Men of the World. Y U No Smell This Good?

Posted by Lipglossiping On February - 14 - 2012

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our undies; the candles we light when we step through the door after work; or the bath oils we pour under a hot running tap at the end of the night.  When was the last time you chose a new shampoo in the supermarket before flipping up the lid and inhaling a quick whiff to make sure you shared the product’s olfactory persuasions?

But what about the people we share our lives with?  What control do we have over how they smell?!

It’s taken a long time to gently steer my husband away from the Umbro Aftershave of his early twenties and onto scents which don’t make me want to check behind his ears for dirt.  I sound like a fragrance nazi right?  I’m not… it’s not that he resisted either, he just didn’t have an opinion either way.  Over the past couple of years, he’s developed a greater understanding and passion for fragrance — and thankfully, we do share quite similar tastes — something which comes in very handy for sharing the cost of those more extravagant fragrance purchases.

On this day, St. Valentine’s Day — I thought I’d hand the reins over to my brilliant husband, who has picked out the fragrances from his collection that make us both swoon when he wears them.

YSL – M7 Oud Absolu | Molton Brown NTS – Rogart | Parfum d’Empire – Ambre Russe | Oscar de la Renta – Oscar for Men | Floris – Santal

I’m still an awful fragrance reviewer, I just don’t have enough words swirling around in my puny brain to conjure up enough ways to say “if this fragrance were a doughnut, you’d consume four of them in one sitting”.  Although, I’ll never get better if I don’t try, so – in our own bumbled together manner… (at least I’ve got someone else to blame)

Yves Saint Laurent: M7 Oud Absolu (£58.00) *

As part of the reworked YSL Heritage Collection which celebrates half a century of expert perfume creation, the brand have released a reworked version of M7 which first came to the public nose in 2002 under the direction of one Mr. Tom Ford.  From such an agent provocateur, you’d expect to experience something special and you won’t be disappointed with this fragrance, which despite the reformulation is described as the climax of male sexuality1.  M7 is a deeply smoky scent with notes of myrrh, french labdanum, patchouli and a resonating woody, almost leathery oud accord.  There’s a medicinal hint that lingers through the dry-down which we both find comforting.  It’s not sharp but resinous and syrupy, like a cough drop.  M7 is a fragrance for the night, of the night.  If Serge Gainsbourg were to walk in behind me right now, this is the smell I’d catch (and hold onto) as he passed.  An intensely sexy, dark scent.

1 yslbeauty.co.uk

 Molton Brown Navigations Through Scent: Rogart (£60.00)

If you prefer to scent your senses with a touch of the gourmand, you may be interested in Rogart’s unusual but profoundly delicious note more usually found on your pancakes than in your perfume: maple syrup.  The tasty fragrance from Jennifer Jambon opens with a bracing blend of juniper berries and fir balsam which gives it that ‘great outdoors’ feel and indeed it should, as it draws its inspiration from the Cobequid Mountains of Canada.  All this freshness contrasts wonderfully as it warms on the skin and develops a hint of campfire, resinous wood and that sweet, mouthwatering maple.  Jointly, we’ve purchased nearly all of the releases in the Navigations Through Scent collection but Rogart firmly remains my husband’s favourite.

Parfum d’Empire: Ambre Russe (£84.50)

Not sure we’ll ever fall out of love with the majestic, imperial notes contained within Parfum d’Empire’s exquisite nod to Tsarist Russia.  It’s all here: vodka, champagne, tea, leather, amber and incense.  It’s like the party you know will conclude with most of its guests going home in a meat wagon before sunrise.  It’s raucously obnoxious and it knows it.  It wants you to know it too and you can’t help but admire Ambre Russe for it’s audacity to even exist.  It manages to be simultaneously effervescent (that’ll be the champagne hic!) and creamy, with the boozy amber trumping all else.  If you like dark, oriental fragrances, consider this a contender for the big daddy – shy, delicate noses need not apply.

Oscar de la Renta: Oscar for Men (£45.00)

We fought a little over the inclusion of this… I wanted to place Bvlgari Black above this one but Mr. L triumphed by making me a cup of tea and pointing out that, for once, he was entitled to call first dibs.  Oscar de la Renta’s Oscar for Men can be picked up online for as little as £17.00, which admittedly, ups the desirability stakes.  It’s a far sharper, more summery scent than the ones we’ve so far included – the top notes of bergamot, mandarin, and black pepper ensure that it prickles a little with a zestiness that makes you stand up and pay attention.  It has a floral heart that tempers the spiciness a little but if you’re a fan of the peppery notes of something like Marc Jacob’s Bang, you should enjoy this equally.  Oscar for Men trails with a suggestion of leather and vanilla which further smoothes the pepper without ever fully quietening it.  A spicy serenade that wears well in warmer months thanks to it’s sparkling opening.

Floris London: Santal (£69.00) *

As is my prerogative, I’m a woman of many contradictions.  Sometimes, I will eschew the feral, growling sensibilities of something like M7 (though never Serge) and want the man in my life to appeal as much to others as he does to me.  Floris Santal is the perfect scent to meet that need with its clean but never soapy existence.  Creamy sandalwood (and good sandalwood at that) gives Santal the most distinguished of edges in the overpopulated woody oriental category.  A hint of spiciness and musk keeps things warm and sensual whilst the crisp bergamot and trickles of lavender promote the balance beautifully and prevent this classic scent from ever feeling generic or old-fashioned.  Longevity is unparalled, displaying the kind of quality one would expect from a traditional British fragrance house like Floris.  I may have started with Serge Gainsbourg, but please… let me end with a young, freshly-shaven Paul Newman.  Rawr.

