Cartier Declaration for Men

Happy New Year! I am back with a Cartier. I was thinking of doing a more unique fragrance as the first for 2013, but after humming and hawing over what that fragrance may be, I decided a Jean-Claude Ellena designed Cartier would have to do. That Smell will be back to normal next week.

Declaration for Men

Declaration for Men

In Bottle: Citrus, sharp orange, no sweetness–but very bitter with an earthy quality and a spicy kick.

Applied: Bitter orange with a blend of birch in the background. I get some spices upfront too and an almost animalic quality that I’m assuming is coming from an ambery leather combination. There’s definitely something that smells a bit “off” about this, but it’s “off” on purpose, like Declaration is trying to tell me to like it or leave it. Anyway, as the scent ages, it gains more woodsiness, takes on a floral bouquet with warm leather and that constant off smell in the background as the spices roll in. It took a long time for Declaration to get anywhere, it has fantastic longevity and projection so if you want something that will stick around all day and don’t mind occasionally getting a whiff of faint uncleanliness then this might be up your alley. As the scent dries down, I get more spices, more vetiver and a smooth leather that rounds things out very nicely.

Extra: Declaration has quite the lengthy list of notes and the complexity it boasts is no surprise for how much stuff is jammed into it. It smells of sophistication and good taste, but at the same time, it warns the fainthearted off with what people call the “sweaty armpit” undercurrent that runs through this scent. Whatever it is, those who brave it might come to love it.

Design: Declaration has a nice enough look. Simple in general with a bit more attention paid to its cap. It’s easy to hold, pleasing to look at with no garish bone on its body.

Fragrance Family: Woodsy Spicy

Notes: Artemisia, caraway, coriander, birch, mandarin orange, bergamot, neroli, bitter orange, iris, ginger, cinnamon, pepper, juniper, orris root, jasmine, cardamom, leather, amber, tea, vetiver, oakmoss, cedar.

I don’t relish much on the off smell in this. If you’ve followed this blog, you’ll note that I tend massively toward the clean so Declaration was a bit of a surprise for me. I appreciate it on the complexity level, but I think I’ll pass.

Reviewed in This Post: Declaration for Men, 2012, Eau de Toilette.


Histoires de Parfums 1826

The Histoires de Parfums line has always interested me. I loved the concept behind it and had been meaning to get a sample of one of the fragrances for years. My main hold up was not knowing where to start and what year to order first. I settled on 1826 thanks to a recommendation from a friend.

1826

1826

In Bottle: Strong bergamot and woody presence with a hint of smooth vanilla and spice.

Applied: Starts up with a strong bergamot and tangerine showing that is quick to make way for the floral aspect. I get a lot of lowers, and a bit of spice that creeps up to the midstage making for a complex and pleasant blend that gets slapped with a soft vanilla incense halfway through its progression. 1826 settles into a floral vanilla with a hint of woods. It’s giving off a clean floral vibe. Heck, this thing changes on me like crazy, one minute being a spicy floral and another being a vanilla floral that throws in a clean note out of no where. There’s a dark edge to it with the patchouli too, that settles in the background in the early midstage where it lends 1826 a bit of depth. The dry down is markedly woodsy with a final showing of florals and that elusive, but brilliant vanilla.

Extra: 1826 is dedicated to the last French empress, Eugénie de Montijo, whose birthday is reportedly May 5th, 1826. She lived a very long life given the time period and passed away at the age of 94 in Spain. The Empress, formerly known as María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox-Portocarrero de Guzmán y Kirkpatrick, is somewhat understandably more well known as the fashionable wife of Napoleon III, and the last empress of the French court.

Design: Histoires de Parfums keeps a somewhat uniformed look for their bottles. I am a huge fan of uniform looks for series because I can imagine if I were ever wealthy enough to buy an entire series of perfumes, that I could line them up and be a little giddy about how awesome that would look. Histoires de Parfums is one of those bottle designs that would look fabulous lined up in a row and still looks pretty good even if you own just one of the bottles. The box tells you what notes are in the fragrance along with a little blurb about the name of the scent. The bottle itself has a label on the side that gives you the notes you should expect to smell. Simple, functional, and would look awesome lined up in a row.

Fragrance Family:  Floral Oriental

Notes: Bergamot, tangerine, white florals, violet, cinnamon, ginger, patchouli, amber, incense, woods, white musk, vanilla.

I have to admit that I expected a little less punch during the initial spray phase, but the rest of the fragrance smells divine. It’s got a great complexity to it, and it’s quite the shape shifter to boot. It smells great, has a young streak, tends toward a sweet youthful vanilla, though it’s probably not the kind of thing you’d want to recommend for a teenage girl or someone with a teenage girl’s sensibilities. 1826 is definitely a woman’s fragrance and needs a sophisticated nose to appreciate it.

