Men's Fragrances

[Supel]

I've been very underwhelmed by "By Kilian." I thought they were overly precious, rather pedestrian scents sold for a king's ransom in fancy packaging. Which of their scents do you find interesting/different than much else out there?

I can definitely see what you mean, a lot of people can fall biased as many sandalwood based fragrances can tend to smell the same? I think with Kilian is that they may be slightly better in terms of the ingredients perhaps? Though from my personal view I find 'A taste of Heaven/Absinthe Verte' (which I own) and 'Straight To Heaven/White Crystal' being my two favourites. Specifically the first being the most distinct!

Then again what smells nice on myself may not on someone else due to the chemistry I suppose? Again personal choice falls a big part too..

[jogu]

i think the nice fancy kilian bottles is partly what jacks their price up . i agree that the kilian stuff smells high ass quality but i dont think theyre so vastly different from other similar stuff that it warrants a higher price . the bottles are super nice but no one rly sees em cept for myself and ppl that spend the nite . u kno what ? i just thought of somethin . i noticed a missin bottle of somethin about a yr ago and it wasnt till i fuckin typed this out just now that i realized it was probably one of those dirty sons of bitches that ganked it after seein a bunch of pretty bottles on my shelf . i NEVER even considered that and now it probably explains what happened to it

[Supel]

^ Having a pretty bottle after all seems rather pointless. Although this is the first thing people go for prior to smelling especially having not heard of Kilian before?

But yes that $200+ price tag is just a bit too far I have to agree. The refilling is cheaper, but not a whole lot cheaper - no win situation.

[theetruscan]

My problem with Kilian is that the scents don't seem to stand out when you smell them next to other good scents. If you smell Kilian alone, it's a range of pleasant smells, but comparison doesn't treat it well. I just think the packaging creates an idea that it must be special, but as soon as you smell Kilian next to similarly imagined scents from good makers, you realize how much it relies on the packaging.

[birdytg]

By Killian are super quality fragances made of super quality ingredients.
That's the first point, the fantastic "packaging" being only the second point. That's doesn't make the fragrance. But, getting a really nice bottle or even better the travel spray which is a true nice object, does'nt ruin the pleasure.
Third,By Killian is also a concept around stories, the new "Asian Tales" (I beleive there will be like 10 different volumes in this Serie) being the latest up to date. In this Serie two fragances have already been newly issued: "Bamboo Harmony" and "Water Calligraphy". Those two fragrances (and I guess the whole Serie) are very different from those issued of the two first Series, much flowered, light and quiet.

Meanwhile my favorite By Killian fragrances are from the two first Series:
- L'Oeuvre Noire - 10 volumes
- Arabian Nights - 4 volumes
All of the By Killian fragrances are very long lasting which is a quality to me (I know that for some others it is not a quality...).
"Love...don't be shy", "Back to Black", "Straight to Heaven" are my favorite of "L"Oeuvre Noire" Serie. "Back to Black" being def. my N°1.
The Ouds in the Arabian Nights are like no others, very different interpretation of Oud compared to all other brands. (I love them all but "Rose Oud" stays unique to me and is my favorite, "Pure Oud" coming just after)
Whatever the By Killian fragrances are maybe expensive (and honestly not so much when buying the travel spray - refill is then 45€ fro 30ml) but worths any penny.

[jogu]

ya i also think sometimes the bottles are part of the experience but in the end id rather pay less for the fragrance w/out a fancy bottle . that travel spray is very nice but its heavy , has the mass of a thousand suns and i didnt like how heavy it was in my pocket so i sold it for a pretty penny and use my own atomizer

[Dane]

birdy - you should write ad-copy.

The Kilian line is a good, solid line. I wouldn't go as far as saying they're exceptional by any means, or even creative...when compared to the competition. But a solid "good"...which is significantly better than I can say for most other lines.

The packaging is a nice, and yes, it adds to the price significantly...but they do offer refill bottles for those not interested in the packaging, which is commendable.

