Scent/Fragrance of the Day thread

[guest]



If I remember right it smelled distinctly like the little pine-shaped car air fresheners...

wasn't that original polo?

my dad has explorer he's the least feminine man i know save his perfume habit haha!

it was okay to my nose.

today: polo modern reserve aka fresher pine shaped car freshener.

 

[L'Incandescent]

Chergui today. I have to admit I don't get what all the fuss is about. All the perfumista cool kids seem to have strong opinions about this, pro or con, but it just leaves me indifferent. Usually when there's lots of buzz about a fragrance--e.g., L'Air du Desert Marocain, Muscs Koublai Khan, Musc Ravageur, Jubiliation XXV, Sycomore, etc--I can easily understand why, even when I don't particularly like the fragrance. Not with Chergui, though. Maybe I'm missing something?

 

[Parker]

Guerlain Vetiver

 

[Baron]



Chergui today. I have to admit I don't get what all the fuss is about. All the perfumista cool kids seem to have strong opinions about this, pro or con, but it just leaves me indifferent. Usually when there's lots of buzz about a fragrance--e.g., L'Air du Desert Marocain, Muscs Koublai Khan, Musc Ravageur, Jubiliation XXV, Sycomore, etc--I can easily understand why, even when I don't particularly like the fragrance. Not with Chergui, though. Maybe I'm missing something?

I think that some of the big oriental Lutens scents were more interesting a few years ago before there were a few dozen other niche perfumers making exotic orientals. At one time I think Lutens was really out there by himself. I don't much like Chergui myself - that and Arabie and Fumerie Turque and a few others just overwhelm with their smokey, syrupy, spicy sweetness. They all smell like a North African brothel (that reminds me of the time I was where tres flores hair pomade and my dad told me I smelled like a "Mexican whorehouse"). I like a lot of his other scents, like MKK, Encens et Lavande, Sarrasins, and others.

 

[rach2jlc]



Chergui today. I have to admit I don't get what all the fuss is about. All the perfumista cool kids seem to have strong opinions about this, pro or con, but it just leaves me indifferent. Usually when there's lots of buzz about a fragrance--e.g., L'Air du Desert Marocain, Muscs Koublai Khan, Musc Ravageur, Jubiliation XXV, Sycomore, etc--I can easily understand why, even when I don't particularly like the fragrance. Not with Chergui, though. Maybe I'm missing something?

I never got the appeal, either. And back some years ago it was THE scent on basenotes (there were always a "OMG ZOMG ZOMG Scent of the moment" there.) Chergui seemed to have its run longer than the others (for a while it was PdN NY, and then Tauer LdDM, etc.)

I think that some of the big oriental Lutens scents were more interesting a few years ago before there were a few dozen other niche perfumers making exotic orientals. At one time I think Lutens was really out there by himself. I don't much like Chergui myself - that and Arabie and Fumerie Turque and a few others just overwhelm with their smokey, syrupy, spicy sweetness. They all smell like a North African brothel (that reminds me of the time I was where tres flores hair pomade and my dad told me I smelled like a "Mexican whorehouse"). I like a lot of his other scents, like MKK, Encens et Lavande, Sarrasins, and others.

This is a very good point, sort of going back to what I mentioned a while back about how the market is almost saturated to the point of making it impossible for a fragrance fan to make wade through and hard for one's "nose" to keep straight. The market is in an interesting state of flux, and in 3-5 years it will probably simmer down and all will be better for it.

I see parallels (I mentioned this before) in the men's fashion and premium denim category... mid 1990's "premium denim" was either $100 Diesel or $150 Helmut Lang. "$150 for jeans? You're fuckin' nuts!" people said. Then, it just exploded and $400 jeans with swarovski crystals and six legs came out, or see-through jeans, etc etc etc. All more "premium" than the last. Most of those have disappeared, but there are still several "key" premium denim brands out there doing great stuff without gimmicks.

