allergic to perfume / cologne? What do you think about people wearing it? What about on men, classic or dud?

(Question prompted by TWO perfume related experiences this weekend, weirdest being man who followed me around Food Emporium working up the nerve to ask what kind I wore)

Ally, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I wear the Gauiter fragrance with the male torso.

anthony, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

What's that smell like?

Ally, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

St. Etienne

Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I used to use cologne now and again for very fancy occasions -- can't recall *what* I used, it was that long ago. These days I simply trust the work of a good shower and effective underarm deodorant.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Dud: relying on supermarket deodorant/antiperspirant to do all the odor-bearing work. This is a poor habit of indie boys, though preferable to no deodorant at all.

Benjamin, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I wear Fracas. It comes in a black bottle. It smells like tuberose and gardenia and something else. I used to wear Joy, which smells like jasmine and tuberose. I might switch back to that. I plan to go to Sephora pretty soon and go through all their perfumes and decide on a new signature scent.

Sometimes when I feel like being a moron I wear Skin Musk, that stuff is tops.

Ally, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I don't wear any, just deodorant.

Ally C, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

My signature scent for a long time was Fahrenheit, which smelled like pine. Lately I've taken to wearing a Perry Ellis scent that smells like generic cologne. Sob.

Dan Perry, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

sticky stuff under arms = dud. I like my smell.

tracer Hand, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Bod, the green one. Every single time I wear it I get compliments, girls come up and take big wiffs. At first, I thought they were being sarcastic and then I realized that it smells like Isey Miaki (or however you spell it). At $7 per huge bottle, it's a much better deal than it's fancy Asian counterpart. I also wear some blue shit from Bath & Body that is similarly fruity. I like fruity scents. Spicey or musky are disgusty. My girlfriend wears Happy a lot and Green Tea (I think?). Yummy.

Nude Spock, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Unfortunately, tracer, your idea is mainstream in subway life. Everyone seems to be pleased with their reeking ass selves on the subway.

Nude Spock, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

In elementary school I tried to be cool by bringing one of those sample vials of cologne into the coat room, but I dropped it and it broke and stank out the joint, not to mention my arm for the next 24 hours. Perry Ellis still makes me get all misty-eyed.

Dave M., Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

There are always Demeter's colognes. Laid-off "new media" girls in New York seem to have a fondness for the "Dirt" smell. But if I smell like Gin and Tonic or some other Demeter fragrance, it is because I have spilled my drink down the front of my shirt.

Benjamin, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I too wear the Gaulthier cologne with the naked man with the huge package. It used to make my ex very, um, aroused. But my european housemates bought me a bottle of Emporio Armani from the duty free store. I wish they had gotten me cigarettes instead.

Phil-Two, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Note to Tracer: Similar feelings about sticky armpits have caused me to become addicted to anti-perspirants.

Dan Perry, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

spock - yet I am unbothered because I am protected by my own impermeable force-field of earthy sweat. Fight fire with fire!

I have heard that people in Germany hold body odor in much higher regard (aphrodisically speaking) than us scrub-crazy Americans. I don't think UKers feel the same way, but it sure seems like it ;)

Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I almost bought some Dirt - I'd been putting it off, and when I went back to the store to buy it, I felt it was a little sweet for my taste. The tangerine one was nice. I'm sticking with Song de Chine (a green tea fragrance), and after my bottle is empty, I'm going for a citrus. I like to mix the green tea with the citrus or a rose scent. I hate spicy or excessive floral scents. I also like Rain oil, but that's a little played out now, I guess.

Kerry, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Demeter annoys me - I mean, why would you want to smell like Dirt? Or Gin & Tonic? Or Tomatoes??? I don't get it. Their sweet ones are nice for trying to be all innocent every once and a while, like there's one that smells all carmelly, I forget what it is called but it's nice enough.

I like Smell This for cheap stupid novelty scent. Beach Smells = great.

Ally, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Used to have Eau D'Issey Miyake. Now I use what my granny gives me. Can't remember what it is though. Oh yeah occasionally use Anais Anais.

nathalie, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

A bottle of Tommy I stole from my brother. Or a CK1 one rip off from Target. Both I've recently grown tired of, and am looking for a switch. Most men's cologne's are really gross, too musky. I tend to go for the perfumey types.

The odd thing is when you are standing in an elevator or such, and you notice some stranger smells like an ex-girlfriend.

bnw, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Bought bottle of semi-expensive YSL Kouros in duty free shop two or more years ago when loaded (in all senses). Still a few splashes left. What happened to the great smell of Brut?

Andrew L, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

My problem is that I wear things that are way too expensive. I was sitting there in that stupid movie this weekend smelling my wrist, going, hey, this isn't strong enough for costing $90. I have to go find something strong enough to be worth that cash, although apparently it's stronger than I thought.

Ally, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I wear a number of perfumes/colognes but my favourites are: Eternity, 5th Avenue and 2 I can't find anymore... :( Somewhere and Wishing( Avon) Gale

Gale, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

If my nose comes within ten feet of Tommy, I feel like vomiting. Sensory trigger reaction from 2nd college roommate (for more information, see 'Strange Wiggling').

matthew, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Nothing...I usually don't like perfume. I like flowery scents, though. The real reason is that I am too cheap to spend money on accessories, be it perfume or hair ties or makeup. $10 for perfume when I could get a book? Really, people. Deodorant and shampoo.

Lyra, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Old Spice. Grown up man's smell.

