High End Cologne

[NewYorkIslander]

So, what makes the higher end colognes worth their money (think Creed, TF, etc)? I know that clothing can have aspects of it that can make it more valuable than others (hand made/fabric/etc) but what makes the scents that way. I admit, I don't have such a trained nose for that stuff, but is a $100 bottle of Green Irish Tweed much different than Coolwater by Davidoff? They smell similar to me. Also, Dunhill Red smells like TF Tuscan Leather, but again, the price difference is huge. Is it simply a name thing with customers willing to pay for a certain brand? I've been to Fragonard in paris a few times, so I have some idea as to how fragrance is made, and the difference between EdT and EdP and such...anyone?

 

[Kuro]

Marketing.

 

[CouttsClient]

Concentration of essential ingredients

 

[Khnelben]

my wife presented me with Red Vetiver by Montale . Wonderful scent . But is very similar to Hermes.

the price, among other things, is driven by use of natural (and sometimes) rare ingredients, more manual labour (?)

marketing also plays its part.

i think one should use what one likes and what suits one - its not only about the price.

but i tend to stay away from high street brands or their divisions (as Armani, for example, has Armani Privee)

one exception i make is for Fahrenheit by CD - but my dad used this so its a tradition

Andrey

 

[medtech_expat]

Originally Posted by CouttsClient

Concentration of essential ingredients

A bit of this...

Originally Posted by Kuro

Marketing.

... but more of this.

AFAIK, fragrances are some of the highest margin items for designers. As for myself, when I use cologne - which is very rarely - for the past 15 years it's been either Acqua di Parma or d'orange verte.

 

[Omega Man]

Marketing and the brand play a big part.

How about natural vs. synthetics?
Montale is famous for his "rose" scents. It literally requires a ton of roses in order to get a few quarts of essense/oils. If you were to use synthetics, you can bypass this process and mix chemicals/aromatics together. You should post this question on the Health section. We do have a few knowledgeable fragrance experts on the forum.

 

[acecow]

Maybe they last longer? Just a thought, I really don't know...

 

[Kuro]

was being a little glib.. however an example: imho this smells very much like this . Both are from "exclusive" perfumers so why the price discrepancy?

 

[ktrp]

A big difference is that many of the high end ones have a certain image. The image is cultivated via money-losing runway designs of the house in question. Obviously, creating an entire fashion line that nobody buys in order to create the right image for the cologne is expensive, and this is embedded in the price of the cologne.

 

[CouttsClient]

Originally Posted by ktrp

A big difference is that many of the high end ones have a certain image. The image is cultivated via money-losing runway designs of the house in question. Obviously, creating an entire fashion line that nobody buys in order to create the right image for the cologne is expensive, and this is embedded in the price of the cologne.

 

[Omega Man]

Originally Posted by acecow

Maybe they last longer? Just a thought, I really don't know...

Not true. Creed (a few that I have tried) are notorioulsy fleeting. Although it depends on a wearer's skin chemistry, this is the view share by many people.

 

[pebblegrain]

does it, smell? better end

 

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by Kuro

Marketing.

Originally Posted by CouttsClient

Concentration of essential ingredients
These, mostly marketing though. Funny you mention GIT and Cool Water: they were both composed by the same perfumer and have small variations between them. As I understand it, the house making the scent decides what they'll sell it for, then back out their markup and production/distribution costs, and then say: the formula will cost X and smell like (blah). From that point it's up to the perfumer to select what goes in. That said, even among the synthetics there is a wide range in quality and price: musks in particular come to mind. Natural musk is simply not used outside of Natural Perfumery, and everything else falls in between Body Shop musk and Chanel musk. Or, God help you, Le Labo Musc. From that, you might argue that Creed simply selected better ingredients than Davidoff to get a better raw product. You could be right, or you might not - depending on how much markup they want.

 

[MBreinin]

Read the novel "Perfume," and all will be revealed.

 

[Beaune Head]

If you're serious about this stuff, check out these sites. It's not just designer crap that advertises in Maxim: http://www.thedifferentcompany.com/ http://www.editionsdeparfums.com/mallesite_gb/index.htm