Brands you avoid for reasons other than product or price?

[Addict]

Great post! At this point I'm generally not interested in any celebrity fragrances. To a slightly lesser extent I'm not interested in complete designer fragrances. As I venture into niche fragrance when I try a few offerings from a house and find them not to my liking, I am not so enthusiastic about trying other offerings from that house. I just had that experience with Malle's Musc Ravaguer and Vetiver Extraordinaire. The fragrance arena is so vast, I've come to the realization that I'll never smell them all. At this point, I have a very satisfying wardrobe and will be more careful about adding anything. More recently my interest has gravitated toward fragrance houses where their care and concern for fragrance quality is apparent and their pricing structure is not obscene. PdN is a good example. I requested a few Atelier Cologne samples with a recent Luckyscent purchase. I want to sample their entire "absolute" line. The 12-20% strength of their fragrances and their overall approach appeals to me.

Martin

Thanks, Martin, this is a line I did not explore yet, at all.

[SirWill]

It´s a shame you did not boycott this firm for other, much more important reasons. > Jean-Paul Guerlain´s outrageous racist remarks. Quote, " I worked like a nigger to create this perfume - although, I doubt a nigger could ever work THAT hard. " This comment was extremely vicious and definitely not excusable, despite pathetic american basenoters excuses. They should grow up and get a life.........Jean-Paul Guerlain as well.

Thanks for bringing this up. I am anxious to see how Dior is treated in the future for obvious reasons. I saw that clip with Guerlain and could not believe he could be so narrow minded and stupid, especially to say such things on a televised interview.

[monsieur_sparkle]

It´s a shame you did not boycott this firm for other, much more important reasons. > Jean-Paul Guerlain´s outrageous racist remarks. Quote, " I worked like a nigger to create this perfume - although, I doubt a nigger could ever work THAT hard. " This comment was extremely vicious and definitely not excusable, despite pathetic american basenoters excuses. They should grow up and get a life.........Jean-Paul Guerlain as well.

Not this shit again. Pathetic american basenoters need to grow up and get a life, huh? Y'know, I can't help but feel that outrageous racist remarks like this are extremely vicious and definitely not excusable.

[Primrose]

I agree with Al Gae.

I will not buy anything by Bond No. 9 because of what they have done to a small, private perfume maker like Liz Zorn of Siovohle, and to The Perfumed Court, a small seller of decants and samples.

Bond sued Liz Zorn for using the name "peace" in a fragrance. How silly is that?

Also, TPC sells samples, which, in turn, might generate sales of full Bond No. 9 scents. Do we see Guerlain going after TPC for selling decants?

SO--no Bond No. 9 for me. Ever.

@StylinLA: Yes, I will sample Charlie Sheen's scent--just so I can say I tried it!

[peppercorn]

It´s a shame you did not boycott this firm for other, much more important reasons. > Jean-Paul Guerlain´s outrageous racist remarks. Quote, " I worked like a nigger to create this perfume - although, I doubt a nigger could ever work THAT hard. " This comment was extremely vicious and definitely not excusable, despite pathetic american basenoters excuses. They should grow up and get a life.........Jean-Paul Guerlain as well.

thank you so much for enlightening me: i had NO idea (i am a total neophyte here) that the man was a racist. i had always respected the Guerlain house: no more.

[WildThingy]

Great post! At this point I'm generally not interested in any celebrity fragrances.

Bang is by Coty U.S., who also host the Adidas line. That doesn't mean they are mediocre or less in quality. But, as it comes especially to celebrities, I would never ever use a Creed offer.

Two reasons:
1) If their marketing ploy regarding royalties and scientists and other well know persons in history is wrong, I could not stand to be identified with that foolish attitude to look back. Trying to borrow some kind of personality from those buried celebs is far below my level. I don't need such foul assitance to be self assured.
2) I don't need to show off with a high price tag.
3) If their marketing ploy is true, and they served kings and queens and they are still proud og it - even worse! Kings and queens and such have been considered tyrants and have been rightfully told to jump in the lake, when mankind developed brains! The Frensh have been more consequential regarding that topic, and, man - how could anybody with a mind deny that!

There is too much about that autocratic (sic!) "master perfumers" that really is a let down and run for your life (style) ...

[WildThingy]

It´s a shame ... Quote, " I worked like a nigger to create this perfume - although, I doubt a nigger could ever work THAT hard. "

I have to applogize - this is really bad. But it isn't the style and concept of the Guerlian firm, is it? On the other hand You have still dayly racism in the US. People live IN it, the paygrade, the jobs, death panalty, the whole system - irregardless Obama, Tiger Woods and other sole exceptions.

[mrclmind]

A lot of incredible artists and composers might be considered awful people on many levels in their personal lives (racists, misogynists, sexists, homophobes, nationalists, etc., etc., etc.) but I am capable of separating my appreciation and love of their work from their personal character defects. I'm far from perfect myself, and if all aspects of my life were made insignificant because of my own personality flaws, or based on stupid things that I have said or done in my past, I'd be very sad.

