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Romance? Unforgiveable? French Lover? Revolting!

post #1 of 27
5/8/07 at 8:20pm
Thread Starter 
Am I the only one, or are others here totally turned off by certain names that manufacturers give fragrances? I find Romance a perfectly ridiculous name for a man's fragrance. Unforgiveable? What is that? Insipid is what it is. Hypnose? Go hypnose yourself . And French Lover? Wow, that really takes the cake. Can't think of any others right now, but I would be very hesitant to wear anything with such silly names. I am romantic as the next man, but a fragrance that is so transparent in the message it is trying to get you to buy into is just unacceptable. I can only imagine what my wife (or for that matter any of the other women I dated over the years) would think of finding those ridiculous products in my bathroom. Frankly, I would have been embarrassed. I found Obsession pretty bad, but wore it for awhile way back when. Never liked the name though.

Oh, and I never owned a kimono style man's robe either.

Opinionated Joe
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post #2 of 27
5/8/07 at 9:12pm
They should just name everything Antaeus I, II, III, IV, etc.

As a side question: would you rather have a fragrance with a horrid name like French Lover, or a fragrance with a real French name that you pull your hair out trying to pronounce, thus making a fool of yourself in front of others?
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post #3 of 27
5/8/07 at 9:42pm
pretty sure the french lover is kinda tongue-in-cheek...
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post #4 of 27
5/8/07 at 10:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LiveJazz View Post

They should just name everything Antaeus I, II, III, IV, etc.

As a side question: would you rather have a fragrance with a horrid name like French Lover, or a fragrance with a real French name that you pull your hair out trying to pronounce, thus making a fool of yourself in front of others?

Either way, I'd feign forgetfullness & just say that I forget the name . Of course to my closest friends who know of my hobby it might be harder to pull off...

I still wanna know why Malle chose French Lover, though. Most of his creations have neat names. Musc Ravageur, for instance. I guess Lipstick Rose is a bit silly, though...
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post #5 of 27
5/8/07 at 10:45pm
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post #6 of 27
5/8/07 at 10:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CologneJunkie View Post

Either way, I'd feign forgetfullness & just say that I forget the name . Of course to my closest friends who know of my hobby it might be harder to pull off...

I still wanna know why Malle chose French Lover, though. Most of his creations have neat names. Musc Ravageur, for instance. I guess Lipstick Rose is a bit silly, though...

Can't remember where I read it, so no link provided. Apparently the name arose from a comment a female friend made when greeting him, while the scent was in progress. Hopefully someone will find the article and point it out.

I find the name 'French Lover' for a scent amusing. Much better than CKIn2U, or some macho, l33t, celebrity, or flanker. Not to mention someone asking you what you are wearing is one thing, but if a woman is in your boudoir then an attractive bottle which smells nice when hefted is likely more important that the words inscribed on it.

Or, heck, make up a name and decant into a 'rugged, masculine' bottle. label as desired.
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post #7 of 27
5/8/07 at 11:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kasae View Post

Or, heck, make up a name and decant into a 'rugged, masculine' bottle. label as desired.

Decant it into an oil can (one of those old timey metal ones) and write "Rugged Masculine Cologne" on it with a Sharpie.

Would the chicks dig it?
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post #8 of 27
5/9/07 at 12:02am
I can't relate. I don't care what it's called. If you don't like the name decant the juice into some atomizers. You think they're gonna change the name? Might as well quit talking about it. And how can people who are even remotely sure of themselves be concerned about it anyway? Use some humor. Who are these women you see? You have to work that hard to impress them? The fragrance should be an afterthought, perhaps just a more humorous one regarding these names.

My girlfriend wouldn't give a rats ass about these names. Hide the bottle, tape over it, anything. It's a bottle of cologne. No big deal.....

You could just buy the damn thing and send it flying into a brick wall as soon as it arrives. There are all sorts of alternatives.
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post #9 of 27
5/9/07 at 12:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kasae View Post

[...]Or, heck, make up a name and decant into a 'rugged, masculine' bottle. label as desired.

This is a great idea, but a word of caution: I once transferred some Alexander McQueen Kingdom into an empty bottle of Smalto Full Choke, created a label using a monochrome picture of a musclebound semi-naked fireman cradling an infant, called my 'creation' "Daniel Craig's Infinite Celebrity Chocolate" and frankly I had to beat the women off with a stick.

In fact, I ended up having to create a similar faux-cologne, "L'Eau de Boris Johnson Intense", just to go about my daily business unmolested.
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post #10 of 27
5/9/07 at 12:26am
I asked a woman what the great scent she was wearing was: "Black Magic," she said, obviously Lancôme's Magie Noire. In the same vein I've wanted to start wearing Balmain's Jolie Madame so that I can say it's Pretty Married Woman when asked.
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post #11 of 27
5/9/07 at 1:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DustB View Post

In the same vein I've wanted to start wearing Balmain's Jolie Madame so that I can say it's Pretty Married Woman when asked.

