I hit the Perfumed Court and grabbed the Basenotes Annual Awards 2007 Men’s Best Niche Artisanal Boutique Fragrances Sampler - with 9 scents in it and splurged for the 1.5ml sprays. I hope I like some, but not too many of them. It a recession, you know.
I got:
Creed Green Irish Tweed
Serge Lutens Chergui
Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur
Montale Black Aoud
Creed Bois Du Portugal
Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque
Creed Silver Mountain Water
Tauer L’Air du Desert Marocaine
YSL M7
I see you all loving on most anything Creed, so I have higher expectations of that you guys!
The others, well, hey as I have said before, I’m adventurous.
You have good taste Vaccine they are good scents you have chosen, if you have time do a review. It would be interesting what your take on them are especially Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque.
I have tried them all and own 3 bottles out of the list (Musc Ravageur, Greed Irish tweed, Silver Mountain Water) but will not give you my opinions until you try them so you will not be biased and have some preconceived notions
I have been in love with Amouage scents for a while. Have either of you tried them? They are the most expensive colognes I have used and while I like 5 of the men’s scents, only 3 are really one I would wear often.
I have heard of them and have wanted to try the Jubilation fragrance for men. But they as you say cost so much money and after all my Creed buys I could not afford a Amouage. I do not want to get a sample just in case I like it to much.
Denec is the Yoda of the Fragrance world on this site and I’m sure he has tried them. But will he share his wisdom…
Yeah I like Amouage the only one I own is Jubilation
I lucked out and got a superb deal on Amazon they had a deal going for a while with a travel bottle 1 oz for $50, I picked up 2 bottles, it was a limited edition.
I do like DIA, but find it does not project well, that is the only thing that holds me back from purchasing, I find it is more of a skin scent.
I tried Lyric men and do not like it at all, felt it was too feminine
I also tried Homage the attar oil they have which is $350 for 12 ml, I did not like it that much because it all about the rose.
One I have not tried is Reflections which I heard some good things, they have some new ones coming out too I think called epic
You know Terre d’Hermes fragrance for men has won the best day wear scent on basenotes. So I got a sample to see what all the fuss is about with this particular fragrance.
And IMO its just vile, I sprayed it on my neck and wrists and was just unprepared for the plastic overwhelming VINYL note that assaulted my senses. I gave it sometime to settle down and still I found that vinyl plastic note to be offensive.
You know when you catch the bus or the train in the morning and your sitting by someone who has just sprayed their hair with loads of hairspray and you get the smell full on. Its like that to.
Its beyond me why this fragrance has won awards I guess its a acquired taste.
Jasmin de Nuit - gorgeous Floriental with notes of Egyptian jasmin, amber, blackcurrant, star anise, spices, cinnamon, cardamom, and sandalwood.
Good site thanks guys
Lol and this one
Magnolia Romana was created to capture the atmosphere of the romantic Villa Borghese - a place where the sun filters through rows of tall magnolia trees. The fragrance starts out fresh and transparent, then becomes warmer and with something more: the full roundness of a pure white flower with the green freshness of basil, the cleanliness of a lotus blossom mixed with a summer ozone note, then the slight contrast of dark green crushed lemon leaves with just a hint of the bitterness of damp earth. With top notes of purple basil, lemon leaves, neroli, nutmeg and cypress; middle notes of magnolia flower extract, rose essence, tuberose, lotus, ozone and water notes; and base notes of cedar, hay extract and white musk. It is an eau de toilette, edt.
Ok. So they are here and I am eager to try them all.
I randomly selected Montale Black Aoud and I really like it.
Like many of the colognes I like, it is complex, evolves in time and this is a fantastic scent. It’s woody and sweet, but not candy sweet. It almost reminds me of roses, but again, not that sweet. It is Oud, to be sure and sweet, yet still masculine. It is a sophisticated scent and smelling the notes almost feels like I am identifying flavors in a wine.
This is a complex scent that will cause you to sniff again and again. I sprayed one tiny mist on my neck 15 minutes ago and it is still opening up.
I hope the others are as good. To me, this is a evening/date cologne, unless you work in Brioni suits, then I suspect you can pull this off at the office.
This is a favorite on basenotes, but I do not like it at all, maybe it is my skin chemistry, there is too much rose IMO.
I like the oud aspect in fact love it, but wish the rose was more in the background, I feel the rose is more upfront while the oud is more in the background.
BUT Black Aoud has killier diffusion and sillage, no joke one spray is all you need right to the chest and you will be pumping, or one spray to the wrists to cover pheros, people will be able to smell you coming from down the hallway
The rose is nice, though initially I was worried about it. I wore it last night and even a guy said “fuck that smells good” and that it was 'manly" and smelled like a musky rose. A girl literally grabbed me and huffed me for a good 30 seconds.
The scent was a perfect cover and it lasted quite a while. It’s damn nice. By comparison, the Creed Green Tweed and Creed Silver Mountain Water were much less complex and faded far earlier. I didn’t get a feel for them, so I’ll have to try again.
My most favorite scent or cologne for men is Ruehl Signature cologne. It drives me wild for some reason. It’s supposed to be a manly scent. Too bad the store is going out of business, I guess that means no more cologne. RUEHL
I have been using the BN sampler and there are none that I dislike so far and a few that I really love:
Creed Green Irish Tweed Least favorite so far
Serge Lutens Chergui not yet
Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur not yet
Montale Black Aoud Love it
Creed Bois Du Portugal not yet
Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque Love it
Creed Silver Mountain Water not yet
Tauer L’Air du Desert Marocaine Very nice
YSL M7 Love it
Maybe I am easy, but this sampler is full of win. The Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque was a surprise, I thought I was going to hate it upon first spray and then on dry down - amazing. It lasts quite a while for me, but reviews on BN said that it faded fast, not so for me.
M7 was great too. Again, really well done cologne. These colognes make some of the more ‘common’ colognes appear to be ‘thin’ or lacking the complexity and range of the BN sampler and colognes like those from Amouage.
I know I’ll have some that will want to run me through for saying this, but the Creed Green Irish Tweed was good, but easily my least favorite so far. I’ll give it another try, but I really expected more from all the posts heaping love on it.
The Tom Ford sample are on deck and I think I’ll grab some more of the winners of the BN niche, independent, artisanal or boutique fragrances awards. They agree with me so far.
The Montale Black Oud seems to pump out the scent and I had nothing but good feedback. I was concerned when I smelled the rose scent and I was actually concerned upon first spraying it, but it’s the bomb. I usually equate rose with old ladies. Not in this case.
These are some great ones and I can’t order full bottles of all of them, but I am tempted to. Recession and all. I have to pick my top ones and go from there.