Reviewed in This Post: 1826, 2012, Eau de Parfum.


Yves Saint Laurent L’Homme

A friend of mine raves about L’Homme and how much he loves it and gets compliments whenever he wears it. I have to admit that hype kind of puts a damper on things for me. Hype it just enough and I’ll be interested. Hype it a bit too much and I find myself avoiding it.

L'Homme

L’Homme

In Bottle: Bam. Familiar. Familiar in a rather good way. Takes it back to my early childhood where I remember lights, noises and of course the smell.

Applied: Citrus with a tempering ginger note a hint of sweet florals and woods. All of the notes are very well blended. I definitely get the citrus first, but then it molds together into a nice even fragrance that hits a memory nerve. The scent has a nice mild spiciness to it with an underlayer of woods with an inoffensive cedar note that provides a base for the sweet floral notes that are really the stars here. L’Homme is rather soft and yielding. It’s like the whole fragrance is composed of very delicate amounts of ingredients. And it really shows because L’Homme is a quick fader and is gone within a manner of a few hours. The smell takes me back to my childhood, reminds me of one of the houses I lived in as a toddler. It’s hot days, street noise, and the ever-present banging of Vietnam’s less than safe metalworking shops. I think L’Homme is taking me back because it smells like a laundry soap my mother used on our clothes back then and we always ended up smelling like it. In either case, my association with L’Homme makes me instantly like it. On a more objective note, it is a good fragrance. If it didn’t jive any memories in me, I would say there’s nothing too particularly special about it except for the fact that it’s a fairly well blended scent that’s accessible and easy to pull off.

Extra: L’Homme was released in 2006 and has a mixed reception. Some love it, some hate it. Most think it’s a pretty easy going fragrance that will work for the office.

Design: L’Homme’s bottle is really recognizable for me. Mainly because I see it everywhere I go. It’s one of those standard fragrances that isn’t very difficult to find and up until now, I never had the urge to actually walk up to it and spray some on because it was so unassuming a bottle. It’s simple, compact and would blend right in with the rest of your bottles.

Fragrance Family: Floral Woodsy

Notes: Ginger, bergamot, lemon, basil, ozone, pepper, spices, violet leaf, tonka bean, vetiver, cedar.

L’Homme does run a bit more sweet than most fragrances marketed to men. But it’s one of those scents that skirts the unisex to masculine line. So if you wanted a full on “man fragrance” then maybe this isn’t for you. L’Homme also doesn’t have the greatest longevity. What it does do well is provide a nice, inoffensive, easy to wear clean and floral scent. So I do so happen to like L’Homme–mostly because it reminded me of something good. Or at least, something familiar. Odd thing to do for a fragrance that was released long after I had those memories. But then, that’s what makes scents and memories fascinating.

Reviewed in This Post: L’Homme, 2011, Eau de Toilette.


Tom Ford Jasmin Rouge

Still on the look out for a good Jasmine that exceeds Thierry Mugler’s Alien. I still think that one’s a fabulous jasmine, though it is a bit of a one note fragrance. So in search of a bit more complexity, I looked up Tom Ford’s Jasmin Rouge.

Jasmin Rouge

Jasmin Rouge

In Bottle: Strong jasmine with a bit of buttery leather and a shade of very nice spice and wood.

Applied: Jasmin Rouge is a very strong fragrance. Its initial spray is marked with a powerful but beautiful jasmine note that overtakes the space around you. This is the kind of fragrance that announces its presence so be careful when you go to test it or use it for the first time. As the scent ages, I get a bit more of the spices in this fragrance, the peppery kick being most noticeable to me as the leather amps up with its buttery, soft texture that takes the jasmine and leather dominance all the way to the end where I get a few wafts of woodsiness and spices but it is mostly jasmine and leather I’m getting from this. I almost want to describe Jasmin Rouge as a jasmine and fluffy leather fragrance. It smells like it should be floating in the sky, projecting its glory all over everything within a 100ft radius.

Extra: Jasmin Rouge was released along with two other fragrances to the Tom Ford Signature Collection in 2011. So this baby is still new and if you wanted a hand at a leather jasmine then this might just be your stuff.

Design: The bottle screams Tom Ford design. Some fragrance houses just have a look and feel to their bottle designs that makes their products very recognizable. Chanel has it, Hermes has it, and Tom Ford definitely has it. Jasmin Rouge’s bottle is a pleasing shape and weight in an appropriate red color. It has a very nice sprayer that distributes a great even spray.