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post #12 of 27
5/9/07 at 2:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pluran View Post

I can't relate. I don't care what it's called. If you don't like the name decant the juice into some atomizers. You think they're gonna change the name? Might as well quit talking about it. And how can people who are even remotely sure of themselves be concerned about it anyway? Use some humor. Who are these women you see? You have to work that hard to impress them? The fragrance should be an afterthought, perhaps just a more humorous one regarding these names.

My girlfriend wouldn't give a rats ass about these names. Hide the bottle, tape over it, anything. It's a bottle of cologne. No big deal.....

You could just buy the damn thing and send it flying into a brick wall as soon as it arrives. There are all sorts of alternatives.

Ditto! All this moaning about a fragrance name. I kinda like the name. A little humor, you know. Lighten up guys.
By the way, try to translate most of the french perfume names in english and the poetic, romantic sound is gone in a minute.
Maybe they should have name it in French, "French Loveuuuur" or "Amoureux Français? . Sounds better already.
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post #13 of 27
5/9/07 at 3:04am
I can't believe I passed up a bottle of Pretty Married Woman in Miami for an astoundingly good price of $12.... Dumbdumb Award for me. But back to names. They really are important. I don't think the frags themselves should go through "focus groups" by "marketing experts" but I think the names and packaging should! My DH won't wear anything with a too-ridiculous name, so French Lover and all the Etat Libre D'Orange are just OUT. Basala, Theorema Uomo, Noir Epices, Zagorsk, and Gucci Pour Homme all passed the smell and name test. Perfume houses take note.
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post #14 of 27
5/9/07 at 3:16am
I agree with Pluran and Eric ... I couldn't care less what a fragrance is called if I like it. It's the juice, not the name, I care about.

My only problem I've had with a fragrance name is when I was wearing one of the two Paris Hilton scents I owned. I had a real problem admitting I wore one of her scents ... so I usually just lied. Thankfully, I swapped both.
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post #15 of 27
5/9/07 at 5:30am
I do think when it comes to perfume that names matter, as does the packaging, and its color, because, after all, any ambitious fragrance strives to be a "Gesamtkunstwerk," a holistic aesthetic statement. Call me a snobby 'Old Europe' aesthete, but my enjoyment of a fragrance would suffer from what I thought was a really dumb name. Like Full Choke.

Now, L'Amant Francais sounds much better to my teutonic ears, but when French guys decide to name a French fragrance with the word "French" in it in English rather than in the most beautiful, aesthetic, and culturally relevant language ever (according to the French ), then you can bet there's some fat rosy bec en joue involved.
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post #16 of 27
5/9/07 at 6:43am
Carnal Flower is an exception, but Malle's fragrances are pretty much all given french names. 'French lover' would be said in english amidst a stream of french, much like in english we might insert a little je ne sais quoi with a foreign phrase.

So yes, absolutely, there is an irony in the french referring to themselves thus, and switching to english to do it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by the_good_life View Post

Now, L'Amant Francais sounds much better to my teutonic ears, but when French guys decide to name a French fragrance with the word "French" in it in English rather than in the most beautiful, aesthetic, and culturally relevant language ever (according to the French ), then you can bet there's some fat rosy bec en joue involved.

I do agree that the bottle, colour, name, advertising campaign (if prominent), and so on all contribute to the experience of a scent. Still, I admire the chutzpah of anyone who can pull of a fragrance called French Lover, and most of the names at the beginning of this thread just arent't that bad to these ears.
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post #17 of 27
5/9/07 at 7:02am
You should wear Kouros, it has a manly name.
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post #18 of 27
5/9/07 at 9:41am
Yep. Names are important. I am much more likely to give a scent a chance if it's named Musc de Koublai Khan than I would be to try the very same scent if it were named Animal Secretions! or My Butt! I also won't get near anything named for, peddled by, or otherwise associated with pop stars and other celebrities no matter how good they might smell. Unforgiveable? yeah, whatever. French Lover does come across pretty corny/ hokey; that said, I love the Malle's I've smelled so far and I'll probably try this one too, eventually.
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post #19 of 27
5/9/07 at 10:48am
Names are pretty important for me, too.

Would you buy a fragrance named Eau de Toilet, made by Kohler Co.? (For those of you that don't know what Kohler is, they're a Wisconsin-baased manufacturer of plumbing fixtures, including toilets.)

