BN'ers suggests me some niche, trying to expand

[Robes08]

I'm sure you guys know me as the "youtube review guy" , well I want to expand my fragrance game a little. I've been looking to this a long long time ago but now I am going to do it and with you guys I need your help to let me know which samples I should get from which house.

1) Creed ( I got Himalaya, GIT and Vigin Island Water on my list)
2) Bond No.9 ( I got Brooklyn on my list)
3) Serge Lutens (nothing)
4) Amourage (nothing)
5) Montale (nothing)

I guess you see what direction I am going into. So let me know from these houses, and if you got other houses similar from these let me know.

[MFJ]

You meant fresh as a genre right?

From Creed I think you will enjoy Silver Mountain Water, Virgin Island Water and Millesime Imperial.

[Robes08]

You meant fresh as a genre right?

From Creed I think you will enjoy Silver Mountain Water, Virgin Island Water and Millesime Imperial.

LOL oops, nah I just meant new to me. I need something new , start fresh with some "niche" trying to find the best of the bunch to start off

[LiveJazz]

I like Central Park, New Haarlem and Bleecker Street from Bond no. 9. Bond gets a lot of flack around here, but I think they have some really nice, relatively unique scents. Yes, there are some "modified copies" in their line, but IMO their modifications are often for the better.


Edit...deleted

[lasta]

Not niche, but do try Iceberg Twice. Cheap as dirt and I've yet to come across anything as fresh, vibrant, and genuinely "happy go lucky" as this.

[perfaddict]

Hi L"Homme, nice vlogs!

I am not sure you will get much "fresh" from Lutens and Amouage, apart from (i have only heard, not tested) Amouage Reflection and Cirrus.

If you have Creed's VIW on your list, you might also want to try Erolfa.

[MFJ]

LOL oops, nah I just meant new to me. I need something new , start fresh with some "niche" trying to find the best of the bunch to start off

Haha no worries.

I'm commenting based on my own experience, others may disagree!


Creed

Original Santal (citrusy, spicy, woody, sandalwood is very lightweight in this)
Erolfa (best marine scent)

Serge Lutens

Chergui (honey, hay, tobacco, popular for good reason)
A La Nuit (Best Jasmine scent)
Ambre Sultan (Best Amber scent)
Gris Clair (smokey lavender, my fave lavender scent)

Montale

Black Aoud (rose and oud)
Red Aoud (gourmand)

Annick Goutal
Ambre Fetiche (another great amber scent)

Hope this helps.

[Sugandaraja]

I'm a solid fan of Serge Lutens, but it's really not a good go-to line for fresh fragrances. Probably the closest to fresh they have isn't done with citrus or aquatics but with a big wintergreen note in Tubereuse Criminelle ( personally, my favorite of the line, but you have to like big floral fragrances ). In a lush, dewy way Sa Majeste La Rose is sort of fresh too. Nearly all of Lutens is heavy and oriental, though, including the misleadingly named Mandarine Mandarin.

As for Montale, perhaps Aoud Lime and Fougeres Marines.

In general, I think you'll have more luck with the Creeds and Bonds in finding fresh fragrances.

[Sugandaraja]

LOL oops, nah I just meant new to me. I need something new , start fresh with some "niche" trying to find the best of the bunch to start off

Oh, in which case...

Serge Lutens ( I'm assuming you're limited to the export line - many of their best are Paris Exclusives )

Ambre Sultan ( herbal amber )
Chergui ( sweet tobacco )
A La Nuit ( jasmine )
Sa Majeste La Rose ( natural rose )
Vetiver Oriental ( creamy vetiver )
Serge Noir ( cedar incense )

And some of the Paris ones, just in case:

Muscs Kublai Khan ( powdery musk )
Iris Silver Mist ( rooty iris )
Tubereuse Criminelle ( wintergreen tuberose )
Rose de Nuit ( rose chypre )
La Myrrhe ( aldehydic myrrh )

Have you thought of exploring Frederic Malle?

Vetiver Extraordaire ( airy vetiver )
Carnal Flower ( green tuberose )
En Passant ( dewy lilac )
Bigarade Concentree ( orange hay )
Musc Ravageur ( cinnamon bun )
Geranium pour Monsieur ( minty geranium )

[Robes08]

nice , great stuff guys I am going to be sampling like a mofo

[monsieur_sparkle]

L'Air du Desert Marocain by Andy Tauer
Aoud Lime by Montale (fresh! it's also my favorite from this line)
Gold Man by Amouage
Eau Lente by Diptyque
New York by Parfums de Nicolai
Blue Amber by Montale
Ambre Russe by Parfum d'Empire

Lots of others... I'm sure you'll get more recommendations from this thread than you could possibly sample in one lifetime.

