Reviews by skinboy8

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    skinboy8
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    Showing 1 to 15 of 15.
    rating

    Red Door by Elizabeth Arden

    God, what a revolting fragrance. I once had an assistant who wore this stuff to work every day - the Parfum, not the EDT - and reapplied mid-morning, after lunch, and mid-afternoon. I tolerated it for a while, but the thick miasma became too much and I asked her not to wear it into the office again, upon which she became upset, and wondered out-loud why anyone wouldn't "love" such a "gorgeous perfume". My intention was not to upset her, but to save myself and my clients from an olfactory holocaust.
    Thankfully she started wearing Amarige and Paris instead of Red Door, and they were applied with less of a heavy hand. Perhaps Red Door could be alluring if used conservatively, but I'm afraid that it's reputation is forever tainted in my memory, and even the smallest whiff gives me palpitations (can a perfume induce PTSD? I'm sure it can!). I just can't imagine why any woman would wear it. It's ghastly, unflattering, and very, very annoying to everyone within a radius of 30 blocks.

    12nd September, 2010.

    rating

    Shalimar by Guerlain

    I bought a small decant of Shalimar extrait from a well-known supplier and I was converted the second I took the first whiff. There is little point waxing about the notes of the fragrance, because they have been discussed ad nauseum on these pages, but my very favorite aspect of Shalimar extrait is the heavy, deeply mysterious, dark incense smokiness that is present under the opening sweetness, and stays around for many, many, many hours.

    Yes, it's expensive. The price I paid for a 30mL bottle of extrait wasn't cheap, but my God, it's so totally worth it. Many "modern" fragrances have played with the incense note and ended up with cloying, sickly blends suitable only for attracting bees and ants and ruining picnics (I'm looking at YOU, Joop Homme Beach Clubbing!).

    Shalimar has become one of my favorite after-dark fragrances. A couple of tiny dabs is sufficient. People will ask what the lovely "cologne" or "aftershave" you're wearing is, and will be surprised when you tell them it's Shalimar. Men can wear the extrait without any problems at all. It does stain, though, so beware of white collars and cuffs.

    So many thumbs-up that I'm dizzy just thinking about them.

    30th April, 2010.

    rating

    Joop! Homme Beach Clubbing by Joop!

    Blech... A super-sweet incense-and-candy-bomb, most suited to evening wear in cold climates. There is no way you could wear this anywhere near the beach - it would suffocate everyone within 50 feet.

    Unfortunately the overt opening sweetness lasts for hours and hours, powering it's way over everything else. Wear this stuff to a restaurant and you may as well be at home drinking cheap hooch and eating peanut butter straight out of the jar, because you won't be able to taste or smell anything else.

    I gave my bottle of this stuff away, and I'm glad it was a limited edition, because it makes the probability that I'll come across someone smothered in this scorchingly objectionable concoction is very low. Two-hunded thumbs down.

    30th March, 2010.

    rating

    Antaeus by Chanel

    Antaeus stands head and shoulders above all of the pansy, cookie-cutter oceanic fragrances that contaminated the 1990's. It's extremely sophisticated and no, it's not for everybody, because not everybody has the self-confidence; the ability to project themselves; that wearing Antaeus requires.

    A complete stranger once commented to me that the fragrance I was wearing had "star quality". That fragrance was Antaeus, applied carefully. If you smother yourself in it, you smell like you should have a gold-plated bath-plug suspended from a heavy gold chain around your neck. Wear it properly, and it's an urbane delight.

    Shrinking violets need not apply to join the Antaeus club, and should stick to Aqua di Gio or Cool Water, or whatever forgettable 1990's fragrance footnote that they hide behind.

    26th February, 2010.

    rating

    Number 3 / Le 3me Homme / The Third Man by Caron

    All I can smell is those sticks of pink, musk-flavored candy. It's what I get straight out of the bottle, and it's all I can smell hours later. To me, Le 3me Homme is a totally linear fragrance with none of the citrus/lavender top-notes or the woody dry-down I was hoping for. I've tried and tried, but it just doesn't work on me.


    A neutral rating, because I don't hate it, I just don't get it.


    29th October, 2009.

    rating

    Yatagan by Caron

    Yatagan is, as many reviewers have stated, unique in the world of fragrances. It is certainly unlike anything I have ever encountered before! Off the top I get a huge, head-blasting hit of wormwood that powers on for a good couple of hours. Yes, I can detect patchouli in there as well, but the wormwood is dense and heady and almost a little overwhelming. It's bone dry - Atacama Desert dry - and it's got balls like a bull Rhino. After said couple of hours, the patchouli becomes more assertive. It stays around for the duration, fading gently as the more animalistic elements in the base start to almost ooze forward - dark, brooding, even taboo. Yatagan is a confronting mix that will challenge your perceptions of "perfume", and is absolute must for the collection of any serious fragrance connoisseur.

