Alexxx

Mr. Gualtieri has really enraptured me at one time or another and I consider him one of the greats of his guild. But, I will make it short, this mare is not mega and not mine at all.

The first time I sprayed it on, my face was so distorted that for a short time I feared I would have to remain in this completely disfigured state for the rest of my life. How should I describe what had just happened? Most likely a tsunami, which had rolled over my sense of smell out of nowhere.

It leaves an incredibly tart, salty and aquatic note on my skin afterwards. In the middle of it there is also the smell of some algae shreds, which still stick to me now. Mei, was I lucky that I wasn't hit head-on by a fishing boat, but Mr. Gaultieri fortunately did without woody notes.

Again and again I sniff at myself and yes, in the Drydown the whole thing becomes a bit more pleasing now. The waves have calmed down: The sea is clearer now and the algae are gone. As if the salt water had formed a small crust, the whole thing sticks to my skin and is quite present. So the durability and projection are really good.

It reminds me of the old days. The beach holiday on the Mediterranean. When you were a little shit, splashing about in the sea. And then you went back to the beach. Your hair, your skin, all increasingly a slightly salty crust that smells of water and sea. It's not that bad. But somehow it's also good, when Mummy and Daddy give the decisive come-on before dinner starts: So, now off to the shower. Thanks. Finally.

I like to smell something disruptive. Attitude also means to distinguish yourself from others. And that, in turn, may cause controversy. Things you don't necessarily know about Kurkdjian. On the contrary, many of these scents are often described as edgeless and much too smooth (not always wrongly). Baccarat Rouge 540, on the other hand, is a fragrance that all noses turn to (perhaps not always in raptures).

Its ingredients are predominantly of a sweetish nature. And so it is indeed the first time you spray it on, you notice this very soft, somewhat fruity sweetness. Saffron, jasmine, amber, they all stick together to form something that some here have very aptly described as cotton candy. Sounds disrespectful at first, but it doesn't have to be meant like that. When you were a small child at the fairground and held this wooden stick with its disproportionately large pile of cotton candy on it in your hand, barely able to eat it at all, you didn't just have a similar scent in your nose - you were also recognizable from afar. Something like that scent

Even before its sweetness, the most significant characteristic of Baccarat Rouge 540 is its enormous, intoxicating, room-filling sillage. In other words, you need a gun license for this cotton candy. Because with this scent you can slay your surroundings. So, bail! Handle with care!

Who wears it best and when? It's a unisex scent that men can wear well. Yes, it's very sweet on the surface, but the cedarwood gives it some texture. It also gives it a manly accent. It'll be different for everyone and it'll turn out differently - on my skin alone, it's been acting differently: Sometimes it seems very concisely sweet to me, then again I notice the woody more strongly - in other moments it seems very fruity, and I perceive something of strawberries. A fragrance that certainly goes well in winter or at cooler temperatures, but under certain conditions it works well all year round. BR 540 is certainly an excellent scent for going out, especially a good date scent. It is also sure to cut a good figure in leisure time most of the year. But in summer it is rather dangerous in the heat - especially for the surrounding area. I can only repeat myself: Caution here.

Conclusion: Despite its sweetness a controversial MFK. And I'm inclined to say: that's good! He has a Sillage as it is rare: room filling, almost intoxicating. You will be asked what you are wearing. His layer properties have already been mentioned. Here I can recommend Oud for Greatness or Shadow Play ... with oud and musk the intoxication gets even deeper - the gun license is even more compelling.

To comment on this fragrance - that is truly no easy task. In fact, it's damned difficult. There are so many contradictions on the way to putting thoughts and feelings into words. But I just start ...

It starts with the fact that MFK has a brother of this fragrance on the market - "Oud Satin Mood" - and has thus created a situation of comparison, if not direct competition. I have tested both again and again and my first impression (from 2017) has lasted until today: I like Oud Silk Mood much more, I consider it the stronger scent (in terms of its sillage and durability) and it is for me the more wearable rose scent for men. With these statements, I'm detaching myself from some of the impressions I've heard on the net, and some perfumes obviously have the opposite effect. Not least in the ranking here, if you want to put something on it, Oud Satin Mood is ahead. As I said, I see it a little bit differently.

I think the message is clearer at Oud Silk Mood. Here we have a rose that is clearer, more concise and has a certain depth for me from the very beginning. Depth is not to be confused with heaviness here, it remains a light but intense veil of scent with excellent sillage and excellent durability. The oud does not come to the fore at any time, but it helps to give the rose a clear direction and thus support. So the whole thing is a bit less flowery and lovely, but a bit more powerful (especially at the beginning), louder, more determined. Still light and rosy-sweet, but by far not as soft, lovely, diffusely dreamy and above all not as soapy as Oud Satin Mood. And that makes him for me as a man also the decisive bit more wearable.