Fragrance Family: Oriental Floral

Notes: Bergamot, mandarin, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, white pepper, sambac jasmine, broom, neroli, ylang-ylang, clary sage, vanilla, labdanum, leather, wood, amber.

I’m pretty picky when it comes to how jasmine is treated in a fragrance. I know practically every modern women’s perfume has jasmine present in one form or another which only makes me pickier about its usage in a less mainstream interpretation. Thing is, I like Jasmin Rouge just fine. I just don’t know if I love it enough to replace Alien.

Reviewed in This Post: Jasmin Rouge, 2011, Eau de Parfum.


Calgon Hawaiian Ginger

Hawaiian Ginger really takes me back. It’s a blast from my past. A reminder of middle school hallways, the slummy lighting in the basement floor of the school, and English class where I sat behind a girl who reeked of this stuff.

Hawaiian Ginger

In Bottle: Sweet, juicy and tropical. A hint of tangy pineapple layered with sweet, ripened melon notes. Honeydew and cantaloupe together, maybe.

Applied: If you’re looking for spicy, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Hawaiian Ginger focuses more on the tropical aspect of its name than the gingery part. You’ll get a fruity opening that smells like fruit punch, a decent enough fruity scent that makes you think it could almost be edible. The opening is very juicy, I get mostly melon notes an indistinguishable blend of honeydew and cantaloupe with a few pieces of pineapple in there to cut a bit of the sweetness. The ginger seems to be almost an afterthought as I went into the mid-stage with a marked desire to find it. Instead, I found more tropical fruits and a mild bit of sweet florals layered with the weakest sugared up ginger ever. The dry down is almost markedly underplaying this mysterious ginger note with a very sweet ginger candy-like thing making an appearance during the mid-stage’s decline into the end phase.

Extra: I wore Hawaiian Ginger for a brief time when I was in middle school having just discovered what this “amazing smell” was. Then me and this fragrance grew apart as I realized every other girl in middle school was also wearing this and I was getting a bit tired of the fragrance. Revisiting it was a trip down memory lane. I still wouldn’t start wearing it again as it is a very young fragrance.

Design: Bottled like almost every other body mist is bottled like. Tall cylindrical plastic container, plastic sprayer nozzle, sticker label. Not a perfume, quite plain, a bit ugly, but very functional.

Fragrance Family: Fruity

Notes: Pineapple, honeydew, watermelon, cantaloupe, orange flower, sugar, ginger.

Again, took a stab at the notes list as I didn’t fully believe the official ad copy which tried to pawn this fragrance off as a floral fragrance. I get almost no florals out of this.

Reviewed in This Post: Hawaiian Ginger, 1999, Body Mist.


Liz Claiborne Curve Crush (Men)

I don’t know how Curve Crush managed to squeeze itself into a position so polarizing. We have people on one side loving this stuff while people on the other side are having Curve Crush bonfires and reconsidering the quality of such an idea. I’m with the bonfires on this one. I’m sorry, but I kind of hate this fragrance.

Curve Crush

In Bottle: A strange melange of herbs and sweetness. It’s not sweet like candy sweet but sweet as in “this shouldn’t be sweet but it is” sweet. All this coated with an aqua or marine note which makes me think of Cool Water gone wrong. There’s quite a huge dollop of white musk and moss in this too which just seem to come right out of left field.

Applied: That opening of sweet herbs and the lingering bizarre white musk and moss. This smells like a mess from the get-go, like it wasn’t blended properly and I can see where people are coming from when they say this is very synthetic. I can forgive a synthetic fragrance if it’s done well, but I don’t think Curve Crush for Men realizes there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed. There’s so much scrubbed, clean, sharp and sterile synthetic notes in this stuff that it smells more like a weird cleaning detergent than a fragrance. The mid-stage is a bizarre blend of that musk and moss stuff along with some plastic violet and spicy ginger situation layered over a persistent cloying sweetness. It heads into its dry down with a moss note so synthetic I can taste it in the back of my throat.

Extra: Curve Crush for Men is a member of the Curve line by Liz Claiborne. Despite my displeasure with this particular fragrance, the other members of the Curve line are decent scents.

Design: I’m not sold on the bottle here but I k now packaging’s not the highest priority when it comes to fragrances like this. The bottle is made of a mottled glass, with a tint on it. It’s got a good weight, the hold of it is decent, the design itself is uninspired and reminds me of an Old Spice bottle with a Flowerbomb tag sticking out of it.

Fragrance Family: Aromatic

Notes: Bartlett pear, muguet aldehyde, basil, coriander, bergamot, ginger, violet, lavender, sage, cardamom, vetiver, musk, moss.

