In the last two decades, fragrances and colognes for men have exploded online and in blogs, as well as YouTube channels. There are things like Basenotes, Jeremy Fragrance, or Fragrance Brothers that are all about just the scent.
Colognes can create really powerful emotional ties. Style authorities such as Bruce Boyer argue that you should have a wardrobe of fragrances just like you have a wardrobe of clothes. That way, you can pick and choose depending on the season, your outfit, your mood, and the needs of the moment. The problem is fragrances are often expensive and not everyone wants to own 50 different fragrances or let alone 20. This issue is perpetuated by the fact that many colognes contain stabilizers meaning that they will smell differently five years down the road. So no matter if you have 10, 20, or 50 bottles, chances are you have to just throw them away after five or six years and do it all over again. Colognes are also heavily faked and because of that, you can’t return the bottle once you’ve removed the cellophane wrap from the packaging. Fortunately, there are samples so that’s the way to go.
Fragrances are profitable and so pretty much every brand under the sun out there has its own fragrance. Today, we wanted to choose a selection of classic fragrances that have stood the test of time. These days, the scents launched with the biggest hype and marketing budget are usually ones that sell the most but it doesn’t mean that you actually get the best quality scent for you. In fact, most large fragrance companies have a goal to have the content cost less than a dollar or two, with the bottle costing a little more depending on how intricate it is but ultimately, it’s a high margin business. Of course, there are also very high-end colognes on the market that sell for thousands of dollars.
Today, we’re just focusing on scents that have been around for at least thirty years. We narrowed it down to the ones that got the best reviews then got all of them, smelled them once, put them on, or then smell them twice. So we talk about the base notes, the heart note, and the top note but also about our just personal impression, review, how long it lasts, and we’ll share how much the bottle costs, what the top, heart, and base notes are, our personal views on it, and how they compare to one another.
Translated, the name means “Water of Parma” which is a city in Northern Italy. The small fragrance house created their first Cologne in 1916. The Colonia scent became a symbol of Italian chic in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Both David Niven and Cary Grant were admirers of the scent and someone even said, it smells like the golden era of Hollywood. Even though the brand struggled from the 60s onward, it was purchased in 2003 by the luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy.
Like many colognes in our lineup, it’s considered to be a citrus fragrance because the top note is Sicilian citrus. After a little while, it fades a little bit and you get heart notes of lavender, rosemary, verbena, and damask rose. Base notes include the vetiver, sandalwood, and patchouli. Right out of the box, we felt that the hint of citrus was light and pleasant and unlike that of a strong cleaning product. Acqua di Parma Colonia is not a strong scent, it’s more on the lighter side and therefore, suited for spring/summer, in our opinion. It is by no means heavier or substantial, it’s the kind of scent that anyone likes. It’s not offensive at the office but at the same time, it’s not the most unique fragrance out there.
Personally, I think it’s a bit too light for the fall/winter season nevertheless, it can still be considered a great all-rounder. On a very personal rating, I would give it a four out of five, maybe even more if it would have lasted a little longer. On my skin, it only lasted about sixty to ninety minutes and it was not very strong, to begin with. Considering the eau de cologne cost around $160 for 3.4 ounces or about 100 ml means that you pay a lot for something that doesn’t smell very long or strongly.
Even though Guerlain is better known these days for their cosmetics and skincare, it was originally founded in 1828 by Pierre-Francois Guerlain as a perfume. So over much of the 19th century, Guerlain created scents from their headquarters in Paris for the entire royalty of Europe. The company was passed down through the generations of the Guerlain family until the 4th generation master perfumer created the Guerlain Vetiver in 1959. Just like with so many other luxury brands, Guerlain was eventually sold in 1994 to Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. Now, while some saw it as a cheapening move for the brand, it is successful today and in 2000, the Vetiver formula was reformulated probably to save some money or to just update it for more modern tastes. Usually, it’s described as a scent that is woody, earthy, it smells like leather or balsamic notes. Vetiver is often used in men’s fragrances because it’s a very good stabilizer and it has a more masculine smell to it.
So what does the modern Guerlain Vetiver smell like? You have top notes of bergamot, lemon, neroli, and coriander. After a little while, the heart note of the vetiver and the cedar comes out a little stronger. In the base note, you have a tobacco, nutmeg, a little bit of pepper and tonka bean. Out of the box, we didn’t like this one as much as the Acqua di Parma Colonia because it was sharper and stronger smelling. The bergamot, vetiver, nutmeg, and cedar is just a little too strong. When I tried it a second time around, I found it more pleasant than when I originally smelled it. I don’t know if that had to do with the fact that I had it before but it was definitely growing on me.
