Scent/Fragrance of the Day thread

[rach2jlc]

Figured I have to wear something from the mother load, so Chanel Cristalle today.

What a weird one. I remember the weirdness (in a good way) of the original EdT, a combative sort of chypre/green scent that does for green what tabac blond or bandit did for leathers... sort of create weird conflicts and are very fun.

The EdP is sort of just a conflict. It's green, but Polge must have decided to smooth out the harshness of the original with some fruit, but then there is a note that really can only be... basil?... that almost makes it foul and sour. BUT, not a "good" foul, like rose poivree or something.

I like it, and am drawn to it, but it seems a failure on the whole when considered as a fully rounded scent. I want to try it in colder weather, to see if that weird basil-y note simmers down and reveals something deeper.

Overall, Thomas, I'm thinking of you... as the scent is sort of like what a man who loves Yatigan might buy for his wife. OR, a man who loves yatigan might decide to wear when he wants something less spicey. Sort of "Yatagan d'un Eté."

Definitely worth trying, but (usually) given the cost of Chanel frags, even online or at discount, I can't recomend it. I got this 100ml bottle for a song, so it's worth it... but I'd not spend anything more than $30 for a bottle.

 

[L'Incandescent]



So, I have to brag... I hit the mother load today.

That's the kind of thing I literally have dreams about! Wow.

Rochas Femme vintage formulation for me today. Alas, I did not get an especially good deal on it.

 

[Parker]

Nice finds, Professor. I wore Chanel Pour Monsieur today.

 

[rach2jlc]

^Thanks!

Wore the vintage Givenchy gentleman today on one arm, the currently available stuff on the other. I wanted to see how they stacked up, and if there was a difference. There WAS, and I will explain below (after a short preface.)

First, one of the things that any "long term" fragrance fan will tell you is that you very quickly have to learn to take just about everything other fragrance fans tell you with a grain of salt. Perhaps it is something inherent to the evocative nature of scent itself, but almost without fail the longer distance between a positive scent experience and its failure to reoccur (for whatever reason, but in this case mostly because the scent gets discontinued) causes that experience to be aggrandized unrelated to the ACTUAL quality of the experience itself.

What this means is that in only two of the perhaps twenty times in which I've encountered a discontinued or vintage fragrance that was DROOLED over or lusted after on fragrance forums, has it been anything but a disappointment, a feeling of wasted time, or just plain "meh."

Not that I didn't "like" the scents; often I did. BUT, hearing people talk about how "wondrous" they were, how amazing the past was compared to the drivel produced today, etc etc etc made the whole thing sound great. Going through the effort to locate a bottle, often at great time and or expense, and I went, "this is IT?" I would rather have just put the money down on a scent available I knew I'd like.

Giorgio Red for men, Havana, Yohji Pour Homme, Guerlain Derby, Nicole Miller for Men, Jil Sander Feeling Man, Chanel Bois Noir (sacrilege!) just to name a few. While some of these have been rereleased, keep in mind that in 2005 or so, people were paying $200-300 for Red or Havana. They are good scents, but they are NOT that great, and almost without fail there is a currently available "substitute" that is just as good, or better.

The two exceptions? Balenciaga Pour Homme and the vintage Givenchy Gentleman. They are actually fairly similar to me, in type. Both are big, sweaty, boozy powerhouses of stink. The current Givenchy Gentleman doesn't feel like a reformulation (or not much), but it is much lighter, crisper, and with less of the funk and dirt of the original. Or, looking at the scent pyramid for it, it appears that the current version highlights the upper notes (tarragon/cinnamon/vetiver... and civet) while the original emphasizes the darker bottom (deeper civet, leather, patchouli, with a hint of cinammon).

The new is more "kouros with patchouli." The older is more "bottle of bourbon poured over an unbathed spice seller." Older has a dirty, sexy, smooth depth and richness, while the newer has an almost sour sort of crispness... almost a "fizz." To put it less delicately, the older has none of that "piss note" that people get from Kouros, from Moustache, and from the current Givenchy Gentleman. The newer has the piss note, and (complete speculation) I wonder if this is due in part to (1) a different concentration or "type" of synthetic civet, and/or (2) a combination of said civet with more "crisp" notes like vetiver and cinammon, rather than the deeper leather/patchouli notes.

