Hand Made in Wales

fisherc · Post by **fisherc** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 4:45 pm

I just took delivery of two fragrances from Wales. These are made by hand in Wales by Monks from a Monastery on Caldey Island(http://www.caldey-island.co.uk/). I purchased the "Men's Cologne" and the "Island Lavender". Both are excellent and a great value IMO. The Lavender is a very traditional English Lavender but seems to have more "staying power" than the Lavender Waters from Harris, Trumper, etc. The "Men's Cologne" is a citrusy/powdery blend that is very understated. I get a fair amount of Orange Flower with powder from this one. Very nice and highly recommended.

Chris

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 4:51 pm

Thanks for the review.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 6:20 pm

Chris, Yes, definately thanks for the review. I've looked those over several times, and wondered about them, but wasn't quite up to ordering either of them 'blind'. Perhaps I knew that if I waited patiently, you would come to my assistance? ( chuckle ). Yeah, the prices seem very reasonable.
Regards,
Gordon

yourmando · Post by **yourmando** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 6:25 pm

Chris, I alwasy enjoy seeing your posts, especially on cologne. This is fascinating stuff. How did you hear about them? The ones you tried sound very good and seem like something I would like. I'm also eyeing their perfume strength stuff. I will ask them if samples can be purchased.

Thank you,
Armando

Gillette1904 · Post by **Gillette1904** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 7:10 pm

I don't know exactly why, but I have serious trouble picturing a fragrance produced by monks as being something designed to really impress and ensnare the female of our species.

EL Alamein · Post by **EL Alamein** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 8:58 pm

Gillette1904 wrote:I don't know exactly why, but I have serious trouble picturing a fragrance produced by monks as being something designed to really impress and ensnare the female of our species.

Michael,

They are simply assisting people in the Biblical directive to go forth and multiply.

Chris

fisherc · Post by **fisherc** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 10:05 pm

Luca Turin, a self proclaimed fragrance cognoscenti, reviewed the Island Lavender some time ago and praised it highly. It was recently "resurrected" by someone on one of the "fragrance sites" and so I decided to "give it a go."

Chris

yourmando · Post by **yourmando** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 12:30 pm

Chris, what a coincidence. I have been reading all of Luca Turin's archived blog posts [PDF] and am reading his new book Secret of Scent. I have been meaning to post a link to his articles once I finished them. The first thing I thought of when I read Michael's "female attraction" comment was a post by Luca:

...A hack from Men’s Health, a magazine notable for the pectorals on its cover, wrote to me asking “How can a man maximize the influence of his cologne choices to attract the women he's really interested in ?” Efficient mating strategies are good in principle, but this one is doomed. Waste time wondering which “cologne” pulls better, and your genes will spread only by lucky accident. A perfume should be right for the man, not for the job. Men’s fragrances fall in three categories, two easy, one hard, with some overlap between them. Category one: things that just smell great, like Chanel Pour Monsieur, De Nicolai’s New York, Guerlain’s Jicky, Dior’s Jules, etc. There are only two ways to screw up with these: if you put too much on, or if the rest of you is less evolved than the perfume. Category two: “monogrammed slippers” stuff like Floris 89, Eau d’Hermès, Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, Guerlain’s Habit Rouge etc.. These come with a fondness for biography, stocks pages and sighing labradors, and have nothing further to contribute to propagating the species. The third category is the trickiest: “Young Buck”. This is where most men (even gay ones, surprisingly) need a course in self-awareness. The guiding principle is: if you think you should be wearing it, don’t. Perfumes like Miyake’s Eau Bleue, Saint Laurent’s Kouros, Lapidus Pour Lui are fashion accessories. Like most couture for women, they are not meant to be helpful, but to measure how much strain your beauty can take. Unless you’re made of pure, self-confident gold, stay away from their dissolving aqua regia. And, as you get ready to go out, consider Emmanuel Bibesco’s famous question: “Pourquoi pas rien?”.

I googled and found Luca's lavender article here: Duftnote -- Blue

Very interesting! I had read his original post on Yardley's English Lavender and Caron Pour Un Homme, and I see he has found a new lavender King.

Armando

Post by **ichabod** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:02 am

Gillette1904 wrote:I don't know exactly why, but I have serious trouble picturing a fragrance produced by monks as being something designed to really impress and ensnare the female of our species.

Monks have historically provided several elements of the good life to those of us not blessed with their asceticism.
Mead is another example that springs to mind. Often used in bygone days to ensnare.

mparker762 · Post by **mparker762** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:50 am

And those swinging party-animal trappist monks in Belgium making all those high-alcohol trippels and quadrupels that are so perfectly suited for winning a woman's heart.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 10:17 am

Gillette1904 wrote:I don't know exactly why, but I have serious trouble picturing a fragrance produced by monks as being something designed to really impress and ensnare the female of our species.

Santa Maria Novella line also has it's origins from a monastary in Italy.

yourmando · Post by **yourmando** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:35 pm

I asked Caldey about the availability of samples and whether any of their perfumes would be suitable for men. The response I got about the latter was interesting:

Our scents, including Island Lavender are primarily intended for women and all are quite "feminine" except of course for Caldey for Men which is available in after shave, cologne and soap.

