Today’s subject is Zaheer. He lives in South Africa, and says new fragrances take some time to get to his area (assuming they get there at all). He’s looking for the perfect fragrance, one that will go from a day in the office to a night out on the town. Here are a few details about Zaheer:
He’s in his mid-20s and works as a copywriter.
His hobbies: reading and blogging. Zaheer prefers overcast wet weather to sunny and clear.
He has a tendency to be very formal in his attire. He loves the Baroque era, and his apartment is “very Victorian in its décor”.
Zaheer is attracted to woody scents and “dark mature fragrances”. Notes he loves include olive wood, cypress, bergamot, jasmine, mandarin, sandalwood and patchouli. Fragrances Zaheer has liked and/or purchased in the past include Gucci for men, Zanzibar by Coty, Guerlain L’Instant Guerlain, Tom Ford Black Orchid, Joop Pour Homme and Hermes Terre d’Hermes.
Zaheer dislikes fruity notes, watermelon, citrus zest and orange. He does not like D&G Pour Homme, Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male, Kiton, Hugo Boss Boss in Motion or anything by DKNY. He found all 5 of the new D&G Anthology fragrances too bland, and Gucci Pour Homme II “is not exciting in the least and disappears after an African breeze”. He likes the opening of Armani Code for Men but finds it needs to be reapplied every couple hours.
What say you?
Note: image is 6:45 pm by Jam Adams on flickr; some rights reserved.
45 Comments
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What about Tom Ford Italian Cypress?
It’s earthy, masculine, lots of woods. Interesting, mature – and anything but sunny.
I was going to say Italian Cypress! That is a stunning fragrance, so yummy that I almost made out with myself when I tried it on.
Snort!
I’m thinking he might like the CdG Incense series, particularly Kyoto. I’d also recommend Ormonde Man. And even though he dislikes fruity notes, I’d recommend Jo Malone’s Pomegranate Noir, since he likes Tom Ford Black Orchid, and that has fruit notes deployed in a darker scent, similar to the way the pomegranate note works in Pom Noir.
I second the Pom Noir rec, it’s a really nice dry/incense/woods scent.
What about Gucci pour Homme? I find it very dark and dry and indoorsy, despite its cypress notes. (Totally different from GpH II.)
Mouchoir de Monsieur
ScentRed: thanks i’d love to try Italian Cypress by Tom Ford!!
Jirish: unfortunately our Jo Malone collection is very limited so I will try to hunt this down, as for Comme des Garcons, my country has not bothered to import it, i’ve seen it in Dubai though, will try to get my hands on a sample soon.
If you sometimes travel to Dubai, you could check out the Ormonde Jayne boutique there. I believe it is the only other location outside of England. As someone else has suggested, Ormonde Man is wonderful – dark, mysterious and very unique.
Here’s the address:
Boutique 1
Murjan 3
The Walk
Jumeirah Beach
Dubai
Good luck and happy sniffing!
p.s. Dzing! by l’Artisan might also be worth trying
i own Gucci Pour Homme it is great except that i am now quite bored as it resembles the oriental fragrances we use in Arabia i.e. Oud
I would say that if he’s already bought Terre D’Hermes and L’Instant de Guerlain Pour Homme, he’s already got good taste and a couple of really great scents, but you can never have enough, so a couple of wood scents I would have to recommend are the utterly fantastic Le Boisé by Ginestet (big, stringent, dry, hyper-masculine) or Padparadscha by Satellite (short-lived and not really as exciting as Le Boise but still good). Maybe Idole de Lubin, with its boozy, distilled-sandalwood-liqueur quality? Andy Tauer’s campfire-y wood-and-leather Lonestar Memories?
You will probably have to mail-order these. They’re all pretty niche. Get samples first.
I second Idole and Lonestar!
Four suggestions from my limited experience:
- Donna Karan Chaos
- Donna Karan Black Cashmere
- Chanel Egoïste
- Lalique Encre Noir
Good luck and happy sniffing!
It sounds like Amouage is out, based on Zaheer’s later comment.
For sandalwood, Diptyque Tam Dao; for cypress with complexity, what about Andy Tauer’s Reverie au Jardin? And a huge second on the CdG incense series.
I second Tam Dao for sandalwood/cypress combo.
Hi!
I also second Kyoto and add Hinoki by the same people (Comme des garcons) in collaboration with Monocle.I also second Ormonde Man ,all wonderful perfumes,good luck and let us know what worked for you,cheers ,Lo.
I’ll second Encre Noire, and I’ll add two:
Yatagan by Caron is one of my enduring favourites.
Teck by Molinard is one I bought blind, didn’t love it at first, but have come back to it and really like it. It’s not unlike Yatagan, but a little bit rounder and less uncompromising.
I recommend Hugo Boss Selection
Cheers!
P
Zaheer, do try the new Serge Lutens Fille en Aigilles. It is strong, dark — I picture a sooty black — and serious, crammed with pine, woods and resins.
Third the Pom Noir, and you might also like Bois 1920 Come la Luna, a fav of mine. It’s woody and incensy, great stuff.
happy hunting!
I’ll second the Yatagan mentioned above — definitely mature, interesting, and complex — and add Japon Noir by Tom Ford. I’m not a TF fan, but Japon Noir smells fantastic in a dark, murky way; it might have some citrus in it, but to me it smells like lemongrass.
I think Chanel Antaeus is worth a sniff and might be easier to find.
