Le Troisieme Homme (Caron) - any fans?

[Featherweight]

I just bought a bottle of Third Man, blind of course, given how difficult it is to find this stuff in stores. I really like it, but I honestly don't know what to make of it. It starts out with a combination of lavender, citrus, and a light touch of oakmoss. Kind of has a champagne fizzy feeling to it. Then everything blends into this sweet combo of jasmine and musk. It's beautiful. As a red-blooded American male, one who has tried hundreds of masculine and several dozen feminine scents, I have to admit, Third Man makes me feel . . . strange.

Anyone else like this stuff, but feel it's a little weird?







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[tehtimmeh]

I'm not a big Caron fan outside of Yatagan. I've got a small decant of 3rd Man, but it doesn't really do anything for me.

 

[Featherweight]

That's interesting. Actually Yatagan is my least favorite of their masculine range. PuH is my fav. Third Man doesn't strike me quite the same way, but I do think it's a complicated scent that bears further investigation.

 

[The Nid Hog]

I like it. If Bois du Portugal is a punch in the nose, 3rd Man is the confident smile and the nod of the head. Kindred fragrances with entirely different levels of aggressiveness and grace.

 

[Featherweight]

I've seen it compared to BdP before, but get this - I don't see a comparison to BdP as much as one to Cardin Pour Monsieur, which itself gets heavily compared to BdP. I feel like there's a little bit of Cardin tucked into Third Man. Although maybe the lavender in the Caron does match the intensity of that in BdP.

 

[The Nid Hog]

Hmm. I could see that too, but the the Caron/Creed thing always jumps out at me.

 

[Timmy Dee]

3rd Man is my favourite Caron. Something about its herbal/floral composition puts it ahead of PuH and Yatagan in my collection.

It smells gentlemanly, and it's certainly a unique and challenging fragrance.

I'm still considering buying L'Anarchiste as well, but something about its note pyramid is holding me back (all of my Caron frags have been blind-buys).

 

[professorchaos]

I don't really care for any Caron. I'd like to think that's due to reformulation than my lack of refinement.

 

[CHSeifert]

I tried for 8 months to learn and appreciate my 125 ml/4.2 oz bottle of Yatagan - but at the end gave up. I hate the stuff.

But Caron Le Troisiemme Homme is a great citrus-herbal classic with vetiver.
I often blend it with Zino Davidoff and Chanel Egoiste - and I enjoy those blends HIGHLY.

I'm not a huge fan of any of the Carons used alone, but I really enjoy them highly in mix with other frags I own.

Caron Pour Un Homme I really enjoy mixed with either my Versace Pour Homme or my Chanel Allure Homme Sport. Great blends !

 

[Featherweight]

3rd Man is my favourite Caron. Something about its herbal/floral composition puts it ahead of PuH and Yatagan in my collection.

It smells gentlemanly, and it's certainly a unique and challenging fragrance.

I'm still considering buying L'Anarchiste as well, but something about its note pyramid is holding me back (all of my Caron frags have been blind-buys).

Yeah L'Anarchiste poses the same problem for me. I love the bottle, like the concept, and I've heard plenty of good things about it, but I'm wishy-washy on the whole apple/cardamom/mint fougere thing. It's probably an excellent scent, but I have heard that it was reformulated into more of a Cool Water clone in recent years.




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[Timmy Dee]

Exactly! FW you've identified the precise offenders (apple and mint) that make me really question how it will stand beside the other three. Having said that, the other three are such nice fragrances that I'm sorely tempted to buy it anyway.

It's clever of them to have it in a different bottle from the others, as it certainly seems the 'odd man out' in the mens range.

 

[MarkStar]

Fantastic stuff!

 

[Featherweight]

Exactly! FW you've identified the precise offenders (apple and mint) that make me really question how it will stand beside the other three. Having said that, the other three are such nice fragrances that I'm sorely tempted to buy it anyway.

It's clever of them to have it in a different bottle from the others, as it certainly seems the 'odd man out' in the mens range.

It's a great bottle. I've noticed in Third Man that there's almost a minty edge to the floral/wood/musk accord in the heart. The culprit: lavender. It is a member of the mint family, and the lavender hangs back in Third Man and mischievously does its thing.

If I ever try L'Anarchist (try = buy a bottle blind), I'll be putting some faith in the fact that Caron seems to skillfully manage "minty" notes, i.e. stray elements of lavender and fresh herbal accords.




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[StylinLA]

I think it's a great scent, but just can't find when I would want to wear it. Can't mentally categorize it for my own tastes. It is inordinately "pretty."

I find By Killians Taste of Heaven to be somewhat of a cross between 3rd Man and Caron Pour un Homme.

 

[The Chandos]

Not a fan. Not a fan of Caron in general. Although there are exceptions. At least one, anyway. But it gets a lot of love anyway.

 

[Renato1]

I own Third Man, all i can say about it is that it is nice - but i have plenty of nice and nicer scents.
It's not a standout like Caron Pour Un Homme, Yatagan or L'Anarchiste - like them or not, they do stand out.
Regards,
Renato

 

[victorydog]

I just bought a sample of Third Man and wore it for the first time today. The heady floral opening reminded me immediately of Acteur by Azzaro. The drydown was fast and the floral notes faded quickly into a soft spicy accord. A very nice, competent fragrance a bit more on the "dandy" side of masculines.

 

[Featherweight]

I definitely like Pour un Homme (love PuH actually) better than Third Man, and I like them both better than Yatagan, although I don't dislike Yatagan. Someone once said that Yatagan lacks contrast, and therefore lacks soul. I tend to agree with that. It's too much of everything in one direction, albeit a beautifully-rendered direction, and I just can't wear it (prefer Kouros).

Smelling Third Man now, I'm still convinced it's the strangest frag I've encountered in quite a while.

definitely don't get a comparison to Acteur, though. I'm with Stylin in that it's tough to figure when this Caron is appropriate. I'm not going to overthink it, though. I'll try wearing it whenever I'm in the mood for it. If that happens.





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[mdevine]

Of the Caron line, Third Man is my favorite. If there is any problem with it, the floral notes are almost too "pretty". I bought L'Anarchiste blind but rarely reach for it. It smells to me just like Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange herbal tea.

Mike

 

[Quintar]

Not a fan. Not a fan of Caron in general. Although there are exceptions. At least one, anyway. But it gets a lot of love anyway.

I am not a fan of caron either. Out of the 4 i've tried I think PuH was the most ok. 3rd man had a weird waxy smell i couldn't get past...
Yatagan was ok, nice herbal vegetal opening that smells of pine needles and celery seed, maybe cedar. strong going on but fades out in a couple hours
I wanted to like l'anarchiste, mostly because people say it smells like blood which might be cool...anyway it does not smell remotely like blood, it starts weird, reminiscent of honey and then becomes orange mint and cinnamon, drydown becomes a cloying sickly sweet mandarin like those fruit cups of mandarin and syrup, ugh