Personally, I would rather wear it during the fall/winter season rather than summer. With it being a little sharper, it’ll last a lot longer than the Acqua di Parma. On my skin, about 6 to 7 hours. For the price of $99 for the 3.3 ounces or 100 ml bottle of eau de toilette, I thought it was pretty good. Generally, eau de toilettes are supposed to be less strong than an eau de Parfum but in this case, it lasts quite a while. My rating for the Guerlain Vetiver alone is 3 out of 5.
Dior is known as a fashion house, but their fragrance history dates all the way back to 1947. Eau Sauvage was launched in 1966. It’s considered to be a classic citrus fragrance. Out of the box, we like the citrus woody and spicy base. It’s about more substantial than Aqua Colonia without having the sharpness of the Guerlain Vetiver. Top notes include lemon, bergamot, a hint of cumin and rosemary. The heart note, you have petitgrain, jasmine, and patchouli, as well as a bit of carnation, basil, and coriander. For the base note, you have vetiver, sandalwood, amber, oakmoss, and musk. to me
To me, Eu Sauvage is the perfect year-round fragrance. It is light, it has some citrus but it has a substance that makes it office appropriate or also suited for a cocktail party or basically, any other event. I’d happily travel with just a single scent. While the top notes faded rather quickly, the base notes were still there solidly for about two to three hours. Afterwards, it turns more into a skin scent. For an eau de toilette, that’s okay. It’s priced at $95 for the 3.4 ounce or 100 ml bottle. My rating for the Eau Sauvage from Dior is 4 out of 5.
Knize is a Viennese tailoring house known for their store designed by Adolf Loos. I have been at their Vienna headquarters twice and it’s quite an experience. The scent Knize Ten was developed in 1924. The number 10 didn’t mean it was the tenth fragrance but it was a dedication to the polo game because Knize was associated with polo long before Ralph Lauren was. The fragrance was famously designed to imitate the scent of a leather.
While some people may describe Knize Ten as a young Marlon Brando scent, personally, it was my least favorite of all eight of them and honestly, I wasn’t alone. Our entire team felt the same way. Knize Ten is definitely a little more unique. It is a heavier scent, more powerful but to me, it doesn’t quite smell like leather and it has a certain kind of sweetness to it, definitely smells old-school and heavy and because of that, in my mind, it’s not at all a spring/summer scent but maybe only suited for the fall/winter season. That being said, personally, I would likely never wear it. Of course, for the review, I tested it a few times and I got top notes of bergamot, a hint of lemon, a bit more orange, but also petitgrain and rosemary.
While these ingredients are similar to many of the other colognes, the ratio makes all the difference and it makes this one smells a lot different than the others. The heart note, for me, was more flowery, there was carnation, rose, and geranium but also a little bit of wood in there like cedar, maybe even a hint of cinnamon and sandalwood, as well. In the base note, it has more like leather, musk, moss and amber and with this being a perfume from 1924, I think the recipe is a lot stronger than modern colognes. So when I put it on, I could still smell those base notes the next day if I didn’t take a shower, which I thought was quite impressive. Price of $120 for the 125 ml bottle, it’s quite fair and even though it’s just an eau de toilette, it’s just very intense, strong, and long-lasting. That being said, it’s just not for me and so I gave it a 1 out of 5 stars.
Creed, today, is one of the longest standing fragrance houses in the world. It was launched in 1760 in London by James Henry Creed. He was supposed to create a scent for King George III. The scent is known today as Royal English Leather. So even though the brand is more than a quarter millennium old, Creed fragrances didn’t become available to the public until 1970.
Green Irish Tweed wasn’t launched until 1985 but today, the house of Creed is still run by the 6th and 7th generation of the Creed family. Creed’s most popular scent was launched in 2010 that is named Aventus. I own the scent but we didn’t include it in this lineup simply because it is not 30 years or older. On the other hand, Green Irish Tweed has been around for longer and it has stood the test of time. It’s considered to be a classic Fougere fragrance which means as much as “fern” in French.
It comes from a family of perfumes that is based on lavender, oakmoss, and coumarin. Coumarin is a scent derived from the tonka bean and it’s often described as the smell of newly mown hay. If you read the reviews about Green Irish Tweed, it’s often described as an herbaceous and woody scent. It also plants notes of verbena, sandalwood, violet leaves, and iris. So on the top, you get the lemon and the verbena which is a very nice scent that I typically like in soaps. The heart note is more the iris and the violet leaf but I can always smell this freshly mown hay which is very pleasant, in my opinion. In the base note, there’s a little more sandalwood and ambergris.
