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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