All of the fragrances are derivative, in that they are not unique. Most could easily be compared to another mainstream offering. That's not necessarily a bad thing, because the perfumer (Calice Becker fyi) often improves on the idea with a higher budget allowance.

I've only been tempted to buy one scent - Liaisons Dangereuse, which I ended up buying in the travel refills. It's a beautiful composition, but badly needs diluting as the current strength is over-the-top. I ended up giving 3 of the 4 bottles away.

[jogu]

The Kilian line is a good, solid line. I wouldn't go as far as saying they're exceptional by any means, or even creative...when compared to the competition. But a solid "good"...which is significantly better than I can say for most other lines.

thats prol the best way to put it . dangerous liaisons is the only bottle i bought too but i thought bout just gettin the 4 travel jars of some other kilian stuff . how long did that .24 oz vial last u ? i kno depends on how frequently u use it but did u find u needed to spray it alot , like is it the same str as the 50ml bottles ? like i have a shitload still left in my 50ml cos one spray is usually all i need

[theetruscan]

Thank you for that Dane, that's much better phrased than I could ever have accomplished.

[Dane]

thats prol the best way to put it . dangerous liaisons is the only bottle i bought too but i thought bout just gettin the 4 travel jars of some other kilian stuff . how long did that .24 oz vial last u ? i kno depends on how frequently u use it but did u find u needed to spray it alot , like is it the same str as the 50ml bottles ? like i have a shitload still left in my 50ml cos one spray is usually all i need

oh, it's still going strong...but I have a 100-bottle(+) arsenal, so none of my bottles go very fast. Most of the kilian line are a 1 or 2-spray max, otherwise they overwhelm. The recent ones have been more dilute it seems...hopefully they got the hint.

Thank you for that Dane, that's much better phrased than I could ever have accomplished.

I thought you made your point...I just elaborated a bit...either way, same opinion. ;)

[morsto]

stumbled upon the three new cdg scents yesterday by chance, I thought they were very synthetic and generally just not good (and I like and own some of the older cdg scents). Maybe I shouldn't expect anything "play" to not be shit.

[blowdown]

seems like designer frangrance arent really appreciated here,

i myself is using one from Hermes, given to me as a gift

name would be Terre, feel that its a nice scent, would be curious to see what other members reccomend as im thinking of changing a scent soon

[Patroklus]

I got a small bottle of TdH, it's good but it's so linear, I'm already bored and I won't be replacing my bottle. It reminds of CdG 2, except it doesn't smell nearly as good and doesn't smell like orange scented dry erase markers.

[theetruscan]

Hermes makes some nice scents. I don't recall Terre, but I wear Bel Ami regularly, and think it's an excellent leather scent (up there with Memoire Liquid Cuir Millisime, and Rien Etat Libre d'Orange* ).

* Thank you Dane

[Dane]

seems like designer frangrance arent really appreciated here,

i myself is using one from Hermes, given to me as a gift

name would be Terre, feel that its a nice scent, would be curious to see what other members reccomend as im thinking of changing a scent soon

mainstream anything isn't appreciated around here...but "designer" scents aren't given the proper respect because they're associated with their (often) shite clothing brands. Difference being - the clothing brands can be crap quality, whereas the fragrances are sometimes better quality because they have the power to hire better perfumers and can access better ingredients (whether or not they want to spend the $$ on both is another story).

Terre d'Hermes is a decent scent...again, nothing groundbreaking (grapefruit over Iso E Super), but excellently crafted in the technical regard (diffusion, etc.) If you like this and want to branch out a bit, the perfumer also did many of the scents for The Different Company, as well as Eau de Campagne by Sisley and Declaration by Cartier. Worth checking out.

Some other men's mall-brand stuff that easily surpasses the niche stuff - Bvlgari Black; Bvlgari Homme; Mugler Cologne; Caron Pour Un Homme; Chanel Pour Monsieur; Monsieur Balmain; Chanel Egoiste; all the Guerlain line; much of the YSL line (up until L'Homme), etc.