More "portable" than man. Yeah-ha, that's the next item. Because by the time we get to the border, the whole thing will be. Oud Silk Mood smells incredibly romantic to me. If romance had a smell, I guess it would be. There's something unisex and intimate about the romance it exudes. I think it's enormously private. So where do you wear it as a man? On the balcony on a balmy summer night. Under a dressing gown. Or maybe just right in bed. For me, definitely not a fragrance for mundane occasions. None for mundane occasions. None for leisure time, most likely one for a romantic candlelight dinner. In short: it demands intimacy. After that moment, when two souls are extremely close, they merge. Even physically. Then, yes, I think you can wear it very well as a man. Then he fully expresses his sensuality, his seduction. It is truly a fragrance of love, of pure romance.

I like the scent of roses so much that I am driven to turn over every stone that promises to make rose wearable as a concise fragrance for men. I tell you, this is a journey like Ulysses must have gone through (if I were to start there now ...). So far, I have identified Lumiere Noire, also from MFK, as the purest and most wearable rose scent possible. Compared to Oud Silk Mood, it works much better in everyday life and is much more versatile. I am far from having reached the end of my journey, but this much can be said: Oud Silk Mood is one of the absolutely most beautiful rose scents I have come across. And it is wearable for men.

Finally, one question remains: does the extract need it or does the perfume do it? Again not easy to answer. I find the extract a bit denser and more beautiful than the eau de parfum. But compared to this tic towards the perfection of the composition, the extract is also considerably more expensive. If it hadn't been for fate's favor, I'd have gotten a pretty good deal that lets me own a bottle of the Extrait - I probably wouldn't have bought it and settled for the EdP. But I can say that the Extrait turns the extremely beautiful rose of the EdP into a perfect rose, the likes of which I have never seen before. Meaning: despite the high price, a 10 out of 10 for this fragrance. For this breathtakingly beautiful, sensual, romantic rose.

What is a great scent?

One that stands out?
One that lasts long?
One who is different?
One that's high quality?
One that is unique ?
One that is timeless?
One that's modern?
One that is a classic ?
One that you can wear anywhere?
One that you wear on special occasions?
One that arrives?
Someone who teases?
Someone who brings compliments?
Someone who's a mystery?
One that's cool?
One that's attractive?
One that doesn't cost too little ?
One that doesn't cost too much?
One that not everyone wears?

One like Terre d'Hermes.

One that brings the virtues of a high-quality niche fragrance to the designer fragrance segment. One that has not been diluted in its formulation, like many of its once hyped counterparts. But one that brings substantial scent properties such as silage and durability beyond 7 hours. One that can be worn all year round and in practically any situation. One that goes everywhere. And one that smells completely different than all the others. One that smells spicy. One that smells woody. One that smells fruity. One that smells fresh. One that smells earthy

Above all and at the very end one that simply smells really good.

For me, Terre d'Hermes is one of the best that has ever been olfactorically created by designers. Also, and above all, because they hold on to their quality standards. And this fragrance makes it easy to tell. I'm glad that this brand, from whose hands such great creations as the Kelly Bag or the Birkin Bag have emerged, has also given the world a fragrance that is not only fleetingly beautiful and superficially desirable, but also simply stands for a high level of quality and thus substance.

Oh, yeah, the '90s. As a child of the time when I made some of the most important experiences of my life, finally graduated from high school and just started studying, this decade has shaped me immensely. A few years ago I read an article that described the 90s as the first decade that started to imitate things from other eras. At the same time, he praised the 90s as the last decade that really produced its own great achievements - let's think of mobile phones, the internet, to name just two of them.

Changes also took place in the social sphere, especially in lifestyle and culture, and quickly determined everyday life in the 90s, certain window dressings and advertising campaigns. With the recoding of gender roles and lean models, a different understanding of roles suddenly came to the fore: Heroin chic was born, as expressed by models like Kate Moss. Gender boundaries were given a diffuse blur, words like androgyny and metrosexuality became the focus of attention, and culture broke existing taboos with new depictions of celebrated bisexuality - and thus boundaries.

During this time CK One fell. Unisex, now a word as established as uni-colour, was then as fresh as this fragrance when first sprayed on. Yes, Calvin Klein was the first to bring the new definition of gender to flacons. So it is entirely appropriate to celebrate it as an olfactory revolution.

It was not a loud revolution, that is the concept. What seems weak today and no longer pulls anybody away from their seats, moved things quite a bit back then. And even if the sillage and durability are unfortunately rather moderate, the idea behind it was more than a fleeting fluid. CK One is pure zeitgeist. You can't blame it for its edgelessness without seeing it in the context of the time it was created. It was there precisely to throw edges overboard and to reconcile the new role identity under which both sexes could see themselves.

He did it in an impressively cool way, because it was so incomprehensibly wearable at the time. And precisely because it was so edgelessly wearable, it helped establish something that had just been created. It is therefore wrong to see this fragrance through the glasses of our time alone.

Everything else, of course, is a matter of individual taste, if you don't like the general scent character, you don't like it. Period. I like it, I find it pleasant and fresh, it is for me a very harmoniously beautiful, round scent. It is a fragrance that is easy to wear at any time, especially and primarily a pleasant summer scent. It arouses all kinds of memories. Unfortunately I lack durability and endurance, so I don't really let it consciously wander on my skin. But I would wear it and could do it at any time. It is a classic, a reminder of the spirit of the times and - associated with it - of a revolution. And not every revolution has to be loud, not every head has to roll for it.