Maxims Pour homme

Maxims Pour homme: have you ever heard an SA say "this scent has a BURST of freshness?"… All the time eh...but never convinced with what you sniffed?? Enter, Maxims Ph.

Powdery sweet accords of intense green notes with an equally intense accord of "refreshing" white florals, which by the way is not really able to shake that color green out of my head...all with a cool breeze of sandalwood. The powderiness, needless to say, stays thruout the entire progression of this scent. One aspect, which really grabbed my attention was this persistent accord of steel to this whole equation..it was Like smellin this accord thru a sterilized, perforated space age steel tube... this feel gives this scent a somewhat unique, fresh in a very shiny, sophisticated kinda way.

The base notes is lush, mossy, powdery with hints of patchouli but mostly mossy, woody with hints of leather. Did I say it stays fresh throughout? They don’t make scents like this one anymore.

Balenciaga Pour Homme

Balenciaga Pour Homme: I cudnt smell anything when I first sprayed it on..coz my senses went numb on first whiff (same thing happened with Furyo btw)..isn’t that how you feel when you have morphine..? So i have heard... Civet…Civet overdose with a spalsh of aldehydes, and honeyed floral notes... i simply loved this one. When i first received it, it was in a splash format (mini)...i splashed a decent amount on my palm and dabbed it on liberally around neck and forearms...whoa! For those who have tested this would know exactly how gritty it is. It’s a experience to say the least. Very intense notes of honeyed floral accords and aldehyde with a liberal dose of vanilla (not pods...more like the ice cream itself) with an strong overdose of civet giving it a "bite". The notes may sound like it's leaning towards gourmand, but it's surprisingly not! It stays on pretty gritty for the first hour or so thereby turning into a remarkably soft floral with a unique combination of Sandalwood, Vanilla, Incense and civet. It was/is an experience indeed and I enjoyed this scent every last bit where is my back up bottle!!! wouldn’t ever wanna be without this one.

For a quick reference, it smells like Ted Lapidus for men mixed with Kouros...the base notes is more like Lapidus pour homme than kouros. This is for someone who likes scents like Lapidus Pour Homme and YSL Kouros.

Balenciaga - Ho Hang Club

Balenciaga Ho Hang Club: A straight ahead, no non-sense Patchouli based scent (smell of earth) with a very powerful accord of florals combined with a powdery extract of spices and woody notes. The base is mostly musky, mossy green with hints of incense and mild touch of leather acting as a comforting anchor retaining its powdery accords with amazing consistentcy. Wish I had the vocabulary to go on and on about this gem…

This one is for people who admire scents like Cartier Santos, Trussardi Uomo & Van Cleef & Arpels ph. not to be missed at any cost. 80's at its best!!

extremely hard to find*

Jaques Bogart Furyo

Jaques Bogart Furyo: Yes, it;s the very same bogart..we identify this company by a release called One Man Show. With Furyo, Bogart created a landmark of sorts..so they did with One Man Show. but unfortunately, what we get today is a reformulated juice with just thelabel of One man show, it;s still good, but not the way the orignal used to smell. One needs to experience the kind of quality Bogart put in early on. Furyo is one eg. on that. it a long discontinued release by Bogart and almost "impossible" to find. it shows up on ebay sometimes and it gets snatched for some $500+. This has to do with the rarity aspect and also, the scent that Furyo is. Furyo contains very high concentration of Fig Tree Leaf Oil and Juniper berry oil making it a scent with high concentration of natural elements. It's quite clearly, the niche scent of 80's. If i have to make a reference, then Costes by Hotel Costes was clearly inspired by Furyo. Maybe coz of its use of Laurel, but that where the similarity stops... Furyo opens with a very "sharp", "arid" accord of laurel, bayleaf and note like rose sherbet...think costes like opening notes, only this one is sharp in approach and has that red feel to it...after an hour or so, this turns up the woody accords with a strong hand of civet. Civet as in, Kouros. Only thing, it doesnt smell anything like kouros apart from the civet reference...Civet in it gives this one the trademark powdery touch. Scent stays sweet, powdery, animalic &pretty linear from here on settling into soft notes of musk (primarily)

Notes listed behind the bottle are: Fig tree leaf absolute, juniper berry oil, Laurel, Vetyver, Tabac, Patchouly, castoreum, Amber and musk. Isn’t it surprising to see essential oils of Fig Tree Leaf and Juniper Berry in its composition?

