Wow. Interesting!
vetiver
- Thread starter FireDragon76
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- #62
I think an aquatic vetiver scent could be awesome but I haven't really found one. Most seem to use alot of black pepper, which is way too assertive to have the sort of clean, casual fragrance I would be looking for (something like Thierry Muglier's Cologne).
I may have to try to make my own.
You mean make your own by, say, adding calone, or one of the similar artificial perfumer ingredients that dominate what are normally thought of as aquatic scents, to a vetiver scent? We cannot be the only ones to think of doing that! There must be someone out there marketing such a scent. I do not see that vetiver and sea breeze notes would be inherently incompatible.
There are vetiver scents with salt/iodine/driftwood and similar seaside/ocean notes. Annick Goutal's vetiver for men, was one, but I think it was discontinued. I would say it was a vastly underrated scent, but I think it has some cult following.
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- #64
The trend seems to be to try to make aquatic fragrances heavier, for instance, the new Acqua di Gio Profumo, which starts out resembling Acqua di Gio's classic fragrance top notes (in fact it almost smells feminine due to the sweet incense undertone) and then after an hour or two becomes a leather bomb with ample black pepper and resins. Sort of like that Duke Canon perfume I tried a few weeks ago.
There's something about calone that can mask those heavier notes like pepper or resins.
Wow, interesting. I had not noticed. I am having trouble imagining this. Personally, rhetorically, if I want a fresh, sea breeze type aquatic fragrance, why would I want that to evolve into a heavy leather scent. (I suppose I might say, why would I ever want a leather bomb of a fragrance anyway!? I mean, I love leather scents, but they are heavy enough in the first instance, without going overboard. Tom Ford's Tuscan Leather, for instance, seems almost unwearable to me, as I recall. Although in many respects it is a beautiful leather scent.
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- #66
It may not be a true leather scent, I believe it's more of a resinous, earthy scent that's evocative of dusty leather.
I had an old bottle of patchouli once that had matured and developed this sort of heavy, resinous scent. Maybe that is what I am smelling. It sort of reminds me of everything I don't like about Drakkar Noir.
Anyways, I think the original Acqua di Gio was quite good, I'm not sure what to think about the new stuff. People complained about the lack of longevity or not being "masculine" enough in the original, but I think that's sort of the whole point.
I suspect like alot of spinoffs, AdG Profumo won't last as it exists in an uncanny vally that can't make diehard fans happy.
Thierry Muglier said when he developed his Cologne, he wanted to develop a fragrance for people that don't like fragrances. I think sometimes I have similar tastes.
Finally got ahold of a Guerlain Vetiver sample!
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- #68
I figured out how to wear that AdG Profumo- spray a bit onto a bit of paper towel and wipe it on to control the amount applied. With a little less, the character of this fragrance improves. I think it's one of those cases of different concentrations of fragrance being perceived differently. The aggressive leathery overtones recede a bit and just become a woody warmth.
Another thing that helps is applying moisturizer over the fragrance.
I might experiment some time and see if I can't put a washer under the spray nozzle, to reduce the amount that is sprayed (it works with my can of Barbasol).
A bunch of great suggestions on this thread, particularly Guerlain's Vetiver. But if you want something deep, dark, earthy, resinous, classy, I love Lalique Encre Noire A L'Extreme. Under $30 for 100ml. With more dollars, Creed Original Vetiver or Roja Dove Vetiver Pour Homme. The latter is incredibly pricey at $300 for 50ml. I don't have it (can't justify it) but I had a sample. Amazing.
Love Guerlain Vetiver.
Encre Noire A L'extreme by Lalique (second from right). Fantastic vetiver.
You made an excellent choice going with Guerlain.
I guess I should have said, I enjoy the simple vetivers that are fresh or green as much as those that are resinous or dark. I am amazed at how complex and different vetivers can be depending on how or where it was grown and processed.
It’s a lot like patchouli and sandalwood, just because you see it in the description doesn’t mean you know what you are getting.
It’s a lot like patchouli and sandalwood, just because you see it in the description doesn’t mean you know what you are getting.
You have a good nose.
Vetiver remains my favorite basic family of scents. And it is remarkable to me how varied they can be. I am not sure it is all dependent on where the vetiver was grown and processed either. I suppose I am not even sure how much event excellent vetiver scents are based on natural vetivers. Escentric Molecules Molecule 03 is apparently pretty much only vetiveryle acetate in perfumers alcohol. Not the most popular of the "Molecule" series, but I like it a lot. (I like the ebay knockoffs of this scent, too. As far as I know, Escentric does not have any special call on this ingredient.)
There are many continuums/spectrums of vetivers. Beside fresh, green, resinous, and dark, there is, to me, swampy, smokey, sharp, and others I am not thinking of or cannot well articulate. I assume it is a separately added note, but some of my favorite vetivers have a blackberry or blackcurrant note that seems to marry very well with the swampier vetivers. Maître Parfumeur et Gantier's Racine and Route du Vetiver always seemed to me an interesting comparison in top end vetiver making.
Then there are Creed's vetiver efforts, of which, as I recall, Luca Turin commented "Not vetiver." To me, Mr. Turin has a point, although the 1948 Creed vetiver was still a really nice edt. I am not sure why Creed does what it does as to vetiver!
Oh, sweet heavens of vetiver..
I think I found the closest possible match to CRS French Vetiver (at least that I can afford of).
Dark, earthy, intense and seems to be long lasting.
I think I will also pull the triger on the euqivalent soap from Le Pierre Lucien.
It’s so interesting how differently our senses experience things.
Vetiver triggers headaches and gag reflexes for me in even very small concentrations. I totally get that “fine bar of soap note”, so we are definitely smelling the same thing. I find it absolutely disagreeable, but I must be in a small minority.
Luckily, there are tons of other scent notes I love.
My go to Vetiver is Etro, a nice pure vet with little else to temper its roughness and pungency. Decent spillage. Lasts maybe 4-5 hours on a good day.
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