need a little help with narrowing down notes.

I trying to find a fragrance for my current romantic interest and I need a little steering if anyone has time and I'm just a novice. I've been pouring over BNs reviews and forums, distilling lists of recommendations to sample. I'm not the best at men's fragrances but after reading about how many of you match your clothing to your scents, I knew y'all will have a better idea of what's works with what then I will.

The gentleman loves classic cut clothing and yet he's a total bohemian. He wore Polo religiously as a young man but thinks it's too strong and one-dimmensional now (that may be because he thinks it's antiquidated). He thought Bois d'Orage was ok and liked it much better after a long drydown. He really liked Dans Tes Bras straight out of the bottle but that may be because it sits closer to the skin. And he loves Premire Figuier and Sanfron troublat on me. Oh and he hates shopping... which means it's like pulling teeth to get him into a decent store to sniff.

I've order a bunch of small samples so far: 3rd Man, Parfum Sacre, Czech & Speake No. 88 and Cuba, Tam Dao, Philosykos, Noir Epices, Pomegranate Noir, Mechant Loup, Navegar, Parfum DelRae Eau Illuminie, the fabled MKK, and The Different Company's Osmanthus. Anything obvious I'm missing like a Creed?

Sorry this was so long but he's got me truly puzzled.

Thanks in advance, Renn

Thanks! Ill keep an eye out for the CDGs.


I have an art and material history background and Im really looking forward to sniffing 88 as it sounds _very_ interesting.

I think I was forced to take a bath in Eau Savage, Shalimar, or No.5 in a former life. Something about them was always too powdery for me so I was totally put off by perfumes. All the perfume counters smelled the same to me until I came across niche frags and hope bloomed. I may go back hit those counters down the road when my nose is better developed.

Strangely enough, some of the Creeds dont rub me the wrong way like the classics. But then, the quest isnt about what I like and I have to remind myself that from time to time. I did pull Bois dArmenie, GIT, SMW, and Himalaya as possible. Funny, my ex husband sniffed my testers and fell in love with Bois dArmenie and Himalaya so I guess I have his xmas gift nailed >; )

Vetiver is a challenge as everyone seems to pair it with lemon and one sniff and Im wrinkling my nose! Luckily for me, lemon, especially dry and lemon, do not settle on him well and he knows it so off the list they go.


Really good suggestion! Im a huge Giacobetti fan already (own 2, ordered 5 more samples for me) and I have liked so many of the Lartisans. I just dont know if the pine and citrus will be smooth enough for his chemistry.

really good suggestions - thanks

An update from the front-

Vetiver - Guerlain
We both tried it and it left us unimpressed. I know everyone loves it here but it felt very old school to me and he didn't like the citrus smell at all. I'd be interested in finding a vetiver without all that lemon.

Egoiste - Chanel
Like it more then I thought and so did he. Started off too sweet but once the heart notes took over, it was very nice. I can still smell it faintly on my wrist today. Will be getting a decant to test further.

Modern Polo
Got a very blah, nothing special reaction from him. Did nothing for me either.

I really wanted him to sniff some Jo Malone but the Palo Alto Bloomie's doesn't seem to carry much. I was pretty dissapointed with their frag selection.

My other samples are still incoming and Fou d'Absinthe is one of them. This is getting fun.

L'Air du Desert Marocain is on my list for when I finally break down and spend some money at The Perfumed Court. I did order a lot of samples from L'artisan both for him and me.

We sniffed but didn't test Bulgari Black and it didn't do anything for us but the bottle scent is nothing like testing on skin so the jury is still out. I do like Dzing so maybe it is those animal notes we should focus on. Good thing I have a MKK on it's way.

I have a wildly bad reaction to Eau Savage. I'm not allergic, just loathe the scent but then I just checked the notes and there was lemon front and center - ewwww! Lemons aside, to me anyways, it feels stuffy and dated like most of the big classic houses.

On egoiste and bois d'armenie, he did have to wait for the dry down before he admitted they weren't bad. But compare that to either safron troublant or premier figuier which he loves straight out of the bottle. That is why I think it's best to steer clear of the big classic houses so I think it's down to niche but I did just think of something. He's a major wine geek (we go tasting about twice a month - he's a red zin man too Odysseusm). Our first date was taking a walk along a friend's property in Napa at the begining of the crush. He forever has his nose in a glass! Someone mentioned this before but what is out there in niche-land that has a nice grape leaf or old french oak barrel note? Demeter has a scent called Dregs and he loved it! I only wear it at home though - the last thing you want is to be pulled over by the police while wearing this.

Kinze Ten is another good one. I had that on my list of must tests but haven't found anyone selling selling small testers. Seriously, my "who wants to sell me a 1.5 mil tester?" list is long and will undoubtly get expensive >; )

Back to more testing (and almost publishible newbie reviews)...

I just received my big lovely sample pack today! Big thanks to Mudassir. I can't waiti to test everything.

I'm testing Cuba as I type... lovely, warm and even my nose can pick up the tobacco (wow lots of tobacco) but it's soooo smooth.

I now have the irrestible urge to take flamenco classes again. Can't wait to smell this on him.

Big thanks for Snafoo and Redneck's suggestions for Fou d'Absinthe. :wave:

Wearing it today to test - loveeeeee it. It isn't as creamy as all the other Giacobetti scents I've tried but it's smoother then you'd expect. I actually like it better then Bois d'Orage though I should test them side by side.

Maybe it's the snob effect (mine) but I think I'm just not a designer scent fan. There is something about Dior fragrances - Big notes that are like young siblings being forced to exist in close quarters. They can get along, generally, but then they start competing for attention and snipping at each other.

We tried Egoiste again last sunday and took it off the list. In Egoiste, this uneasiness manifests as the notes feeling "jagged". That's the best description I can come up with.

Someday I will finish writing up all these reviews and add them to the database.

That Sel De Vetiver does look good but it will depend on the iris and geranium. Both of those can get go overboard. There is a fine line between "nostalgic" and "dated" that geranium, like lavender, has a hard time treading.

Speaking of iris, we both tested Dior Homme and while it wasn't awful, it didn't do anything for either of us. I kept thinking "Haven't I done this a gazillion times before?". Kind of like dating someone again who you had a relationship with years ago - the initial novelty wore off fast and since you know all his annoying bad habits from before, why bother going through the steps of rediscovery?

I will look at Aomassi, definately. I wear men's frags all the time as well. First it was because I was testing but I've found I like smelling like a man is following me around. >; )

Is it possible to have a unisex Gourmand/Leather/Chypre? Would that smell like Knize Ten layered with Falling in Love? Or would it just smell like L'Eau du Navigateur sans the nasty lemon blast?