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Paul Smith London.. loving it! But..

post #1 of 18
8/7/10 at 10:25pm
Thread Starter 
I just bought a sample of this and it gave me a new found respect for this house. I was pretty disappointed with Paul Smith Extreme, aside from its lovely bottle. London on the other hand is freakin' amazing, I dunno how I could have overlooked this for so long. It's like a coconut/leather/brandy/violet/amber/sandalwood; it's got "me" written all over it so to speak. I've definitely smelled this on people in the past too, and was always intrigued, and now I know what it is! So distinctive and dark, yet so full of life, sort of in that family with Fahrenheit, Burberry London, and others, fragrances that are unorthodox and surprise you from all angles.

So now after being wow'd and having been looking for a bottle at a reasonable price for the past hour online, and finding nothing really. Sold out everywhere.. I'm wondering if there is a possible alternative to this in the under 20 dollar price range?
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post #2 of 18
8/7/10 at 11:24pm
Beatiful, isn't it? I have it and really love it. Unfortunately, from the responses in this thread on non-feminine coconut frags there are no good alternatives within your $20 limit. The closest pure/mainly coconut alternative i have smelt is Yve Rocher's Coconut.
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post #3 of 18
8/7/10 at 11:43pm
The drydown is great, once the violet note calms down a bit. I'm not a big violet note fan at all ! LOL.
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post #4 of 18
8/7/10 at 11:47pm
I get a lot of similarity between Paul Smith London and Obsession Night, which can be found for pretty cheap.
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post #5 of 18
8/8/10 at 3:34am
Paul Smith London is stunning. It's incredibly frustrating that they discontinued it.
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post #6 of 18
8/8/10 at 4:45am
IMHO, Paul smith London smells 80% similar to CK Obsession Night for Men. However, PS London is stronger and last much longer.
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post #7 of 18
8/8/10 at 5:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jasonx View Post

IMHO, Paul smith London smells 80% similar to CK Obsession Night for Men. However, PS London is stronger and last much longer.

Absolutely. London has some serious sillage and longevity. A real powerhouse!
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post #8 of 18
8/8/10 at 12:06pm
This is crazy because I always found PS London to be soo subtle and understated. I must have been suffering from some serious olfactory fatigue because I wore 12 sprays of this to work once. Call me crazy but it took that much just to be able to smell it for 6 hrs. I never thought the sillage was any good; however the smell did garner me compliments here and there.
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post #9 of 18
8/8/10 at 12:32pm
Obsession Night for Men has clear pear and suede but no violet or brandy, so for me they are quite different. I don't remember getting any leather from PS London.
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post #10 of 18
8/8/10 at 12:52pm
Thread Starter 
Ya, I too get no similarities between Obsession Night and London. They may be in the same category of "dark and mysterious" but to my nose, they're worlds apart.
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post #11 of 18
8/8/10 at 7:07pm
I have a bottle that i keep thinking about selling, I do but then i keep changing my mind.
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post #12 of 18
8/8/10 at 7:36pm
I have a sample of this and I have to say it reminds of John Varvatos but Paul Smith London is way better. I tested this one evening, the next morning it woke me up. I kept getting a nice smelling whiff while I was in bed and was puzzled what that smell was till I finally smelled my arm and I knew it was Paul Smith London. I couldn't believe it lasted 12 hours on me and how pleasant it smelled. What a shame it's discontinued.Would have been nice to have it in my collection.
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post #13 of 18
8/8/10 at 8:16pm
I didn't know it was discontinued. When did that happen?
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post #14 of 18
8/8/10 at 8:25pm
Damn... just recently ran out of this and was looking to buy some more. I get complimented on colognes every now and then, but Paul Smith London is the one that people will actually want to know the name of. I don't know how it didn't become one of the most popular colognes in the world.
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post #15 of 18
8/8/10 at 10:31pm
Thread Starter 
Yup, I agree with the resemblance to JV and on how it didn't become more popular. Not only did it not become more popular, it's discontinued. I mean, I literally can't find it anywhere except fleabay, which is a site I refuse to support and purchase from regardless of prices. They have no customer service whatsoever, but that's another story.

It's just eating away at me that all these sites have them listed at reasonable prices but are unavailable or on back order or "we'll notify you when available" aka.. "not coming back, so just buy something else from our site with high hopes that it may return) My hunt will continue to find this stuff at a reasonable price somewhere online, and when I do, I will gladly post.
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post #16 of 18
8/9/10 at 1:38pm
I bought John Varvatos to try as a replacement. I'll let you know what I think, as someone who has worn basically nothing but Paul Smith London as my night/dark cologne for the past 3-4 years. I'd love to keep wearing it but I'm not about to start paying premium for a niche cologne.

I'm not the biggest cologne connoisseur in the world; I just find some scents I like, read some online reviews to make sure the majority agree with my nose, and stick with it for years. For the past few years its been Polo Blue/Green or Cool Water for the day, and Paul Smith London at night. Hopefully John Varvatos will fill the void!
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post #17 of 18
8/9/10 at 3:42pm
  • yrk
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there are some online sellers in poland its about 16 bucks for 50ml
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post #18 of 18
8/16/10 at 10:41am
Been using John Varvatos for almost a week now. It definitely has a similar "mood" to it as Paul Smith London, but doesn't have some of the unique scents that I enjoyed most in PSL. It's more leathery and has a stronger alcohol punch initially, but after it settles in, it definitely has the same vibe.

Unless they start producing PSL again, it's probably the closest you'll get.
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Paul Smith London.. loving it! But..