Newbie asking for a recommendation - in a weird way

[sarıpatates]

Hi.
I'm new here, and although I like fragrances a lot, I'm not familiar with most brands and the jargon.

So, here's my question. I want this fragrance:




I want a fragrance that invokes a feeling of vastness. Open, dry. Cool.
Like a mountain plateau. Transparent, lucid. Misty. Breezy.
In one word, vast.

Musically, an electric guitar with lots of swelling notes, a lush double bass going between rhythm and sentences, drummer going to town on the cymbals setting the texture, and an airy, reverbed trumpet.
Like Terje Rypdal's Skywards, If mountains could sing, or a bit like pink floyd's marooned.

Like I said I don't know the terms and ingredients well.
The only ingredient I can think of is a pot of black tea brewed yesterday. Dirt, ozone, dry grass...

So yeah. That's what I'm asking for. Please help.

[DavidBond007]

212 men or even green irish tweed, maybe eternity

[Bigsly]

Seems like your landscape is clashing with your music! LOL. I have no idea what you would like, but the landscape reminds me of Sandalo by Lorenzo Villoresi. If you want a cheapo, perhaps Cuba Green.

[sarıpatates]

Well, I thought the feeling of the landscape and music matches. Terje's music is not that busy, except the drums. But it's faint, and is just there for the texture. Like the painting I did.

[SculptureOfSoul]

What a great first post and a great way to ask for a suggestion! Very very creative. I love it!

I'll expand on this later but my first thoughts are, in order of relevance:

Amouage Ciel Man - bright blue skies, sunshine. That transcendent feeling of coming back to life when the first spring-like day visits after a long and cold winter. The scent is crisp and slightly cool without being cold. Perhaps a bit brighter and more upbeat than the picture you have posted, however. If a bright sun was in the corner of the painting, this would be the perfect match. If I ahd to ascribe color to this scent, I'd say it is a blue to silver gradient from topnotes to base.

Creed Green Valley - verdant green grass over the creed ambergris base. The first half of the scent is quite close to the picture you've posted, in my minds eye, although not so much the second half. Worth a sniff though. I don't have enough experience with this one to elaborate more, but the little experience I do have suggests it may fit the bill.

M. Micallef "White Sea" - a hazy and cool scent composed primarily of lime, iris, violet and sweet patchouli. This is hazy and almost foggy in nature. Not particularly dry though - this too has a certain wetness to its composition. This scent does, in my mind's eye, evoke similar feelings as Pink Floyd's "Marooned" (I absolutely LOVE that song).

Six Scents "Wicken 3000" - epitomizes a feeling of vastness. Open, and cool, but more wet than dry. This might be like viewing the scene in your post through a telescope, while you're 500 miles out to sea. Extremely minimalist. Also evokes similar feelings to "Marooned" - although almost in a slightly more futuristic way. Marooned in space, perhaps.

[Geikamir]

I'm not sure I can help you out with this, but I admire your description and the scenario that you're interested in. Cool way of thinking.

Also, Sculpture, your pretty good at explaining the mood that's been set up and experienced. I'm impressed.

[sarıpatates]

geikamir, thanks for the kind words.

wow, sculpture thanks a lot.
I'll definitely try to hunt down all those fragrances.

really, thanks a lot for putting so much thought and time into your reply.

[nsamadi]

Cumming by Alan Cumming
Thundra by Profumum
Calamus by CDG Series 1:Leaves

[Diamondflame]

Russian Caravan Tea by CB I Hate Perfumes

You're along for the ride with the nomads in their caravan and they made an overnight stop somewhere overlooking the vast plains. The weather is cool, the air misty with morning dew. Seems like a perfect time for that hot fragrant cup of tea...

Welcome to Basenotes!

[sarıpatates]

thanks nsamadi and diamondflame

smoked black tea and old books?
while I'm not sure if it would have that high altitude ozone and chill, that russian caravan tea definitely picked my curiosity.

[Vladdypwnz]

Try out Green Irish Tweed and Green Valley. I don't know why but they come to mind.

[Sugandaraja]

Magnolia Romana & Vetiver Extraordinaire come to mind immediately.

Forget the "magnolia" part of MR; read Vibert's review in the directory, he says it best, in my opinion.