If new is "Kouros avec patchouli," the old is almost like "Idole Lubin with stink." As they dry down, however, the same patchouli heart with civet comes through in both, though again "lighter" feeling in the newer.

SO, I say all of this only to say don't NOT buy the new juice because you can't get the old; they ARE the same fragrance, and especially in the drydown come closer to one another. If you "like" the new, you'll absolutely adore the old. Why did they mess with it? I really have no idea, because they obviously didn't change it to make it more "appealing" to a contemporary nose... the new is just as "foul" as the old, only not as "good" foul (if that makes sense.) As such, my guess would be the change in legal restrictions on certain ingredients, and cost-savings measures on said raw ingredients, rather than an actual change of recipe, is to blame ((for example, the 2000 rerelease of Givenchy L'interdit was an ENTIRELY different fragrance than the 1957 one, designed to appeal to a new consumer. I don't think that's what's happening here, because the current GG is hardly "appealing" in a world full of D&G Light Blue and Acqua di Gio.)

Here endeth the lesson, but only to say: never spend too much money on discontinued fragrances. If you get them cheaply, then fine. But, if you do it, don't do it blind, and not for premium $$$. You are almost guaranteed to be disappointed, and are buying more somebody ELSE'S evocative scent memory than an actual quality-related experience. I paid the equivalent of $9.50 for each of my 50ml sealed bottles (in box), so obviously I'm a happy camper. If somebody was asking $150 for an old bottle of GG, though, I'd say "forget it" and get BOND no. 9 "HOT ALWAYS" instead, or the aforementioned Idole Lubin.

 

[guest]

cool review! makes me want to try new givenchy gentleman if they actually carry it at givenchy counters in my country. (they don't) but maybe i'll pick one up abroad..

 

[Thomas]



Figured I have to wear something from the mother load, so Chanel Cristalle today.

(...)

Overall, Thomas, I'm thinking of you... as the scent is sort of like what a man who loves Yatigan might buy for his wife. OR, a man who loves yatigan might decide to wear when he wants something less spicey. Sort of "Yatagan d'un Eté."

Definitely worth trying, but (usually) given the cost of Chanel frags, even online or at discount, I can't recomend it. I got this 100ml bottle for a song, so it's worth it... but I'd not spend anything more than $30 for a bottle.

funny enough, Mrs. T goes for the lighter fruity/floral scents, which I quickly understood and continuously hew to after a disastrous try to get her wearing Cabochard. Her current bottle is Chanel Chance Eau Tendre, which matches their advertising motif.

^Thanks!

(...)

First, one of the things that any "long term" fragrance fan will tell you is that you very quickly have to learn to take just about everything other fragrance fans tell you with a grain of salt. Perhaps it is something inherent to the evocative nature of scent itself, but almost without fail the longer distance between a positive scent experience and its failure to reoccur (for whatever reason, but in this case mostly because the scent gets discontinued) causes that experience to be aggrandized unrelated to the ACTUAL quality of the experience itself.

What this means is that in only two of the perhaps twenty times in which I've encountered a discontinued or vintage fragrance that was DROOLED over or lusted after on fragrance forums, has it been anything but a disappointment, a feeling of wasted time, or just plain "meh."

Not that I didn't "like" the scents; often I did. BUT, hearing people talk about how "wondrous" they were, how amazing the past was compared to the drivel produced today, etc etc etc made the whole thing sound great. Going through the effort to locate a bottle, often at great time and or expense, and I went, "this is IT?" I would rather have just put the money down on a scent available I knew I'd like.

Giorgio Red for men, Havana, Yohji Pour Homme, Guerlain Derby, Nicole Miller for Men, Jil Sander Feeling Man, Chanel Bois Noir (sacrilege!) just to name a few. While some of these have been rereleased, keep in mind that in 2005 or so, people were paying $200-300 for Red or Havana. They are good scents, but they are NOT that great, and almost without fail there is a currently available "substitute" that is just as good, or better.
(...)