DavidM, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Sort of masculine but in a femme kind of way. citrus, greenry and a touch of floral

anthony, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I don't go for aftershave, I just have nice-smelling deodorant, currently Lynk Gravity (I think).

DG, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

sorry, LYNX.

DG, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I have a zinc deficiency and that urban legend lactose intolerance, which means I've had almost no sense of smell my whole life, and for that reason any smells which I can perceive are pretty disagreeable to me, especially artificial odors. Manure smells better to me than perfume / cologne.

Otis Wheeler, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Has cologne become "in" again, or am I just now noticing more guys wearing cologne than before?

Tadeusz Suchodolski, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I *hate* the smell of perfume and am incredibly glad Isabel doesn't wear it (she's allergic - I think she'd quite like to wear it). It all just smells so ghastly and inhuman - ugh. Being on a tube with someone with strong perfume on is the absolute worst form of public transport sense pollution I know, bar someone actually taking a shit on the tube floor.

Tom, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Also, surely perfume was invented and became fashionable when it was really really difficult for people to take regular baths. It is now in the 1st world at least not difficult for people to take regular baths i.e. perfume is now completely unneccessary and using it is the equivalent of still using a horse and bloody cart.

Tom, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Tom you have reminded me of the hilarious joke Q. Why do girls wear makeup and perfume A. Because they are ugly and they smell.

I don't wear it on a daily basis but sometimes if I'm going out. Then it's Eau D'Issey or Dune. I used to wear Spellbound and lots of men would comment favourably on it. Why did I stop?

Emma, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I don't wear any, just deodorant.

Ally C - Lynx Africa does not count as deodorant as it has no anti-perspirant qualities. It's a body spray = perfume = you are a girl.

I like perfume (and girls) so that's not meant as an insult. I'm wearing Farenheit today, which is nice but doesn't seem to last very well. Sometimes I wear Cool Water and sometimes I sip into my CK selection pack.

Nick, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

um, ckone

gareth, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I theoretically agree with Tom as reasonably clean humans usually smell great and covering it up seems daft. However, some musky perfumes (I'd recognise them, but I don't know their names) do send me into a deep lustful swoon.

I do use an antiperspirant myself but that's because I'm a sweaty bastard.

Richard Tunnicliffe, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

You sip perfume Nick? Why not just try breath freshener?

Emma, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

At the moment Héritage by Guerlain or on sunny days Allure by Chanel. After I finish those I'm going to change again, I'm thinking Vetiver by Guerlain and that Helmut Lang eau de toillete if I can ever find a bottle in this godforsaken city.

In general I trust Guerlain and Chanel.

Omar, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Today it's Hugo Boss, but I've also got Bvlgari (a bit lemony, not too sure about it), contradiction, xs and boss elements aqua. I love the smell of perfume and aftershave, mind you I do get some funny looks when I ask people what that lovely aftershave they're wearing is. But nothing floral, destroy:anais anais, the smell of creeping death and funerals.

cabbage, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

perfume and cologne are both disgusting. they make me gag. they all smell so damn artificial and in many cases like solvents and some people SERIOUSLY overdo it. a clean-person-smell is so much nicer and is actually pretty damn attractive.

lady die, Thursday, 23 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

The trick with perfume is to only apply enough so you can smell it when you get close. Unfortunately, this is difficult to achieve as most perfumes either fade quickly or smell very strong for the first couple of hours.

I am currently rotating between Fendi, Trussardi Light, CK Truth, Green Tea, Happy, a freebee phial from Zara and a bottle of stuff from River Island I got for Christmas (work days only).

Madchen, Thursday, 23 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

one month passes...
I wear Angel now. Everyone likes it, but vaguely irritatingly, Ramon prefers Skin Musk, which I used to wear, which costs $8 in the kiddie perfume section of Duane Reade. Why am I spending any money at all? I'm a big moron.

Ally, Tuesday, 16 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I think Angel has chocolate in it. I wear Comptoir Sud Pacifique's Motu, but it's a summery fragrance and the bottle's almost empty so I'm looking for something else next. They have a new one, Coeur de Raisin. I tried it, it's grape, lilly and jasmine, about $50 for a small bottle, I guess that's a moderate price. The Jo Malone Honeysuckle + Jasmine I bought only attracted bees, it's still more than half full.

Lesley Higgins, Tuesday, 16 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I think my favourite is H2O+'s Green Tea but I don't have it - somehow got Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea instead which smells pretty darned good too and is especially nice if you use just a tiny bit but of the actual cologne but beforehand you shower with the gel and use their moisturizer and also if you use a green tea scented shampoo and conditioner - leaves just a very subtle scent but then you've got it *everywhere*. I don't have a signature scent though as I have about ten different ones on the go at any given time. I love cool oceany or airy smelling ones for everyday. Still, sometimes nothing beats something as basic as a fresh shampoo and a bit of baby powder.

On the boy I'm 'liking' this new one that's oh so obliquely called Sexual. It's like, ok YOU, bedroom NOW!

Kim, Tuesday, 16 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Kiehl's. Cucumber. Body. Wash.

better shower regularly tho, or you'll turn into a pickle!

Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 16 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Comptor has some nice stuff if you just want really subtle. Except for that goddamned Vanille line they have, which smells like you've just rolled around for 8 hours in cookie dough and then gone out, and is disgusting.

Ally, Wednesday, 17 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

What an excellent question. I'm still mourning discontinuation of Donna Karan's Chaos - although I saw a bottle for $150 in a rare perfume shop I didn't bite. I'm trying to find a replacement because it's spicy and musky and everyone else likes it on me too. I'm one of these people who cannot bear to have the same perfume as any friends. but as I used to wear the Issey Miyake one, Diorissimo, Joseph and the men's Escape I'm not normally a musk person. If you like real ho's bedroom stuff go for Chaumade by Guerlain.

