Men's Fragrances

[Dane]

The rootbeer association is pretty common with myrrh...it's less pronounced in LM than something like Goutal's Myrrhe Ardente, which is full-fledged A&W.

The soap you're smelling are aldehydes. Nothing to do with soap actually, but another common association because of the mass-market functional industry copying scents like No. 5/Madame Rochas/Caleche, etc. The aldehydes are what really sets La Myrrhe apart though, introducing something not typically associated with orientals. Serge is known for his wacky topnotes...I know many who hold their breath while spraying and patiently wait for what's to come.

jogu (or anyone) have you tried the Arquiste line? All the blogs had wet panties for it, but either I'm missing something (which I doubt), or they all got a nice press kit from the company, because apart from smelling competent, they totally lack the interest I was expecting for the price. There's one okay one that smells like furry hot chocolate...the rest are rather dull after thorough testing.

[teenagelightning]

Yesterday I put on a pretty tiny amount of Wonderwood in the morning then spent hours and hours loading and unloading an entire 27 foot ryder truck deep into the night wearing ragged clothes that hadn't been washed in recent memory and afterwards I ran into a grocery store feeling really self conscious about how sweaty and gross I was (but I needed food) and as I was checking out the cashier (from 4 feet away) goes "this is going to sound weird but uh... you smell REALLY good."

Speaking of stuff like Wonderwood, anyone have any good recommendations for "natural" smelling fragrances? Not stuff with natural ingredients (don't care about that at all), but like, stuff that smells like a "nature scene" if that makes any sense. Like how Wonderwood is a big pile of wood and water, or Philosykos is like an entire fig tree, or L'Ombre Dans L'Eau is a big chopped up rose bush.

Dane, and anyone else who might have insight on this, do you perchance know any good fragrance brands that also happen to be vegan? I know that CB I Hate Perfume and Le Labo are, and that Puig doesn't test on animals coupled with Comme Des Garcons use of only synthetic ingredients would make them vegan (right?). I'm not sure if that extends into all Puig labels in terms of only using synthetics...

Honestly as far as my experience goes, it's way harder to find fragrance brands that do use animal products than it is to find ones that don't. Just email the companies. I think the only note to watch out for that's still acquired from animal sources is Civet, though I'm not much of an expert on the matter.

[several_girls]

Speaking of stuff like Wonderwood, anyone have any good recommendations for "natural" smelling fragrances? Not stuff with natural ingredients (don't care about that at all), but like, stuff that smells like a "nature scene" if that makes any sense. Like how Wonderwood is a big pile of wood and water, or Philosykos is like an entire fig tree, or L'Ombre Dans L'Eau is a big chopped up rose bush.

I'll recommend these, from my own experience looking for a soil/earthy and woodsy fragrances:

• odin - tanoke
• lutens - fille en aiguilles
• cdg - sequoia
• tauer - verdant
• i hate perfume - black march (unfortunately when i tried this the soil opening gave way to a generic floral within 5 minutes, and disappears completely in ~3 hrs)

And then of course there's Demeter's Dirt, which I haven't tried but from the reviews seems to really hit the mark. Demeter offers similar "realistic" fragrances.

I've also heard good things about L'Artisan's Patchouli Patch and Fleur de Liane, as well as Neil Morris' Dark Earth. I guess it depends on if whether you'd want something realistic or are ok with something more impressionistic/evocative.

[fncyths]

/ \

This is an awesome list!

[nqth]

you can try the cdg leave series, too. it meant to be "botanical" scents. originally there were 5, gone are mint (like mint leaves) and shiso (like shiso leaves:), wonderful but very fleeting). i also like calamus (very green and grassy hay but delicate).

palisander from the red series smells wonderfully soft and the wood note is very strong (some incense note)

i like dyptique's tamdao very much - bright (must be some citrus), dry, oily sandalwood.

for green, earthy fig scent, l'artisan's premier figuier is also a good one.

hermes has un jardin en mediterranee - green wet fig scent but a little bit sweet.

if you like "water" scents, i think hermessence iris ukiyoé is a must try. kind of feminine, tho, soft and floral - like very delicate orange flower.

i love their poivre sarmarcande, i think the perfumer said he was inspired by a cut cedar tree near his house, i smell some pepper, green notes, leather and a strong wood note. very bright, nice scent especially for winter:)

[teenagelightning]

Thank you both, really appreciate that!! :) Tam Dao I have already tried and will probably buy a bottle of at some point, fantastic stuff that feels very unassuming to wear. Gonna put in a luckyscent order for the others!

