It’s a man thing. 25 and over.
Inside the top of the box is says, “Do not spray directly onto light colored clothing”.
I was at a local “counter aromatique” spraying papers with testers one day until my nose finally overloaded and needed some fresh air down time. I bought a 15ml bottle of “Dirty English” – a clear glass bottle with what looks like whiskey inside – because it appealed to me as the best olfactory delight of all the samples. I would not have bought it just knowing the somewhat derogatory name. They could have named it Filthy Language, but that wouldn’t have made any sense either. It supposedly is marketed to “bad boys”.
Basenotes list the contents as
1)Mandarin, Bergamot, Blue Cypress, Cardamom, Caraway
2) Marjoram, Black Leather, Sandalwood, Atlas Cedar, Vetiver and
3)Amber Musk, Agarwood, Black Moss Absolute, Ebony Wood
How all these over a dozen notes play out has been really difficult for me. Each time I put it on it plays out a little differently. It is an air of mystery. So I have been studying this Dirty English for some time.
One image that comes to my mind after wearing this is the exclusive gentlemen’s club. It’s a man thing. They are mostly married men with children out of the nest, confirmed bachelors and widowers. The leather furniture smells nice, but exotic leathers are added from the taxidermy on the walls such as Seymour’s zebra skin rugs, Cedric’s Cape buffalo, Sidney’s large cats and other specimens from around the world. Then there are the fine bookcases made of exotic woods and polished with beeswax. I wish they would get rid of the awful carved ebony mask from Kenya. The fireplace is subdued and needs another log. Farquhar is in his corner chair smoking his pipe and reading Kipling again for the umpteenth time. Someone has left the cap off of the whiskey again – I guess I’ll have some and put the lid back.
A long time ago I started ordering essential oils in order to isolate notes. This fragrance had me ordering some more oils that I did not have in my repertoire. Why? For one thing I cannot figure out how “Dirty” got into the name. I find nothing about this fragrance as “dirty”. I even mixed Oakmoss, Cardamom and Vetiver together and that was very interesting and could be considered ‘dirty’, but for me I do not get this accord in this fragrance.
Another image is that of a private detective that just parked his car as his clients’ wife disappears behind a door. He is on her tail as she runs to a secret rendezvous with her lover. He chambers one in his Beretta and tucks it in a pocket of his jacket, safety off. He then turns on the small video recorder under his lapel and then proceeds to get out of his car.
This is a man thing. Ever notice that even having two nostrils there is no stereo sense of scents? Well that is what Dirty English is doing to my nose. It is as if there are left and right scent channels going on here. My nose is stuck in mono! The opening is Mandarin/Cardamom and Cypress/Bergamot. This is a man thing. No flowers-thank you. Then comes the crescendo of interweaving woods and spice and amber musk with other woods in accord. Not easy to describe, just like a man thing.
Another image is a man and his son hunting together. Out on the target range sighting in that new Weatherby. The packing of the truck. The setting up camp. Sitting quietly together in the blind. The thrill of the crosshairs on dinner. The kick of the gun at the crack of the shot. The pride of a father. The son asking for advice about women. It’s a man thing.
These are all strong, independent and confident men. They are magnetic and a little dangerous. They know what they need to know. They do what they want to do. They profit by their actions.
It’s a man thing. Maybe they should have named it, A Man Thing.
A new one to my favorites.
