Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Perfumes/houses that REALLY need to be in Perfumes. The Guide II
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Perfumes/houses that REALLY need to be in Perfumes. The Guide II

post #1 of 15
5/4/08 at 4:59pm
Thread Starter 
Some threads already contain laments on painfully absent reviews in Turin/Sanchez. Thought we might collect some here.

Houses:
d'Orsay - would have liked to hear their thoughts in these reformulations. I could see Turin liking Arome 3 in particular.

Lubin - no Idole. Such a good one, I think (though LT doesn't seem to like Giacobetti's general style)

Trumper - Turin berates the pseudo-tradition of Penhaligon's etc., but unfortunately doesn't review the "real McCoy"

Biehl Parfümkunstwerke, Bois 1920, Nasomatto - too recent I suppose.

Royall - the house, or any other bay rum, in fact.

Perfumes:
Farina Gegenüber. Historically significant as it is, it should have been in there, with a few words on EdC history. Too bad most of the trad EdC reviews are so brief (well, I guess that reflects the general 'very nice, but boooring'-consensus on these ). also Acqua di Genova, Borsari and a few other oldies.

Cacharel pour homme. I think it's their best male fragrance & one of the best designer frags ever. And they sent in stupid Amor?!

Creeds: He has GIT and BdP, but many of the great ones are missing: Baie de Genievre, Orange Spice, Vintage Tabarome, REL, Royal Delight, Bois de Santal. Probably lucky for Creed, though. I do happen to share his view of the moderns like MI, Erolfa and Himalaya .

Villoresi Colonia, Sandalo, Spezie, Piper Nigrum. I'm a masochist and want to hear how banal or misconstructed they are.

Domenico Caraceni: even though I don't think Turin has that much to say on masculine rose. No. 88 "in the style of Hammam Bouquet." Say what?

CdG: the entire incense series. Great one for No. 3 though.

Hotel Costes - I think it's a modern classic

R de Capucci - discontinued, of course, but at least as great as Yohji homme

Signoricci - the best Ricci for men, a great citrus.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 15
5/4/08 at 5:02pm
Nasomatto - As you mentioned. I believe they received bottles but not in time for the book.

Montale - One of them said Montale refused to send them bottles. Maybe they will change their mind. There are so many Montale fragrances that aren't talked about (in general) I would like to hear more about this line beyond Black Aoud and a few others.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 15
5/4/08 at 5:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by the_good_life View Post

Creeds: He has GIT and BdP, but many of the great ones are missing: Baie de Genievre, Orange Spice, Vintage Tabarome, REL, Royal Delight, Bois de Santal. Probably lucky for Creed, though. I do happen to share his view of the moderns like MI, Erolfa and Himalaya .

I can already guess what the comment would be on SMW: Screechy.

I personally love it.

I would have liked to see the Damien Bash line of fragrances reviewed, as well as some of the CB I Hate Perfume offerings. And ONLY the original Burberry...not London or Brit? Whassup wit that?
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 15
5/4/08 at 5:18pm
I agree with zestyfresh - I missed seeing any reviews of Christopher's fragrances (CB I Hate Perfume), but then I guess when you name your fragrance line 'I Hate Perfume' you aren't necessarily garnering for a book called 'Perfumes: The Guide' to include you.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 15
5/4/08 at 5:35pm
Mazzolari frags are really good. I would like to see Turin and Sanchez take those on. One of the first reviews I went to read was MPG Route du Vetiver, but they didn't do that one. They also didn't do MPG Parfum d'Habit. I would have liked to see their thoughts about PG Querelle, which is a really interesting fragrance, I think. Nino Cerruti PH would have been nice.