I know this is a budget fragrance, but if you ask me, it’s a pretty terrible one. You want a budget fragrance that smells good and is well-composed? Old Spice. As cliche as that is, Old Spice beats this hands down. Heck, I’d pick Old Spice over a lot of higher end fragrances too. The point is, this fragrance is overly synthetic, uninspired and smells like it wasn’t blended properly.

Reviewed in This Post: Curve Crush, 2009, Eau de Toilette.


Prada Infusion de Vetiver

Infusion de Vetiver is the latest in Prada’s infusion line of fragrances where two of my favorites (Infusion d’Iris and Infusion d’Homme) come from. The line itself is focused on simple formulas based upon one or two concepts, such as tuberose in Infusion de Tubereuse .

Infusion de Vetiver

In Bottle: Very light sweet vetiver with a bit of bitterness from the citrus top note.

Applied: The initial citrus opening is expected in most modern perfume, it’s quick to dissipate leaving you with the vetiver to contend with. This is like vetiver light, sweet, hay-like, a little bit grassy and there’s a hint of pepper lingering around in the background and layered over it all is this herb-like scent I can’t convince myself to stop smelling because it’s not helping the bland situation at all. As Infusion de Vetiver ages into its end stage. Yes, you read that right, it’s in end stage mode already. The fragrance goes into this sheer, barely there sweet vetiver sort of thing that doesn’t do the scent much justice before it drops off completely. The entire episode was in and out in about an hour. In terms of overall smell, the opening was all right, the mid-stage was pretty on par with the opening, and the end stage was a barely there ghost of what a fragrance like this could be. I just don’t see the point of this, it’s light, it’s easy to wear, yes, but it’s nothing interesting.

Extra: So here we are with Infusion de Vetiver. While I enjoyed two of Prada’s Infusions line, they at least had something of a personality and were more interesting than this. Iris had that nice powdery, bitterness to it. D’Homme reminded me of my childhood. Vetiver just smells like sweet wet herbal hay.

Design: Infusion de Vetiver is a limited edition with its designs that are more in line with Infusion de Tubereuse. There’s interesting shapes on the box and bottle cap, done in light green, dark grey, and black this time instead of purple. The bottle shape is the same as the other Infusions so if you were trying to collect them all, you will have a nice uniform set.

Fragrance Family: Aromatic

Notes: Citrus, tarragon, ginger, vetiver, white musk, pepper.

Once again, another fragrance I don’t see the point of. This time from a fragrance house that hasn’t been doing too badly with its offerings. Only, I don’t think it was a good idea for Prada to tackle vetiver. Especially not when so many other houses have done tons of vetiver scents in far better ways.

Reviewed in This Post: Infusion de Vetiver, 2010, Eau de Toilette.


Voyage d’Hermes

Voyage d’Hermès has come to be known in the fragrance world as, “did you see that bottle?” Or at least, that’s what I call it. It’s the perfume with the fantastic bottle. The juice inside is pretty good too.

Voyage d'Hermes

In Bottle: Bright green citrus. Lime most of all, with a distinct sourness to it. This smells like lime rinds, okay? And I love it.

Applied: That initial citrus, green and dry with a hint of sourness edges into a steadily rising spicy mid-stage where ginger greets you and takes you to meet its friend cardamom. The two of them hold you there, complementing each other with the fading lime rind as the fragrance’s rind opening gives way to a sheer floral headed by those spices you met earlier. The fragrance then dissolves into a white musk dashed with a bit of woodsiness that grows stronger and stronger as the spices start to fade away starting with ginger then cardamom. The final stage is marked with a pretty white musk and fading traces of woodsy notes. It should be noted that Voyage d’Hermès is not a heavy scent. It is extremely sheer so if you’re looking for power and projection, this is not your stuff.

Extra: Voyage d’Hermès was composed by the much esteemed Jean-Claude Ellena whose rapsheet also includes Kelly Caleche and Terre d’Hermès.

Design: I’ve got to spend a little time talking about this bottle. I love it. The design, the quirky swivel. The fact that it’s minimalist but elegant and modern. The inner glass bottle contains the juice itself, but it also has an outer metal casing that swivels. What sets this outer metal casing apart from other perfumes of glass and metal is the fact that the casing acts both as a cap and a stand. It’s a little functionality for your fragrance that beats the gold plated stuff that simply serves to be flashy. Did I mention an added bonus feature of this bottle? It’s refillable. Immediate points given for that, Hermes. It looks good. It functions well. You can refill it. It’s just fantastic.

Fragrance Family: Fresh Spicy

Notes: Lime, juniper, green tea, pepper, ginger, cardamom, cedar, sandalwood, amber, white musk.

