I've tried and tried but I just don't get this fragrance!

**acjigga** · 12th August 2010, 04:22 AM

This will probably be somewhat similar to a lot of previous "overrated fragrance" threads, but what fragrance gets nonstop love on Basenotes that does nothing for you? My personal selection is Helmut Lang Cuiron. I've owned a couple of bottles (which I ended up selling) but I just don't understand the universal acclaim. Maybe it's my skin but Cuiron is a boring and flat mess on me. I don't get any leather or suede out of it.

What's your choice for the fragrance that everybody loves but you just don't understand why?

**Jer350** · 12th August 2010, 04:28 AM

My choice would definitely have to be Issey Miyaki Leau D'Issey. Bought this blind from a fellow basenoter after all the positive reviews and talk about this. I gave it chance after chance for probably 2 months and I just couldn't get into it. On my skin it smelled like a very musky green tea scent that was very cloying and ended up just giving me a headache. Anyway, I ended up swapping it away to a fellow basenoter. Hopefully they are enjoying it more than I did!

**BradW** · 12th August 2010, 04:31 AM

Givenchy Pi and Le Male come to mind.

**StylinLA** · 12th August 2010, 04:37 AM

I think that happens for a lot of us, and I have my own theory (quite unproven) that with the large variety of scents out there, various synthetics, many of us are blind to some of them. Or at the very least, don't detect them fully.

I tried the vaunted Musc Ravageur and it seemed to go nowhere on me after a heavy duty sweet opening.
Sandalwood scents in particular seem to be vexing me lately. Santal Noble and Bois du Portugal don't seem to work well for me.
It's not a bad bottle thing- I've worn them and had other people tell they were pounding, but I couldn't tell. I wouldn't rule out olfactory fatigue to a degree, but in the case of Santal Noble, I could barely sense 15 minutes after I put it on. I asked a woman I know if she could smell it and if it seemed "light." She emphatically exclaimed it was NOT light.

**Ekove** · 12th August 2010, 04:39 AM

Green Irish Tweed/Cool water. Maybe they're too common that my nose can't find anything positive about them. They're just too boring for me to even think of a way to describe them, good or bad. And only recently I've found out how insanely popular they are outside of basenotes.

**Neurosis** · 12th August 2010, 04:41 AM

Erolfa...im sure its amazing, but i cant figure it out. It's just mediocre to me, i was expecting something better

**The_Cologneist** · 12th August 2010, 05:03 AM

If i had to choose one, I'd say Zino.

**jbthorpe** · 12th August 2010, 05:26 AM

Kouros - I hate smelling like urinals.

**philmcphe** · 12th August 2010, 06:01 AM

Amouage Jubilation XXV, more like "Essence of Craft Store" to me

**odioustoilet** · 12th August 2010, 06:43 AM

Sexy for Him Victoria's Secret, chicks did it, sure, but it smells like so many other mid-tier fragrances.

**odioustoilet** · 12th August 2010, 06:45 AM

Originally Posted by StylinLA

I think that happens for a lot of us, and I have my own theory (quite unproven) that with the large variety of scents out there, various synthetics, many of us are blind to some of them. Or at the very least, don't detect them fully.

I tried the vaunted Musc Ravageur and it seemed to go nowhere on me after a heavy duty sweet opening.
Sandalwood scents in particular seem to be vexing me lately. Santal Noble and Bois du Portugal don't seem to work well for me.
It's not a bad bottle thing- I've worn them and had other people tell they were pounding, but I couldn't tell. I wouldn't rule out olfactory fatigue to a degree, but in the case of Santal Noble, I could barely sense 15 minutes after I put it on. I asked a woman I know if she could smell it and if it seemed "light." She emphatically exclaimed it was NOT light.

Yeah, I've thought of this too. Sort of like some folks are color blind, I figure the human body is still far from being figured out by medical science, we're all wired different. How can one person think one cologne is so awesome when another thinks it smells like garbage?

**DocmanCC** · 12th August 2010, 07:08 AM

I have a couple scents that do this to me. I love the idea of Dior Homme but not matter how many times I try it, or own it, there is just something I can't get past. My short experiences with Intense and Cologne did not change my mind either, sadly.

**kärleksparfym** · 12th August 2010, 07:20 AM

I have to say I haven't "tried and tried" -- I should give my samples a few more wears -- but I am not wowed in any way by Bois du Portugal, much as I wanted to love it. I'll also admint I'm not the biggest Creed fan anyway.

But hey, it's great we don't all love the same things! And it's ok!