I second this one!
Some excellent recommendations. Zaheer, if you can find a store that sells L’Artisan Parfumeur fragrances, I highly recommend that you try
L’eau du Navigateur, and also the very original Dzongkha.
Comme des Garcons 2man sounds like it would suit him to a T.
I’ll add my vote for Jo Malone Pom Noir as well as L’Artisan L’eau du Navigateur, and you might also want to try Les Nez Let Me Play the Lion, a lovely sandalwood/incense scent.
Chiming in to recommend Ormonde Jayne Man too. How much more dark does it get than black hemlock?!
Just another thought, but how about Lui by Mazzolari? It’s both elegant and sensual, it might fit the bill for you. Notes are: Sandalwood, cedar, patchouli, ambergris, vetiver, spices, or maybe AG’s Sables??
How about Farenheit by Dior.
Narciso Rodriguez for him, Armani Attitude & Eau Bleu Miyake are my 3 recomendations, easy to find them in any department Store, specially the last 2. I also thought of CDG 2 Man, if you manage to find a sample, give it a try!
Eau de Pamplemousse Rose by Hermes
I’d still recommend Amouage, especially Dia for Men and its kissing cousin Pascal Morabito’s Or Black. Both woody, rootsy and very masculine. Very Baroque? I must sound like a broken record with the Histoire des Parfums line (honest, I am not attached in any way to them), but 1740 (Marquis de Sade) and 1725 (Casanova) sound a good fit. The former is a spicy wood the latter an ambery fougere. I would definitely have also said Ormonde Man but that does have a big dose of Oud in it… Lastly, two Guerlains might also be of interest, Heritage and Derby.
I have a few (in)formal Victorian suggestions for the eclectic man:
CB I Hate Perfume: Wild Pansy (what’s more victorian than violets and Oscar Wilde?), Black March, Violet Empire or In the Library
Guerlain Habit Rouge: an oldie but a cheapie that Lucia Turin says smells like “sweet dust” and smells to me like weed paneled libraries.
Comme des Garcons x Stephen Jones is a fabulous violet/meteor scent that is like an immaculate diorama of a Jules Verne novel – with a little bit of Ziggy Stardust thrown in. I love it, but it’s hard to find and expensive.
I was just coming back to add CBIHP Wild Hunt. I think I toss that one out there about every 3rd week, but it really is a fun scent. Then again, it’s not an everyday sort of scent so much as a really fun thing to experience. I still want some.
Oooh! I love Wild Hunt! I honestly get some of the scents confused because they are subtle variations on sort of an ambient environmental scent – exploring the woods in different seasons, in different weather, with different plants emerging. To my mind, Wild Hunt is June, Wild Pansy is April/May and Black March is self explanatory. I wish they were more widely available because I’m sure I’d fall in love if I encountered them more frequently.
Hey Zaheer
For my husband, a progression from Terre d’Hermes was Jubilation XXV (amouage)- an extraordinarily special fragrance
Also Encre Noir (i liked , but he doesn’t really)
Guys thank you so much, i really appreciate it. I’ve put all this on a list and can’t wait to start the adventure.
ScentRed: thanks i will defintely stop at that store, should be going to Abu Dhabi soon..
Comme des Garcons 2 MAN (like Gucci pour homme, but more interesting). Try the Comme des Garcons Incense series definitely, and if you especially like dark woods (rather than simply frankincense) I’d pick Ouarzazate.
Amouage Epic Men (woods, incense) and Jubilation XXV (rich, dark fruit and woods) are worth trying, Jubilation may change your aversion to fruity notes.
If you want to get away from more oriental and Arabic style fragrances, perhaps have a go at some vetiver based fragrances? Guerlain Vetiver is the benchmark, bringing ginger and vetiver together in a formal, classic style. I’d then have a look at Lalique Encre Noir, a dark smoky vetiver that is lovely and cheap! Chanel Sycomore is similar, but more fresh and green, my favourite of vetivers. The new Tom Ford Grey Vetiver is very nice, a heavier, dirtier rendition of vetiver roots, with a nice citrus (think Dior Eau Sauvage) twist. If you find yourself wanting a more simple isolated vetiver, Vetiver Extraordinaire from Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle is a masterpiece of pure, damp, rooty vetiver.
L’Artisan’s Dzongkha deserves to be tried simply because it is beautiful. It’s more of a stony iris/clean incense than a heavy woods, but it’s wonderful.
Another voice for Encre Noir de Lalique. And the classic Grey_Flannel of course. Cahnel Antaeus. And Guerlain L’Heure Bleue. Yes, I mean it. If you can get the extrait.
Please let us know what your findings were!
Sotty, I mean CHANEL Antaeus of course.
Aaargh, blame it to my mouse-arm! SORRY for the typos again!
Eau de Pamplemousse Rose – Hermes. Long lasting and absolutely beautiful on. A must try!!!
Oooo–good taste! Suggestions:
1. Chanel “Sycamore”.
**2. Serge Lutens “Serge Noir”. ** Dark and dreamy. Gorgeous and perfect for your tastes, Zaheer!
3. Banana Republic “Jade”.
4. Yves Saint Laurent “La Nuit L’Homme” (slightly brighter than the others, but still inky enough to satisfy).
5. Chanel “Bois des Isles”.
will give it a try, can’t wait, thank you
Zaheer, I think you would like “Gentleman Givenchy” (vintage, preferably)
Good luck!