Hermes has always done some beautiful work with their fragrances and I particularly must give props to Jean-Claude Ellena. The man has made some fabulous perfumes in his time and Voyage d’Hermès is one of them. Neither too abstract or too derivative, Voyage d’Hermès is in that beautiful little middle ground where balance is key.

Reviewed in This Post: Voyage d’Hermès, 2010, Eau de Toilette.


Burberry Sport for Women

Rounding off this dual of Burberry Sports is the counterpart for Burberry Sport for Men. The women’s version is also a sporty fragrance that lacks originality and depth. But hey, it smells okay. Burberry Sport for Women

In Bottle: Florals layered on sharp citrus and a much lighter ginger treatment than the men’s version. The florals are a bit sweet and fruity. The citrus is awfully strong which is where I guess the sport part of this fragrance is from.

Applied: Nicely vibrant sweet floral citrus with that initial sharpness from the ginger. The ginger is rather fleeting in this but it does hang around and give the fragrance a bit of spiciness as the florals deepen and sweeten the longer you wear it. Burberry Sport for Women takes a turn for the sweet, creamy floral side in its mid-stage as the magnolia note amps up and makes itself quite well known. This smells sharp and clean but still very feminine. It’s a nice sporty equivalent to the men’s fragrance as the two share some similarities but are adequately unique from one another. The final dry down is a pleasant sun-warmed woodsiness with a pretty sweet and creamy floral backing.

Extra: I actually like, by and large, Burberry’s fragrances. Brit was nice, The Beat is nice, Burberry London is good. And these, while unspectacular, are also good fragrances with a nice tempered sporty scent. I just think their bottle designs are rather hit or miss and so far they’ve been missing a lot.

Design: Pretty much the exact same design as Burberry Sport for men only the outer casing is white instead of black. The glass bottle held within the casing is the same red as the men’s version. I still don’t like the bottle design.

Fragrance Family: Fresh

Notes: mandarin, ginger, marine accord, fresh magnolia, honeysuckle, petit grain, solar notes, cedar wood, musk.

Again, it’s a sporty fragrance. This stuff is meant to be easily worn and meant to smell like this. I do like these two fragrances that Burberry has released though. They smell good. Not fantastic, not unique, but they are good smells that won’t be offending anyone any time soon.

Reviewed in This Post: Burberry Sport for Women, 2010, Eau de Toilette.


Burberry Sport for Men

There are two releases in this line. A Burberry Sport for Men reviewed in this post and a Burberry Sport for Women. Both came out at around the same time a little earlier this year. Burberry Sport for Men

In Bottle: Cool ozone note with a spicy ginger and a bit of citrus. Really nice. I actually like how this smells. In terms of sports fragrances, it’s done a bit better than your typical “slap some citrus and marine notes together and call it a day”. I mean, this slaps some citrus and ozone together but that spicy ginger thing it does is pretty good.

Applied: Initial flare of ozone and sharp spicy ginger with citrus. The citrus is quick to dissolve and the ginger is the one that lingers around a little bit longer. The ozone lends a clean sharpness to Burberry Sport for Men. The mid-stage is dominated by a woodsiness with a clean sudsy background. I’m thinking someone’s taken a bucket of soap into the forest and started scrubbing down all the trees there. The spicy ginger note rapidly deteriorates in the mid-stage leaving you with soapy woodsiness. The final curtain for this fragrance is a warmed cedar and clean musk. This isn’t going to break any fragrance records any time soon as after its pleasant opening, the mid-stage and the dry down are fairly formulaic.

Extra: As mentioned earlier in the post Burberry Sport has a men and women’s fragrance. The men’s is black and red and the women’s is white and red.

Design: The bottle is a tall rectangular prism thing that is black and red in color. It operates on the same kind of style as the Ed Hardy fragrances where you have a cover over the rather plain perfume bottle itself. I’m not a big fan of that kind of design technique for bottles because the perfume bottle contained within the other casing is almost always plain to the point of boring. As if throwing together a half-hearted outer casing can excuse them from designing a nice looking bottle inside. As is the case with this. I don’t find it to be an attractive look for the bottle.

Fragrance Family: Fresh

Notes: Ginger, grapefruit, wheatgrass, marine accord, red ginger, juniper berries, dry amber, cedar wood, musk.

It’s a sports fragrance. So the depth and level of originality is not going to be that high. However, Burberry Sport for Men does a good job incorporating that ginger note into the opening. It was a very attractive fragrance, for the little while that it lasts anyway.

Reviewed in This Post: Burberry Sport for Men, 2010, Eau de Toilette.