As a couple bottles were nearly empty, this past week was a good time to reorganize the scent shelf. I am newly settled on five, three of them by Creed: Green Irish Tweed, Tabarome Millesime and the new Aventus. Terre d'Hermes and Ormonde Man complete the list, which, come to think of it, is effectively four as I wear Ormonde Man to the near-exclusion of Tabarome these days.
Five or four, the one thing these scents have in common is that they are all technically perfumes for men. Over the years, I have become increasingly aware of the duration of a scent on my skin and so I no longer wear cologne of any type as its 5% to 8% oil content allows it just a couple of hours of fragrance. Perfume, on the other hand, is about 30% oil and a small amount is discreetly discernable all day. And though it costs more per ounce, perfume is arguably less expensive per sniff.
Limiting oneself to to perfume does reduce the available choice of course, as there may not be a hundred perfumes for men on the market and there are thousands of colognes. But too many years of wondering why I spent money on some citrus-y thing that was gone in a few minutes has made me the way I am.
I did take the time to investigate some new options before clearing my shelf, sampling the for-men offerings of Clive Christian and Amouage. But, in the end, it was only the Aventus that won space. It and Terre d'Hermes are my sunny day choices, Ormonde Man is for overcast mornings and Green Irish Tweed is the utility scent that gets its chance whenever something in the air calls out for a change. And though no two of them are a natural pair for layering, the cumulative effect on my clothing seems to be a vaguely pleasant signature with some consistency.
That said, it is pure chance that Terre d'Hermes and Green Irish Tweed were also two of the three highest placed scents in the 9th Annual Basenotes Fragrance Awards (Basenotes being arguably the best place on the web to read about scents) last year. There are two others mentioned there that deserve a sniff, or another sniff in the Vetiver's case: Tauer's L'Air du Desert Marocain and Guerlain's Vetiver. But that will have to wait until the scent shelf needs work once again.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The Scent Shelf Reorganized
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6 comments:
L'Air du Desert Marocain is very special indeed. For a similar but slightly warmer scent I'd recommend Timbuktu by L'Artisan Parfumeur.
Lovely, Will. I'm partial to Royal English Leather, Green Irish Tweed, and Bois du Portugal. I'm trying to get rid of my last bottle of Tabarome Millesime; it's too sweet for me. Glad you like Aventus too. I'll probably pick some up at the weekend.
Where do you gentlemen get your stuff? I've been using the same cologne, not perfume, for years because it is well received by the fairer one(s). But I am tempted to switch for seasons as suggested by Will before on ASW, which one does with suits and other dress after all, and also to take advantage of the averred lingering quality of (manly of course) perfume.
Zizan by Ormonde Jayne is my favourite of her perfumes. Like Ormonde Man it is a stayer.
Will; I don't have the problem with the scent disappearing shortly after you apply it. I don't use perfumes, i use cologne and most of the ones I wear last throughout the day with only a reapplication required for evening if I desire. I am paying around $75-$150 for a 3.4 oz. bottle of whatever I use.
Aqua da Parma. The original not one of the later spin offs. And for a cheap and cheerful aftershave/cologne, Mr Sydney's Original from Taylors in Jermyn Street.
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