Suitable replacements for the Chaos are either the Comme des Garcons red or Corso Como 1010 and I will get one of these on my next trip to Liberty, or when a fashion friend goes through Milanese duty free. Whichever comes first.

suzy, Wednesday, 17 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

You know what's good? Thierry Mugler's new mens cologne. If I could afford to buy such things right now I'd get it, it smells delish.

Nicole, Wednesday, 17 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

also a pretty good summation of what's up with me and my life at this point in time.

slugbuggy, Saturday, 7 September 2024 13:10 (five months ago) link

Exactly like music for many people isn’t it, at some stage you lack the time and energy to keep seeking stuff out & just rely on old favourites and known quantities

Romy Gonzalez’s utility infusion (gyac), Saturday, 7 September 2024 13:47 (five months ago) link

i've said this before but fgti i'd buy your book. it's too early now, because you're still young and more things have yet to happen, but at some point there'll be to much and then: book.

You are too kind! I did set up a lab in my basement, to work on re-creating the old and attempting new creations. For now I feel like I'm just educating myself, learning which aromachemicals smell like what.

also, if sometime during your lifetime, and you have nothing else occupying your attention, and you're just looking for something to do, do you have any knowledge/ opionions of grey flannel vis-a-vis vintage vs. current? i had it in the 80s and i remember it as an ultraviolet, oily, floral, leathery, sexy beast. the current iteration seems too soapy, green, and bitter, although the notes seem about the same. the balance seems off. am i wrong? do i have a false memory? i dunno. this is my bete noire; it haunts me ever so.

You've piqued my curiosity, this scent is unknown to me, but I love 70s and 80s masculines with the heavy geranium and clove elements. I love that Aramis and Azzaro Pour Homme remain in excellent shape in their current formulations, compared to their vintage formats. Extremely interested in recreating Guerlain Derby... Jamie Frater recently discerned that there are four (!) now-banned nitromusks present in the vintage version. His reformulation requires a serious investment in materials (idr exactly how many ingredients he lists, but it's around 50 iirc). I've been told that Guerlain does offer modern Derby at their flagship store, sometimes, when asked, but I haven't lucked out just yet.

I have succeeded in creating an excellent home-brew version of Jicky, courtesy of Frater's formulas, which relies on using Guerlain EdC Imperial as its base (in place of perfumer's alcohol); this EdC Frater himself sells for much less than Guerlain, and it's identical to my nose. Jicky is my boyfriend's favourite, and he's very happy with my home-brew... I add a touch more castoreum and civet to make it skankier and it smells great.

So yeah, I'll track down some of that Grey Flannel and get back to you.

As for everything else you've said, it is an interesting time for "what is popular" amongst influencers. I popped by a perfume store yesterday and they only stocked the expensive shit, shit being the operative word-- Tom Ford, Creed, (k*l*an), Byredo, Ex Nihilo, Marly. I don't know why people like these boozy fragrances (Angel's Share, Grand Soir), they smell bourbon breath. I admire Delina but don't want to wear it. It was a weird and disappointing shop visit, it felt like when you go into an airport bookstore and there's only full price bestsellers in stock.

That said, there are lots of new scents I'm excited about. Hermes finally made an oud scent this year and it's really nice, Oud Alezan, it's exquisite, reminds me of Geza Schoen's stuff for Ormonde Jayne. Not a big fan of Juliette Has A Gun but the new vetiver is very very good. Haven't smelled the new Barrois but Bisch is three-for-three for Barrois so I'm certain I'll adore it. I am delighted by every Mugler flanker tbh. Givenchy continues to introduce version after version of "L'Interdit" (Ropion) and they're all awful, but their reformulations of Ysatis (Ropion again, 40 years ago) and III continue to be delicious.

I'm on vacation. I brought with me 5 mL of vintage Mitsouko, 5 mL of vintage Chamade, and my big bottle of Aramis for day-to-day wear. Boyfriend brought his predictable spread of fabulousness: Tommy Girl, Insensé, Amouage Search, Habit Rouge, Bal A Versailles, and the vintage bottle of Ysatis I bought him for his birthday. Insensé is smelling especially good in the hot damp weather

irritable towel syndrome (flamboyant goon tie included), Sunday, 8 September 2024 18:37 (five months ago) link

i didn't mean to give anyone a homework assignment but that's always been a big question for me: is there really a qualitative difference between vintage and current or do i just have a false memory? if i'm right, ok, i'll just buy some vintage and hope it's intact and no top notes have burnt off is as the wont, but if i'm wrong and the current is pretty much the same, then how do i re-create what i only imagined it smelled like? i don`'t have the resources.

i think perfumers are the closest modern-day thing to alchemists: as above, so below. you have this feeling you can only try to describe in words. if you make a scent that embodies the ineffable you win, but you also lose because there's no way a physical medium can communicate or express what i assume is entirely a spiritual essence or quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_dbZyuG0RU

that's def a grey flannel bottle. look at how tubbs regards the gold chain before donning `it' he's going under cover. this is serious. look at the silent tension between crockett and tubbs as they speed along towards destiny in the ferrari daytona. i know a place where dreams get crushed, sing devo. this has weight. this is the grey flannel i remember.

slugbuggy, Saturday, 14 September 2024 14:12 (five months ago) link

omg the way he straightens up his tie is so crucial: that's so the grey flannel i remember and not the iteration i have now. you might think i'm picking at threads but there's no other way i can explain.

re: aramis: fist bump. it's gloriously heinous. i saw a youtube where the guy said it smelled like guys down at the train station; it smelled like bad news. that sounds about right.

i have a bottle of azzaro that has the screw-off top so i got some oakmoss from a perfumery place and i'm no perfumer but i put a schmear in and it really amplified the citrus nd floral aspects. it's probably close to the original.

slugbuggy, Saturday, 14 September 2024 14:44 (five months ago) link

three weeks pass...