[JonB]

You seem to like light fragrance, so beware, my list below lists a bunch of scents I like, and not all are light. Lutens and Montale don't really offer anything that fits that description IMO. For certain, I would try Villoresi Uomo, Penhaligon's Castile, Terre d'Hermes, Creed Original Vetiver, and at least one of the CdG Incense such as Ouarzazate.

Lutens: Fumerie Turque, Ambre Sultan, Gris Clair

Montale: Blue amber, Original Aoud, Black Aoud

Others (some niche, some not):

Lorenzo Villoresi: Uomo, Spezie, Piper nigrum
Lalique: Encre Noir
Czech and Speake: No.88, Cuba
Penhaligon's: Blenheim Bouquet, Castile
Guerlain: Double Vanille, Third Man, Vetiver, Derby
Hermes: Terre d'Hermes, Concentre d'orange verte,
Comme des Garcons: Parfum, Kyoto, Ouarzazate, Sequoia
Creed: Original Vetiver

[flouris]

Just based off my quick testing of the full export Lutens line, my favorites were easily Ambre Sultan and Chergui (the latter of which I left with a bottle in tow).

If you do get a Bond No. 9 definitely review it! I've been curious about this line as well but unsure of which one(s) to start with.

edit: if you do like lighter stuff, try Cumming. It's one of my favorite fragrances and the one I go to when I'm unsure of what to wear.

Base notes of leather, peat fire, highland mud, burnt rubber and white truffle ground the scent with rugged sensuality, while the core notes of cigar, heather, Douglas fir and rubber contribute to its sharpness. The fragrance is completed with spicy top notes of bergamot, black pepper, Scotch pine and whiskey.

[Off-Scenter]

My suggestions are based on premise of developing a sense of each house's scope and style.

Creed: could almost be two houses. There's the house that makes Himalaya, GIT, MI, SMW, and their ilk, and then there's the house that makes "Vintage" Tabarôme, Angélique Encens, Aubépine-Acacia, Baie de Genièvre, Fleurissimo, and Chèvrefeuille Original. Try 'em both.

Bond No. 9: I think that there are many derivative scents here, with Chinatown being the most distinctive I've tried. You might want to give H.O.T. Always and West Side a try, though. As an exercise, testing Wall Street or one of their other aquatics will allow you to judge for yourself how much they really ape the Creed style.

Serge Lutens: there's a lot to explore here, but I'd recommend starting with Ambre Sultan, Muscs Koublaï Khän, Tubéreuse Criminelle, La Myrrhe, and perhaps Chêne.

Amouage: Dia for Men, Jubilation XXV, Gold Men, and either Ciel for Him or Epic Man.

Montale: A house that arguably makes a lot of redundant releases. Black Aoud, Oud Cuir d'Arabie, and Patchouli Leaves are the three "must-tries" in this line for me.

[Ken_Russell]

Penhaligons
Floris
Czech&Speake
Rance 1795
Knize
Farina Gegenuber
Serge Lutens
Truefitt&Hill
Taylors of Old Bond Street
Hugh Parsons

and a few more among the best within the niche market

[zliang]

No L'Artisan's recommendation?

[MFJ]

No L'Artisan's recommendation?

Good Point!

I haven't had extensive experiences with L'artisan but a few note-worthy ones IMO are:

Tea For Two
Dzing!
Bois Farine
Vanilla
L'eau du Navigateur (my fave!)

And I am dying to try Havana Vanille!

[Crayfish]

No L'Artisan's recommendation?

At seven dollars for five samples, I'd say try all the l'Artisans. If I eliminate the feminine ones, the first five that I'd recommend trying would be:

Dzing!
Dzongkha
Tea for Two
Passage d'Enfer
Navegar

Even if you don't like them all, all of these get talked about a lot, so they're good for widening one's common experience with other perfume freaks.

Edited to note: OK, Navegar doesn't get talked about all that much. It's just my favorite in the line, so I had to include it.

Crayfish

[KMF]

I think you would dig some of Tom Ford's Private Blends....

Tobacco Vanille
Amber Absolute
Oud Wood
Tuscan Leather
Italian Cypress

http://www.basenotes.net/company/101834

[vitorscpaiva]

Maybe you should first tell what kind of scents, notes do you like, or which family (chypre, oriental, fougere, etc).
As you can see, there are too many things to try in the niche perfumery.

[mtgprox05]

My suggestions are based on premise of developing a sense of each house's scope and style.

I agree 100%, I'm going to suggest either stand-outs or just cornerstones of a particular house or genre. I might throw in something, that I have a feeling you'll like as well.