Frankly, in this group, it was my personal and the group’s favorite by a long shot. Maybe it’s because it was the youngest scent in the lineup but it had this unique scent that was very mesmerizing. It was masculine but had a level of freshness, it can be worn year-round and is office appropriate. Unfortunately, it is quite pricey, 100 ml or 3.3 ounces retail for $395 to $415 dollars depending on where you buy it. And for some reason in Europe, it just costs a little more than €210 which is a lot less expensive. It seems like, overall, they definitely increased their prices over the last decade. With it being so expensive, it, at least, last for quite a while.
On my skin, I could notice it for six to eight hours and then even the next day there was kind of a skin scent similar to the Knize Ten in intensity. So honestly, my rating is 5 out of 5. My wife even said that her gift to herself would be a bottle of that cologne for me so she could smell it. Obviously, I won’t argue with that and she was so excited about it that she showed it to all her girlfriends which, for the record, loved it too.
Even a little older than Creed, it was founded in 1730. Even though it’s less well known than some of the continental European counterparts, it is still family-owned today. Winston Churchill was a fan of their scents and so was Ian Fleming, the author of James Bond. Floris no. 89 was launched in 1951 and is reminiscent of the number of their German Street shop in London, 89. It is, by many, considered to be the quintessential scent for the English gentleman.
When we tested it out of the box, there was a spicy nutmeg in the top note. The base notes were more like sandalwood, cedarwood, and vetiver. In the heart notes, I got a lot of florals. The first impression I got from this scent was an old-school barbershop. Overall, it was not offensive by any means but it wasn’t as great as, let’s say, the Green Irish Tweed and also not like the Eau Sauvage from Dior.
In my mind, the scent felt a little more dated rather than like a great vintage classic. It lasts about five to six hours on my skin which is quite good and a 50 ml bottle of the Eau de Toilette costs 80 bucks. Overall, my rating is 3.5 stars out of 5 for the Floris no. 89.
Launched in 1902, it is another one of Winston Churchill’s colognes. In my mind, it smells like a classic cologne even though it has more lemon and citrus notes than the Floris 89 does. I can also get notes of lavender and overall, it’s not too overpowering but in my mind, very well befitting of an English gentleman. I definitely prefer it over the Knize 10 or the Guerlain Vetiver. For the top notes, you got lemon, lime, and lavender so it’s very fresh. Interestingly, there’s not much of a heart note but it goes right into the base note. There is a bit of pine, musk, and black pepper.
In my mind, this is a great spring/summer scent for men, not so much for fall/winter. I would also call it much more linear and straightforward and less complex than, let’s say, the Green Irish Tweed. The Blenheim Bouquet lasts about 4 to 5 hours on my skin which is quite good for an Eau de Toilette. At $132 for a 100 ml bottle, it’s not cheap but it’s a classic and not a bad investment. If you like a citrusy, limey, summer classic, I think it’s a 4 out of 5. For an all year round one, it’s more like a 3.5.
There’s also a modern one in the blue bottle but this is the classic from the green bottle. Ralph Lifshitz created the eponymous Ralph Lauren brand in 1968 starting with ties which, at the time, were quite wide because that was opposite the trend of slimmer ties. He launched his first two scents ten years later in 1978. The Polo in a green bottle was one of them. Top notes include basil, thyme, and cumin, but for me, the strongest one was pine. In the heart note, there is some coriander, patchouli, oakmoss, and vetiver. In the base note, there is more leather, tobacco, and thyme. In my mind, the green bottle Polo is in an intense masculine scent. I also think the green bottle is befitting of the strong pine top note. The heavy pine notes in combination with the herbals make it a very woody and earthy scent.
Interestingly, it disappears more over time and also the second time around I smelled it, the pine wasn’t as strong anymore as it was initially. In my mind, this is a great cold-weather scent where you can put it up in a club bar or if you go to some of his restaurants. I think the scent fits right into the aesthetic that he wants to create. For office wear, it may be too bold for some, it is definitely bolder than, let’s say, the Blenheim Bouquet or the Floris 89. It lasts for about 6 hours which is quite nice and overall, my rating would be a 3.5 out of 5 stars, maybe a 4 if you like the pine scent that disappears over time. The eau de toilette costs $85 for four ounces or 120 ml.
At the end of the day, scents are a deeply personal and emotional thing and just because we like something, doesn’t mean you will. That being said, these eight classics have stood the test of time, there are a lot of people who like them and some who dislike them so if you want something classic that’s befitting of a gentleman, you can’t really go wrong with any of them, as long as, of course, you enjoy smelling them. Also, keep in mind that super strong scents that are not office appropriate can be a bother to others so it’s probably best to only use them outside your work environment.
If you want to learn more about fragrances, make sure to check out our general guide on men’s colognes which contains a number of videos and all about the history and just more information about men’s colognes and how to choose one that you like.
Thanks for this. I really like what you've posted here and wish you the best of luck with this blog and thanks for sharing. Sell Nudes
ReplyDelete