Nicolaï pour Homme (2003)
by Parfums de Nicolaï

A classic French juice, very much in the mold of Guerlain and Caron, which is to say, beautifully blended and balanced, strong on the lavender, with multiple aromatics and vanilla… while studiously avoiding the synthetic, strident fruity ambers and metallic citruses that make up most modern juices. This could easily have been put out by Guerlain a couple of decades ago. And -- as a couple of others have noted -- it is startlingly similar to Caron’s Third Man. I A/B’d both on my arm; the the PdN has a more citrusy opening, and the Caron a smokier one, but the drydowns are very, very similar. With 3rd Man running at (ahem) about a Third of the price of the PdN, it is hard to recommend it at current prices if you’re looking for something in this general vein. But still, a thumbs up for its refinement, regardless of price or the competition.

9th January, 2012.

I've heard it has been discontinued so I ran to the small but fantastic Patricia Nicolai's perfume shop in South Kensington and bought the last 100 ml Nicolai pour Homme available and I also bought the tester. I shall use it very carefully not to run out of this precious fragrance.

3rd October, 2011.

Disappointing to the extreme. The scent kind of reminds me of a slightly less annoying Cefiro mixed with menthol. It is wearable enough, I guess, but why does someone want to smell like a fresh menthol muscle cream? I bought this one blind, but it was a big mistake. To PdN's credit, they do not run up the tab on their scents and this was no exception. My recommendation is to stick to the line's best masculine targeted scent... New York... Skip this one.

9th September, 2011.

Masculine fragrances tend to have higher thresholds of propriety yet mystifyingly lower standards of quality. It’s an odd function of male gender and self-regard. Most men would rather wear the cheapest smelling iteration of woody/aquatic/woody amber rubbish than a perfectly executed white floral. That is to say, they would rather smell bad, but like the herd, rather than stand out for beauty. This holds true even for the straight man, who in his secret heart just adores tuberose.

Every now and then there is a notable beauty that somehow still makes the cut of masculine acceptability. Past examples include Carthusia Numero Uno, Guerlain Habit Rouge, Caron le Troisiemme Homme, Tauer’s l’Air du Desert Marocain. Add to that list de Nicolai’s pour Homme. It is a lavender/tobacco/amber stunner that, likely due to its clean, cool lavender, easily passes masculine muster. The discerning nose, though, will spot its beauty and nuance. Lavender is identifiable and acceptable to the masculine nose. In this case, though, it is also the vehicle for introducing a range of qualities, from herbal to floral, that, because they are fellow travelers with the lavender, slide in under a masculine radar that might otherwise be censoring any notes but fresh, light and sport.

24th April, 2011. (Last Edited: 25th August, 2011.)

A moderately sweet, moderately patchouli-bearing spiced wood scent, with just enough "powerhouse"-ness to remind me of some 80s scents (Calvin) without being too sharp or dirty. It's unfortunately one of the worst sufferers of the syndrome where a spot on cloth doesn't smell like anything for the first few minutes...it's almost like an aquatic or EdC with patchouli at first. On my finger, though, I can smell the residue from the sample vial, which is a very mellow, almost coconutty log-cabin wood scent with nutmeg followed later by cinnamon, a lot like the base of Santos. It also sometimes reminds me of the creamy sweet wood of Zino, but less sweet and minus the astringent sagey opening that I dislike. I'm not sure I would buy this because it reminds me of two others I already have and like, but it's a really good compromise between the older, sharper wood scents and the sweeter, smoother ones that I normally prefer.

17th January, 2011.

Nicolaï pour Homme enters with a harsh blast of mentholated lavender. As the scent evolves the mint and lavender come to rest on a bed of powdery musk, woods, vanilla, and what just might be a dab of...coconut! Because there's no warmth to this scent, I find it oddly detached, enigmatic, and maybe even alienating. In the end, it creeps me out.

The drydown is a pretty standard issue woods, clean musk, and vanilla, but to my nose there's something unpleasantly abrasive about it. Not my thing.

29th November, 2010.