Some names can be fun... Antidote, my SOTD, is one, as is Thierry Mugler's Alien on the women's side. Others express the product: for example L'eau d'Issey is French for Issey's water. Finally, there are some gross and bizzare names... all the names in the Etat Libre d'Orange line simply turn me off. I wouldn't want to tell someone sitting next to me that I'm wearing "Secretions Magnifiques". Ever.

P.S.: Unforgivable got its name from Diddy's quote "life without passion is unforgivable".
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post #20 of 27
5/9/07 at 11:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MFfan310 View Post

P.S.: Unforgivable got its name from Diddy's quote "life without passion is unforgivable".

That has got to be among the corniest things uttered, ever!

Then again, this was said by one of the biggest ignoramuses alive today.
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post #21 of 27
5/9/07 at 11:29am
If you like the juice but not the name, when asked about it you can always say "Its a Malle!" or "Its a Guerlain!" etc ..

Some of the newer names like "Dont beat me up because I dont swallow" or "My hormonal secretions" are really ridiculous no matter how good the juice .. compared to them , "French Lover" sounds pretty normal.
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post #22 of 27
5/9/07 at 11:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajmc View Post

That has got to be among the corniest things uttered, ever!

Then again, this was said by one of the biggest ignoramuses alive today.

I dunno...I kinda like that quote even if I don't like the quoter. What if that same quote was said by a famous philosopher? Would you still think it was one of the corniest things uttered?
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post #23 of 27
5/9/07 at 11:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pluran View Post

I can't relate. I don't care what it's called. If you don't like the name decant the juice into some atomizers. You think they're gonna change the name? Might as well quit talking about it. And how can people who are even remotely sure of themselves be concerned about it anyway? Use some humor. Who are these women you see? You have to work that hard to impress them? The fragrance should be an afterthought, perhaps just a more humorous one regarding these names.

My girlfriend wouldn't give a rats ass about these names. Hide the bottle, tape over it, anything. It's a bottle of cologne. No big deal.....

You could just buy the damn thing and send it flying into a brick wall as soon as it arrives. There are all sorts of alternatives.

Just for the record, I totally agree with you. I would wear French Lover if I liked it. My previous response was (and I thought this thread mostly was) in jest.
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post #24 of 27
5/9/07 at 11:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CologneJunkie View Post

I dunno...I kinda like that quote even if I don't like the quoter. What if that same quote was said by a famous philosopher? Would you still think it was one of the corniest things uttered?

I think i would. To me, it almost sounds like some of that new age blather one hears from time to time. Just my opinion.
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post #25 of 27
5/9/07 at 12:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zztopp View Post

Some of the newer names like "Dont beat me up because I dont swallow" or "My hormonal secretions" are really ridiculous no matter how good the juice .. compared to them , "French Lover" sounds pretty normal.

"Don't get me wrong, baby..." is a great name - just skip the rest, unless you feel like adding it.

I also like the names "Je suis un homme" "Rien" and particularly "Nombril Immense" as well as some of the others in the same line, although not all. Magnificent Secretions? Well, maybe not, but that one got them attention, so it served them well.

--

Oh, and if the person doesn't know you are a perfume nut, try this: I don't remember, it doesn't say on the bottle (ie, it might on the bottom, but not boldly displayed). People say things like that when I ask sometimes.

Or if the person does know you are a perfume afficionado, try this: isn't it (lovely / terrible / whatever)? I have no idea what it is, it was a mystery (sample / decant)! (The label must have come off / I couldn't read the hand-written label).
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post #26 of 27
5/10/07 at 5:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MFfan310 View Post

Names are pretty important for me, too.

P.S.: Unforgivable got its name from Diddy's quote "life without passion is unforgivable".

So am I to assume that "Unforgiveable" is a fragrance for one who lives a life without passion?
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post #27 of 27
5/10/07 at 11:48pm
OK - so you guys in and from North America (or was it US only?) will be able to get Malles' 'French Lover' re-packaged as Bois du ...something, and the fun is left with us ! That's even more than an attention getter! Judging from what I read here, it will obviously save some of you guys a bit of embarrassment, when the bathroom inspectors come, or if you are asked what's smelling ...

I do not think there will be much embarrassment felt in Ol' Europe, and this not only because of our common laissez faire. Some thirty years ago it was tabooed to ask a lady for the name of her perfume, and you pretended to not even notice that a man was wearing something. Fragrance was part of the wardrobe, and just not discussed and complimented. Exception: within the family and closest friends it was permissible and appreciated. Nowadays ladies, and some men, like to receive compliments from friends on their fragrance. But even today it's better not to ask someone what they wear. It's polite to leave the wearer their freedom to tell you, or simply keep that to themselves. French Lover and other names - a private joke, and no problem at all !
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