I’m feeling a tad hot under the collar now!  Happy Valentine’s Day you lovely lot.

Do you lust over leather or go crazy for classic cleanliness?  Do those animalic undertones bring out your wild side or perhaps you simply prefer a good old splash of Brut! 

Tell me, how do you like the men in your life to smell? (note: “of money” isn’t a valid answer!)

* press sample


19 Responses to “Men of the World. Y U No Smell This Good?”

  1. Tessa says:

    I love Shiseido Zen for Men on my boyfriend. The musk and the fruits make it masculine, sensual and just plain fun at the same time! The YSL one sounds great also.

  2. kelly says:

    I don’t especially like it, but my husband was wearing Versace Blue Jeans when we met, now the smell instantly makes me think of him even though his scent now is Boss Bottled. He is not adventurous with scent so I never buy something off the bat, but might take him fragrance shopping somewhere better than Boots soon and try and get something we both like!

  3. victoria says:

    My fiancé will only wear Chanel Allure and will refuse to even try anything else in a shop. I like it though and it smells like ‘him’ 🙂

  4. Robyn says:

    My other half is wearing Hugo by Hugo Boss (I marginally prefer Boss on him, but he wears this one most often, so it’s ‘his’ scent) and… er, Diesel Life, which I never imagined liking on him but its actually quite nice. He’s not a massive scent perfume and I actually like the smell of his skin more than if he wears scent. (TMI, sorry. But he smells good!)

  5. patuxxa says:

    Your husband has great taste in scent!

    My favorite “masculine” scents are Terre d’Hermès, Bel Ami by Hermès and Habit Rouge by Guerlain. I also love Grey Vetiver by Tom Ford, but I actually wear it myself 🙂

  6. Cheryl says:

    Ambre Russe is the most unique and extraordinary amber available. Although it is ‘feminine’, I can’t imagine that a woman would want to smell like a turn of the century gentleman’s club. Still, the initial splash of BOOZE is fantastic.

    I like my husband in Knize 10, Spize or Vetiver Extraordinaire. I’d love to smell him in Ambre Russe, come to think of it…

  7. TA says:

    Aqua Di Gio. Not super expensive or classy, but I love the smell!

  8. claudia says:

    my boo only wears armani black…it identifies his personality and i love how it smells…
    if you want to tex for free anywhere in the UK ou can do so by using the website TEXTME4FREE.COM try it out!! its free!!you can’t say no to something that is free and usefull 🙂

  9. My Lips But Better says:

    I’ll never forget smuggling you that Ambre Russe!

  10. I like my man to smell of Illamasqua’s Freak, funnily enough. It smells way better on him than it does on me. I’d still love to have him try that Body Shop aftershave a friend of mine used to wear, but I think they discontinued it, because I can’t find it anywhere. Sadness.

  11. Julia says:

    My better half wears Chanel Allure Sport, nothing else, for few years now. I guess it’s my “fault” as I bought it for him because it smelled so like him (classy and… polite, if you know what I mean). Before it was just something – anything, really – from the supermarket which made me sneeze.

  12. Silka says:

    It is so funny, it was my daughter when 4 (now 16) that told me one day, her Papi needed to have his own “smell”. We went to a department store and she sniffed nearly 10 bottles when she yelled: “I found it, this is how Papi should smell”…..the fragance tha won her over: Montblanc Individuel…
    and her loving Papi has been using this since then and has promissed her NEVER EVER use another one. When she entered kindergarden, her father gave her the handerkiech (he still use them) drenched in his cologne for her to think he was by her side……awwwww I cry every time I remember this story. Excuse my bad english, please!

  13. Luisa says:

    I’d add another…Acqua Di Parma Colonia Intensa…sexy man scent 🙂

  14. […] Lipglossiping – wonders how to make our fellas smell as good as they look and shares her husband’s favourite scents. […]

  15. […] Lipglossiping – wonders how to make our fellas smell as good as they look and shares her husband’s favourite scents. […]

  16. […] Lipglossiping – wonders how to make our fellas smell as good as they look and shares her husband’s favourite scents. […]

  17. […] men should smell like this.  I have nothing else to say because I reviewed it here – other than that £49.30 is a really good price for this scent.  Really […]

Leave a Reply

RANDOM

Product of the Week: Inglot Face & Body Illuminator

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

ByTerry founder Terry de Gunzburg appearing at SpaceNK

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Fiberwig LX by D.J.V. Beautenizer Mascara Review

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

THE Christmas Wishlist 2009

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Blogging at Carmine

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Deal Alert: A special Jimmy Choo gift with purchase this month!

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain in Barcelona Nights (photo heavy)

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Sun Protection. There are worse things to obsess over...

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Ciate Silhouette NOTD

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Lipglossiping.com's first ever guest reviewer...

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

POPULAR

CLOSED: Competition Time: Givenchy Very Irresistible L'eau en Rose Perfume!

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

CLOSED - Win it! The Body Shop Expert Brush Collection

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Win a gorgeous "glow" trio with prizes from Urban Decay, New CID, & Arbonne!

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Hello? Is this thing on?

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Avoid the brush off with Oral-B Pro-Expert

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Big savings on French Pharmacy brands, win my Escentual.com top picks!

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Win it! 3 EcoTools Bamboo Bronzer Brushes to win!

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

FOTD Busting out of the comfort zone!

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Dear Obesity...

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

Urban Decay The Black Palette - Photos & Swatches

We all have definite ideas about the scents we like to surround ourselves with — be it the washing powder we use to clean our …

COMMENTS

  • Categories

  • Archives

  • Admin

  • Ads