Recent scent report. Went a week ago to the newish scent bar with my bf— I hadn’t smelled the newish Bisch-for-Barrois, Tilia, and I wanted to. I was disappointed.

Bf was handling a bottle of some Tauer thing and DROPPED IT and it SHATTERED. It was, I think, the Moroccan Cologne or something— (Tauer impresses me compositionally, but his fragrances all smell to me like Alec Guinness playing Prince Faisal).

Bf is so sweet and his face got grave like he was going to cry and he started asking me to handle the bottles for him because he was so shaken up. The staff were completely whatever about it, cleaning it all up and assuring him it was ok.

I approached the owner and quietly offered to pay for the broken bottle, and she assured me that it was fine (and that the staff themselves break a bottle a week). Owner went to bf and gave him a total pep talk “don’t be upset this is 100% ok” and I decided that I’d buy a bottle of something to basically make this all good and well.

The problem ended up being, really, that there are so few niche fragrances that I care for, in the Xerjoff/Nishane/Marly axis. Local heroes Zoologist have made some interesting things but nothing I’d wear or spend money on. Hiram Green is refreshingly dramatic but uninteresting in composition. I adore Jayne Ormonde on strips but have found the concentrations to be strange and difficult to wear.

DS & Durga saved the day, had practically ignored that line but was impressed with everything on offer. Walked away with their eucalyptus scent, Big Sur, and am very happy with it.

Of note: the Barrois extraits seemed weird to me in concept as the EdPs are already powerful. The extraits however are rather strikingly different in formulation. Absolutely worth sampling— the B683 extrait takes the “new shoes” smell of the EdP and adds a subtle but effective oud note and it’s one of those rare actually-wearable-ouds.

Yesterday I popped by the luxury department store because I wanted bf to smell the Malle revamps of the Lauder classics.

I basically think that it’s all worth it for Malle’s revision of White Linen. The jasmine is pushed up above the bitter aldehydes just enough. It remains the most punishing scent in the store, the smell of a dentist’s drill, but somehow even more starchy and ravishing. I won’t buy it, White Linen’s appeal to me is tied to its price point and the Malle revisions are exorbitant, but I loved smelling it.

The Private Collection revision is also a success. Couldn’t identify the changes just on the strip but it smelled more broadly floral instead of intensely hippie green.

Azuree smelled identical to me as the lovely 00s plastic bottle revision, as somebody who wears and loves Azuree, I wore it out of the store and didn’t notice any change or revision (except the price and packaging). Knowing and Estee were not successful to my nose.

Dominique Ropion has a new $1400 a bottle Malle scent in their hideous oud line and it is so gross and garish that I literally guffawed. I don’t understand how somebody who started their career making some of my all-time favourites (Ysatis) is now responsible for the cloying awfulness on every-tenth-person-at-the-mall with his not-actually-L’Interdit L’Interdit mk. 3, as well as some of the weirdest and worst Malle offerings. “I can barely keep these UAE-market Malle scents on the shelf”, the clerk told me, and I see it online, too, that people are salivating for them. I smell them on strips and can’t imagine anybody ever wanting to wear it. Oud as an ingredient deserves better than these awful “beast mode” concoctions.

I was gonna leave, but the clerk brought us over to the Lutens area. I ignore Lutens. I’ve read about how classic and wonderful these scents are supposed to be, but I smell none of it— dusty pale nothings in expensive ugly bottles. Clerk showed us these six black tall bottles, all Sheldrakes, Lutens “fancy” line, apparently. They were very nice, very simple, very strong. A duoflore rose-oud was particularly appealing, just perfect Bulgarian-French rose combo and a clean but strong oud union. Uncomplicated but extremely nice to smell. The line is called “gratte-ciel” and they don’t get points on Fragrantica but all six that I smelled were really lovely.

I’ve been making No 5 at home for friends and family who want it, and we went to Chanel to smirk about their new Exclusif “Comete”, but also got some No 5 parfum extract on a card to refresh my memory. It’s one of the few Chanel offerings that doesn’t feel sullied by reformulation. “It’s pure perfume, undiluted” said the clerk, and I didn’t correct her. The card continues to smell like heaven this morning. I’m using it as reference today while brewing up another jar of No 5 juice

I for one care less for them (flamboyant goon tie included), Sunday, 6 October 2024 15:00 (four months ago) link

Oh, my point re: No 5. Don’t smell or wear the EdT, Eau, EdP, or “Eau premiere”. Go to the desk and ask to smell the parfum version. Get some on a card and leave the store. For me, this is as beautiful and romantic as those “always” places when you’re travelling— you’ll always see Trevi in Rome, you’ll always visit Sagrada in Barcelona, even if you’ve been there before, you go because it’s beautiful.

