Fragrance House Stereotypes

Creed tends to be expensive (and smell like it.)
CdG tends to be weird (not an accurate stereotype; sometimes but not always)

There have long been "house styles" and "house notes," and these are sometimes points of pride rather than stereotypes. The famed "Guerlinade" base accord is one famous eaxmple. Houses like L'Artisan Parfumeur and Frederic Malle that employ many different noses may be less likely to develop such consistent character, whereas lines like Chanel, Serge Lutens, Creed, or Hermes that are directed by a single nose often show much more uniformity of style. Here are a few of my own, very personal, observations:

Serge Lutens, which is pretty much a two-man collaboration between Lutens and Christopher Sheldrake, releases many scents with extremely thick, sweet, heavy oriental bases. Ambre Sultan, Arabie, Mandarine-Mandarin, Chergui, Fumerie Turque, and Miel de Bois are all examples, while Sa Majeste la Rose, Tubereuse Criminelle, Gris Clair, Chene, and Un Lys (among others) break the mold.

Hermes under Jean Claude Ellena has tended lately toward transparent, minimalist compositions (Un Jardin sur le Nil, Eau d'Orange Verte), though certainly not to the exclusion of richer scents (Ambre Narguile).

Creed has used (overused?) a common base for its millesimes since the 1980s. Compare Erolfa, Silver Mountain Water, Millesime Imperial, Himalaya, Green Valley, and Green Irish Tweed after an hour or two, and the similarities will seem fairly obvious. Most of these also happen to show little longevity on my skin. I think of the shared accord as the "Creed millesime base." The upshot with these scents is that if you like one, you may well like them all. Meanwhile, scents like Acier Aluminium, Bois du Portugal, Epicea, and Baie de Genievre dispose of the common millesime base. THey also last on me.

Many Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier scents exhibit a potent, abrasive blackcurrant top note, but this doesn't always persist, or winds up quickly buried beneath assertive heart accords. Try Parfum d'Habit and you'll see what I mean.

Most of the Lorenzo Villoresi scents I've tried open with a brash cacaphony of top notes that resolve over several minutes into something much more "socially acceptable." Spezie, Incensi, and Piper Nigrum are all good examples of this phenomenon. I disregard (at least) the first 15 minutes of development on any VIlloresi scent I try.

The vast majority of L'Artisan Parfumeur scents disappear on me in less than twenty minutes. Timbuktu, Bois Farine (both of which disgust me), Dzongkha, Mechant Loup, and Fou d'Absinthe (all of which I love) are theh only exceptions.

All of the Diptyque scents I've tried are remarkably linear in their development.

There are more, but this post is getting long enough as it is...

I was going to say this.

I will add that Dzing lasts quite a long time on me also.

Jo Malone
Perception: Eau de Toilettes masquerading as Eau de Colognes.
Reality: Eau de Colognes masquerading as EdTs.

Love Dzing!, but it lasts approximately 6 1/2 minutes on me.