Perfumes

[NJS]

Bird - try Henry Bucks, 23-25 O'Connell Street.

[Gido]

Eau de Guerlain is just perfect.

[BirdofSydney]

Much obliged chaps.

Gido, you seem to be a Guerlain enthusiast, albeit not the only one around here. How about the Impériale?

[Gido]

Much obliged chaps.

Gido, you seem to be a Guerlain enthusiast, albeit not the only one around here. How about the Impériale?

Most current perfumes are a bit like led-light, as opposed to tungsten. Flat, thin, dull, hard/harsh, no richness, no warmth, lots of diffusion but little character (like a dumb loud-mouth), and so forth. The old world perfumes of Guerlain are like sunlight. They always seem to offer a different instance of the same thing.

Imperiale is a good cologne, but not as special as Eau d' Guerlain or Du Coq.

By the way, I am worried about Guerlain. I just don't see how the tradition is going to survive now that they're owned by LVMH, and the mediocre Thierry Wasser as the in-house perfumer is not unlikely going to be the end of it. Get it while you still can.

[lgcintra]

I am also a big fan of Guerlain´s Eaus. Eau de Guerlain is surely the best. It very sophisticated yet simple.
I also like Cologne du Parfumer, by Thiery Wasser, altough I must confess to have found its sillage to be utterly insufficient for me. It lasts less than a hour...

[BirdofSydney]

I went in search of Eau de Guerlain today, but alas, none to be had. The nice older lady at the Guerlain counter in the department store dimly remembered it. She said they had sold Impériale last year but couldn't get any more.

The best on offer was Vetiver which was nice enough, but not what I want!

[Gido]

I went in search of Eau de Guerlain today, but alas, none to be had. The nice older lady at the Guerlain counter in the department store dimly remembered it. She said they had sold Impériale last year but couldn't get any more.

It isn't discontinued as far as I know. Try a different store, or get some online.

[Maquis]

I'm also looking for an interesting and rich Eau de Cologne. I've worn Eau de Guerlain, and as much as I really *want* to like it, I get a weird mint note on my skin in the opening that reminds me too much of mint gum on breath. I'll try it again to make sure it's not a fluke...

Gido, what do you think of Dior's Eau Sauvage? There's a sense of sophistication there (I guess others would call it, ahem, *mature*...) but I also get a strange "swimming pool" note on my skin.

I'm inclined to get a sample of Chanel's Eau de Cologne to see if that will make the grade (although BirdofSydney's critique is well taken—)

I've worn Eau de Rochas Pour Homme in the past with success, and if my current Eau de Cologne forays lead me down more dead-ends, I may need to return to it.

In the mean time I am having to satisfy my Summer citrus craving with Betrand Duchaufour's new Aedes de Venustas signature Eau de Parfum: Mouthwateringly tart rhubarb, currant, vetiver and a touch of incense in the dry down...

[Rowly]

If it's any help...I have come to the conclusion that the only way forward is to buy a small size of the products you are considering. The classics are like classical music and need time to grow on you. I have found this with eg., Habit Rouge.Wear them occasionally over a number of weeks and see if they turn out to be an acquired taste that was worth the effort....you might be pleasantly surprised.

[lgcintra]

You did not find Eau de Guerlain with ease because EdG and the rest of the "traditional" Eaus are only sold in Guerlain's boutiques in Paris ( Sephora in Paris also carries some of them) or at Sacks 5th Av or Bergdorf Goodman in NYC. Maybe in London also, but not to my poor knowledge...

[alden]

Bird

Gido is our resident expert and he has it right once again. I prefer du Coq from Guerlain and if you want a cologne that is very similar (at a fraction of the price), try Nicolai's Eau de Sologne.

Cheers

[Gido]

Maquis,

Dior's Eau Fraiche was in my opinion the fruitful idea that led to two masterpieces: Eau Sauvage and Pour Monsieur. Take a classic Eau de Cologne opening, and lay it within a classic Chypre structure.

They all have been reformulated.

The main problem here are the IFRA restrictions. Citrus oils are now allowed to a maximum of 6% total in the final product. Oakmoss abs, the defining product for any Chypre is now allowed to 0.1% maximum. It's nowhere near enough. Bergamot oil, the most essential oil of all citruses, has become Bergamot FCF (Furanocoumarin free) and is not as complex as it used to be.

For the real thing, you will need to go vintage. In this case, make sure the colour is right before you purchase. Don't get anything that looks darker than it should be, and you should be pretty safe. People can tamper with the content of splash bottles, but not with sprays. You can recognise a vintage by it's bottle,



and here's the current,



Best,
Gido.

[Maquis]

Salut, Gido & Rowly,

Thanks for your great input. I have a bottle of Pour Monsieur that is absolutely beautiful—rich, spicy, warm, intoxicating—although the scent that I seem to wear most often is vintage Guerlain Vetiver (I have a bottle from the 1980s, I believe...) Because of the obvious differences as a result of IFRA restrictions, I am now on a mad search for vintage formulations of many other fragrances—Eau de Guerlain, Habit Rouge, Jicky, Mitsouko, Eau Sauvage, etc, etc. I've ordered decants from a decant web site, so I'm looking forward to "test-driving" them in the next few weeks.

Of course, this developing fragrance obsession will not let me stop at just the classics! I am methodically testing the fragrances of many other Houses to develop my skills at fragrance note, accord, and molecule discernment. I think, as with other aesthetic practices, one should analyze and try to fully understand the classical structures to be able to pick the best of current/modern ones. To that end, I recently visited the Le Labo shop here in New York and, while some of the fragrances didn't appeal to me, I was excited more with the chance to smell the separate base ingredients—ones like, oakmoss, civet, hedione, cis-3 hexenol, guaiac wood, castoreum, musk, etc. Absolutely fascinating!

The journey begins...

[Rowly]

The journey begins...

Have a good trip ( depending on what you are sniffing)
I think our many little obsessions and interests are what make life worth living. I wish you many more!...Enjoy!

[Prince Barry]

The most gentlemanly scent from Guerlain is Mouchoir de Monsieur.