I for one care less for them (flamboyant goon tie included), Sunday, 6 October 2024 15:11 (four months ago) link

i love Tauer's L'Air du desert marocain, but more than anything for its drydrown - this cumin/petitgrain thing that comes on after an hour or two of wearing, just perfect in its gesture toward a feeling or a place i've never actually inhabited in life, safe and adventuresome at the same time, midway on a journey to Rohan, the edge of the Entwood, who knows. lol

i LOVE the story about your bf; i have a kind of appel du vide whenever i'm in a small art gallery or a place like a perfume store, delicately manipulating bottles. a consistent fantasy not about the feeling of destruction but about observing the subsequent response, the panicky dealing with crisis after all of the stakes are already spent.

sean gramophone, Monday, 7 October 2024 14:15 (four months ago) link

There is a duality here, “how it smells to the wearer” vs “how it smells to others”. I ran into a friend a few nights ago who was smelling delightful, and I told him so. He told me it was Dior Homme Sport— interesting to me that synthmusk-spicy amber is immediately a “no” when I’m touring bottles, but encountering it as part of somebody else’s presentation brought its effectiveness to the forefront. I keep trying with Tauer, the frankincense is lovely, and I’ll keep trying

I for one care less for them (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 7 October 2024 14:45 (four months ago) link

I don’t own any Lutens myself but my better half does and the one I’ve borrowed most is

https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Serge-Lutens/Five-O-Clock-Au-Gingembre-2764.html

I bought a friend of mine a bottle of Twilly and it’s become such a thing for her too, rarely ever works out that way. (Thank you fragrancex, also it was her birthday.)

gyac, Monday, 7 October 2024 14:55 (four months ago) link

Twilly is wonderful, my favourite Nagel fragrance. I should reapproach Lutens with more open nostrils, whenever I see the bottles lined up I’m so perplexed by the classic status of Chergui and the Bois De [_] fragrances that my negative bias extends over all Lutens tourism

I for one care less for them (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 7 October 2024 16:51 (four months ago) link

Twilly actually makes me think very much of dichotomy of “For the wearer/perceived by others” - it’s like an extra layer of warmth on your skin in autumn and a layer of cool in summer. I think I kind of wish it had sillage though.

Galop on the other hand, I put something through the washing machine and took it out and dried it and there was still Galop around the neckline!

gyac, Monday, 7 October 2024 16:59 (four months ago) link

Was walking along the street with partner when a woman stopped us to note that "one of you smells gorgeous".

I must admit that I enjoyed it when my partner admitted they hadn't sprayed anything on.

(It was a strange trial sampler from North Norfolk Living).

djh, Monday, 7 October 2024 17:06 (four months ago) link

three weeks pass...

I bought a bunch of decanted samples from Scent Split, here’s some halfassed thoughts. There’s a tobacco scent I’m always looking for… this chess clock my dad owned in the 90s that smelled strongly of pipe tobacco.

Moon Dust - Min New York
Awful, gray metallic geraniums in a damp tent/sleeping bag. Genuinely ugly smelling. Imagine this is what Glastonbury starts to smell like after a few days

Tobacco Oud - Tom Ford
Typical TF head swirling psychdelia but it dries too sweet. I just want to try all the TFs. I laughed out loud the first time I tried that Ombre leather stuff that smells like luxury car apolstry. I have a bottle of Noire de Noire, which is heady af and basically the fragrance equivalent to the outro of “whipsnade” by Suede. And Oud Wood is quite nice as well.

Wood Shop - Commes des Garçons -
Spicy but dries down mellow. idk, it smells too much like a sharp dressed man in the blinding sunlight for me, I need more shadows darkness mystery velvet etc

Boils d’Ascèse - Naomi Goodsir
This next one smells like a western movie in the springtime? not quite sure about it but it’s definitely not bad.

Bell’ Antonio - Hilde Soliani
Yuck, Smells like Lincoln logs or the weird musty wooden blocks my great aunt and uncle had for me to play with when I was little. I wonder if this is from a really old bottle or something. Bad gross wood.

Smoke - Akro
yes! oh yea we’re cooking with FLAME now. Sweet earthy but not that vanilla or marshmallow crap, this was crafted well.

Deer - Wolf Brothers
Whoa! Hello! I think I am really into this, slightly musky kind of… nutty? Oat-y? I guess it’s sort of like those manly soaps you get in California Wild West tourist traps. Smooth.

London - Tom Ford
This has some great notes but it seems a bit fleshy to me? I was really looking forward to trying this one.

brimstead, Thursday, 31 October 2024 23:24 (three months ago) link

I wish I understood why CdG scents never cross my casual purview when I so dearly love every one of them I’ve smelled. I got a sample of Avignon and practically doused myself in all 3 mL of it all at once. “I smell like a church pew, sit on me and sing a hymn”

Patti The Pone (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 1 November 2024 06:40 (three months ago) link

“If you are into smelling like a barn and its inhabitants then check this out.” **nods vigorously**

brimstead, Tuesday, 5 November 2024 23:41 (three months ago) link

bought 30ml of Smoke, this stuff is just too great, I needed it.

also bought several more samples…

Field Notes From Paris - Ineke
This is more barbershop-y fresh than I thought it would be, but I don’t really know what I’m doing. It has a nice subtlety and depth I don’t get from yr typical more zingy barbershop frags.

brimstead, Monday, 11 November 2024 16:25 (three months ago) link

nice vaguely woody dry down

brimstead, Monday, 11 November 2024 16:26 (three months ago) link

I guess it’s a Fougere. Learning things.

Sorry for 3x posts.

brimstead, Monday, 11 November 2024 16:27 (three months ago) link

This thread is very much the more the merrier never apologise for posting here.

