Anyone got thoughts on these? Bargepole?

Post by **Sam** » Mon Oct 01, 2012 5:42 pm

I ordered samples from Luckyscent, and will narrow down a winter cologne to one of these, to pair with Coromandel. I dont go clubbing at age 52, and I dont mind a scent that is a little more pronounced or loud. I work alone in an office, and by the time I get to work, or am at church, it is an hour since I have applied scent

By Kilian Sample:Cruel Intentions
By Kilian Sample:Straight to Heaven
By Kilian Sample:Back to Black
By Kilian Sample:Sweet Redemption
Maison Francis Kurkdjian Sample:Lumiere Noire Pour Homme
Maison Francis Kurkdjian Sample:Absolue pour le Soir
Frapin Sample:1270
Frapin Sample:Caravelle Epicee

So hit me with the top 3 as far as

1) Longevity, rank the 3 as far as that goes
2) Projection, give me 1 through 3
3) Uniqueness of scent , 1 through 3
and
4) overall, which would you add to my collection, 1 through 3

Again, I have GIT, Coromandel, Acqua di Parma Colonia Essenza, and Bond #9

I am thinking Sweet Redemption is out, but I am leaning to Lumiere for office and church, and either 1270 or a by Killian (Back to Black or Cruel Intentions - but I have heard it is short lived and some say BtB is cherry pipe tobacco) as the other.

I was thinking Parfum d'Empire Ambre Russe but too boozy. Worried if Absolue pour Le Soir is animalic too much?

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Mon Oct 01, 2012 8:59 pm

Sam, Yes, well...and good luck to you with all that. Dear Mr. Bargepole wanders in and out of our realm here as you know...very unpredicable as to when he might show up. Sounds like you may have to wait though because I don't know who else might knowledgeably respond to your queries. Myself, I haven't a clue what you're talking about...never even heard of any of those firms, let alone the specific scents. Not surprising I suppose given my tastes, but hopefully you'll get some meaningful response here.
Regards,
Gordon

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 5:54 am

New stuff to me Sam and google only reveals the usual advertising fluff . . . catchy names though.

Post by **Sam** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 6:16 pm

Got first sniff tonight when I got home and opened the samples. That Lumiere Homme was a nice rose scent, and first impressions. Straight to Heaven okay and so was Cruel Intentions. Sweet Redemption was an orange creamsicle, and Back to Black, cherry pipe tobacco.

Bargepole · Post by **Bargepole** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 3:55 pm

bernards66 wrote:Dear Mr. Bargepole wanders in and out of our realm here as you know...very unpredicable as to when he might show up.
Gordon

Like a sort of Poltergeist or revenant, you mean? Hmmm... I shall have to practice my soughing in the breeze though diaphanous is probably beyond me.

Without a moment's hesitation I would recommend the Absolue pour le Soir. It's a corker. Tremendous longevity, wonderful sillage, enough projection to encourage a closer approach and enough warmth and complexity to reward proximity. It is one of the finest animalic, warm, sensuous compositions around. What it's *not* is refreshing. It comes out of the gate with a shimmy of cumin, curves around in a twist of honey and benzoin, lingers through some complex flower-dances with ylang-ylang (reminiscent of the old-style French Ambre Solaire suntan oil, which is, for me at least, reminiscent of the most adorable blonde girl in white angora I once found weeping outside my rooms in college when I was a young man; she'd been stood up by her fella so I sort of sympathized as it were) and dries down to a civet (I think it's a bit more complex than the usual synthetics, probably a base I suspect I know but the name won't pop out of my seizing memory-banks) which has been present all along.

Animalic to the max. Some find it unsubtle. Some find Muscs Kublai Khan a more controllable alternative; others prefer Musc Ravageur as directing more attention to the wearer's own scent rather than Mr Kurkdjian's composition.

Some people call it an oriental. The hell it is; or if it *is* an oriental, it's the sort that the late Edward Saïd would have railed about: a fantasy of sensual luxury among rich brocades and heavy-lidded houris, and, somewhere not too far away, the odd camel or two.

The tune it plays oddly recalls Knize Ten, but by completely other means. If you can imagine a cold night in a warm Ottoman palace, being ravished repeatedly by women who (as the Chinese courtesans did) had fed on milk steeped with musk and ambergris so in the heat of passion they gave off those odours along with their own... well, if you can imagine that, you don't need Absolue pour le Soir. If you *can't* imagine it, buy a bottle, which will do the job for you.

You could also listen to Debussy's Chansons de Bilitis while drinking hot buttered rum (Diplomatico Ambassador, for preference), or maybe the orgy scene from Saint-Saëns's "Sanson et Dalilah".

As for the others -- I'll come back to them. But this is the big player in your excellent list. You owe it to yourself. It's quite a programme. But be aware it's in the French/Armenian style and owes absolutely nothing to the American "fresh-and-clean" tradition.

(If you find it a bit OTT, there's always the Cologne pour le Soir: more honey, less civet but still DAMN fine.)

Now I must FLIT away to materialize at someone's bedside, gibbering and mewing. Whooooo...

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 4:55 pm

Good heavens! Michael not only stopped by at the right moment, but he left us (me at least) trying to remember what was the original question. Anyway, where can I get some of that stuff? In my haste to read more, I just about forgot everything except the part about being ravished by large numbers of peculiar smelling women. Geez Louise!

