 | Passion for Men by Elizabeth TaylorThis could be a guilty pleasure. A softer Azzaro with a touch of Jaipur. Not bad. Not bad at all. Three stars and an air kiss for Liz. 20th May, 2009. |
 | Red for Men by Giorgio Beverly HillsRetro and glamorous. I find it odd that it was released in 1991, as it’s strikes me as a power fragrance from the previous decade. But more than that, it has the ambience of what I imagine the late 50s were like… white dinner jackets in a paneled country club bar, Sinatra, scotch and soda, babes in fur wraps. It’s mélange of notes is rather dense; I’d call it a chypre… Hollywood style. 7th March, 2009. |
| | Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentrée by ChanelThis fragrance, for me, inhabits a world apart. Both modern and classical, enfolded in its sophisticated construction seems a summary of the history of male fragrance. It’s Alan Rickman reading a sonnet. Never shouting, it smoothly unfolds, from a cultivated lavender smile, through a breathless cardamom aria, to opoponax, vanilla, and natural oakmoss. It grows slowly but never precipitously deeper, with enchanting nuance, calm, and distinction. Perfection at last? No, but pretty close. Polge’s flair for combining masculinity and class rarely fails. 27th February, 2009. |
| | Eau Sauvage Fraîcheur Cuir by Christian DiorInstead of an irrationally-named and irrelevant flanker, this edition is a true variation on the Eau Sauvage theme. You’d be hard pressed to tell them apart from the renowned opening citrus. But soon after dry down begins Fraicheur Cuir goes its own way, without renouncing its pedigree, revealing a soul of elegant soft leather and amberish tobacco instead of its daddy’s spiky basil and peaty vetiver. I like them both, for different reasons, but find Fraicheur Cuir the more amiable companion. 19th February, 2009. |
| | Terre d'Hermès by HermèsA transparent orange and woods that is something of a paradox - distinctive yet equivocal, hasn’t much sillage, yet is frightfully tenacious, obvious but mysterious. It’s very linear; the orange keeps unpeeling throughout its life cycle on the skin. This fragrance is rather cloying and may be the most melancholy scent I’ve ever tried. 19th February, 2009. |
 | Guerlain Homme by GuerlainMojito, mint, lime, rum...? Buy Tommy Bahama instead and get the real thing. Guerlaine Homme is a lime concoction that seems to be trying to emulate Set Sail St. Barts, but isn't nearly as entertaining. 18th February, 2009. |
| | Tommy Bahama for Men by Tommy BahamaOutstanding. Wonderful smoky spice, with a heart of woody resin, patchouli, and golden rum. Warm, elegantly dry, opaque, my favorite cool-weather fragrance. Tommy Bahama hit it out of the ballpark with this, their first try, and hasn’t struck out yet. 18th February, 2009. |
| | M7 by Yves Saint LaurentSay ahhhh... This is what your dentist would smell on your breath after you swallowed a slug of cherry cough syrup. 18th February, 2009. |
| | Vetiver by GuerlainGaak. Smells to me like the vile antibacterial liquid in a hospital bathroom soap dispenser, with a heavy dose of RAID to improve the smell. Or to put it another way, like the aggregate odor of cleansers and insect sprays under a kitchen sink. 18th February, 2009. |
| | Dirty English by Juicy CoutureWoodsy, smoky, masculine… a refreshing throwback to the pre-unisex days, smells like a campfire on which some fragrant woods, incense, have been thrown. There’s even a touch of tangy rich soil in there. Dirty English is Heathcliff’s notion of a pretty fragrance. There’s a nagging sweetness here, though, that puts me off, and pushes the fragrance in the decadent Z14 direction, rather than toward Tommy Bahama’s elegant triple-dry smoke. 28th January, 2009. |
| | White Shoulders by Elizabeth ArdenI had an aunt who always wore White Shoulders... I loved being around her when she got “dolled up” and perfumed. The fragrance is a classic white floral, very girly. I've read it's been reformulated since Elizabeth Arden took over from Evyan, others say it’s the same as always. Some classic women’s fragrances, Shalimar for instance, are as good as unisex these days, but not White Shoulders. 28th January, 2009. |
| | Thallium by Jacques EvardLightly toasted, caramelized vanilla. Not much else going on here, but nicely done. Makes me wonder if it could be lightly layered against some other scent… 24th January, 2009. |
| | Halston Z-14 by HalstonDecadent and doomed. Orange and incense lingering in a cathedral-turned-night club. And yet... it's morbidly fascinating. I'm still puzzled that Roy Halston, whose breezy simplicity and elegant lines made his clothing famous, could produce this smoldering bacchanalia of a scent. 24th January, 2009. |