VE is less strange smelling, but you definitely have the cool, grassy vetiver note lifted up by an airy accord.

[leto]

Green pastures and a grey sky...This picture reminds me of nothing but the good old Green Irish Tweed.

[Petra Ichor]

I definately visualise scents, so your painting there is a great way of describing what you want!

I'm not so well versed in men's fragrances, but I second Galamb_Borong's suggesting of a vetiver. Vetiver/vetyver/vetivert/khus can be dry grassy with a touch of warm exotic woods and in pure form has a light cooling effect, like menthol. Reminds me a lot of your image.

[BradW]

Give Calvin Klein Truth a spin if you get the chance!

[TalkingMuffin]

Tom Ford - White Suede

or

Creed Santal Imperial

[arlecchino]

Welcome to Basenotes!

When I saw your painting, the first fragrance I thought of was Il Profumo – Vetiver De Java.

It’s airy and transparent feeling, yet complex with luxurious-smelling citrus and lavender as top notes, very gradually fading into a woody-mossy base that is reminiscent, to my nose at least, of a cool damp meadow after a rain with a fresh breeze blowing across it. (…can you tell I love this one? ) I would definitely describe it as “vast”.

I see your painting as meadows after a spring storm has passed, leaving them fresh and full of life and color, yet with the feeling that more storms are yet to come with the shadows in the foreground. It’s a great contrast between what we think of as “gloom” and “vibrancy”, and representing the “vastness” of constant change in the universe.

[jrd4t]

Cumming by Alan Cumming
Thundra by Profumum
Calamus by CDG Series 1:Leaves

These are great suggestions.

For a twist, try Cirrus by Amouage, or Silver by Amouage. While nsamadi's suggestions capture much of the earthy grit and green notes of the image, these couple are more in line with the open air and crisp coolness without the calone and overdose of common synthetics that can plague a scent.

Another that came to mind that might fit it is Bond No. 9 Central Park.

[The_Cologneist]

I too agree with Green Irish Tweed.

[SculptureOfSoul]

While I think there are a lot of good green recommendations here, I don't think many/most of them fit with the feeling evoked by Pink Floyd's Marooned. I just want to specify that a number of my earlier recommendations were not very green oriented, but instead aimed to evoke that sense of a vast and almost foreboding openness, the sense of truly being marooned.

Another scent that may fit the bill that features both a cool, almost frosty green nature, along with a haziness, with hints of dirt and minerals, is Les Nez The Unicorn Spell. I would actually rate this at the top of my recommendations.

[Bigsly]

The Cumming is not for newbies, as it has a rubber and chlorine note in there. It doesn't last that long, but then there is the white truffle (or whatever it is) that dominates on my skin, and I wouldn't think of it as an expansive landscape kind of frag. It's rather "alien," in a sense, so I would think of it as good for a landscape on a different planet! LOL.

[Master-Classter]

My first though upon looking at that is Lalique's Encre Noire. I get the green, but also a cold, distant harshness of the nature. sort of like a serious take no prisoners power. That frag is barren, no warmth or light. not a knock on the frag, just my feeling looking at that pic

[boosh]

Creed Green Valley - verdant green grass over the creed ambergris base. The first half of the scent is quite close to the picture you've posted, in my minds eye, although not so much the second half. Worth a sniff though. I don't have enough experience with this one to elaborate more, but the little experience I do have suggests it may fit the bill.

My first thought was Green Valley.

My second - Garrigue by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier. Although the picture (and your description), seem a lot colder and misty. Garrigue gives me dry, openness, somewhat salty and rather dirty. It smells to me like being pulled through some shrubs, dipped in the sea and left to dry in the heat.

[L'Aventurier]

Some really good recs here.... you know what though? As silly as it sounds, Green Irish Tweed fits the picture really well.

Bel Respiro, Bois de Violette, Silver Mountain Water, Brin de Reglisse, Iris Silver Mist, Apres L'Ondee, Mitsouko, Sel de Vetiver, Sous le Vent, Angeliques sous la Pluie could work well too. Sorry, I don't have to time to elaborate on all of these, or why I think they fit the description, but a quick peek at the reviews on BN will give you a good idea of what to expect.

[Sugandaraja]

This thread is a great. I agree with others that this is a very original way of seeking a fragrance.