I am getting a new bottle of Fracas for Christmas and man I missed that stuff.

gyac, Monday, 11 November 2024 16:31 (three months ago) link

afaict a fougere is just a chypre with some lavender. I love that "add lavender" is what makes a classic scent "smell masculine". I am still in search of the perfect fougere, I have three 9/10s in my cabinet (Pour Un Homme Caron, Givenchy Monsieur, Eau de Sauvage)

Fracas is the greatest tuberose in the world, never goes out of style.

I am excited to be in Paris in a couple of weeks. I'm calling Guerlain ahead-of-time to see if I can't make a proper shopping list. Aprée L'Ondée very much on my mind

the trombone just keeps getting bigger (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 11 November 2024 16:48 (three months ago) link

finally got a large decant of L'Artisan Parfumeur's Tuberose Ecarlate, which i adore for its bright and spritzy tomato-leaf opening. The mixture of the effervescent grapefruit and then the vegetal leaf is just wonderful to me, even if it isn't the correct season for it any more (and even though the leafiness fades really fast). Still, happy to finally have it! I was trying to avoid buying a whole bottle.

I sniffed Hermes's Rhubarb Écarlate at the airport this weekend, mostly just because of the écarlate-écarlate rhyme - what a sour explosion! curious how it wears.

sean gramophone, Monday, 11 November 2024 17:07 (three months ago) link

I’ll have to check out Fracas, the first fragrance I really fell for was Atelier’s Cafe Tuberosa.

brimstead, Monday, 11 November 2024 17:09 (three months ago) link

One of my cats has taken a shine to the Twilly bottle and yesterday I was moving some stuff around and he jumped on top of the storage unit I keep some of the perfume in and tried to scoop out the bottle. It fell four feet but, crucially, did not break. The lids are charming with their round bowler hats and ribbons but between those two factors they’re irresistible to curious cats.

gyac, Monday, 11 November 2024 17:20 (three months ago) link

And yes Fracas is tuberose but like, TUBEROSE in neon pink caps like Sue in The Substance.

gyac, Monday, 11 November 2024 17:20 (three months ago) link

sean if you’re enjoying a rhubarb, try Encelade if you can (maybe at Etiket?) it’s expensive but so so divine, it was recently on sale so I bought Pat a bottle for Christmas :)

the trombone just keeps getting bigger (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 11 November 2024 17:21 (three months ago) link

Also my better half got a sample of Aqua Vitae recently (Maison Kurkijan) and it was gorgeous but strangely reminded me of classic Irish millennial fragrance Inis, like a lot.

Inis is maybe only £30 a bottle now, seriously tempted to buy some and see how it compares now. It was always one of the better ones my mother had in the bathroom (she kept number 5 in her bedroom but other stuff she got and didn’t like as much was in the bathroom for anyone to use).

https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Fragrances-of-Ireland/Inis-the-Energy-of-the-Sea-5377.html

gyac, Monday, 11 November 2024 17:32 (three months ago) link

I just use Clubman Pinaud Virgin Island Bay Rum... it's very affordable

I do have a vintage bottle of CK One from like 1994, wonder if it's worth anything.. it's almost completely full. Also an ancient bottle of English Leather that I found at an estate sale, completely full

Andy the Grasshopper, Monday, 11 November 2024 18:13 (three months ago) link

fgti, thank you for that suggestion - i hadn't heard of Encelade. leather + rhubarb sounds very good, i'll try to drop by Etiket.

sean gramophone, Tuesday, 12 November 2024 13:43 (three months ago) link

Smokin’ Gun - BORNTOSTANDOUT

excellent woodsy incens-y boozy with a pleasant sweetness, love it.

brimstead, Wednesday, 13 November 2024 22:26 (three months ago) link

Yes I did just visit the Guerlain original boutique at Champs-Élysées 24

And yes I just over-spent on a flaçon of Derby. They have Mouchoir de Monsieur here too! My goodness

the trombone just keeps getting bigger (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 22 November 2024 11:17 (two months ago) link

Original Derby in the bee bottle?

gyac, Friday, 22 November 2024 12:14 (two months ago) link

It’s not the original bottle, it’s one of their custom flaçons. There are a number of otherwise-unavailable scents you can purchase this way. They included the ingredients, and.. it doesn’t look as if it’s been reformulated since the “official” run. Smells brilliant. I am over the moon

the trombone just keeps getting bigger (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 22 November 2024 13:06 (two months ago) link

two months pass...

having been a deodorant guy for decades, i decided recently that now i'm in my forties that i want to start delving into the world of scents. i live in a city with a scent bar so i went there today for a consultation.

now, i feel like i'm very much in the "i don't know art but i know what i like" phase of experimenting with fragrances, and when anyone's like "this has top notes of xyz" i'm just like...i'll take your word for it since you seem to know what you're talking about! and i only just learned what the word "sillage" even means, like, an hour ago. but i decided that i was gonna just kinda go by instinct in the store, just hone in on what smells good to me and what is something that i would feel comfortable smelling like in public/at work.

i did know going in that i wanted to try some scents that were more earthy/woodsy than floral. i have a small bottle of le labo santal 33 at home (one of two bottles of cologne i own, and have ever owned, in my whole life) and while i like it, i wanted something with a less pronounced botanical scent than that. the guy at the store gave me a bunch of samples, and the two that "spoke" to me the most were .Oddity Naked Dance and HDK Gris Charnel. The latter has a strong fig/cardamom thing going on and it's the kind of thing i would probably only wear in moderation, but i still got a sample to take home. i ended up splurging on a bottle of the Naked Dance, it's very clayey/powdery in a way i find extremely enticing, bolstered by a very subtle citrus scent. i also tried on Anat Fritz Tzora, a somewhat peppery vetiver - i couldn't make up my mind about it in the store, but a couple hours later i decided that i love it and may get a bottle next time i go there.