I really love smells that don't seem like a fragrance you're wearing so that you'll smell nice, but instead the lingering scent of some dreamlike place you just stepped out of. Something really turns me off about a scent trying to be sexy, I'd rather it be like "Oh don't mind me, I just got back from hibernating in this huge pulsating flower I found down in that underground forest lit by incandescent ferns..."

[Dane]

It's funny, I looked through the list of bottles I own, and there are very few that have that atmospheric description you gave. One recent purchase that does match is Vetiver Oriental (Lutens). It has an air of a damp forest, etc. Otherwise the only other I could see was one of the Hermes Jardin series that someone mentioned above (Mousson, in this case).

I find more interest in abstract perfumery personally, but recreating scenery I imagine is a popular concept.

[casem]

Wild Hunt from CB I Hate Perfume. It's exactly as you describe, you'll love it!

Thank you both, really appreciate that!! :) Tam Dao I have already tried and will probably buy a bottle of at some point, fantastic stuff that feels very unassuming to wear. Gonna put in a luckyscent order for the others!

I really love smells that don't seem like a fragrance you're wearing so that you'll smell nice, but instead the lingering scent of some dreamlike place you just stepped out of. Something really turns me off about a scent trying to be sexy, I'd rather it be like "Oh don't mind me, I just got back from hibernating in this huge pulsating flower I found down in that underground forest lit by incandescent ferns..."

[Dane]

Wild Hunt from CB I Hate Perfume. It's exactly as you describe, you'll love it!

I don't know how anyone can wear his stuff...it's all basically roomspray, ie., interesting upon first sniff, but becomes more and more tedious as the hours past. Also, he's a big weirdo.

Maybe that's why I don't have any atmospheric scents...I associate them with roomsprays/candles. I just had a revelation!

[casem]

Haha, I feel like a broken record because I've recommended it on here several times, but this time it fits the bill exactly for what teenagelightning is looking for. I've been to his showroom and tried almost everything and Wild Hunt is my favorite followed closely by Fire From Heaven.

My main complaint is that some of them are too subtle and that many of them seem to have similar base notes making them smell the same upon dry down. Wild Hunt is really superb though IMO. A blast of wet dirt/moss/grass upon first spray that dries down to a kind of disturbing floral (some have described as rotting flowers, the smell isn't quite as nauseating to me as that sounds). Though it is quite subtle and doesn't project much, I do get whiffs of it all day. It's one of the few perfumes I've owned for a couple years and never tire of because it's so restrained yet complex, it's my go to especially in hot weather.

For me the roomspray problem is an issue more with his one note fragrances, like burning leaves, that are supposed to be just one thing.

I don't know how anyone can wear his stuff...it's all basically roomspray, ie., interesting upon first sniff, but becomes more and more tedious as the hours past. Also, he's a big weirdo.

Maybe that's why I don't have any atmospheric scents...I associate them with roomsprays/candles. I just had a revelation!

[Dane]

I guess I find most of his scents (I can't say all, because I'm sure there are some I haven't tried) to not be proper perfumes...more accords. And just because something has more than one note, doesn't make it a proper perfume. I'm being a total snob about it, I realize...but the competition is stiff!

Also worth noting - wear/love whatever you want...who gives a shit what I think!

[Dane]

New Serge

http://www.fragrantica.com/news/Serge-Lutens-La-Fille-de-Berlin-New-Fragrance-and-New-Book-3862.html

rose/pepper...been done, but I'll hold judgment...he may do something crazy with it.

[Lucky Strike]

Anyone got some good recommendations for shops to visit in Paris? Not looking for something particular, just wanna seize the opportunity to buy a parfume that you won't find in your regular dept. store :)

[Castor]

Divine, Parfums de Nicolai (Patricia de Nicolai), Serge Lutens, Frederic Malle, Colette, L'Artisan Parfumeur and even the department stores/Sephora may have fragrances that are not widely available in the US market.

[byhand]

I'm looking for something with clove and citrus. Any suggestions?