Giving it some more thought, Miller Harris' Fleurs de Sel came to mind, too. Curiously salty, dry, herbal fragrance, and as it's not a full-on aquatic per se, it's as suitable to vast inland expanses as the salt march it's meant to depict.

[sarıpatates]

Thanks to everyone for your overwhelming suggestions and welcome.
I'll try to read reviews and test as much of these as I can.

It seems vetiver is the most obvious element for this fragrance. That I will keep in mind as well.

Leto, it's nice to see an istanbulite here. I can't seem to find a local shop that carries Creed, and it's not really "good old" for me personally. If it's possible I'd appreciate if you'd help me test it.

Thanks again for all of your kind input.

[N_Tesla]

When I saw your landscape with all that grass I thought at once of Vent Vert. If you can find it you will see it matches the picture you posted just fine.

[actiasluna]

When I saw your landscape with all that grass I thought at once of Vent Vert. If you can find it you will see it matches the picture you posted just fine.

I wish I could get some Vent Vert. (tried, but the stockist was out.) ... I think the reform of Guerlain Vetiver is close... if I had my own background/landscape in mind it would be a layering of GV over Yatagan... for the dryness over the greenness. But Yat is too strong, really. (and Mistuoko is too warm, IMO.)

[DavidBond007]

Try out Green Irish Tweed and Green Valley. I don't know why but they come to mind.

co sign

[SillageMonger]

I would say Horizon by Guy Laroche.

[sarıpatates]

It will be a while until I can test most of them.

This forum looks dangerous though. For my wallet.

[Hillaire]

Querelle by Parfumerie Generale

[Diamondflame]

This forum looks dangerous though. For my wallet.

+1 Quoted for truth. LOL.

[mtgprox05]

This is a very interesting question indeed!

The fragrance that immediately comes to mind for me is Parfumerie Generale L'Eau Guerriere

[DavidBond007]

It will be a while until I can test most of them.

This forum looks dangerous though. For my wallet.

you are right you have to have a lot of self control be afraid very afraid lol

[sarıpatates]

Ok, an update. I'll be writing this with as much objectivity and honesty as possible.

After seeing the most common element was vetiver, I took off to get to know it. I realize now it's not easy to understand it completely as I've already seen so many different faces of it.

My first stop was L'occitane. I tested their "vetyver" In retrospect I'm glad it was the first scent I smelled, this was the greenest, most herbal vetiver of all.

My second stop was guerlain's vetiver. I think I had high expectations of it. I thought it was good, but very focused to do its job, being a functional fragrance. If that makes sense. It wasn't as raw as L'occitane's vetyver either.

Then... I tried Encre Noire. I was literally blown away. It was like a simple sentence with deep implications. I don't know if it's just the vetiver, but the quality I attribute to it is definitely a whole new face of the ingredient. I bought it, just because it's already an excellent fragrance, and suits my usual tastes perfectly. But by itself, it was not what I set out to find. There is barely any sky, or wideness. It's distant but tight. Though I digress, any review I can make can wait until I wear it for a while.

According to my list, and the boy at the shop, I had exhausted my options available there. So I hung around a bit, smelling my wrist drenched in encre noire.
While checking the shelves, I saw an intriguing bottle. It was named Kenzo Air. Huh, I said. Maybe I should check this as well. I sprayed some on my available inner elbow... And nothing? All I could smell was vetiver, probably due to a fatigued nose, and the scent I was already wearing. I waited a while, smelled my inner elbow again. No. I had it sprayed to a card before I left.

We sat at a coffee shop to rest. After drinking my coffee and being confident that my nose was probably ready for action again I smelled the card and wow. Vetiver. And a great smell overall. I decided to give it another shot from beginning to end another time.

Next day, which is today, I visited another shop just to try Kenzo Air again. To cut to chase, I loved it more than I though I would. A very open and totally great scent. The vetiver was much more similar to Encre Noire than the other ones, but with a much different feel to it. If it had some dirt to it, and some misty air, this could be perfect. Kenzo? I thought. I don't know how it's perceived in other places, but the Pour Homme was today's Gio back at times. That made me remember Kenzo pour Homme. I loved the scent when it was around despite the stigma attributed to it. And if I remembered correctly, it definitely had a "reverbed" misty high altitude (or ocean) air.