I think fragrance will be similar. Le Labo, for example, is really quite unique and I think will stay around. Others, though, may disappear. Overall, though, the spicy/oud/oriental glut of the past few years is a bit much. The pared down, beautiful simplicity of a Roudnitska is being lost in the "you like Oud? Well, WE'LL GIVE YOU OUD! And you like Rose and Bergamot and patchouly? WELL!!! We'll give you..." etc. And it's now easier to part with $200 for a fragrance than NOT to do it. "You spent $105 for a FRAGRANCE?" doesn't sound so whacky now.

As you said, it's hard for many to realize that even as recently as 2004/2005, there really weren't that many houses. Finding a new one you'd never heard of was so interesting and fun. But, seriously, it was L'aP, Lutens, Creed (aaah!), MPG (which hardly anyone talks about anymore), and a few others. TDC only had three scents, and Cuiron was $19.99 on ebay. Ah, the good old days in the mid-oughts.

Totally unrelated, but yesterday I had a student who came in literally swimming in his mother's Dior Poison. That one is a sillage beast and even for me, who enjoys bathing in fragrance, I found it almost hard to teach. I made him sit in the back of the room (haha.) BUT, then he came to my office afterward and I gave him a small decant of Chamade (I keep a few "reserves" in my office!) I figure if he's going to wear old lady's perfume he might as well do it right.

Balmain de balmain today for a lovely, sunny, but cool day.

 

[Rambo]

Trying the new Bond no9 For Him today. Nice, if not completely unremarkable.

 

[rach2jlc]



Trying the new Bond no9 For Him today. Nice, if not completely unremarkable.

I wondered about this one but never tried it. When Bond is good, it's great, when it's "meh," it's really "meh." Like Riverside Drive... great. Hamptons... BOOOOOORING.

Yesterday I went back to that shop where I found the haul of vintage scents and I found several more. Got a 100ml bottle of Antaeus, 100ml of Santos de Cartier, a Chanel PM, and the neatest was two NIB sets of Chanel no. 19 soap (with two 100g bars each). They're in this lovely black/white case with a padded velvet black interior. Really neat.

I normally don't just buy them randomly, but they were all basically $7-8 a bottle and I couldn't resist. Fresh juice, good to go.

SO, I will channel my inner "thomas" and go with Antaeus today. I'd forgotten how much I like this one (after using up my last bottle a few years ago!)

 

[Rambo]



SO, I will channel my inner "thomas" and go with Antaeus today. I'd forgotten how much I like this one (after using up my last bottle a few years ago!)

If you're really going to channel your inner "Thomas" you should go back to the store and buy about 6 more bottles of each.

 

[rach2jlc]



If you're really going to channel your inner "Thomas" you should go back to the store and buy about 6 more bottles of each.

Very true! Although, with all the No. 19 stuff I've accumulated, I'm getting close. I now have the EdC, two bottles of EdT, Voile Parfumee, three bottles of Parfum, and four bars of perfumed soap (savon.)

 

[L'Incandescent]

Following up on Rambo's recommendations from a few days ago, I just tried out some of the new Tom Fords at Neiman.

Santal Blush was the star of the show, IMO. It's a surprisingly complex fragrance. At the top it's very powdery and feminine. You get the sandalwood at the top, but it's only a hint of what's coming. As it gets into the heart, a very pleasant violet note emerges. I certainly was not expecting that. Then, almost imperceptibly, it becomes a very dry, dirty, cuminy sandalwood. I can see why some people might think this is pretty ho-hum at the top, but it really becomes excellent in the drydown.

Jasmin Rouge I didn't like a whole lot, but that's because the name actually describes the juice (something you can't always assume with Tom Fords). I was hoping the jasmine wouldn't be so prominent, but alas, it is. (It probably didn't help that I wore Alien last night, which really amplifies all the worst qualities of jasmine. Why did I wear Alien? I have no idea.)

Finally, I tried Violet Blonde. (Had to go to Saks for that actually--they didn't have it at Neiman.) I've read some reviews that say there's not a lot of violet in there. I don't know what they were smelling, because there's most definitely plenty of violet. At the top, the violet competes with another flower--I think it's jasmine. But before too long the violet clearly wins out. It's good, but I can't see myself buying a whole bottle.