in the meantime i feel like i have a lot of research to do lol. it's fun to try scents tho! i want to delve more into the ocean scents shelf next time.

donna rouge, Monday, 3 February 2025 00:47 (one week ago) link

Welcome! Can i suggest Perfumes the Guide? It’s a great guide to fragrances, as is the recent sequel. Some descriptions of some of my favourites so you get a sense of the writing:

Fracas:

Fracas (Robert Piguet) butter tuberose $$$

A friend once explained to me how Ferrari achieves that gorgeous red: first paint the car silver, then six coats of red, then a coat of transparent pink varnish. Germaine Cellier would have approved. Her masterpiece Fracas, after going through a threadbare patch in the eighties, was revived by a U.S. outfit and spruced up to a quality approximating the original as far as possible, with the usual Cellier caveats of disappeared bases (see Bandit). To my nose, what makes Fracas great is a wonderful buttery note up top, which I attribute to chamomile, and a nice bread-like iris touch in the drydown. Pink and silver, with tuberose red in between. LT


The guide doesn’t cover everything ofc but between it and the 2018 guide they write with such care and interest in fragrances you can’t help but find avenues to explore.

Per your explanation about “i know what i like”, that is very much how i think about perfume. And Tania Sanchez writes in the intro to Perfumes the Guide about discovering two favourites on a whim with the language of love at first sight:

I liked to play with perfume but never thought much of it until at seventeen I found the Guerlain counter at Saks. I’d sought it out because my roommate was crazy about a forceful thing they made called Samsara, which, while something I absolutely didn’t want to wear, had a worked-out quality that seemed a notch above what I was used to. The first thing I tried was the recent release Champs-Elysées, which had the starring role on the counter. I nearly ran off…For some reason, before heading home, I looked a little further and paused at one labeled L’Heure Bleue. The eau de toilette bottles at that time had the shape of squat lutes, a black serif typeface like a printer’s error on the clear glass, and tall plastic caps imitating gilded lacquer—in a word, ugly. In this unpromising container I found the most beautiful thing I’d ever smelled. I bought it with my food budget for the month and put the silly bottle in a dark cabinet so I wouldn’t have to look at it. I wore it quietly and rarely, because I couldn’t afford to buy another, and I never told anyone what it was, because the name’s particular combination of gargling French r’s and pursed-lipped eu sounds was unprocessable by the American ear, most of all when pronounced correctly—all of which had the effect of giving my love for it the fraught significance of a secret affair.

The second time I fell for a perfume, things were not so complicated. I was down to the last half inch of L’Heure Bleue in the bottle, I was out of college, and I was desultorily spraying everything on the girls’ side of Sephora, finding dozens of nice things but nothing that moved me much. Until I found that little black rubber puck. Look up Luca’s review of Bulgari’s Black farther along in the book, and then buy it and wear it and know what I mean. My first love was simply beautiful; the second was both beautiful and interesting. I began to have questions.


I also own Bulgari Black (or rather i share a bottle with my better half) having been introduced to it by him and although it’s not available in Europe or the US anymore fragrancex usually has it at very decent prices. I recommend it.

Excerpt from review of Bulgari Black:
Black sets out boldly into space on three axes: a big, solid, sweet amber note; a muted fifties Je Reviens floral note (benzylsalicylate) as green as a banker's desk lamp; and finally a bitter-powdery, fresh rubber accord such as one encounters in specialist shops or while repairing a bicycle tire puncture. These three tunes hit you in perfect counterpoint when Black is first put on. The remarkable thing about Black's structure is the absence of top notes or drydown. Ménardo has contrived to make the harmony independent of perfume time, but very sensitive to small variations in one's perception. At different times, Black will strike you variously as a battle hymn for Amazons, emerald green plush fit for Napoleon's box at the Opéra, or just plain sweet and smiling. It also has the combination of great bones and good skin characteristic of old-fashioned perfumery, while being entirely novel and modern. Some things strive to be classics; others simply are.


The prose is what it is and if you’re not into perfume it can seem laughable but these are two very dedicated people with a breadth of passion and interest in their subject. There’s love on every page. I would also say check out basenotes and/or fragrantica for recommendations based on things you like and to see if there’s a particular ingredient in a perfume that keeps you going back again and again.

I posted itt i think, and i was telling someone the other day, that i remember where and when i first tried Angel (I was 15) and I thought then that this was a perfume i loved enough to wear on my wedding day. At 15! I don’t think i even thought about getting married for at least another decade. Anyway, that was love at first sight for me, and it’s not a cool niche fragrance at all now, but it’s one of the ones i love and that always makes me happy. And I did wear it on my wedding day. Excerpt from review in Perfumes the Guide:

These two halves, masculine and feminine, share a camphoraceous (mothball) smell, which gives Angel a covering of unsentimental, icy brightness above its overripe (some say "rotting") rumble. The effect kills the possibility of cloying sweetness, despite megadoses of the cotton-candy smell of ethylmaltol, leaving Angel in a high-energy state of contradiction. Many perfumes are beautiful or pleasant, but how many are exciting? Like a woman in a film who seethes, "He's so annoying!" and marries him in the end, I returned to smell Angel so many times I had to buy it.


