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l'Air du Desert Marocain - How does this walk the unisex line?

post #1 of 15
6/1/10 at 7:45am
Thread Starter 
Doing my second test of Tauer's masterpiece, I'm wondering why this is unisex.
Am I the only one who thinks this is more masculine? Especially the vetiver and the spices make me think this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi_JY6JonkE
This review of Katie Puckrik is slightly confusing me though.

And ofcourse this fragrance is sweet, almost very sweet.
Can a men get away with this?
I'm confused!
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post #2 of 15
6/1/10 at 11:25am
I got an 8ml decant. I love the scent, but don't feel I can wear it. I think it is a very unisex scent.

I would not knock anyone who likes it and wears it. It may come down that I can't assign it a "role" in my wardrobe.

I always find that it is a scent that would drive me crazy on a woman, but not on me. (Which is not to say I find it too feminine.)

Many men can and do get away with it I'm sure. It's pretty magnificent stuff, deserving of the praise it gets. There are probably several unisex scents that live in this same territory. A lot of the L'Artisan scents are like this to me.
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post #3 of 15
6/1/10 at 11:26am
I think it leans masculine, with its austere, dry spices and harsh rocky undertone.
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post #4 of 15
6/1/10 at 11:53am
I don't think of fragrance in this way anymore (if I ever did). It's liberating. (I'm not trying to be condescending with that comment, just stating something that has really expanded my enjoyment of fragrance.)
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post #5 of 15
6/1/10 at 1:00pm
If you're confused, it must be unisex! I've never smelled it, but it sounds like one of those frags that doesn't have a specific "gender role" assigned to it, like feminine sweet florals or masculine woody leather. So wear it without worry.
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post #6 of 15
6/1/10 at 1:07pm
Gender is in the nose of the sniffer. Some will say it's masculine, while others say feminine. Who cares? Wear what your nose likes.
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post #7 of 15
6/1/10 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Primrose View Post

Gender is in the nose of the sniffer. Some will say it's masculine, while others say feminine. Who cares? Wear what your nose likes.

Totally with this one. Any very well designed unisex scent does a great job of being workable for anyone who likes it. This is a textbook example of that. Broke out my decant and wore a little a few minutes ago. I could wear this comfortably, it's just not "dandy" enough, or casual enough for MY tastes.

I went through a phase years ago where unisex "label" scared me. But now there are some I love. On scents like this JBL, you have to go with your nose, your gut and your own sense of confidence. That's what makes it work for you. None of us can or should tell you if it's "masucline" enough for you.
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post #8 of 15
6/1/10 at 1:30pm
Given hyper-sweet male-marketed oriental gourmands like A*Men, I'm surprised to find those who'd feel uncomfortable wearing L'Air. It is sweet, but it's also very strong and resinous in the drydown.

I personally have never cared for what gender a fragrance is marketed to, as long as I enjoy how it smells.
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post #9 of 15
6/1/10 at 2:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by subhuman85 View Post

If you're confused, it must be unisex! I've never smelled it, but it sounds like one of those frags that doesn't have a specific "gender role" assigned to it, like feminine sweet florals or masculine woody leather. So wear it without worry.

The thing is, I personally don't believe in unisex. I am in the believe that it's either masculine or feminine. There is no way in between that imo. Although I might be working on this opinion, as mr Tauer pulled of something that confuses me like no other unisex.

Quote:
Originally Posted by StylinLA View Post

Totally with this one. Any very well designed unisex scent does a great job of being workable for anyone who likes it. This is a textbook example of that. Broke out my decant and wore a little a few minutes ago. I could wear this comfortably, it's just not "dandy" enough, or casual enough for MY tastes.

I went through a phase years ago where unisex "label" scared me. But now there are some I love. On scents like this JBL, you have to go with your nose, your gut and your own sense of confidence. That's what makes it work for you. None of us can or should tell you if it's "masucline" enough for you.

Not so long ago, I didn't even want to try a unisex fragrance. Forgive me, I'm only 22.
Now I try to expand my horizon but it's not always easy.

I knew that there would be some messages stating that I should go with my gut and that I should wear what I like. I don't have any problem with that, as it is the truth. But I'm only +- 4 years into this with a 1 year break. You can't learn some things on your own. Sometimes you really need an opinion from someone else. An opinion that gives you clarity and brings you further into understanding things.

I know some people find these topics useless, but the message from user Sugandaraja is actually helping me, it's that one thing I overlooked when forming an opinion on l'Air du Desert Marocain.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sugandaraja View Post

Given hyper-sweet male-marketed oriental gourmands like A*Men, I'm surprised to find those who'd feel uncomfortable wearing L'Air. It is sweet, but it's also very strong and resinous in the drydown.

I personally have never cared for what gender a fragrance is marketed to, as long as I enjoy how it smells.

You are right, there are some pretty sweet and popular fragrances on the market.
I'm going to test l'AdDM on one wrist, while I'm wearing Le Male or A*Men on the other. Thanks a lot!
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post #10 of 15
6/1/10 at 2:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JBL View Post

Not so long ago, I didn't even want to try a unisex fragrance. Forgive me, I'm only 22.
Now I try to expand my horizon but it's not always easy.

I've been there- don't worry about it. It's not a useless topic. I have had many of the same questions about many scents. In time, I decide for myself. Sugandaraja makes a very good point indeed. There are many "masculine" aimed frags far sweeter and more "refined" than LDDM for sure.
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post #11 of 15
6/1/10 at 4:24pm
Interesting. I have always found LADDM to more of a landscape or location specific scent, utterly without any gender connotations.

I see it falling somewhere in the territory between Chergui (granted this one has some sweetness, but more rural, summer, hay) and Dzongkha (monastic, Bhutan, cool, austere). Thinking about it, maybe auto-suggestion is at work here as I read reviews in The Guide of these three before sampling them and 'found' the references in the respective scents . . . rather than approaching them with any thought of comparing them to anything else I knew.
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post #12 of 15
6/1/10 at 4:31pm
I found it to be quite masculine. It's a bit sweet, but not cloyingly so at all. At it has enough musky kinda notes in it to make it not feminine at all.
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post #13 of 15
6/1/10 at 4:51pm
How anyone can worry about sweetness when guys will happily wear Givenchy Pi and Caron Pour Un Homme bemuses me completely as both end up with a cloyingly sweet vanilla.

I quite enjoy sweetness with a "male" fragrance (I use the quote marks advisedly), I enjoy Burberry Brit and Rochas Lui for exactly those reasons. My current most worn is Bogart Homme which combines tobacco with a sweet floral accord floating over the top.

Guys can wear sweet fragrances, it's not as though we're talking candyfloss fizz here.
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post #14 of 15
6/1/10 at 5:38pm
Personally I find it leaning more towards the masculine side than feminine. Although I can imagine a few females weariing this proudly!
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post #15 of 15
6/1/10 at 8:20pm
I don't like it but it is one of those JHL/Cinnabar kinds of frags. Whether it is more on the JHL or Cinnabar side is not all that important, is it? The better question is whether this kind of oriental frag is for you.
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