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Side Dish
WHAT IT IS
The spiced carrot side dish you throw together in a rush for your friend's Thanksgiving party which becomes an unexpected star next to dry turkey, craggy stuffing, and salty green beans. This is a savory-ish gourmand which opens with peppery cinnamon notes, then quickly settles into buttery braised carrots and fresh grated ginger. It's strong for a Byredo with an easy 3-4hrs of noticeable sillage and a lightweight patchouli dry down which can stretch to the 6hr mark. Gets a little loud in warm weather, utter knockout in fall & winter.
WHO IT'S FOR
You just want a little something special for sweater season, but don't want to smell like cotton candy, a speakeasy, or a humidor. You want something unique, a little classy, a little odd.
ALTERNATIVES
Goldfield & Banks' Ingenious Ginger runs parallel in a citrusy fresh direction more suitable for warm weather - if you love ginger, a bottle of each could easily be your only fragrances. On the men's side, Roja Enigma and YSL l'Homme both feature prominent ginger notes, but it's quickly subsumed by the other spices in the blend and neither has the green sweetness of Epinette's carrot.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Most Byredos have a sheer, gossamer-like quality which I find beautiful, but fleeting... and while I'm not usually hung up on projection or longevity, they're expensive for a 1-2hr flash in the pan. Eyes Closed was a shock, an off-chance spritz on a warm June day because ginger and carrot sounded delicious. Two hours later I wandered back to the shop and bought a (small) bottle which has now become my staple for fall. Great stuff *if* you like ginger and carrots.
The spiced carrot side dish you throw together in a rush for your friend's Thanksgiving party which becomes an unexpected star next to dry turkey, craggy stuffing, and salty green beans. This is a savory-ish gourmand which opens with peppery cinnamon notes, then quickly settles into buttery braised carrots and fresh grated ginger. It's strong for a Byredo with an easy 3-4hrs of noticeable sillage and a lightweight patchouli dry down which can stretch to the 6hr mark. Gets a little loud in warm weather, utter knockout in fall & winter.
WHO IT'S FOR
You just want a little something special for sweater season, but don't want to smell like cotton candy, a speakeasy, or a humidor. You want something unique, a little classy, a little odd.
ALTERNATIVES
Goldfield & Banks' Ingenious Ginger runs parallel in a citrusy fresh direction more suitable for warm weather - if you love ginger, a bottle of each could easily be your only fragrances. On the men's side, Roja Enigma and YSL l'Homme both feature prominent ginger notes, but it's quickly subsumed by the other spices in the blend and neither has the green sweetness of Epinette's carrot.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Most Byredos have a sheer, gossamer-like quality which I find beautiful, but fleeting... and while I'm not usually hung up on projection or longevity, they're expensive for a 1-2hr flash in the pan. Eyes Closed was a shock, an off-chance spritz on a warm June day because ginger and carrot sounded delicious. Two hours later I wandered back to the shop and bought a (small) bottle which has now become my staple for fall. Great stuff *if* you like ginger and carrots.
Hanging Gardens
WHAT IT IS
Ancient Babylonian shaving oil with a bouquet of fresh immortelle nearby. Eau Nabati opens with some bergamot and herbaceous pettigrain, giving a spicy fougere-like vibe, then settles into a *superb* green, honey-sweet immortelle. The opening and mid last 4+ hours with noticeable sillage, then dry down into a beautiful amber-woody scent which leans slightly vanilla on my skin by the 8-9hr mark. Even without marketing language about desert gardens, the effect is one of mixing typically "green" notes (bergamot, immortelle) and "blue" notes (palm tree, Peru balsam) to create a deep teal composition... refreshing yet rich, not unlike a blooming oasis in hot desert air.
WHO IT'S FOR
You like Oriental fragrances, but don't want to stray too far into heavy resinous accords or gas the people around you. You want something you can feel good about wearing to work in the morning and still be subtly there at happy hour in the evening. You're likely a guy, but this is absolutely unisex - especially if you love immortelle.
