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Jean-Charles Brosseau The Brun ~ fragrance review

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Jean-Charles Brosseau Thé Brun

Jean-Charles Brosseau, milliner and creator of 1981’s still popular Ombre Rose, has recently released a trio of men’s fragrances: Thé Brun, Atlas Cedar and Fruit de Bois. Of the three, the one I was most anticipating is Thé Brun or Brown Tea, created with perfumer Pierre Bourdon. Thé Brun has notes of bergamot, fruity notes, green leaves, lavender, violet, spices, cumin, jasmine, orange blossom, lapsang tea, palisander wood, powdery notes and musk.

As a huge fan of tea fragrances, it was with great excitement that I tested Thé Brun, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed…

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Gucci Envy for men fragrance review

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Gucci Envy for men fragrance advertGucci Envy for men, fragrance bottle

Somewhere between familiar and sexy is Tom Ford’s first men’s fragrance for Gucci, Gucci Envy for Men. This 1998 instant classic featuring opoponax, incense, patchouli, amber, musk, cedar, cardamom, anise, coriander, ginger, nutmeg and pimento is a sweet oriental, quite the opposite of what I had initially expected after testing the very green Envy for Women.

Envy was a big disappointment to me when it launched because I had already sniffed Jivago 7 Elements and Obsession for Men, scents which this fragrance respectfully references, in my humble opinion. Envy opens with a sweet, slightly licorice-tinged ginger note, moving to a sweet musk and amber bouquet. Accents of nutmeg, patchouli, and woods appear now and then and the entire composition melts together into a warm, lingering aroma…

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Nile Lily candle by Pacifica ~ home fragrance report

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Pacifica Nile Lily candlePacifica was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1995. I became acquainted with the company through their glycerin soaps (there are always bars of Pacifica Tunisian Jasmine and Sandalwood in my bathroom). A single bar of Pacifica soap easily perfumes a large room.

The scents of Pacifica’s candles are also robust. The hand-poured candles are made in small batches in two formulations: food-grade paraffin or vegetable-based soy wax. Both versions have lead-free cotton wicks. Nile Lily (made with dark red wax) contains notes of white flowers, saffron, lotus and lily. My first reaction to Nile Lily (unlit) was: “gardenia.” The gardenia note hovers in the air during the burn and is joined by what smells like faint tuberose. Gradually, the lily and lotus emerge, with a hint of “background” saffron. As I burned this candle through the winter months it brought to mind warm, humid days and a lush flower-filled water garden…no small feat…

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Fragrance review: Monsieur de Givenchy

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Monsieur de Givenchy fragrance for men

It’s amazing that nearly 50 years after its initial release, Givenchy’s first fragrance for men, Monsieur de Givenchy, is still available, still selling, and still perfection. A hesperides lover’s dream come true, Monsieur is composed of bergamot, lemon, lime, petitgrain, lavender, clary sage, orange, basil, musk, civet and cedar. Don’t worry — if it sounds herbal, it is, but only slightly.

Monsieur opens with a bright, fresh citrus punch that is quickly restrained by a green bouquet of sage and basil…

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Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel ~ fragrance review

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Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel cologne

This year marks the 30th anniversary of one of the most successful men’s fragrances of the 70’s — Geoffrey Beene’s violet-tinged Grey Flannel. Released two years after my birth, Grey Flannel is an aroma that has been part of my development, always present throughout my life as a holiday gift from relatives, sitting on friend’s dressers, or displayed as testers on drugstore perfume counters. It is only now that I am also in my 30s that I have begun to appreciate what an unusual scent Grey Flannel is.

With a simple composition of violet, lemon, orange, oakmoss, sage, and sandalwood (and perhaps also cinnamon, geranium, cedar and patchouli), Grey Flannel could easily be mistaken as a Diptyque creation. Though the fragrance is not entirely a floral, the unusual violet note is the undisputed star of the olfactory pyramid…

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