Thanks to Sam for the post, to Gordon for summoning the great wizard of Cambridge, and to Michael for taking time out from his dashing to and fro and sharing a few memories with those of us (me again) who don't seem to get out and around enough.

Whew!

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 6:00 pm

Excellent answer Michael, delivered with your usual aplomb.

Now about that Angora clad blonde . . .

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:00 pm

Yes....well, there...you see?....and gone again, POOF! But WHEN you can get those sorts to appear there are these little gems. Highly interesting although "the French/Armenian style" is probably too much for me...hell, Knize Ten was pushing it. Still, it was a joy to read about....and yes, I did know that about Chinese courtesans of yore...eh?...never mind...
Regards,
Gordon

EL Alamein · Post by **EL Alamein** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:41 pm

I think I need a cold shower after reading this.

Bargepole · Post by **Bargepole** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:03 am

P.S. Back to Black is pretty damn amazing, too. What Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille could have been if it had kept its nerve and not fallen off the tightrope between old-fashioned masculinity and metrosexual oopsie-la.

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:36 am

Thanks for the comments gents!
Very much appreciated

clive

Post by **Sam** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 6:19 am

Wearing back to black today then. Not a big vanilla guy. Coromandel is about all I can handle. Barge any comment on staying power and projection of the absolue vs the cologne in the Soir?

blantyre · Post by **blantyre** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:34 am

Only ones on that list I tried were some By Killians. They were too sweet and rich for my skin chemistry - much like most of the Lutens scents. Very high quality and pricey so I did not buy any of them in the end.

Post by **Sam** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:57 am

Rick. I think Back to Black reminds me of serge lute a Fumerie Turque. It has been likened to cherry pipe tobacco. It does meet my desire for projection and so far i like it better than the 1270 I wore yesterday

Bargepole · Post by **Bargepole** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:46 am

Sam wrote:Wearing back to black today then. Not a big vanilla guy. Coromandel is about all I can handle. Barge any comment on staying power and projection of the absolue vs the cologne in the Soir?

The Absolue lasts longer, with a deeper note, but both are pretty durable.

Post by **Sam** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:50 am

Tested the Absolue last night alongside the Lumiere and wore Lumiere today. Love the Rose in it compared to Le Labo Rose 31, but Lumiere does not grab me. Absolue? What a beast. Lumiere is medium projection and it will last, but I see Lumiere as an Eau de Toilette, the Absolue as an Eau de Parfum and of course, the Cologne is the COlogne. If it has less skank and lasts and projects as well as the Lumiere, I am getting it. A much more interesting scent than Lumiere, Lumiere is just inoffensive.

From sniffs, I am thinking I prefer Cruel Intentions and Straight to Heaven over the other two. Will wear those the next two days and then Caravelle Epicee

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:28 pm

Sigh....Sam, you really have become a REALLY gone ( scent ) geek. Enjoy!
Regards,
Gordon

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 5:17 am

Doug (DEF) though missing of late, I hope you're following this thread. I personally am not fragrance-aware, but I know you are, and this is an example of where your comments on the subject at hand would be helpful and quite germane. Best regards!

Post by **Sam** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:07 am

Maybe if Bargepole flits back in, we can see if he has thoughts on how accurate my nose is

Back to Black - I get the cherry and I get the tobacco and it is one projecting scent and long lasting. IF they say the 80's produced powerhouse scents (think Cuba, think Devin, think Aramis) then this is up that alley. Some say there is a hint of powder, but I get more sweet than powder. At $225 for 50ml, if used sparingly, then I guess it would be a decent enough buy.

Straight to Heaven - projects half as much as the Back to Black. At first a piercing cedar note. I mean, think of those cedar blocks and that is what you get. It calms down but after 3 hours, nothing special to it. Some say it has a rum note but how could you tell with the cedar. To me, I would think Tauer's L'Air du Desert Morocain is much more evolving and much more arid feeling and is the more nuanced scent. $225 for 50 for Straight to Heaven and $125 for the Tauer, give me the Tauer.

Sweet Redemption - projects like the B2B and lasts as long and is the nicest, inoffensive of the four by Kilians I am trying.

Cruel Intentions - I get no spices, and I get some sort of waxiness note. About like Straight to Heaven as far as uniqueness and projection.

1270 by Frapin - a nice scent, much more attuned to my nose than the ones listed so far, but probably not as long lasting or if so, a very close to the skin scent after 3 hours

Kurkdjian Lumiere - now we are getting into some rose and some nice stuff. Projects like the Straight to Heaven and this is one that would have no detractors , a few who say they must have it, and a lot that would take it if it were gifted to them. Could be worn in an setting and any season.

The Absolue - one of those wild carnival rides that to read about it scares you and then you get on and you are scared off your rocker and then after the ride, the next day, you sorta wanna screw up the courage to ride it again. I am thinking that the Cologne version is what I would like, more honey, less animal and the only thing holding me back is the fact it says eau de cologne and it may be in that 'style' but if it lasts a long time (from morning say 7 to evening say 5) and if it projects at least like Lumiere or Straight to Heaven (say half the power of Absolue) then I am all over it.

I have a scent called Bois Blond and it is a nice woods scent, but I have to dig my nose into it to smell it.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:17 am

Very insightful Sam, useful information.