I think perhaps a man could use the Lavender, as it is a very fresh smell and the other possibility is Island Fern, which has quite a sharp and slightly woody scent. The Gorse, Bouquet and Number One, I would say are all too floral. Brocade is quite muskily feminine. Madrigal is lighter but also distinctly a woman's fragrance...

Of course, I think a classic lavendar is perfectly fine for a man. I bought some lavendar, the Caldey for Men, and Island Fern in EdP strength. I'm hoping it is a traditional fougere (fern in French) type scent. Since real ferns don't really have an odor, I think it must be the mythical fern along the lines of Penhaligon's and Trumper's Ferns, Crown fougere, etc. (I recently learned that the first synthetic fragrence was Houbigant Fougere Royale. They made up the fougere category, which centers around coumarin.)

No, they don't provide samples, but the price is right.

Armando

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 9:37 am

Armando, I'll be interested to hear your take on these scents. I've found that most Lavender Waters available today, are, as those folks in Wales described theirs, ie distinctly blended toward the 'feminine'. Many years ago, Yardley made two, one for gentlemen, and one for the ladies. When you read of some gent, years ago, swearing by Yardley Lavender ( like in that fragrance blog where the writer talks about his Italian grandfather ), they are generally referring to the men's version, which hasn't been available now for decades. That is also the one that was Frank Sinatra's favourite daily cologne. In the early 1960s, Black Label kind of replaced it. Black Label remains one of my personal favourite all time colognes, but it too is long gone ( although I've managed to snag two old bottles of it ). This is one of the main reasons I'm so keen on the old Atkinson's English Lavender; it is one of the few that is still blended unreservedly for men.

Yes, 'fougere' is simply the name of a scent type or family. Houbigant's Fourgere Royale is generally considered to be the first of the more or less modern Fougeres ( 1881 ). However, Truefitts was almost certainly producing some even before that. The traditional English style ones are indeed based on a blending of lavender and coumarin, on an oakmoss base. I'm looking forward to your 'reviews' of these Welsh colognes.
Regards,
Gordon

yourmando · Post by **yourmando** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 9:47 pm

Gordon, unfortunately, I haven't tried Yardley's or Atkinson's lavenders. I would have loved to. I can see how lavenders can be formulated either way. I often get this when I try rose type scents, which is often feminized with stuff that smells like, well, women's cosmetics. I am looking forward to trying Caldey's. I assumed the person telling me the lavender was feminine was just wrong because of Luca's comparison to the old Yardley and Caron's Pour un Homme, and then Chris' endorsement. (Luca, however, does often mention scents as his top favorites when they are clearly for women, and he doesn't usually mention this. I own one of them, Mitsouko, in the full ounce pure parfum bottle, and that is clearly feminine to me even with the rich chypre oakmossy base. (No, I don't wear it. It is part of the scent library.))

Interesting fact about Truefitt predating the Houbigant. I was under the impression that Houbigant defined the category, but perhaps they were just the first to use the synthetic coumarin.

I have tried two very good Serge Lutens lavender based scents recently that I really like, although they are not classic lavender waters. I'll post a bit about them in a separate thread.

Armando

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 10:24 pm

Armando, Well, I think that when Luca talked about liking the Yardley himself, he meant what one can still buy, which is the more feminine version. I have two bottles of it, in the 'parfum' strength. As I mentioned, the specifically gentlemen's version has not been available for almost half a century, probably. Occasionally, one will see an old 'Yardley Shave Set' on Ebay that will include a bottle of the men's version cologne or aftershave, along with shave soap, and sometimes, hair tonic.

Actually, Atkinsons is still available, sort of. One version is still sold ( and made ) in Italy. However, there is another. This is the one I've turned several members on to. It's bottled in the US, "from imported essences", by some mysterious firm that none of us have really ever been able to nail down. They are either in the Miami area, or in NJ, or so I've heard. These folks also do a version of the Atkinsons Gold Medal ( their original Eau de Cologne scent ) and Royal Briar ( the original version of which was favored by the younger Ronald Reagan, so they say ). The original Atkinsons was one of the very upper crust London Gentlemen's perfumers, along with Penhaligons, Floris, etc., going back to the end of the 1700s. They had a Mayfair shop until after WWII. Anyway, this current US version of their Lavender Water is inexpensive, and yet, very nice. And, it is distictly and unequivocally a men's cologne.
Regards,
Gordon

yourmando · Post by **yourmando** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:57 am

Gordon, I see, the lavender plot thickens. Regarding Atkinsons, is this the US stuff?

http://www.michaelscotts.com/catalog/pr ... cts_id/152

Armando

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 2:54 pm

Armando, Yep, that's the stuff. I see that they offer the Royal Briar also. For some unknown reason, it seems to be carried by a couple or three southern California clothiers. Carroll & Co. is another. Cambridge Chemists in NYC also stock it. It's a good straight forward gentleman's lavender water. Personally, I like it almost as much as the SMN Imperial Lavender, which is a hell of a lot more expensive.
Regards,
Gordon