Brands you avoid for reasons other than product or price?

[SirWill]

Hello,

This may sound odd, but here goes. I have noticed in various threads that several people are against various brands for reasons other than dislike of a product or the price.

I have a similar story. No matter what, I will never buy a product from Ed Hardy or Christian Audigier. Even if it were $1 with a $5 rebate. Even if they were to come out with a fragrance so great that it would make the house of Creed close up shop and Frederic Malle to weep and retire as he felt he could not do better. Even if they made the elusive "panty dropper" fragrance that everyone here is after, the one that makes your crush chase you down, tie you up, and have their way with you for a week. Won't buy it.

The reason? The awful clothing that brand puts out. My god those shirts are hideous. A few years ago my girlfriend and I were in Las Vegas and I came up with a game where we would hit each other every time we saw an Ed Hardy shirt as long as we called it. Think of the "slug bug" game, but for tacky shirts instead of Volkswagens and you get the idea. It became quite brutal. A year later we went back and suspended the game as it was too much.

As a result of my hatred for their clothing, the item that put them on the map, I won't let one bottle of this enter my house. I have reviewed a bottle of one of them on here, I tried it on in a store as a gag. But they won't be getting any of my money.

Do you have an irrational hatred for a brand? Hate Creed for their marketing? Hate Tom Ford for his advertising? Hate Marc Jacobs because the Bang bottle keeps falling over? If so post here, consider it a support group.

[Jazznpool]

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

[mrfresh]

Right there with you. I know it's not right, but I too am extremely prejudiced against Ed Hardy and what it represents in my mind. While I love to watch the show Jersey Shore, I am mortified at the thought that by wearing these brands (Affliction included) I will attract the kinds of girls who want a 'juicehead'. I am way too conventional to sport that brand. They make wine now as well, right? Wonder how that is...

[Pollux]

Celeb fragrances, even though the price of Bandera's perfumes is so low that I bought several of them - i hardly wear them, though.

Also, the ones being massively advertised. For example, One Million. Usually they come to be generic perfumes; provided the massive amount of knock-offs available, you smell them everywhere.

[Jack Hunter]

I have been avoiding buying or trying anything from Guerlain after blind buying Guerlain Vetiver and just not liking it due to synthetic plastic notes I kept detecting within it.

[monsieur_sparkle]

Nah, I can overlook the douche factor if the juice is good enough.

[SirWill]

I also avoid celeb fragrances, forgot to mention that one. I was actually visiting my parents one time and my Mom had a Paris Hilton frag and I questioned her about it. My Mom has the usual Chanel frags, a few Bond No 9, John Varvatos for women, and now this. She said as long as she liked the smell she did not care.

[Ken_Russell]

So far few fragrance brands have managed to be avoided by me, perhaps with the exception of Parfums Nikos, one of the few fragrance houses which does not impress and inspire me

[trex57]

This is a vary interesting idea for a thread.
Since I've joined basenotes I have avoided all celebrity scents. IMO its just a money grab for them. I've avoided the Ed Hardy line as was mentioned before. The clothes are ugly and belong only in Jersey Shore. They should be banned elsewhere.
I have not tried any Creed because opinions are so divided( & pricey)
The same seems to be the case for Bond #9, a lot of division over quality(although, I love to get a decant of New Haarlem)
As for Tom Ford, I tried a sample of Azure Lime and I stopped right there. What an ugly scent(IMO). He does sound like a pompous ass in interviews which doesnt help at all.
I wont go near Guerlain because there is just too many of them.
Dior and Chanel, I don't have any interest. They seem too dated with no real fresh ideas.

Please bear in mind that I am still a relative newb and have tried to survey niche. There are so many frags out there that I dont want to try old school frags at this time. Well except for Krigler and Czech & Speake of course.

Cheers Rex

[hednic]

Tom Ford
Bond
Amouage
Polo
Aramis
Acqua Di Parma
Bulgari
Dolce & Gabanna

among many others

[Rumblefish]

Victoria's Secret

[calero]

Creed. Enough said.