I would have also liked to see "gone but not forgotten" reviews to get some thoughts about the great frags that are no longer in production -- Patou Pour Homme and PPH Prive, Leonard PH, Balenciaga PH, etc.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 15
5/5/08 at 11:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by the_good_life View Post

Some threads already contain laments on painfully absent reviews in Turin/Sanchez. Thought we might collect some here.
Houses:
d'Orsay - would have liked to hear their thoughts in these reformulations. I could see Turin liking Arome 3 in particular.
Lubin - no Idole. Such a good one, I think (though LT doesn't seem to like Giacobetti's general style)
Trumper - Turin berates the pseudo-tradition of Penhaligon's etc., but unfortunately doesn't review the "real McCoy"
Biehl Parfümkunstwerke, Bois 1920, Nasomatto - too recent I suppose.
Royall - the house, or any other bay rum, in fact.
Perfumes:
Farina Gegenüber. Historically significant as it is, it should have been in there, with a few words on EdC history. Too bad most of the trad EdC reviews are so brief (well, I guess that reflects the general 'very nice, but boooring'-consensus on these ). also Acqua di Genova, Borsari and a few other oldies.
Cacharel pour homme. I think it's their best male fragrance & one of the best designer frags ever. And they sent in stupid Amor?!
...
Villoresi Colonia, Sandalo, Spezie, Piper Nigrum. I'm a masochist and want to hear how banal or misconstructed they are.
Domenico Caraceni: even though I don't think Turin has that much to say on masculine rose. No. 88 "in the style of Hammam Bouquet." Say what?
CdG: the entire incense series. Great one for No. 3 though.
Hotel Costes - I think it's a modern classic
R de Capucci - discontinued, of course, but at least as great as Yohji homme
Signoricci - the best Ricci for men, a great citrus.

Thank you for an initial list, the_good_life! I would know better what I miss if I had checked reviews against my own wardrobe and wish lists, some of which I had no access to for a while. Except for a few pre-warnings I have not dug in deeply yet. I still enjoy just absorbing what's in the book - 30 minutes at a time. I am now creating chapters to read for myself, like All One Star Fragrances. I hope that's where I find the most sarcastic comments and the fewest perfumes I am interested in. (A Five star chapter to follow. )

- D'Orsay is missing ? That's very sad news to me also. So far, I only am aware of two houses I will painfully miss:
- Santa Maria Novella, Italian perfume house with the longest tradition and more than 30 fragrances in their current program - generally considered as using ingredients of premium quality
- Montale, French-Arabian (?) perfume house with more than 30 fragrances in their current program - generally considered as using ingredients of premium quality
Asked about the latter, LT explained the omission by saying: 'they refused to send us samples' (on this board). This doesn't really excuse the neglect. It seems like Caron didn't submit samples either. The reviews of Tabac Blond (and others?) are based on sampling the latest issues at Harrods in London.

Perfumes: The guide is for fragrances on the current markets. Much as we may miss the honorable mention of some older gems we should not lament about that if they have been discontinued. Signoricci (the frormer S. II) has been discontinued also, I thought ? If I am wrong, I would love to be corrected, and rush out and buy or order a bottle now!

 I had been taught to approach new books by trying to see through their structure and going over the index first. If both are good, one can be pretty sure that a certain amount of care has been invested in its preparation. It can also be an indicator whether or not an author stays on top of the matter. A non-fiction book like this one should make it pretty clear from the start what's not included, and - damnit! - there is not even an index by perfume brands! If it existed I would have been able to see the limitations of this book much quicker. Of course, the book's main index is the book itself. With a number between 1200 - 1500 (what is it exactly, does anybody know?) an index by brand at the end of the book wouldn't be a luxury to have. And from the person who first introduced perfumers to his readers in 1992, I would actually have expected an index by perfumer also. Who is really expected to know more than three perfumes Elena did, and who is equipped to look that up from sources like Now Smell This, or (perhaps) Michael Edwards? - Did the authors really consider their personal ratings so important that they made it the only additional index at the end of the guide?
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 15
5/6/08 at 2:14am
Oh, Narcus, you are so right concerning the index But it seems that the authors thought about the book as entertainment reading, not scientific...

About Montales.
I think Basenoters have enough samples/decants/bottles to send some of their favourite scents to the authors in order to fill the gaps in second edition (should it follow)

Let`s collect them in one place in London - how about Grant place? - and make a gift!
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 15
5/6/08 at 2:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by moon_fish View Post

Oh, Narcus, you are so right concerning the index But it seems that the authors thought about the book as entertainment reading, not scientific...