This is for someone who admires scents like costes(for red spices, laurel and bay leaf), Kouros(for civet), although, this smells radically different as a scent. extremely hard to find scent*

Roberto Capucci - R de Capucci

Roberto Capucci’s R de Capucci: R de Capucci was probably the coolest dude back then. It has this powdery, fresh out of the barbershop with a nice after shave cologne kinda feel to it. It undoubtedly comes across as a green scent…not gritty, but intense, more like holding a bunch of freshly sprouted leaves against nose...doing so, the leaves would give off a slightly bitter, almost citrusy feel…my point is, the citrus doesn’t take ones attention away from the lovely green accord, it's anything but restrained and classy and it wants to make an impression as an well mannered, remarkably fresh and green scent without smelling dated or lemony. Surprisingly, after 15 minutes of application, it gets a bit powdery and the green notes gets a bit more intense, here it reminds me of the structure of the Chanel classic, Pour Monsieur. If anything, this could've easily become Pour Monsieur Concentrate...would have been very apt. Notes of lemon gleams now with a glow to it, giving this gem a breath of freshness and zest and making it more versatile. Floral accords adds to the charm and gives it the signature accord of an era it represented…basenote are pretty soft, mildy powdery, sweet, mossy with lots of fresh vetiver, vanilla like sweetness (and powderiness) with trademark hint of patchouli..

This is for someone who admires Chanel Pour Monsieur type scents

Roberto Capucci - Punjab

Roberto Capucci ‘s Punjab: Getting hold of this scent is as good as getting hold of shalimar. extremely hard to find vintage by the house of Capucci.

Punjab is a no holds barred, vegetal, herbal, amber based scent with a unique touch of floral. I do not get the connection with Leonard Ph but, I can very safely say it has a lot in common with Nina Ricci's Phileas. Only slighltly lighter than Phileas in the vegetal herbal department, nevertheless, not for the light hearted.Would be an overkill to have both in the same wardrobe, saying that, if you like these kind of herbal scents, then it cant get better. Punjab opens with a very warm, powdery smooth note of amber and dust. Very soon the herbal overtones are pretty clear...it stays pretty warm and herbal for an hour or so before moving into second phase where the herbal accord is slightly toned down to make way for exquisite floral accord coupled with cinnamon (the cinnamon init quite clearly reminds me of Creeds seminal release, Baie de Genievere)..the floral elements along with the touch of spice gives this scent a sense of contrast (against herbal notes)…this also helps form the heart notes of Punjab and never falls into the trap of being a one dimensional, herbal scent. What we get towards the base notes is where scents of this era shines...luxurious accords of amber and incense spilled on used leather kind of feel. Such soft use of incense in the accords, very visible, yet, never taking the center stage. The herbal feel is quite toned down by now and makes Punjab a scent which is quite versatile. In the sense, its developments are seamless and enjoyable at every phase.

It’s pretty obvious that Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan derived it's structure from Punjab...and by saying so, I salute SL, for releasing a scent which offers its customers top quality. Although, Punjab smells much more opulent in the amber department..Even Tom fords Amber absolute kind of pales in comparison...which goes on to show the kind of quality that went into this scent.

This is not a pleasant scent, people who don’t like (vegetal) herbal scents can safely stay away from this release but, if you like Nina Ricci's seminal release Phileas, then definitely give this one a shot.

Lancome Sagamore (1985, Vintage edition)

Lancome Sagamore: My First impression of wearing this scent was that of wearing a talcum powder, which wasn’t very sweet. The only hint of sweetness are in it's opening notes where soft notes of (dry) lime peel and herbs peek thru the dense, powdery accords of Lavender..A lavender so rich, one could feel its grittiness, feel it sway, almost taste it. There is a very raw use of Civet here which cuts off any hint of freshness in the scent. kinda gives it a very masculine accord. As the lavender tones down a bit, the notes of lime are much more clearer, although, it's not bright, or sparkling, it smells like dried lemon peel. The framework of this scent is quite obviously like Chanel Pour Monsieur, which makes me think of the Impact Chanel PM had on the perfumery. Sagamore continues to be a green, citrus based chypre in it’s heart notes reminding one of Chanel PM, the only difference, it's not as bright and fresh if you may. Sagamore settles down to a much more relaxed note of vetiver with hints of patchouli and lovely accord of sandalwood towards base...oh how i miss such accords in basenotes..Especially the use o.f sandalwood. Longevity is not exactly what I expected, but a few sprays extra might help JThis could very easily be a daily wear and is not as gothic as one would imagine. it’s a gritty, citrus base woody scent which is dirtied up a bit, yet, Smells a million bucks or more.

People who like Chanel Pour Monsieur type of scents should definitely put this one on their wish list

Gucci Nobile

Gucci Nobile: Crisp green scent with great transparency. Transcends all era and is timeless. For a change, it’s not a green scent which reminds one of Chanel PM. Nobile has to be the inspiration for scents like Malle’s French Lover…not in the use of civet but the juicy, fresh feel of tender, light green colored leaves. It turns a bit floral by mids but still retains it’s green character with a touch of gourmand (burnt sugar?) like accord. The base is a luxurious blend on musk, vetiver and sandalwood. Musk adds to the bite, keeps it fresh, vetiver keeps it green and sandalwood adds to the soapiness, keeping this a fresh scent all the way. A lovely scent for daily wear and a kind which with each wear reveals one secret after other. Incredibly well blended and a top notch composition