Drydown Transformation - In General

[PGHChris]

I've been a casual fan of fragrances for a while, but until I really spent some time on B&B, I never really understood a lot of what most people were talking about. When I would hear people throwing around words like "deep", "nose", "heart", "drydown", I would really have no idea what any of that meant. I would buy fragrances that I liked right after smelling them. I never thought to give them the chance to really develop on my skin and, even while wearing them, never thought to check how they smelled later. Over the last half a year I've really had my eyes opened up to just what exactly a fragrance can do. I now understand that they have a "life" from when you apply them until they fade or are washed off - changing, sometimes very drastically, during that span. It was in this time also that I threw out any preconceived notions I had about any fragrances I had heard of before - both cheap and expensive. I've discovered that a $15 bottle of Grey Flannel has almost as nice of a finish on my skin as a $300 bottle of Green Irish Tweed. And that certain "cheaper" colognes might really be hard to handle for the first 20 minutes, but evolve into something beautiful after that time. So, what I wanted to know is: what are some of the best drydown transformations you have experienced? I'll give a few of mine -

YSL Rive Gauche - while I love it as soon as I spray it, it really warms up on me after 30 minutes
Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel - this is a scent that I'm not fond of at first spray, but it mellows out very nicely
Creed Santal - another one I love all the way through, but after a while it turns into pure, high quality sandalwood

 

[smoothie72]

Zino Davidoff.
YSL Jazz
lutens Ambre Sulten
Cereus 14
Funny I have always found Rive Gauch To be pretty linear. First 5 minutes same as the last 5 minutes. Not in a bad way. Just what you get is what it is.

 

[coonskinner]

Grey Flannel tends to be very loud on me.

It has some more projection and stamina.

 

[Niles]

Bvlgari Black is one of the most interesting fragrances to me. It has notes of tea, woods, and amber. But unlike many fragrances with a clear progression of notes, Black goes back and forth between the different notes as time goes by. It's one of my favourite fragrances.

 

[john parker]

Grey Flannel is interesting to me. Initially on application it is a harsh something, then soon transforms into a pungent violet. In dry down I begin to pick up sandalwood. A very nice edt. Don't believe I have another that transforms as much and as well.

 

[dabrock]

Grey Flannel is interesting to me. Initially on application it is a harsh something, then soon transforms into a pungent violet. In dry down I begin to pick up sandalwood. A very nice edt. Don't believe I have another that transforms as much and as well.

First time I put on Grey Flannel I thought I had made a mistake, the violets are overpowering, but after some time it really becomes a very nice scent. The only other product I've tried that transforms more has been the infamous Lilac Vegetal, which I really like after it loses the top notes.

 

[Dheuthymos]

Dior Fahrenheit - "gasoline" to sweet violet, dries to fresh linen with a hint of burnt violet. Masterpiece.
DHI - "Lipstick" note to butter iris and powdery vanilla/cacao gourmand. Dries further to a dusty leather with gourmand. YMMV
Givenchy PI: A balmy benzoin-heavy vanilla frag, this one opens with a blast of citric orange that fades in about 10 minutes.

 

[DesertJake]

Guerlain Homme - An initial mojito scent blast that I love, but soon it turns into a plain powdery scent. If the initial scent hung around I would own a bottle.