About Montales.
I think Basenoters have enough samples/decants/bottles to send some of their favourite scents to the authors in order to fill the gaps in second edition (should it follow)

Let`s collect them in one place in London - how about Grant place? - and make a gift!

As Gifts? - Let's say, in turn I will gladly relieve them from any of those nasty Villoresis in their possession !
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 15
5/6/08 at 9:28am
LT missed the really interesting MPGs, such as Jardin du Nil, Parfum d'Habit, Eau des Iles, Iris Bleu Gris and Route du Vetiver. Would have loved to hear what he thought about those.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 15
5/6/08 at 10:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by narcus View Post

- Montale, French-Arabian (?) [/COLOR]perfume house with more than 30 fragrances in their current program - generally considered as using ingredients of premium quality
[COLOR=Navy][COLOR=Black]Asked about the latter, LT explained the omission by saying: 'they refused to send us samples' (on this board). This doesn't really excuse the neglect. It seems like Caron didn't submit samples either. The reviews of Tabac Blond (and others?) are based on sampling the latest issues at Harrods in London.

I was rather disappointed that Montale didn't want to give them samples. Le Labo at first didn't, and then came around. If they got Caron samples from Harrods, then it shows they were able to get some with a little extra effort - I wonder if they were blocked from Montale?

But, I wonder what Montale's thinking was? Their stuff is pretty good, would have done well. But then again, it is pretty "old school" to want to completely control your PR, reviews and so on.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 15
5/6/08 at 10:40am
Too many to list. I wouldn't have bought the guide if I knew most of my fragrances weren't even reviewed.

Also, as great as his reputation is, I don't think I can take him seriously after he reviewed Mugler Cologne higher than Original Vetiver, Cool Water higher than Green Irish Tweed, and PdN New York higher than Bois du Portugal. Someone has a vendetta against Creed. Or niches in general, if you see the pattern. It's like Estee Lauder conned him into writing glowing reviews for her...

And he gave Bleecker Street ONE STAR, he rated it lower than Adidas Moves and Joop! Are you kidding me... That's about as ridiculous as when someone said Bleecker Street was a rip off of Original Vetiver...

And his review on Black Aoud was...wait, where is it?

My copy of the book is in like-new condition, if anyone wants to trade a frag or samples, I'm open to any and all ideas. Just send me a PM, thanks.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 15
5/6/08 at 10:52am
I agree that this book is disappointing, though still interesting reading. Why is Aspen and Jovan Sex Appeal in there, when so many excellent ones were not included? How did they decide what to include?
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 15
5/6/08 at 11:36am
I think having a bunch of lower priced scents in really give some balance. But at 1500 fragrances, it isn't going to be encyclopedic.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 15
5/6/08 at 12:51pm
Montale (the Aromatic & Aoud Line)
CDG Series 2 Incense & Series 3 Red (though Palisander was reviewed)..also wouldn't mind Series 1 Leaves and Series 6 Synthetic
Davidoff Zino
Alan Cumming the Fragrance
Tom Ford Noir et Noir (The only TF private blend not reviewed, how did they miss it?)
Creed Vintage Tabarome
Biehl Parfümkunstwerke (2nd this)
Armani Prive (the others, the leather one Cuir)
Shiseido Basala
Versace Uomo (1991 Discontinued), Blue, Black & Metal Jeans. The good Versace's instead of the new releases....
HL Cuiron
Agatha Brown
JHL
Dorissima \tNarziß
Cacharel Nemo
Nombre Noir (talked about a lot in other reviews, but it didn't have one itself)
Patou pour Homme
Piper Nigrum
Rochas Lui
Geo F Trumper Sandalwood Cologne (won't mind some other GFT stuff either)
MPG Soir d'Orient (a little rare to get)
L'artisan Tea for Two
Ungaro I, II and III
Profumum Line
SMN Nostalgia
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 15
5/6/08 at 4:35pm
Reading this book was like attending a perfume dinner with a biased, overpaid french perfumer proud of his wooden nose.

For the next book, more coverage of non-French houses will do.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: MFD Archive
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Perfumes/houses that REALLY need to be in Perfumes. The Guide II