^^ truth. Although I've never tried Bois Noir, but Egoiste is plenty good enough.

Speaking of Chanel, today is another day of vintage Antaeus.

 

[L'Incandescent]

Bal a Versailles vintage edp.

 

[rach2jlc]



^^ truth. Although I've never tried Bois Noir, but Egoiste is plenty good enough.

Speaking of Chanel, today is another day of vintage Antaeus.

It's sacrilege and there are MANY on Bnotes and elsewhere who would have me shot for saying it... but my impression on the one time I got to try Bois Noir, nervous with anticipation having heard so much... was.... DRUMROLL.... DRUMROLL...


...kinda like... Egoiste. (haha) Which, basically it was. I mean, it was a "good" Egoiste, sort of a niche Egoiste. It has some little differences, but sort of like how an Infinity M-whatever is called a Nissan "Fuga" in japan. Same car, same engine, but the Infiniti has a nicer paint job and leather seats.

There are wonderful scents out there these days, though getting harder to find thanks to market saturation (discussed on the last page), changing legal restrictions, and many brand simply cutting down on quality (checked the prices lately on Rose Absolu?) to save costs. That's what i get from Givenchy Gentleman... one just feels "cheaper," though still good.

Today the vintage Chanel Coco. I really like this one, though it's quite "feminine," even for me (who wears scents blindly.) It's a very dark, lovely floriental, and not good for warm weather like today. BUT, I have always enjoyed it, and find the balance quite nice. SO, alas.

 

[Thomas]



It's sacrilege and there are MANY on Bnotes and elsewhere who would have me shot for saying it... but my impression on the one time I got to try Bois Noir, nervous with anticipation having heard so much... was.... DRUMROLL.... DRUMROLL...


...kinda like... Egoiste. (haha) Which, basically it was. I mean, it was a "good" Egoiste, sort of a niche Egoiste. It has some little differences, but sort of like how an Infinity M-whatever is called a Nissan "Fuga" in japan. Same car, same engine, but the Infiniti has a nicer paint job and leather seats.

There are wonderful scents out there these days, though getting harder to find thanks to market saturation (discussed on the last page), changing legal restrictions, and many brand simply cutting down on quality (checked the prices lately on Rose Absolu?) to save costs. That's what i get from Givenchy Gentleman... one just feels "cheaper," though still good.

(....)

Ah, one more thing to cross off the ol' bucket list (Bois Noir). Thanks Rach!

 

[Master-Classter]

a few drops of Clive Christianson X on my chest - smells rich and offensive, maybe like Tom Ford for men Extreme? I raped a bottle at the dept store into a decant container and made up a few vials for the swap box. Just to stick it to 'em for trying to build a brand on price (CC "the most expensive perfume in the world". puleez, go fuk yourself Clive).

And then I doused myself in some Iso-E (diluted) to see if it might solicit comments and phone numbers... no luck

 

[tesuquegolfer]

Eau d'Hermes! I just got it this weekend. I have gotten many samples and have been trying to find a sale or gift box with all that I wanted for a while now. Well, fragrances never seem to go on sale. However, I dropped into a fragrance store at the outlet mall that had a gift set with the 3.4 ml cologne, a small travel size cologne, a shower gel, and after shave balm for $64, so I jumped on it.

 

[willpower]

Hermes Pamplemousse Rose EDC - I really enjoy the scent of this one but the lack of longevity keeps it from being bottle worthy. Lovely summertime fragrance, though.

 

[GreenFrog]

kiehl's musk. received a compliment from a female co-worker the moment i walked by, she said, 'oh my god someone smells really good!' to which i asked, 'is it this?!' and i shoved my arm in her face.

she replied with a resounding 'yes!'

lol tried to make it sound dramatic.

 

[Goombi]

^

I was trying out the frags at Kiehl's today.

Did you get the oil or the EDT?

And has anyone tried the Pour Homme there either?

SAs told me that the line was being discontinued. Only things remaining would be the EDTs.

 

[GreenFrog]

I got the EDT.