Scentemental

I love his cologne! I had the aftershave of this for a while before I managed to get an EDT and was so pleased to find it. To me this does for lavender what cK one does for lemon: it is an abstract and stark version of the natural ingredient. There is a watery/metallic accord, which makes it a perfect summer fragrance, in fact, I think I will wear it tomorrow, it is due to be 35 degrees C.

This fragrance is apparently discontinued, but is easily available. I reviewed it on another website 3 years or so ago and it was discontinued and cheap back then. Well it is still cheap, so there must be a lot of it still out there. I paid $11.95 for 75ml ( about $10 US) for it and it is well worth that amount. I have no idea why the milk container packaging was thought to be appropriate for this fragrance as it has nothing to do with milk! From the outset, the fragrance is reminiscent of Dunhill Desire or to some degree Xeryus Rouge and Nikos Sculpture. It has a sweet and sour spiciness that makes this a very lively scent. I think it is the green notes and sweet spices, such as cinnamon that dominate and give this balance. It lasts rather a long time and would suit younger men.

I have always loved the smell of lavender, even before I started collecting fragrances. Lavender grows in my garden and is one of those plants that can survive a hot Australian summer with minimal attention.

I read many rave reviews about this 'classic', but as Caron products are not available in retail stores where I live, I never got the chance to try it. Eventually I managed to get a 200ml bottle of Pour un homme from ebay quite cheaply. When I first tried the cologne I really liked it.

There is no attempt to hide the lavender in this fragrance: it is quite clearly the centre of attention. I cannot detect a huge range of notes, just lavender and vanilla with a general leafiness. I thought, "how hard can it be to make a copy of this.", so using essential oils I made something that is similar, but lasts about 1/4 of the time. How they get the fragrance to last so long is remarkable. It is one of those simple, comfortable perfumes that people will continue to buy as it is evoke memories.

I made the decision to cease from buying myself any fragrances as a New Year's resolution. On December 31 I bought myself a 300ml bottle (on sale for $27 Australian) as a last addition to my collection. I do not have a huge range of eau de colognes and felt that this masterpiece really deserved a place in my wardrobe. It is summer here at the moment last weekend we had 43.3 degrees C and for the next week it is forecast to be 37 degrees C on most days: 4711 is the perfect cologne for such weather. I usually put it on in the evening before I relax after a long day: a small palmful splashed on my neck and the lovely smell of neroli wafts around me. This is a subtle, well balanced cologne that is not overly citric: it is just right. The longevity is predictably low, but that is to be expected. There is a reason this has been around over 200 years!

I got this cologne as a New Year's present from my children and so I have very good feelings about it without even smelling it. The impression I get is of cloves and tobacco even though these are not listed notes. The combination of spices, with the cypress and sweeter notes make me think of the sweetened tobacco accord in Bogart pour Homme. Eau Des Baux is a lot smoother than the Bogart . Overall it is classy number with reasonable longevity and is very natural smelling. My wife has complimented me a number of times on how good it smells.