Well, a sampler of five Penhaligon's fragrances has arrived. I have vials of Racquets, English Fern, Endymion, Castille, and Douro. These are my first impressions, ergo a bit jumbled, but lessee, here.
English Fern: DO NOT WANT! This is waaaaay too old fashioned for me. Was Brut based on this? This just smells old to me, a relic. I appreciate it as an historic document, but it's not something I would wear.
Racquets: Now this is fascinating to me. It is definitely a Gentleman's Fragrance. I find this deeply sexy, but would I wear it? I have to wonder if this is what my ever so witty and urbane (and gay) high school english teacher wore because it reminds me of him. Racquets literally awakens the schoolboy crush potential in me. It's The Smiths' "This Charming Man" all over again.
Endymion: My impressions of this one are still coming together. The first time I tried it I had it on my right wrist and English Fern on my left, and English Fern kind of made me hate everything, so I found myself judging Endymion a little harshly. Last night I tried it with Douro on the other wrist and liked it much better, but I'm still trying to get a handle on its exact message.
Castille: Gosh, this is delicious. I can see how it might turn a little Hippie-Flavored Car Deodorizer in too high a dosage, but right now, gently applied to my inside right wrist, it's intoxicatingly sweet and strange, but also familiar. I can almost see this as a unisex, and yet, every now and then it sends up flashes of something very Clean Man. This is like absolutely nothing in my collection, so it makes a tempting prospect. But then there's...
Douro: This is the prize-winner so far. Or at least the one that smells the most like me. I would call this "Bois d'Orange", i.e., Orange Wood. This, to me, is like Terre d'Hermes gone one better. Except now that I'm looking at the Penhaligon's web site, it looks like Douro was created in 1911. With its woody base, I honestly thought it was something that had sprung out of the Great Oud Uprising of 2007-08. I had assumed that it was the most recently released of the bunch.
Shows you what I know.
English Fern: DO NOT WANT! This is waaaaay too old fashioned for me. Was Brut based on this? This just smells old to me, a relic. I appreciate it as an historic document, but it's not something I would wear.
Racquets: Now this is fascinating to me. It is definitely a Gentleman's Fragrance. I find this deeply sexy, but would I wear it? I have to wonder if this is what my ever so witty and urbane (and gay) high school english teacher wore because it reminds me of him. Racquets literally awakens the schoolboy crush potential in me. It's The Smiths' "This Charming Man" all over again.
Endymion: My impressions of this one are still coming together. The first time I tried it I had it on my right wrist and English Fern on my left, and English Fern kind of made me hate everything, so I found myself judging Endymion a little harshly. Last night I tried it with Douro on the other wrist and liked it much better, but I'm still trying to get a handle on its exact message.
Castille: Gosh, this is delicious. I can see how it might turn a little Hippie-Flavored Car Deodorizer in too high a dosage, but right now, gently applied to my inside right wrist, it's intoxicatingly sweet and strange, but also familiar. I can almost see this as a unisex, and yet, every now and then it sends up flashes of something very Clean Man. This is like absolutely nothing in my collection, so it makes a tempting prospect. But then there's...
Douro: This is the prize-winner so far. Or at least the one that smells the most like me. I would call this "Bois d'Orange", i.e., Orange Wood. This, to me, is like Terre d'Hermes gone one better. Except now that I'm looking at the Penhaligon's web site, it looks like Douro was created in 1911. With its woody base, I honestly thought it was something that had sprung out of the Great Oud Uprising of 2007-08. I had assumed that it was the most recently released of the bunch.
Shows you what I know.