No one in St. Louis has Lavender Palm yet, so I'll have to wait. Nordstrom just had its grand opening here yesterday, and they assured me that they would have the whole Tom Ford line, including the Private Blends, very soon. Frankly, I find that hard to believe, but we'll see.

 

[Rambo]

Hmm, I definitely thought you'd like the Jasmine Rouge. I heard the Lavender Palm would be in at the end of December.

 

[guest]

versace man eau fraiche. pretty generic and synthetic. i could have sworn i smelled it on a salesman the other day while i was wearing TDH.

 

[rach2jlc]



versace man eau fraiche. pretty generic and synthetic. i could have sworn i smelled it on a salesman the other day while i was wearing TDH.

Everybody laments Gianni's demise, but even Versace's scents lost their luster. The original Versace l'homme (back in the 80's) was one of the best of the "big 80's" scents, and then they put out Dreamer, and even the very odd Versus Uomo (a strange, sweet scent) was quite unique. The latest offerings are, as you said, really quite bland and not memorable.

Santos de Cartier for me today. This was another big 80's scent, though I don't think it really holds up with its cousins Antaeus, Giorgio for Men, Versace l'homme (mentioned above), etc. It's okay, and you can tell what it wants to do, but it sort of feels "grandpa" where Antaeus still feels "big."

 

[L'Incandescent]

I'm wearing the new Bottega Veneta today. Not surprisingly, it's a leather. It's probably reasonable to call it a leather chypre, though there's something in there that's just a little bit gourmand too. The fragrance opens with bergamot, but that lasted literally only a minute or two on me. After that, it disappeared. From the open it developed into a fairly bitter, but very sophisticated leather. As it develops, that bitterness is balanced out by some sweetness that I have a hard time placing. Sometimes I think I smell something vaguely chocolaty, but then when I smell again it's not there. I think anyone who likes leather fragrances would want to check this out. I like it, but leather just isn't my favorite fragrance category. Sillage and longevity seem moderate.

Also, the Santal Blush I tried yesterday has amazing longevity. It lasted over 24 hours, surviving a shower in the process.

 

[Thomas]



(...)

Yesterday I went back to that shop where I found the haul of vintage scents and I found several more. Got a 100ml bottle of Antaeus, 100ml of Santos de Cartier, a Chanel PM, and the neatest was two NIB sets of Chanel no. 19 soap (with two 100g bars each). They're in this lovely black/white case with a padded velvet black interior. Really neat.

I normally don't just buy them randomly, but they were all basically $7-8 a bottle and I couldn't resist. Fresh juice, good to go.

SO, I will channel my inner "thomas" and go with Antaeus today. I'd forgotten how much I like this one (after using up my last bottle a few years ago!)

MUAHAHAHAH. Nice haul!

If you're really going to channel your inner "Thomas" you should go back to the store and buy about 6 more bottles of each.

If they have bigger bottles, go with those.

Very true! Although, with all the No. 19 stuff I've accumulated, I'm getting close. I now have the EdC, two bottles of EdT, Voile Parfumee, three bottles of Parfum, and four bars of perfumed soap (savon.)

That's a good start.

Following up on Rambo's recommendations from a few days ago, I just tried out some of the new Tom Fords at Neiman.

Santal Blush was the star of the show, IMO. It's a surprisingly complex fragrance. At the top it's very powdery and feminine. You get the sandalwood at the top, but it's only a hint of what's coming. As it gets into the heart, a very pleasant violet note emerges. I certainly was not expecting that. Then, almost imperceptibly, it becomes a very dry, dirty, cuminy sandalwood. I can see why some people might think this is pretty ho-hum at the top, but it really becomes excellent in the drydown.

(...)

Santal Blush is - I hate to say this - on my radar these days. Frankly I'm scared to smell it, since I'm not ready to deal with any more wants.