ALTERNATIVES
Dior Dune captures a similar melange of green notes with vanilla accords, though it lacks the spicy opening. Eight & Bob's The Original is a creamy green fougere anchored by amber; there's no immortelle, but the overall effect is similar. Pellegrin's own Eau de Minthe is a minty-geranium barbershop fougere, but sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from Nabati... icy, bracing, and short-lived (though beautiful).
FINAL THOUGHTS
If Eau Rihla's nuclear powered sillage put me off to Diptyque's Middle Eastern fragrances, Nabati brought me back. Some reviews have criticized that Nabati isn't "original enough" for a niche house like Diptyque, but I strongly believe this is one of Pellegrin's most wearable fragrances to date, seamlessly transitioning from day to night, warm to cool, casual to elegant, and striking the right balance of intimate vs loud - I'll take that any day over a piece of art I can't wear!
Ancient Babylonian shaving oil with a bouquet of fresh immortelle nearby. Eau Nabati opens with some bergamot and herbaceous pettigrain, giving a spicy fougere-like vibe, then settles into a *superb* green, honey-sweet immortelle. The opening and mid last 4+ hours with noticeable sillage, then dry down into a beautiful amber-woody scent which leans slightly vanilla on my skin by the 8-9hr mark. Even without marketing language about desert gardens, the effect is one of mixing typically "green" notes (bergamot, immortelle) and "blue" notes (palm tree, Peru balsam) to create a deep teal composition... refreshing yet rich, not unlike a blooming oasis in hot desert air.
WHO IT'S FOR
You like Oriental fragrances, but don't want to stray too far into heavy resinous accords or gas the people around you. You want something you can feel good about wearing to work in the morning and still be subtly there at happy hour in the evening. You're likely a guy, but this is absolutely unisex - especially if you love immortelle.
ALTERNATIVES
Dior Dune captures a similar melange of green notes with vanilla accords, though it lacks the spicy opening. Eight & Bob's The Original is a creamy green fougere anchored by amber; there's no immortelle, but the overall effect is similar. Pellegrin's own Eau de Minthe is a minty-geranium barbershop fougere, but sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from Nabati... icy, bracing, and short-lived (though beautiful).
FINAL THOUGHTS
If Eau Rihla's nuclear powered sillage put me off to Diptyque's Middle Eastern fragrances, Nabati brought me back. Some reviews have criticized that Nabati isn't "original enough" for a niche house like Diptyque, but I strongly believe this is one of Pellegrin's most wearable fragrances to date, seamlessly transitioning from day to night, warm to cool, casual to elegant, and striking the right balance of intimate vs loud - I'll take that any day over a piece of art I can't wear!
Harmonious Balance
WHAT IT IS
This is the closest scent I've found to the PNW coast in summertime... dry cedar wood, wildflowers in a meadow, someone peeling a citrus fruit nearby, and a clean coastal musk (cashmeran???). After years of ever more powerful Sauvage flankers, Demachy hit the reset button on the Dior Homme line and gave us what might be the most perfectly balanced - and tastefully restrained - men's fragrance in a generation. There's a burst of citrus to open, then it's all luxurious cedar wood and musk with some floral accords drifting by during the dry down. Linear for 6+ hours (which is excellent for an EDT) and while I go noseblind quickly, others can still smell it.
WHO IT'S FOR
Men over ~30 seeking one bottle for all seasons, all occasions, and all moods. You likely believe versatility is more important than making a statement, but you also don't want a "dumb reach" when you can have something as sophisticated as this.
