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Browsing by author: Kevin

Kinski ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 18 April 2012 43 Comments

Kinski fragrance

If you’re going to anoint me with a male-celebrity fragrance, chances are I’d prefer a perfume inspired by Klaus Kinski rather than David Beckham, Tim McGraw or the Pope. Mr. Kinski was interesting for one thing, a wild character — the inventor of his own weird myth (featuring a man-god who did what he wanted — propriety and the feelings of others be damned). Put another way: for perfume inspiration, give me a talented nutcase with over-the-top (legal!) appetites instead of a bland money-grubber.

Does Kinski smell like Kinski? If someone had given me an unmarked bottle of Kinski Eau de Toilette and asked me to wear it and report back on what type of person it evoked, I’d have said a sexy person, a man of a “certain age” who lives in a secluded, art-filled home, which he refers to as a “cabin.” He might also keep an exotic pet…a lemur? He smells of rich amber-y perfume, smokes a joint every now and again, and always has orchids or roses in big silver vases on his desk (with a single blossom tucked in his jacket’s lapel). I’d imagine this man to be a traveler…

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Etat Libre d’Orange Fils de Dieu, du Riz et des Agrumes ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 11 April 2012 17 Comments

Jesus

Risqué ideas and images are nothing new to Etat Libre d’Orange: the company presents us with closet queens, chubby utility workers (with a label showing buttocks cleavage), blond pubic hair (Vraie Blonde), gay beefcake (Tom of Finland), a threesome engaged in oral sex (Archives 69), and a couple of penises (one substituting for a pistol barrel — Je Suis un Homme — the other erect and “spurting” — Sécrétions Magnifiques). Now there’s Philippine Houseboy, whose tagline, fils de dieu, du riz et des agrumes*, has been put into use in North America as the fragrance name (you can apparently still buy this perfume in the Philippine Houseboy bottle in Europe).

No matter the name (I refuse to get worked up about perfume “titles” these days…there are much more important things to protest and worry about!), the fragrance’s “intent” is to capture the sun-drenched, aroma-rich Asian tropics. Fils de Dieu, du Riz et des Agrumes was created by perfumer Ralf Schwieger and lists fragrance notes of bergamot, ginger, lime, coriander leaves, shiso, Jungle Essence coconut and cardamom, rice note, jasmine, cinnamon, French May rose, tonka bean, vetiver, musk, amber, leather and castoreum.

Fils de Dieu opens with gingery lime, and “green” coriander and pungent shiso leaf…

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Odin 07 Tanoke ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 4 April 2012 18 Comments

Odin 07 Tanoke

Odin New York recently released 07 Tanoke, a unisex fragrance. 07 Tanoke was developed by perfumer Corinne Cachen; the inspiration — coastal Northern California.

Odin 07 is a simple fragrance. Though it lists notes of ginger, bitter orange, black pepper, nutmeg, incense, redwood, patchouli, black musk and gaiac wood, it smells of rich, resonant incense. Period. If ever a fragrance conjures the color “black” in my mind, it’s this one; I imagine charred woods, black incense sticks, carbonized nutmegs and peppercorns, and sleek, shiny black vanilla pods and beans. (I do smell bitter orange, but only briefly when the perfume is first applied to skin.)

The character of 07 Tanoke is bolder than Odin’s earlier releases…

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Van Cleef & Arpels Precious Oud ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 28 March 2012 13 Comments

Van Cleef & Arpels Precious Oud

Van Cleef & Arpels launched Precious Oud last year; it’s part of the Collection Extraordinaire and was created to honor the “legendary ingredient, oud wood.” If I had been advising Van Cleef & Arpels on this fragrance, I would have suggested two alternate names for the perfume. Alternate Name No. 1: “Semi-Precious Oud.” Alternate Name No. 2: “Precious Little Oud.” My thought progression as I sniffed Precious Oud was: ‘So this is Precious Oud…Really?…No way!’

Though it bears the name “oud,” I don’t detect any oud in Precious Oud. Has the oud perfume trend degenerated to the point of simply including the word “oud” in a fragrance name and no longer worrying about having oud in the perfume? That’s pretty amusing…

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Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 21 March 2012 56 Comments

Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb advert

Viktor & Rolf just released Spicebomb, its second men’s fragrance (remember Antidote?) Viktor Horsting said: “We were jealous of all the women who had Flowerbomb, and we wanted to have our own bomb.”* In the same interview, Rolf Snoeren added: “We felt that if flowers were a very typical feminine scent, spices were the masculine opposite.” (Translation: Viktor & Rolf wanted to fill a grenade-shaped bottle with a men’s scent that they hope will match Flowerbomb’s great commercial success.)

I was amused that the press release for Spicebomb mentioned licensee L’Oréal didn’t do any market testing for the fragrance (they’ve been burned in many perfume reviews for the ‘market-tested’ — generic — nature of many of their offerings). Since when did giant companies make a point of denying market testing?

Perfumer Olivier Polge chimed in, “Viktor and Rolf wanted an extroverted, outspoken fragrance.”* Spicebomb’s scent is not outrageous or “new,” but the strength of the perfume (excellent lasting power and sillage) qualifies it as a “bomb” of sorts…

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