The singular best thing you can do is to trust your own taste and explore as much as possible. And remember that what works for you won’t work for other people, and vice versa, which is why knowing your own taste is the most important factor of all. Keep us updated.

triste et cassé (gyac), Monday, 3 February 2025 01:50 (one week ago) link

But do you say “sillage” or “see-YAZH”

I’m still absent a perfect lavender. I think I may give up on irises entirely, I want a spectacular one but they’re always so… compromised

Necka Mormon (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 3 February 2025 01:57 (one week ago) link

Oh, that was an xp. Angel is ofc an all time best. My bf puts it on in the powder room and I can smell it from the bedroom and it’s always surprising and amazing

Necka Mormon (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 3 February 2025 02:01 (one week ago) link

I don't want to read all of this thread. I think Mitsouko by Guerlain is the most amazing scent of all time.

It is an aldehyde peach and bergamot fragrance, which is very 20th Century -- but also it has an autumn darkness with middle notes of rose, iris, clove, and jasmine, and base notes of vetiver, oakmoss, and labdanum

It is a perfect perfume for Fall, but I think also for all year round

Dan S, Monday, 3 February 2025 02:28 (one week ago) link

I give up, if the cute women at the bar stop by a table to ask someone if they're wearing Jazz Club, I'll try Jazz Club. I'm more into fresh woody scents like cypress and cedar, though.

ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Monday, 3 February 2025 02:37 (one week ago) link

Ok?!

Fgti, try and see can you get a bottle of Caldey Island lavender from somewhere. They don’t make it anymore but that’s as of only a few years ago so you may be able to pick up some on eBay.

triste et cassé (gyac), Monday, 3 February 2025 02:42 (one week ago) link

I'm gonna try that! My go-to lavender these days is Caron PUH, it is astringent in an appealing morning way, but nothing I'd wanna wear after noon

@ Dan S, Mitsouko is of course a favourite around here, I got a couple of very-vintage bottles of it and I'm pleased to report that its current formulations leave nothing to be desired. I have some vials of the "peach" aldehyde downstairs... aldehyde C14! The secret about that Mitsouko though is the odd pencil-shaving component, this kinda of lead-y smell, it's miraculous

Necka Mormon (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 3 February 2025 03:42 (one week ago) link

Was gifted a bottle of Ombre Nomade and I really like it. It's intense. One spray carries through the entire day. My roommate asked if I could stop wearing it. My roommate uses Axe body spray.

completely suited to the horny decadence (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 3 February 2025 08:41 (one week ago) link

Derek Guy of course has a thread about learning what scents you like

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1849229348798337203.html

Tracer Hand, Monday, 3 February 2025 13:28 (one week ago) link

i want to delve more into the ocean scents shelf

yeah ocean scents!! no matter how much I try to explore other things I always end up back here or in woody fragrances. interested to hear what sort of ocean scents you discover.

Question for anyone: what do you do with all the 1-2ml samples you end up with but won't use up because they aren't really your thing?

salsa shark, Monday, 3 February 2025 14:34 (one week ago) link

I usually give them to my better half first refusal, after that i usually randomly give them to other people i think might like them. I gave user Mookieproof a couple of Frederic Malle ones from a sample set but i can’t remember which ones and i don’t know if he ever used them.

triste et cassé (gyac), Monday, 3 February 2025 14:44 (one week ago) link

Sorry, pressed enter just as i thought of something else - I also keep some in a drawer at the bedroom i stay in my parents in case i forget to bring perfume (i bring mine in atomisers so this happens more than you’d think). Good for travelling as well.

triste et cassé (gyac), Monday, 3 February 2025 14:46 (one week ago) link

I keep em in a big shoebox, and refer to them when I want to remember. There are very few 2 mL samples that I’ve ended up buying full bottles— the only scents I have on my “I might buy that” list are the seemingly-rare CdG scents that I never see anywhere (2 Man, Black, Avignon). The night I watched Conclave at home I used up the last of my Avignon sample, perfect pairing imo

Necka Mormon (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 3 February 2025 18:01 (one week ago) link

gyac thank you for that lovely welcoming post! i'm excited for what i find too. btw do you have a kind of travel atomiser that you like? thinking about when i eventually travel and might want to bring a lil something with me

seemingly-rare CdG scents that I never see anywhere (2 Man, Black, Avignon)

my friend was just telling me that she got her husband a bottle of 2 Man as a christmas gift, which she ordered online at luckyscent but had to pick up in person at scent bar. so it theoretically still exists in LA

that derek guy thread is good! not sure how ilx at large views him but i always find his threads v. informative

donna rouge, Tuesday, 4 February 2025 15:23 (one week ago) link

i just throw away samples i don't like, i don't want them around me.

donna, you might want to try Soul of the Forest by Maison Margiela's REPLICA line. ok i'm biased, it's the first fragrance i fell in love with. but if you want to smell like a woody forest floor in the morning or something, i'd check it out.

i'm waiting for my full size of Deer by Wolf Brothers to arrive from Poland.

brimstead, Tuesday, 4 February 2025 15:39 (one week ago) link

Autumn Vibes is another Maison Margiela worth a sample... It's like a walk through a forest in October

I recently got a sample of Wolf by Wolf Brothers - absolutely loved the opening and first hour or so, was very optimistic that I'd finally found the autumn/winter scent I'd been looking for, then super struggled with the leatheriness and manliness of the dry down.

I'm a boyish lady and broadly happy to ignore masc/fem labels on fragrances but I was caught out this time. So, anyone finds a potentially less manly Wolf equivalent... let me know

salsa shark, Tuesday, 4 February 2025 20:43 (one week ago) link


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