ALTERNATIVES
Let's start with what's NOT an alternative: Dior Homme 2005/2011/Original, Intense, and Parfum which are all (beautiful) iris & leather fragrances, but bear almost no resemblance to Dior Homme 2020. Want more citrus? Dior Homme Sport dials up the bergamot and has punchier projection based on the same DNA - it's excellent. Bleu de Chanel EDT, EDP, and Parfum have somewhat similar citrus + woodsy notes with the Parfum coming closest to replicating the musky dry down; all are more "blue shower gel" + powdery to my nose.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As a die-hard fan of Polge's groundbreaking original, my decant of Dior Homme 2020 went from "meh" to "that's not bad..." to "wow there's a lot of complexity" to purchasing a full bottle as my daily driver in the span of two weeks. Time will tell if it deserves a perfect 10 (I need to test it in winter), but this might be my favorite creation of Demachy's to date. Dior's only mistake was reusing the Homme nameplate which seemed to inflame a lot of negativity around what is otherwise an outstanding grown up fragrance. Very highly recommended.
This is the closest scent I've found to the PNW coast in summertime... dry cedar wood, wildflowers in a meadow, someone peeling a citrus fruit nearby, and a clean coastal musk (cashmeran???). After years of ever more powerful Sauvage flankers, Demachy hit the reset button on the Dior Homme line and gave us what might be the most perfectly balanced - and tastefully restrained - men's fragrance in a generation. There's a burst of citrus to open, then it's all luxurious cedar wood and musk with some floral accords drifting by during the dry down. Linear for 6+ hours (which is excellent for an EDT) and while I go noseblind quickly, others can still smell it.
WHO IT'S FOR
Men over ~30 seeking one bottle for all seasons, all occasions, and all moods. You likely believe versatility is more important than making a statement, but you also don't want a "dumb reach" when you can have something as sophisticated as this.
ALTERNATIVES
Let's start with what's NOT an alternative: Dior Homme 2005/2011/Original, Intense, and Parfum which are all (beautiful) iris & leather fragrances, but bear almost no resemblance to Dior Homme 2020. Want more citrus? Dior Homme Sport dials up the bergamot and has punchier projection based on the same DNA - it's excellent. Bleu de Chanel EDT, EDP, and Parfum have somewhat similar citrus + woodsy notes with the Parfum coming closest to replicating the musky dry down; all are more "blue shower gel" + powdery to my nose.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As a die-hard fan of Polge's groundbreaking original, my decant of Dior Homme 2020 went from "meh" to "that's not bad..." to "wow there's a lot of complexity" to purchasing a full bottle as my daily driver in the span of two weeks. Time will tell if it deserves a perfect 10 (I need to test it in winter), but this might be my favorite creation of Demachy's to date. Dior's only mistake was reusing the Homme nameplate which seemed to inflame a lot of negativity around what is otherwise an outstanding grown up fragrance. Very highly recommended.
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Cheap Thrills
What It Is: Nathalie Lorson's root beer float... peppery cola with a scoop of high quality vanilla ice cream while Guichard burns some incense in the room. This Is Him! is a one-two punch fragrance: the opening is all fresh ground pepper with a little stab of grapefruit oil and the dry down is a very pretty, somewhat linear vanilla-soaked sandalwood with a puff of incense. It's a straightforward scent, lacking much of the sugary sweetness or jammy depth found in other vanillic scents. Lasts for 4-6 hours and doesn't project much on me, but very pleasing to the nose.
Who It's For: Perhaps you aren't big on the heavier, sweeter scents like Le Male, but still want a spicy gourmand for sweater weather and date nights. Skews younger and masculine, but I think plenty of women will adore this.
Alternatives: For vanilla scents, Le Male Le Parfum strikes a similar balance of spice and sweetness, but with the sugar and intensity dialed up. For pure pepper, Spicebomb Extreme is a much louder interpretation of the note. For incense, Lorson's own Encre Noir A L'extreme is excellent, but it's based on vetiver and unsweetened.
For me, This Is Him! is about as sweet as I can go when it comes to foodie gourmands... it smells a bit youthful, but for the price and restraint compared to others in the genre, it's an easy reach for cool weather nights out.
