Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
01/03/2012
Asphaltblume
45 Reviews
Asphaltblume
1
Herbal bullies tyrannising the neighbourhood
My brother got this fragrance as a gift when he was a young adult and he didn't like it at all. I found the full bottle of it in our parents' attic that bears witness to this. I sprayed some of it on the back of my hand immediately and I understand him.
In the top note Van Gils pour Homme is dieseling heavily and not nearly as citric as bergamot and verbena suggest (I take verbena to mean lemon verbena, not common vervain which is rather bitter but smells inconspicuously vegetable), but massive, tarry: I suspect thyme, the essential oil is pretty stinky. The beginning is not freh at all. But this is an 1980s perfume after all.
After a few minutes it all calms down a bit and becomes spicier and milder. That doesn't mean it becomes pleasant. Not yet, anyway: I know my parents chose this fragrance for my brother (you could buy it duty-free on the Scandinavian ferries) and they prefer discreet and classical fragrances. I'd better wait a bit...
Slowly slowly there's coriander and cardamom paddling towards the surface in the middle note, but thyme, supported by rosemary keeps them down successfully. Every now and again a whiff of musk and even a hint of amber find their way to my nose, but thyme and rosemary claerly are the dominant flavours here.
And now, what's that? I scent sweat, or it could be cumin, but that's not listed.
It takes a long time for Van Gils pour Homme to become more rounded, but even then I don't find it beautiful, just bearable. It is not fragrant, it smells. Fierce, acerb, tarry, medicinal. Only shortly before it vanishes and after washing my hands (normally, not to ex the frag) I smell a slightly woody-spicy herbality I actually quite like. Nothing stunning, but quite pleasant.
I do understand my brother never wearing this fragrance, but I cannot even guess what made our parents choose it.
In the top note Van Gils pour Homme is dieseling heavily and not nearly as citric as bergamot and verbena suggest (I take verbena to mean lemon verbena, not common vervain which is rather bitter but smells inconspicuously vegetable), but massive, tarry: I suspect thyme, the essential oil is pretty stinky. The beginning is not freh at all. But this is an 1980s perfume after all.
After a few minutes it all calms down a bit and becomes spicier and milder. That doesn't mean it becomes pleasant. Not yet, anyway: I know my parents chose this fragrance for my brother (you could buy it duty-free on the Scandinavian ferries) and they prefer discreet and classical fragrances. I'd better wait a bit...
Slowly slowly there's coriander and cardamom paddling towards the surface in the middle note, but thyme, supported by rosemary keeps them down successfully. Every now and again a whiff of musk and even a hint of amber find their way to my nose, but thyme and rosemary claerly are the dominant flavours here.
And now, what's that? I scent sweat, or it could be cumin, but that's not listed.
It takes a long time for Van Gils pour Homme to become more rounded, but even then I don't find it beautiful, just bearable. It is not fragrant, it smells. Fierce, acerb, tarry, medicinal. Only shortly before it vanishes and after washing my hands (normally, not to ex the frag) I smell a slightly woody-spicy herbality I actually quite like. Nothing stunning, but quite pleasant.
I do understand my brother never wearing this fragrance, but I cannot even guess what made our parents choose it.
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