[Morning Star]

Benetton - just because they´re stealing native lands in Argentina

Several times I was really attracted to try Colors Uomo, but I stood up to it

[TJMAC]

Mugler. I hate A/B*Men, Pure Malt so much it makes it hard to look at the brand. I do wish to pickup Mugler Cologne though. Probably would have already if it was a dfferent company.

[Riddler]

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.

i don't do Guerlain because he's severely racist.


Montale, Tom Ford, Le Labo, Serge Lutens, Creed, L'Artisan, Frederic Malle... that's more my style.

[BradW]

Mugler. I hate A/B*Men, Pure Malt so much it makes it hard to look at the brand. I do wish to pickup Mugler Cologne though. Probably would have already if it was a dfferent company.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of A*Men myself, but Mugler cologne is not like that at all.

[dnc]

Agree with OP regarding Ed Hardy - awful clothes, awful fragrance packaging, awfully tacky. If the fragrance was great I would maybe look at buying and decanting into a neutral atomiser.

Aside from that, it would be things like 'Ferrari' or 'Manchester United' etc fragrances.

[TJMAC]

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of A*Men myself, but Mugler cologne is not like that at all.

Oh, I completely agree. Its the name engraved in my head. I think its a fine frag.

[Descartes]

.............

[Nasenmann]

None so far but I probably won't ever buy a Clive Christian because it's just too expensive for me - same goes for other brands in that league.

[subie04]

Wow, I didn't realize there was so much disinterest with Designer fragrances.

[PradaG]

I like, I buy. No discrimination...

[blas]

I have been avoiding buying or trying anything from Guerlain after blind buying Guerlain Vetiver and just not liking it due to synthetic plastic notes I kept detecting within it.

i avoid any fragrances with the "vetiver" note..


Armani
Carolina Herrera
Ed Hardy
Celeb frags
Jean Paul Gaultier
Calvin Klein
Lacoste
Issey Miyake

well i dont want designer fragrances, the only designer house that I respect is Yves Saint Laurent.

[Descartes]

.........

[Al Gae]

Bond. Just ridiculous.

http://www.basenotes.net/threads/251...elling-decants

[kurt0]

Sometimes I actually ENJOY these fragrances from these houses...I avoid...
Armani- I do like ADG and recieved a free sample of Diamonds PH and I like that too, but, it screams fake Guido...this brand and the next one. I wear L'eau D'Issey instead now.

Ed Hardy- The clothes...the people...and the weird designs. Same reasoning with Armani, but I'd get an Armani before an Ed hardy.

Lacoste- Bad memories with this one.

Celebrity scents- these remind me of discounters and Walmart.

Because of great customer service, by sending free samples and such, I really want to get a Mugler scent! As for high end scents...Like Bonds/Creeds...I'm not going to get a bottle anytime soon, but I'll get sample vials if I do enough research and it's up my alley.

[MrFragranceReview]

Celebrity scents and any brands that seem to put out a fragrance just to make a buck using their brand name regardless how crappy the scent is such as Ferrari, Everlast and etc.

[Dorje123]

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.

I agree, until I recently found frags that do not scream "cologne!" I wasn't interested. For me, the "cologne" smell doesn't provoke a positive association... especially if it is overapplied, which is unfortunately all too common.

[StylinLA]

Yeah, I avoid the celeb frags. While some of them are probably quite well crafted and not too bad as scents, I just wouldn't want to associate myself with many of the celebs involved. If someone were to ask what I was wearing, it feels wrong for me to somehow seem to associate myself with many of them by virtue of wearing "their" scent.

Unforgiveable is probably a fine scent. And I have no dislike or disdain for Sean Jean. But I just don't want to feel some "fan boy" of anyone by wearing their scent.

edit: I will have to buy Charlie Sheen's new scent though.

[david]

I have been avoiding buying or trying anything from Guerlain after blind buying Guerlain Vetiver and just not liking it due to synthetic plastic notes I kept detecting within it.

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.