    12nd August, 2009.

    rating

    Bois du Portugal by Creed

    This is an extraordinarily elegant fragrance that screams "old money" and luxury. And well might it scream luxury, because this stuff ain't cheap. It does, however, last a long time, and it provokes favorable comments from friends and strangers alike. The razor-sharp opening notes settle quite quickly and leave a warm, woody cloud of pure delight.

    To me, this fragrance could be worn by men (or women) of any age - it's grown-up enough for mature gents to wear, but luscious and unique enough for sophisticated younger men to stand out of the crowd in a world filled with average scents. A true delight.

    16th May, 2009.

    rating

    Rive Gauche pour Homme Intense by Yves Saint Laurent

    Hmmm... A little too 'barbershop' for me. It sure does last all day long, so give it a try before you commit to a bottle. For my money, it's all just too powdery - a patchouli-powered talc-bomb. Not for me.

    1st January, 2009.

    rating

    Fracas for Men by Robert Piguet

    Very, very ordinary. Not overwhelmingly good or bad, just... well... ordinary. It seems to have nothing at all to do with the female version of Fracas (the original), which is extraordinary. Fracas Homme is as dull as dishwater.

    1st January, 2009.

    rating

    L'Eau D'Issey pour Homme by Issey Miyake

    I was given a huge bottle of L'Eau D'Issey EDT, and I have only worn it three times. It's just far too overbearing and I just don't get it at all. It just smells like an aquatic explosion and that opening never seems to leave it. I'm just too into bone-dry Chypre, fragrances to appreciate this one. Not a winner.

    1st January, 2009.

    rating

    Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent

    To me, Kouros is instantly recognizable whenever, wherever, and on whomever I smell it. I had a brief dalliance with Kouros in the 1980's, but had to leave it behind - this is in spite of me still being a fan of a few other of the "powerhouse" 1980's scents that are still available. It is the instantly-recognizable quality that turns me off - it's just too obvious. It's also a scent that needs to be applied with extreme caution, because the "animal" components become almost unbearable when it's over-applied. You can stink out a whole cocktail-party with this brew. I'm giving it a neutral rating, because I don't hate it, I just can't wear it.

    1st January, 2009.

    rating

    Jaïpur Homme by Boucheron

    When I first started using Jaipur I had only discovered the EDT. Even so, I was transfixed immediately, so much so that it has become one of my perennial favorites. Jaipur smells like nothing else I have ever experienced - the vanilla is really something else, it punches out from the second the juice is applied. It is one of the few fragrances I have worn that have caused strangers to ask me which cologne I am wearing. I was happy with the EDT.

    Then, while in Paris, I sprayed on some of the EDP, and it was an epiphany - how, I wondered, could it be that these brews could share the same name and yet be so different? By "different", of course, I mean "more magnificent".

    I reach for my Jaipur EDP regularly. Sometimes I am so torn between it and Antaeus that I have to flip a coin to decide which one I'll spend the day with. Jaipur Homme is very potent, long-lasting, and projects calm, confident masculinity. And in the words of one of my work colleagues, "it smells very very expensive". It is quite sweet off the top, which could be mistaken for a feminine characteristic, although it fades away quickly to leave a spicy, oriental sillage that lasts for many, many hours. If you're hung up about the idea of wearing a fragrance that's a little sweet, then by all means drown yourself in Yatagan or Quorum and stick with that. If you're comfortable with your masculinity and it's not threatened by wearing a fragrance that can sometimes smell a little androgynous, then get yourself a big bottle of Jaipur Homme EDP, and enjoy.

    12nd January, 2008. (Last Edited: 8th July, 2008.)

    rating

    Allure Homme by Chanel

    Yaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnn............ Will somebody please wake me if Chanel ever releases and EDP version of Allure, otherwise I am staying asleep, because the EDT is totally boring! Don't buy this stuff expecting to find something like Antaeus, because you'll be sadly disappointed. Allure is insipid and ordinary, and would be well-suited to the automatic fragrance dispensers one sees in restrooms.

    28th December, 2007.

    rating

    Iquitos by Alain Delon

    There is little I can add to the reviews of this fragrance that have already been posted on this site. Iquitos is what I consider a "deadly" fragrance - if applied too heavily, it is capable of causing whole subway-cars to start sneezing and sending small children to hospital with respiratory distress.

    But despite it's potency, I adore it. Perhaps my skin chemistry is favorable. Or perhaps I have just convinced myself that it smells great. It is a shame that it has been discontinued, but there are still small stocks of it here and there - I purchased a 100mL bottle from an internet supplier just prior to writing this review.

    So if you want it, get out there and find it, because I don't think the company will be recommencing manufacture. That's a shame, because compared to the other Delon fragrances for men, Iquitos is clearly the best. Just be sure to use it judiciously!

    17th June, 2007.

    rating

    Fahrenheit by Christian Dior

    Yeesh... smells like insect repellent. Should be avoided.

    17th June, 2007.

    Showing 1 to 15 of 15.

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