Perfumes

[lgcintra]

Does any-one know where can I find Knize 10? Got no luck finding it so far. They do not sell it on-line at their website.

Thanks.
Luis

[Simon A]

Hi Luis, Knize Ten is my favourite, and it is not so easy to get outside Austria....
http://www.beautynet.de and http://www.ausliebezumduft.de both stock it.

[Manself]

Try the Manufactum web stores:
www.manufactum.co.uk/Kategorie/Suchergebnis.html

[alden]

Knize 10 is a great winter fragrance..it is potent stuff, use with caution.

[lgcintra]

Thanks everyone. I´ll spray it "modus in rebus".

I have tried Chanel´s Cuir de Russie and Tabac Blonde, both very recommended in this thread. To tell you the truth, I thought Tabac Blonde awfully strong for me. Once in contact to my sking it stichted me for some time. It lingered for centuries.

Cuir de Russie, on the contrary, is smooth and charming. Jolly good, indeed.

Anyway, this forum is really a compendium of good taste. It opened my mind to new realms of elegance. Thanks to Michael and all the other fellow members.

Best,
Luis

[Edward Bainbridge]

If you've tried those and liked them but didn't love them, Knize 10 might be what you're looking for. It is indeed potent, but the first whiff is gone after some time and then you'll have what you missed in the other scents.

[Costi]

Iris Bleu Gris from Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier

Thank you, Michael!

[alden]

Costi

Yeah its a good one.

Michael

[alden]

To tell you the truth, I thought Tabac Blonde awfully strong for me.

Luis

TB is really potent. You just need to place the bottle near you! In other words, you use a fraction of a whisper of the stuff.

M

[couch]

To tell you the truth, I thought Tabac Blonde awfully strong for me.

Luis

TB is really potent. You just need to place the bottle near you! In other words, you use a fraction of a whisper of the stuff.

M

And as Michael has said, it really comes into its own in late autumn when the temperature, and preferably humidity--those things that cause scents to carry--begin to drop, and the richness of the EdP takes on a proper scale. Although on misty autumn days, something wonderful happens when the smell of cool damp forest leaves mingles with a hint of TB. For me it's completely unwearable in the spring and summer, but a fall-winter staple.

[Costi]

Costi

Yeah its a good one.

Michael

Bitter-sweet... it's me!
Starts out scary, potently masculine, threatening more than promising. Then settles into an intimate, inviting warmth that glows discreetly, like a hot coal covered in ashes - just a breeze and it comes ablaze. Finally it mingles with the somewhat bitter scent of my skin and sweetens it with a twist of slightly powdery iris, almost a natural scent, as if I didn't wear perfume, but used a very good soap.
What a ride! Just like bleu-gris eyes - I have a suspicion the name is also a hint to the eye iris, not just the flower; such eyes turn from blue to gray depending on light and mood, they are fluid in a sense. And there is humour in this complete metamorphosis, from an overpowering charge of the senses to a discreet complement of one's natural scent. Who's afraid of Iris Bleu Gris?

[lgcintra]

All right, Michael, I will try TB once again, this time pouring just a couple of molecules, trying to avoid allergic reactions to a full whisper. I thought it smelled like old-world elegance, Parisian twenties, fox-trot gingles, art-deco style, antique fur mantles, vintage tweed jackets like the one made by Old Henry. Enviable stuff. Uniqueness in a mass-market-world. I will revisit it.

As to summer frangances and colognes, I´m infatuated by Guerlain´s "Eau de Cologne du Parfumeur" and "Eau de Guerlain". Wonderful for mornings and, imho, much superior to Penhaligon´s Blenheim Bouquet, my previous "designated hitter" in terms of EdC.

Cheers,
Luis

[Gido]

unfortunately, what is sold today as tabac blond, after decades of alterations is less than the shadow of it's former self. vintage bottles of the pure perfume can be found every now and then on ebay, recovered from estate sales and so forth. they usually go for well over 1000 dollars.

knize ten is almost as old (1924) but still in pretty good shape. fantastic stuff. the beautiful cuir de russie from chanel is definitely not the original formula from ernest beaux (he who made no. 5) but in some way they have managed to save it's soul in a new version.

some other great leathers:

- bandit by robert piguet
- cabochard from gres (only the vintage one with the grey cloth bow)
- derby by guerlain
- the old bel ami from hermes (avoid the newer one in the standard hermes bottle)
- patchouli 24 from le labo and black from bulgari (the latter is more 'rubber' than leather. both from the same author)
- jolie madame from balmain (not as great as it once was, but still ok)
- scandal from lanvin (i don't think they still make it)
- diorama from dior (discontinued)
- sarrasins from serge lutens

fine leathers in the great classic style, those marvels of depth and richness, seem to be difficult these days. several of it's key ingredients are not or hardly used in perfumery anymore since a few years. i doubt if any major company is still using birch tar, and the quintessential ingredient for chypres (leathers are a sub-category of these) if so severely restricted that perfume manufacturers have stopped using it.

[Gido]

hello mr. alden,

it's good to see that people on this board are a little educated on this subject. and it's great too see that folks are sensible enough to recognize that 'feminine' perfumes are not to be shunned, that they in fact often are of a higher quality than most masculines, and that many of them work great on a gentleman.

Knize 10 (1924) is a tobacco/leather fragrance in the same family as Tabac Blond (1919), Cuir de Russie (1924), Bandit (1944), and Habit Rouge (1965).

someone responded that there is little in common between habit rouge and knize ten. he is right. you must have meant derby instead of habit rouge? habit rouge is not a leather, it is an oriental. habit rouge is one of the greatest masculines. and talking about orientals, good to see new york mentioned. one of my favorites. smells great, brilliant composition, very distinctive, exceptional quality.

[Gido]

I ran across this interesting "Genealogy of masculine fragrances" poster which groups by dominant note and year of introduction. I don't know how reliable it is. Some but not all of the "classic scents" mentioned in this thread appear:

http://www.leffingwell.com/h&rfragrance ... sculin.pdf

this is the haarmann & reiner classification. it is not bad, it is made by the industry for the industry. even though it is called "genealogy of masculine fragrances" it does strangely enough contain a number of feminine fragrances.

but the classification that eclipsed all others is the one by michael edwards. this too was created by industry people, with sales assistants in mind, to aid them with helping customers to pick the right fragrance. it is released annually as a book 'fragrances of the world' by michael edwards, and he maintains an online database that is part subscription only, part public access. you can find it here. and this link will take you to an interesting interview with edwards on basenotes.