The Scent of a Gentleman…..


Submitted by Miguel on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 08:10

 

With Summer behind us, we say goodbye to summer season perfumes and colognes. Autumn & Winter seasons brings with it an entirely different feeling. While Summer perfumes may be light, airy and citrusy, the smell of Fall perfumes are somewhat heavier, with some added spices and smokiness. To find a fragrance fitting for Autumn-Winter, look for something that reminds you of your favorite Fall smells, like roses, jasmine and musk. 

 

Smell is a very powerful sense. Scents can be extremely attractive or otherwise very repelling. A scent is part of the first impression drama too. Choosing the right perfume or cologne can be somewhat overwhelming when there is so much to choose from. It can take hours of smelling and spraying just to choose the right fragrance for you. It would be wise to take a friend with you to help you choose, since your nose may get tired (or you'll get dizzy eventually) after smelling a lot of perfumes. Take a couple of hours and go perfume smelling. Make sure to take a whiff of coffee in between perfumes, as that will cleanse your palate. 

 

It really depends on what your nose will like and how your body chemistry will react to a specific perfume. One perfume may work extremely well for some but not on you. So take your time.

 

Here are some of my picks for the the Autumn-Winter scents for the selected  gentlemen. 

 

 

ROJA SCANDAL

 

 

 

This cologne was given to me by one of my dear editor friends from Esquire Mqgqzine -UK. Taking inspiration from the classic Fougère fragrance family (look out for its signature lavender, tonka bean and moss notes) which has the fresh notes of bergamot, lemon and petigrain. Along with floral ones (hint of jasmine, violet and lily of the valley) and warm spicy ones thanks to sandalwood, nutmeg and cardamon.

But it’s the deep base notes, the ones that develop after some time on your skin, that make the most impression for me. With ambergris (a prized, waxy ingredient that’s regurgitated by sperm whales) and musk, this is where Scandal becomes seriously sexy. And as if to reinforce this fact, opening the beautifully-designed  box itself is like slowly unrobing yourself (I adore the box!). The flash of purple you see when the box is closed is just like a teasing hint of flesh and lifting the lid only reveals more! What happens once you get the bottle in your hands is up to you...oh la la! Price: US$275.

 

CREED

 

 

Original Cologne is a fresh citrus, a clean, daytime scent. In this case, “original” doesn’t mean “classic,” but that there is something new and original about this fragrance. It’s the first universal Royal Exclusive, intended to be used equally by both sexes. Because younger men don’t dab, this bottle has a steel spray. Dabbing is for your  grand dad, ok? *grin*

The top notes are lemon, Sicilian bergamot, and Italian grapefruit, followed by a heart of galbanum, sweet pear, and neroli, and a base of ambergris, white musk, and rice powder. For me, it starts green and citrus, opening up beautifully into pear with a lingering green note.

Both White Flowers and Original Cologne are US$575, and all I can say is, at this price point, you’re either in or you’re out. Well, am so in! Dig that, eh! 

 

AMOUAGE HONOUR 

 

This scent was in introduced to me by my BFF and Belgium's top "PERFUMISTA", Jennifer Fasen. Honour Man is a woody spicy fragrance full of contrasting accords.Perfumer Nathalie Feisthauer chooses to use a set of orthogonal notes to realize the vision of Mr. Chong. The spicy opening is all pepper in both its pink and black forms. It is joined fairly quickly by elemi which adds a resinous vector before the green aspect of geranium and the sweet spiciness of nutmeg add conflicting olfactive disonnance. The first time I wore Honour Man on a very hot day this disonnance was a little off-putting. It reminded me of my first trip to the opera as a young man and finding it a little off-putting, as well. In the case of Honour Man, and opera, it took a second examination to find it more interesting. The second time around it was a cooler day and the different facets of green, resin and spice melded more effectively while still imparting a bit of conflict. The base has no such problems as the well-known fragrant harmonies of patchouli and frankincense along with cedar bring Honour Man back into more common territory. As the drydown continues the musk lightly present early on take a more prominent role adding a nice rounded ending to Honour Man.  FYI: this is ly current fav scent! Price: US$280.

 

CLIVE CHRISTIAN NO. 1

 

 

`

Perhaps this is the most expensive men's cologne in the world, as proclaimed by my recent credit card bill . But you’ll want to wear it because they got the base notes of wood just right. And, OK, the bottle cap is made of gold, but this is just a packaging detail. This cologne works because it really does smell like it’s worth hundreds, and this is because of the casual mix of bergamot, citrus and jasmine over those astonishingly good woods. I bought a bottle in London weeks back and I must say, WORTH IT ( I just let Amex Black took care of the rest) Price: US$750.

 

Well, I hoarded and luv them, now time for you to hoard and wear this distinguished scents too, Mr. Gentleman!