I went and sprayed some Kenzo Pour Homme on my Kenzoair'ed wrist. I thought, and I still think, it's a great combination, albeit makeshift and uncontrolled. Which I don't like. I humbly think some attributes of Kenzo Pour homme combined with most of Kenzo Air, with a part of moist soil and mushrooms sitting close to skin would be almost perfect.

After I came back home, and found out that Terre d'Hermes is also a vetiver including scent, and earthy enough to deserve a Terre in its name. I will check it out as well. I will also do my best to hunt down at least some samples of the rarer fragrances mentioned here in the mean time.

I already got myself a great fragrance out of this, and got to know a wonderful ingredient, so thanks a lot. I'll keep updating this.

[Suppressor]

Very Irrésistible for Men (2005)
by Givenchy


http://www.basenotes.net/ID26124468.html

[StylinLA]

Dirt ozone dry grass puts me in the mind of vetiver...but which one will suit is the question.

Tauer's Vetiver Dance has a very earthy opening and felt very raw to me.

Creed's Original Vetiver with which I am not personally familiar has many fans.

Gueralin's Vetiver maybe to subtle and refined for you. (NOT meaning you're not refined!)

Encre Noir I see you liked. It's unique.

Creeds Vetiver (1948) might be a bit too elegant; not earthy enough.

I do like Green Irish Tweed, but it seems less deep and friendlier than what you seek.

[Adesor]

DIOR FAHRENHEIT is what you are looking for.

[Master-Classter]

Nice notes about those three you tried and I generally agree with your assessment of them.

- I found the L'Occitanes in general a little harsh and sharp, like home-ade chemistry. I think its got some clove or nutmeg or something in there. Not well rounded, but they are affordable and surprisingly good. A little too rugged for me though.
- The Guerlain Vetiver I also really like, it's much more complex and at times I find it a little dirty and ashy (tobacco notes).
- The Encre Noire is probably the most unique IMO, but too cold for my tastes. To me it's a wood fire on a cold crisp night. PS, scentedmonkey had 50ml bottles for under $30... the 100ml is $37, plus add a discount... http://www.scentmonkey.com/product.php?code=M-3128

Lastly, if you want a touch of sweetness, and you don't really like money, have you tried Chanel Sycomore? also a smokey Vetiver, lasts pretty well, sweet and smokey.

As for Terre D'Hermes, yes it's got vetiver and it's "earthy", but I feel like it's fundamentally a warm frag. like I picture a warm sunbaked stone in the sand. To me it's a dry heat with a little spicy and some sparkling orange to begin. Your picture makes me think of cold and damp. Still a great frag though, so maybe you'll like it.

I'd still suggest trying out GIT if you can, just because it's generally so well recieved.

[nsamadi]

I guess what you're are looking for doesn't really come in one fragrance only. It seems you can get different aspects of it from different scents. Another one I can recommend is S-eX by S-Perfume if you looking for space or vastness. Though, it doesn't have the green grassy or dirt earthiness you're looking for.

[sarıpatates]

Master-Classter thanks for your reply. I like money, but it doesn't like me too much. Still I will try to test Sycomore as well.
Some of the perfumes previosly mentioned, including GIT, are hopefully on their way to me in sample bottles. I don't have high hopes for it really, but maybe that's for the best.

I think fireplace on a cold night is a very apt description of encre noire. I love it. I already bought a 100ml of it, but that price is very good. Thanks for letting me know.

Guerlain vetiver, well.. I think it's a perfume for men that wear suits. I don't wear suits. And I don't get dirt at all. It's squeaky clean for my nose.

I haven't tested Terre D'Hermes yet, but I will soon. Thanks a lot.

@nsamadi:
I'm still hopeful that I can get near. But I DO get different aspects of it from different scents. Time will tell

@adesor: I've been wearing fahrenheit for 13 years or so. I love it. And I think I get why you recommend it. It has a cold, distant breeze to it, even though it is not a fresh scent at all.

@stylinLA: thanks for the reply and recommendations, and lol. I absolutely understand what you mean by that refinement remark.

[andylama]

I think you'll find that Sycomore is very similar to Encre Noire, though Sycomore is a touch more refined (and a LOT more expensive)

[vonMises]

KOUROS.