| | Fahrenheit by Christian DiorI was in Dillard’s the other day and thought I’d try a spritz of Fahrenheit; I haven’t smelled it on me in years. You have to hand it to Dior – it seems utterly indifferent to trends, sets its own course, and more often than not produces a wildly popular, and often controversial, creation. And claps for this great house for being a rampart against the relentless androgynizaton of male colognes. 24th January, 2009. |
| | Allure Homme by ChanelSmelling Allure Homme is like opening a cedar-lined box of fine cigars. The scent is masculine and warm, redolent of fine, aged leaf tobacco, brightened with citrus and softened by a little brandy. 24th January, 2009. |
| | Shalimar by Guerlain100 years old in 2025, and as beautiful as they come. You pay a premium for Guerlain’s commitment to natural materials, and worth every dollar. In my opinion you could dispense with the top altogether and get right to the ‘Guerlainade’, which on my skin takes about an hour. The body lotion gets there faster. After that it’s the moon. 24th January, 2009. |
| | Allure Homme Edition Blanche by ChanelThe lemon in this fragrance is certainly tenacious. I deeply suspect it can keep mosquitos away. This misguided experiment makes CK One smell sophisticated. 30th December, 2008. |
| | Very Cool for Men by Tommy Bahama
30th December, 2008. |
| | Allure Homme Sport by ChanelThe scent may be a tad generic fresh sport, but the quality, and its reference to Allure pour Homme, is pure Chanel. Longetivity, balance, the myriad of details and refinements, the smooth ride, add up to one of the best in the genre. Allure masculinity with a sunny face. 30th December, 2008. |
| | Unforgivable by Sean JohnI had high hopes for this, after smelling the yummy sugared orange at the top. But then it dried down to a faint supermarket soap. Unforgivable. 30th December, 2008. |
| | Essential by LacosteGreen, sporty, fresh, and paradoxically - a hint of stale beer. I like it. 24th December, 2008. |
| | Set Sail South Seas for Men by Tommy BahamaOpens with a rumrunner, sweet and tart, then it's off to sea... the violet provides miles of open blue water. There's a touch of salt, but not as raucous as in St. Bart's margarita. There's an undertone of mellow wood on this vessel. The rum is a white, not the "dark, buttery rum", as Diego points out, in Tommy Bahama's namesake. This one is the south seas offshore, with a hint of flora in the distance. I would have liked to anchor a bit closer... a flash of frangiapani or laelia, stuck impudently behind an ear, would have been welcome. 17th December, 2008. |
| | Set Sail St. Barts for Men by Tommy BahamaThe opening splash of lime is sensational. The tequila is there from the start and doesn't dry it out exactly, but gives the lime an acrid sweet twist that is very pleasant, and for me stays with this salty-sweet cocktail to the last drop. A freshet of fragrant leaves comes and goes. There is nothing urbane about this scent, it's a Florida Key, not Sutton Place. But it's terribly fun, audacious really, for a weekend at the beach, or an occasional pick-me-up if you happen to live there. 17th December, 2008. |
| | Platinum Égoïste by ChanelI'm fond of Platinum Egoiste. In any other hands this fragrance would be delicious, but familiar. Chanel finesse polishes it to a fabulous luster. Intense and long-lasting, the scent of PE is "full of money", exuberant and almost crass, but even its crassness has an edge of gilt. It's friendly the way a guy who's on top of the world is friendly. I imagine Jay Gatsby's shirt, flung on the lawn, as he dives impulsively into the pool on a summer afternoon, smells like this. 17th December, 2008. |
| | Égoïste / L'Égoïste by ChanelOld world, romantic, utterly distinctive, noble, and morose. It's the damask, methinks... powered, dangerous, and seductive, but too grave and refined to do anything but stand there being sumptuously clad in maroon silk. Smelling Egoiste makes me think of Chopin's Db nocturne. 17th December, 2008. |
| | Eau Sauvage by Christian DiorNothing is beyond criticism, but I'm not very objective about this timeless fragrance. It was all I wore through my college years and for a decade after that. I once spent my last $20. on a two-ounce bottle of Eau Sauvage, that's all it cost back then, but that was a month's worth of cigarettes. 17th December, 2008. |
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