Men's Fragrances

[viv1984viv]

slang king - I can't find this place anywhere online - care to mention which end of brick lane or whereabouts it is???

[Slangking]

Bloom is not on Brick Lane itself, it is on Hanbury Street and is at the Commercial Street end. Hope that helps.

[jogu]

is anyone into gourmand perfumes? i like tom ford's amber absolute, but i have the feeling that there's much more to discover in this niche.

ya me i like sweet perfumes best , i bought jeux de peau earlier this yr and loved it till mbd said it smelled like buttered popcorn lol , it does kinda smell like that too . i like grapefruit also if its sweet and used to wear invasion barbare for that , only have like a 1/4 bottle left out of the 60ml. lately i been wearin fiori d'ambra , like it alot . people around me tell me they love it too but u gotta really like ambergris , smells lil bit salty sweet and bit of cinnamon

[jogu]

This is exciting (well, for me anyway)...Lutens full line available in the US now...and even online!

http://us.sergelutens.com/purchase.html

i just got the barneys perfume lookbook thing in the mail and saw the bell jars on the back cover w/ iris silver mist , i was like whaaaaattt ? looks like they have some etro perfs too that i thought were discontinued like one of my favs heliotrope and now its edt instead of cologne . dane whats ur opinion of serges la myrrhe ?

[Dane]

ya, they (and BG) are selling the Paris-only Lutens now. you can buy online too...not cheap tho.

la myrrhe, alone with a few others, is the best if the line (ad best of the best frankly). iris silver mist, el attarine, and the new voix de noir are all up there too.

[bryantyj]

I've been looking for a scent that matches CDG incense kyoto and MMM untitled. Finally found one that fits. Maison Francis Kurkdjian Aqua universalis. But the price is a little steep tho. Not too sure if it makes any sense.

Any other recommendations that might smell like any of those?

[Dane]

I've been looking for a scent that matches CDG incense kyoto and MMM untitled. Finally found one that fits. Maison Francis Kurkdjian Aqua universalis. But the price is a little steep tho. Not too sure if it makes any sense.

Any other recommendations that might smell like any of those?

Try Lutens' L'Eau Froide. Citrus/musk/incense/herbal/green. Also not terribly cheap, but I believe less than the Kurkdjian.

If you're okay with slumming it a bit, Mugler Cologne is excellent, and cheap.

[morsto]

wearing byredo pulp for the past hour
I smell like rotten fruit mixed with garbage
not sure if I loathe or love
leaning towards loathe

[bryantyj]

Thanks Dane and Profondo nero! Will go get a tester when im in town next.

My safest bet is always still CDG but it really doesnt stay for that long.

[Dane]

wearing byredo pulp for the past hour
I smell like rotten fruit mixed with garbage
not sure if I loathe or love
leaning towards loathe

This is a prime example of something that smells good, but doesn't necessarily translate into a proper perfume. They should have marketed this as a roomspray/candle.

[several_girls]

Stumbled on your review website, Dane, thanks for all the work and reviews! Very informative, it shed some light on the historical development of fragrance; I've been wanting to have such an understanding for awhile now.

I'm not sure where you sit on this idea yourself (or others, please weigh in), but I think our sense of what smells good can easily be historicized. That is, what "smells good" totally depends on the time we're living in, the smells we've been exposed to, etc. Which is a strange idea for some people, they think what smells good is only an inherent quality of ingredients. The case is easily demonstrated with clothes and fashion, but there are less intuitive areas where this is true, like typography.

I recall one font designer who discusses the controversy following the publication of his font Keedy. "It's illegible!" they said, "ugly, crude," they said. He goes on to recount how years down the road what was once considered edgy and experimental soon appeared normal, and today I think it looks even passe, cheesy.

http://www.emigre.com/EFfeature.php?di=100

This all in general brings me to think about what it means for the future that the vanguard are now becoming mainstream. The CdG house is an institution, and 2 is canon, no? At least Buxton is by now. Raf Simons' name is ascending into general knowledge, and of course we have that H&MxMMM thread. Fight Club is now a pop-culture touchstone (book and movie). Do you see the industry responding to this in any self-conscious way, either as a whole or from particular "noses"? Are buyers still pulling the market in a certain direction?

I admit I'm too generous here though. Acqua di Gio and other mall fare are still dominating sales AFAIK.

[Dane]

Periods in time definitely reflect trends and whatnot. I wouldn't go as far as saying that our sense of smell is evolving, but just like fashion, fragrance has trends that come and go, and what may have been "weird" years ago could now be the norm.

It's fairly unpredictable how things evolve...in the late part of the 19th century, singular-note fragrances were the only thing you could buy...there were definitely examples of more abstract work, but not until the early 1910/20's did fragrances as we know them today come into existence and really start selling. Not to mention how fecal and animalic things smelled in this period...people today would be horrified.

The interesting shift that has happened in our (well, my) lifetime was the introduction of aquatic aromachemicals in the early 90's. This completely changed the concept of what smells "clean" and "fresh" and still drives the market to this day. But now that companies realize the money that this industry produces, the reason you rarely see anything "new" is the same reason all cars look the same - it's cheaper/easier to copy someone else.

The most interesting progression for me has been what's considered masculine or feminine smelling. In the late 1800's, powdery florals were designated to the male sector. And frankly, it wasn't really until the 50's that companies started marketing scents separately to each sex. It causes the most annoyance for me today...someone a few posts up mentions a Chanel scent that's "too feminine". I understand where this notion comes from, but I wish people would realize that they think something is masculine/feminine because an industry insider told them so, not because of their own will.

So...to answer your question, no, buyers/the public have virtually no say or influence on how fragrances change/evolve. A marketing team does. Even if a breakthrough scent like Angel comes from the mind of one forward-thinking person, it's still about money. It's much easier for me to tell you what you like than to guess what you're thinking.

[Dane]

Just in case anyone's interested, this should be interesting:

http://www.madmuseum.org/exhibition/the-art-of-scent

Not often you come across a perfume-exhibition these days...worth checking out if you're in NYC later this month.

[MetroBulotDodo]

Just in case anyone's interested, this should be interesting:

http://www.madmuseum.org/exhibition/the-art-of-scent

Not often you come across a perfume-exhibition these days...worth checking out if you're in NYC later this month.

Oh my gosh. I wrote a proposal for this exhibit and then asked them not to use any of it when I discovered that Chandler Burr wanted to highlight only a few fragrances (why bother, I said, when you can do that with a quick sprint into Macy's?)

In any case, there was a reason I rescinded my proposal: there will be a major announcement concerning perfume/exhibits/education soon. Courtesy of moi.

Ugh. Shivers.

MBD

[Dane]

Oh my gosh. I wrote a proposal for this exhibit and then asked them not to use any of it when I discovered that Chandler Burr wanted to highlight only a few fragrances (why bother, I said, when you can do that with a quick sprint into Macy's?)

In any case, there was a reason I rescinded my proposal: there will be a major announcement concerning perfume/exhibits/education soon. Courtesy of moi.

Ugh. Shivers.

MBD

Excited to hear about this!