Who It's For: Perhaps you aren't big on the heavier, sweeter scents like Le Male, but still want a spicy gourmand for sweater weather and date nights. Skews younger and masculine, but I think plenty of women will adore this.
Alternatives: For vanilla scents, Le Male Le Parfum strikes a similar balance of spice and sweetness, but with the sugar and intensity dialed up. For pure pepper, Spicebomb Extreme is a much louder interpretation of the note. For incense, Lorson's own Encre Noir A L'extreme is excellent, but it's based on vetiver and unsweetened.
For me, This Is Him! is about as sweet as I can go when it comes to foodie gourmands... it smells a bit youthful, but for the price and restraint compared to others in the genre, it's an easy reach for cool weather nights out.
Tasteful Class
What It Is: Quiet money in the lobby of a 5 star boutique hotel while the valet pulls the Mercedes around. Egoiste opens with a blast of aldehydes and dry cinnamon layered over a beautiful deep rose, all resting on a bed of sandalwood. Like its younger brother, Platinum Egoiste, it's a true eau de toilette: shorter-lived, but with a sparkling quality that keeps the cinnamon "popping" off your skin for several hours amid the swirl of rosy wood. This is top-tier perfumery from the brilliant noses of Polge and Demarchy who managed to create what (I think) is still the most daring designer men's fragrance on the market after 33+ years, teetering on the edge of niche territory.
Who It's For: The 30-35+ crowd who loves gourmands, but can't abide boozy sugar bombs. You also love rose, but it always seems too soft or is paired with oud. Egoiste *does* work in all seasons (wear it to an outside party in summer and watch what happens), but it's at its very best on a sweater during a cozy dinner party or a night out at the theater.
Alternatives: There are plenty of great sandalwoods to choose from, but almost all have been taken in a boozy (Killian Angel's Share), oudy (Xerjoff Oud Stars), or vanillic (PDM Layton, TF Noir Extreme) direction. The closest I've found is Eight & Bob Egypt which is more Oriental in style and denser in composition, but still retains the spicy sandalwood character. Among rose scents, I'd opt for a pure rose vs a floral blend or oud pairing; Diptyque's Eau Mage is a simple rose and cashmeran masterclass in minimalism.
For me, there are only three designer fragrances I'd ever rate an 11/10: Dior Homme 2005 and the Egoiste duo - nothing else has come close to the chiaroscuro of those scents and the impression they make when worn. I don't wear fragrances for compliments, but if I kept a tally, Egoiste would likely be the winner - someone has noticed it every time I've worn it. It's hard to believe Egoiste was even stronger in its original formulation; god help our neon-clad frizzy haired forebears who witnessed this in 1990!
Who It's For: The 30-35+ crowd who loves gourmands, but can't abide boozy sugar bombs. You also love rose, but it always seems too soft or is paired with oud. Egoiste *does* work in all seasons (wear it to an outside party in summer and watch what happens), but it's at its very best on a sweater during a cozy dinner party or a night out at the theater.
Alternatives: There are plenty of great sandalwoods to choose from, but almost all have been taken in a boozy (Killian Angel's Share), oudy (Xerjoff Oud Stars), or vanillic (PDM Layton, TF Noir Extreme) direction. The closest I've found is Eight & Bob Egypt which is more Oriental in style and denser in composition, but still retains the spicy sandalwood character. Among rose scents, I'd opt for a pure rose vs a floral blend or oud pairing; Diptyque's Eau Mage is a simple rose and cashmeran masterclass in minimalism.
For me, there are only three designer fragrances I'd ever rate an 11/10: Dior Homme 2005 and the Egoiste duo - nothing else has come close to the chiaroscuro of those scents and the impression they make when worn. I don't wear fragrances for compliments, but if I kept a tally, Egoiste would likely be the winner - someone has noticed it every time I've worn it. It's hard to believe Egoiste was even stronger in its original formulation; god help our neon-clad frizzy haired forebears who witnessed this in 1990!
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