Creed: Green Irish Tweed, Silver Mountain Water, Bois du Portugal

Penhaligons: Castile, Endymion

Frederic Malle: Musc Ravageur, Angeliques sous la Pluie

Acqua di Parma: Colonia Intensa

Amoauge: Dia for Men, Reflection for Men

Bond no. 9: Riverside Drive, Bleecker Street, New Haarlem

Kilian: Straight to Heaven

The Different Company: Un Parfum de sens et Bois

Diptyque: Philosykos

Eau d'Italie: Magnolia Romana

L'Artisan Parfumeur: Fou d'Absinthe, Mure et Musc (Original, Extreme, or Cologne)

Le Labo: Rose 31

Montale: Black Aoud (once you've smelled this, you at least have an understanding of the rest of the Aoud line)

Nasomatto: Absinthe, Silver Musk

Parfumerie Generale: Aomassai, Cadjmere

Serge Lutens: CHERGUI!!!!, Amber Sultan, Five O'Clock Au Gingembre

Tauer: L'Air du Desert Marocain

Sorry.

[cbstarker]

I effing love Bond. I had some trepidation at first based on the banter here on BN but I was shocked to find so many fragrances I enjoyed. In fact, after a few weeks of sampling Bond, I found other stuff to be a disappointment. My faves?

Andy Warhol Silver Factory
Brooklyn (on your list)
Central Park
HOT Always
Chinatown (overrated but worth trying)
Fire Island

By the way, if you call them, you can order six samples for $15. I ordered 12 samples, paid $30, and recieved 15 - they threw in three extra. Good luck .

[MFJ]

+1 on Un Parfum de sens et Bois by TDC, and Colonia Intensa by AdP

[nwatts88]

I'll just pick my two favourites from the first few niche houses that came to mind:

Bond no. 9: Andy Warhol Silver Factory, a huge blend of iris, incense and soft woods. Think Gucci pour homme on crack. Chinatown is a sweet, buttery, goregous fusion of peaches, white flowers and vanilla. It has the classic chypre feel about it, but in a youthful kind of way. I don't really like much else from Bond no. 9 (aside from the new Harrods for Her, lovely!), but if you're into fresh, "aquatic" watery Creed-like stuff, you'll love the likes of Wall Street and Brooklyn.

L'Artisan Parfumeur: Timbuktu is a dry, sharp prickly burst of green fruit and clean incense. Stunning and quite masculine in its dry down. Dzongkha features the same clean smoke, but behind a much more sombre, stony iris.

Serge Lutens: Iris Silver Mist, midnight vegetable patch turned powdered floral bliss. Clean, fresh, just gorgeous. Muscs Koublai Khan is a sensual, dirty musk. Strangely powerful, powdery and sweet, with a carnal bite.

Frederic Malle: If you're a vetiver aficionado you can't go past Vetiver Extraordinaire, a beautifully fresh, damp vetiver with a certain airy charm. Musc Ravageur is the ultimate in cosy vanilla and musk creations, without being quite as beastly as Musks Koublai Khan.

Le Labo: Rose 31 is Le Labo's most popular for a reason. Dusty, dry spices and woods combine with just a few scratched rose petals. After that have a go at Patchouli 24, a strange musty burnt rubber that you'll either love or hate, like Bulgari Black's angry older brother.

Etat Libre d'Orange: Tom of Finland is a great twist on cologne, with bright citrus, a kind of rum-like note and a pinch of saffron. Really nice, I wear this often. Sample Secretions Magnifique so you can laugh and go "hah, they went there!"

I would also say to go and try the Chanel Les Exclusifs line, because they're all awesome. Syocomore is this great dusty, smoky vetiver. Bel Respiro is a very fresh, sharp green aldehyde sensation. Both are great for men.

[Morgaine]

Whew, you've got enough recs to be getting on with, no?
Houses that gave me a great introduction to what niche entails, included:
L'Artisan (try Dzing!, Tea for Two, Premier Figuier, Jour de Fête, Méchant Loup, Bois Farine)
Diptyque (try Tam Dao, Philosykos, Eau Lente, L'Ombre dans L'Eau, Oyédo)
Serge Lutens (try Chergui, A la nuit, Ambre Sultan, Chypre Rouge)

There's plenty other worthwhile houses, and you might not even like any of the above, but they provide a nice sort of frame of reference.
Have fun!

[Robes08]

Thanks guys , will be thinking of getting 20 or so samples from this list , time trim the list down

[EJFudd]

Lutens Chergui and Bond 9 Andy Warhol Silver Factory come to mind.

[chaosman]

great suggestions in here!

[Duncan]

Monk by Storer. Not particularly masculine, but a really nice scent. Actually, a lot of Storer's scents have this unisex appeal.

[mtgprox05]

+1 on Un Parfum de sens et Bois by TDC, and Colonia Intensa by AdP

Matt, you got a chance to try out Un Parfum de sens et Bois? I remember it wasn't at your local store that carried TDC.