I don't condone what JP Guerlain said at all. I think that trying to excuse it is folly. However, I'm not about to pretend that the comment he made suddenly negates all his contributions to perfumery. I'm glad that I don't paint my world in such broad strokes as that. My Grandmother said many things that would be considered extremely racist by people of my generation, and she probably should have known better. But she never considered herself a racist, and she was an amazing mother, grandmother and expert seamstress. One thing didn't negate the others. The grandmother of my best friend of 20 years referred to me as "That White Boy you Hang out with" when speaking of me to my friend, rather than using my name until the day she died; but I never held it against her. She was still a wonderful person who said some fairly racist things quite often. I don't think this world is really all that (forgive the term) black and white. While I'm not asking for anyone to cut Guerlain any slack for what he said, I'm fascinated that what he said makes his perfumes insignificant and unworthy.

[DustB]

In all honesty I avoid celebrity scents and any manufacturer who I think is just a marketing campaign instead of a perfume house.

But when BNers say Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely is pretty nice, I ache to find them right and thus find an example that makes me rebel against dismissiveness of celeb scents.

Also I like several fantastic scents by Alain Delon.

Sort of back to the question however, I'm also avoid flankers out of principle rather than product or price. I've got some flankers, but in principle I avoid them. I like straight up first scents of a line on principle. Even better is usually the first scent for men made by a house.

(I digress.)

[laph]

I make a conscious decision not to avoid any brands, even those I've had poor experiences with (I'm looking at you Diesel). Why limit yourselves? Even poor fragrances can be educational.

[Marc Anthony]

What started out as an interesting overview as to why people might boycot a brand has turned out to be what could be considered a racist slur on and I quote "..pathetic American basenoters". I'm not an American but still I find the tone of the mail offensive as I would if it was aimed at any culture; Australian, American, British etc. We all know what Guerlain said was unacceptable and stupid but do we need slag off another group to make a point? I don't think so.

[david]

A lot of incredible artists and composers might be considered awful people on many levels in their personal lives (racists, misogynists, sexists, homophobes, nationalists, etc., etc., etc.) but I am capable of separating my appreciation and love of their work from their personal character defects. I'm far from perfect myself, and if all aspects of my life were made insignificant because of my own personality flaws, or based on stupid things that I have said or done in my past, I'd be very sad.

I don't condone what JP Guerlain said at all. I think that trying to excuse it is folly. However, I'm not about to pretend that the comment he made suddenly negates all his contributions to perfumery. I'm glad that I don't paint my world in such broad strokes as that. My Grandmother said many things that would be considered extremely racist by people of my generation, and she probably should have known better. But she never considered herself a racist, and she was an amazing mother, grandmother and expert seamstress. One thing didn't negate the others. The grandmother of my best friend of 20 years referred to me as "That White Boy you Hang out with" when speaking of me to my friend, rather than using my name until the day she died; but I never held it against her. She was still a wonderful person who said some fairly racist things quite often. I don't think this world is really all that (forgive the term) black and white. While I'm not asking for anyone to cut Guerlain any slack for what he said, I'm fascinated that what he said makes his perfumes insignificant and unworthy.

Thanks for this post. Of course, I love many Guerlain perfumes, and I do not let M. Guerlain´s comments get in the way of that.
I just feel I have the right to call someone an extreme racist, if he or she makes such remarks. It´s called free speech, something us brits do not have a problem with.

[david]

What started out as an interesting overview as to why people might boycot a brand has turned out to be what could be considered a racist slur on and I quote "..pathetic American basenoters". I'm not an American but still I find the tone of the mail offensive as I would if it was aimed at any culture; Australian, American, British etc. We all know what Guerlain said was unacceptable and stupid but do we need slag off another group to make a point? I don't think so.

I do apologise to all Americans, my comment was certainly not intended that way. It was meant in the context ; "despite pathetic excuses from American basenoters" It was not intended as calling all American basenoters pathetic, and if you read the text you will see it was not so intended. Some posts have twisted the context of that sentence around.

[Desmond Hume]

I'd never wear GREED

[mrclmind]

Thanks for this post. Of course, I love many Guerlain perfumes, and I do not let M. Guerlain´s comments get in the way of that.
I just feel I have the right to call someone an extreme racist, if he or she makes such remarks. It´s called free speech, something us brits do not have a problem with.

I agree, I was actually responding to the post that said they would never buy Guerlain once they read your post. I think that might be a bit excessive because of one racist comment made by JPG. However, I am not making excuses for his comment. FWIW, I never took your other comment as an insult to all Americans; although to be fair, not only American Basenoters gave excuses to defend JPG; and many American Basenoters called him out on it, so that wasn't really a fair statement IMO.

