A Politely Thorough Dust-Up

[RoyalKooparillo]

Thanks to Chuck for arranging the Royal Scottish Lavender cologne split!

So, what are your impressions? I've been enjoying it very much...it's certainly quite different from the scents I normally wear. But I love lavender, and RSL certainly gives plenty of that. I really like the initial spiciness and touch of cloves along with the lavender. The powdery vanilla that comes out on drydown is quite strong, but it's pleasant and growing on me.

I feel like someone smacked me in the face with a spicy ball of lavender and then antiqued me with vanilla powder. In a good way.

 

[Rorschuck]

It can definitely have a prominant powdery vanilla smell to it, but I find that there's a very fine line for this fragrance and the powder/vanilla; at one dosage, it's (to my nose, on my skin) barely noticable, with musk and lavender being about all I get. But just a tiny touch more, and you get the vanilla/powder right up front. I like that, though, because it's like two fragrances in one! Longevity doesn't seem to suffer much at all with lesser applications, either. Sillage is very subtle, as befits such a soothing, peaceful scent more about quiet introspection than ostentaciousness.

I really like the musky base, and think it marries with the lavender wonderfully. It's rather akin to a more subtle (to me) Mouchoir de Monsieur by Guerlain. I find MdM is just a touch too heavy on the indole, and as a result I find it smells quite exactly like... well, something not pleasant at all, but commonly associated with indole molecules.

My depth of experience with lavender scents is semi-minimal, but this and Serge Lutens' Encens et Lavande are, so far, unmatched by any other lavender scents I've tried (though Arden for Men Sandalwood's comparatively short-lived opening burst of lavender is pretty darn nice). Quickly becoming a very-heavily used scent for me.

 

[Scentronic]

I love Royal Scottish Lavender. It is definitely in contrast with the clean lavender scents like Caron Un Pour Homme, Penhaligons' Lavandula, and Gendarme 20 (which is awesome). Well...they're all awesome. I love fragrances.

No really, though, if you like lavender and/or Gendarme, try Gendarme 20.

 

[RoyalKooparillo]

While checking out reviews of RSL on basenotes, I ran across one that I really got a kick out of, by Naed_Nitram (whose reviews always bring a smile to my face). Thought I'd share it with you guys...

The Baron de Charlus once told me: 'I recall the time when I was a houseguest at the Balmoral estate of Queen Victoria (or "Quack Quack" as we used to call her on account of the fact that she reminded us of a small stout duck). She gave us each a bottle of Creed's Royal Scottish Lavender.
"We are curious to know, de Charlus," demanded the Queen, "whether this fragrance, reputedly commissioned by ourself in memory of our dear Prince Albert, meets with your fastidious approval." "It is well known, my dear Quack Quack," I responded, "that sadly many Creed scents suffer from one of two faults: either from the infamous Creed arse note or from an incurable air of stuffiness. In the case of Royal Scottish Lavender, the infamous arse note is mercifully lacking, but not so the air of stuffiness. If I let my imagination wander, I conjure the following image: three of us are seated together in the royal train travelling through the Highlands: my own elegant self, your prim and portly personage dressed in widow's weeds, and the serious shade of your dear deceased consort Albert. The tenacious scent of Royal Scottish Lavender fills our compartment,strangely combining a sharp, natural air with an over-civilized medicinal and stuffy quality - in some ways reminiscent of herbal candy or those sticks of lavender rock one sometimes still finds in the jars of certain pharmacies. Poetic, quaint, fresh, prim, confectional, medicinal, old fashioned, somewhat delightful if somewhat staid."
The Queen blinked back a tear. "Much like my dear Albert, then," she commented, "and much unlike you, reeking of your decadent dandy's scents, your Musc Ravageur, your Habit Rouge, your Anucci Man and your Sybaris!"
I felt somewhat annoyed by these jibes at my exquisite taste and resolved to respond with the deadliest insults that a fragrance master can muster. "My dear Quack Quack," I replied icily, "I have it on the best authority that your precious Albert, when he was not stinking out the royal palaces with Cigar Aficionado or offending foreign dignitaries with the injudicious odour of Joop, would insist on boring the whole of English society to death with the bland tedium of Memoire d'Homme and Dior's Higher Energy! Enough said, I believe."'