Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’: When It Isn’t All About Wood

August 15, 2010

If Tania Sanchez is correct the smell that drives men wild is bacon. If the department store fragrance counters are any indication the smell that many perfumers think drive women wild is wood. Because of this tsunami of terpenes hearing there was another woody fragrance on the way was not news. I received the announcement of Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’ with a little more anticipation because Olivier Polge was the perfumer behind it and he had made one of the best men’s florals of 2008 in Kenzo Power. Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’ succeeds where so many other flankers and woody fragrances have failed previously because of two very simple reasons. First, even though this is a flanker it bears little similarity to the previous fragrance for which it shares its name. Second, even though it says woody on the label it doesn’t have to be an unrelenting parade of wood

Profumi del Forte Versilia Platinum: Glowing Like The Metal On The Edge Of A Knife

August 8, 2010

Early in the song “Paradise By The Dashboard Light”, Meat Loaf sings this line, “and we’re glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife”. I’ve always found that to be a wonderfully descriptive phrase of both the simultaneously brilliant shine of the razor-sharp edge of a switchblade. I never thought it would be appropriate to describe a fragrance. Then I wore the eleventh fragrance by Profumi del Forte, Versilia Platinum and experienced a fragrance with a number of brilliant sharp edges which left me exhilarated.

Brioni: Every Girl’s Crazy About A Sharp Smellin’ Man

August 7, 2010

When it comes to men’s suits the top of the line is the Italian label Brioni. Their suits begin at $5,000 and can go much higher depending on the fabric chosen. A Brioni suit is said to take 183 steps over 18 hours to be made by one of 900 tailors in the Brioni factory in Italy. Like many other men’s clothing lines Brioni wants to create a fragrance to pair with their luxury threads. The remaining task was to put juice in the bottle that would also live up to the name on the bottle.

Marc Jacobs Bang: Bang-A-Gong Get It On!

August 2, 2010

In the boring fresh and clean wasteland that is the men’s department store fragrance counter, a perfume lover despairs on ever smelling something new. You wonder if any new perfumer will ever take a risk on something that is not “fresh and clean” which is made to appeal to the Axe generation. That is why when there is a new mass men’s fragrance release that dares to go in a different direction I want to stand up and applaud. When it is as excellent as Marc Jacobs Bang is, I want to shout “Halleleujah!”

Montale Mango Manga: An Animated Fruity Floral

July 23, 2010July 23, 2010

The Japanese market has always been seen as a market, maybe even a world, apart from Western aesthetics. The assumption behind the great majority of fragrances inspired by or for a Japanese aesthetic is that light clean lines are what are desired. When I am thinking about fragrance Houses that embody that kind of style, one that would be low on my list would be Montale. It was with a great deal of surprise when I read in 2005 that Montale was making a Japanese market exclusive fragrance, Mango Manga. I thought it would be so very interesting to see a perfumer who is all about bold powerful notes try and adapt his style for this different audience. Now in 2010 Mango Manga has been released to the rest of the world and we can all enjoy Pierre Montale’s Eastern vision.

EnVoyage Perfumes Carmel de Ville: Olfactive Landscapes Of The Monterey Peninsula

July 20, 2010July 20, 2010

Certainly one of the most successful examples of this kind of artistry are the first two fragrances in Hermes “Un Jardin” series; Un Jardin en Mediterranee and Un Jardin sur Le Nil. For both of those fragrances the perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena spent time in the Meditteranean and near The Nile and let his nose become the way we would experience his impressions of those locales. I am reminded of this by perfumer Shelley Waddington and her Carmel By The Sea Series for her Envoyage Perfumes label