What started out as an interesting overview as to why people might boycot a brand has turned out to be what could be considered a racist slur on and I quote "..pathetic American basenoters".

I don't think he meant it as an insult to all us Americans. BTW, that wouldn't be a "potentially racist" comment, but a potentially "Nationalist" comment. Americans consist of all races.

[neo_angel]

tommy hilfigher
Bcus of all the Bullshit he talked aBout Black and latin people

[Trebor]

i don't do designer. any.

i don't do celebrity frags.

i don't do Mugler, because he seems like a narcissitic a-hole, and i don't want to smell like a 22-year old guy who just discovered cologne.

i don't do fragrances that smell anything like what is broadly interpreted as "cologne". basically, if it smells like a magazine insert sample, or smells like a guy in a club who thinks he's too cool to breathe, i don't want it. the list for this is looong... One Million, Light Blue, The One, Armani anything, Azzaro, etc, etc, etc.

+1

With regards to JP Guerlain, I'm beginning to think this was a deliberate and spiteful attempt to stain LVMH's name, if the recent Guerlain launches and repackages are anything to go by. Surely JP Guerlain must have known about such developments well before retiring (and he probably wasn't very happy about it either).

[Grottola]

Once again, just because Jean Paul Guerlain said the "n-word" doesn't mean he is a racist. It doesn't make the perfumes hateful or bigoted either.

Coco Chanel had ties with the Nazis. But guess what? I only care about the fragrances. Just because I'm putting this point across doesn't make ME racist; I have nothing against people of a different skin color - in fact, I don't care what color you are, you're a human being nonetheless.

[CanwllCorfe]

Not really. I tend to avoid celebrity scents, but mainly just because I know they're boring and not worth the time or effort. Along with brands like Armani and Lacoste who I just can't imagine them making anything that great.

[kpointer101]

It´s called free speech, something us brits do not have a problem with.

If that is true, why is there an American talk radio show host banned from entering Britain because of "hate speech?"

[SirWill]

If that is true, why is there an American talk radio show host banned from entering Britain because of "hate speech?"

England banned Fred Phelps as well. I wish we could do that in the states.

[jmcgonigal]

I don't really see a need to not give a fragrance a chance just because of it's brand or original. It's all about how things smell isn't it? Who cares if it's popular, designer, niche, or whatever the case may be. I don't want to limit myself from what could be the greatest fragrance, just because of a name. That' just my view though and respect those who decide to limit themselves based on whatever reason(s) they have.

[kpointer101]

England banned Fred Phelps as well. I wish we could do that in the states.

I wonder who we would ban?

[strifeknot]

A lot of incredible artists and composers might be considered awful people on many levels in their personal lives (racists, misogynists, sexists, homophobes, nationalists, etc., etc., etc.) but I am capable of separating my appreciation and love of their work from their personal character defects. I'm far from perfect myself, and if all aspects of my life were made insignificant because of my own personality flaws, or based on stupid things that I have said or done in my past, I'd be very sad.

I don't condone what JP Guerlain said at all. I think that trying to excuse it is folly. However, I'm not about to pretend that the comment he made suddenly negates all his contributions to perfumery. I'm glad that I don't paint my world in such broad strokes as that. My Grandmother said many things that would be considered extremely racist by people of my generation, and she probably should have known better. But she never considered herself a racist, and she was an amazing mother, grandmother and expert seamstress. One thing didn't negate the others. The grandmother of my best friend of 20 years referred to me as "That White Boy you Hang out with" when speaking of me to my friend, rather than using my name until the day she died; but I never held it against her. She was still a wonderful person who said some fairly racist things quite often. I don't think this world is really all that (forgive the term) black and white. While I'm not asking for anyone to cut Guerlain any slack for what he said, I'm fascinated that what he said makes his perfumes insignificant and unworthy.

This is an outstanding, level-headed view. Many artists I love seem to be cretins in certain respects. This doesn't negate the quality of their art in any way.

[DavidBond007]

I'd never wear GREED

Greed is good, greed is right, greed works. Gordon Gekko says so.

[shadesofbleu]

Come on guys ... Posting "hot topics" is against Forum rule 2.8. This is a controversy has been discussed repeatedly with several threads on the subject closed.

Please refrain from comments made only to stir up controversy.

[Surfacing]

Anything from Gwen Stefani or Avril Lavigne. That doesn't mean I don't give celeb scents a chance. If Keanu Reeves came out with a fragrance, I would go for a bottle

[G.303]

I never plan on purchasing any celeb scents.....I'm with You on the Ed Hardy fragrances also!!!
Gary

[Al Gae]

If Keanu Reeves came out with a fragrance, I would go for a bottle

Coty and Mr. Reeves are proud to present their new futuristic aquatic fragrance. "Whoa" hits shelves this spring!

j/k...

[monsieur_sparkle]

If Ethan Hawke came out with a fragrance I would probably buy it.