Le 3ᵉ Homme Caron 1985Eau de Toilette

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7.9 / 10 272 Ratings

Le 3ᵉ Homme (Eau de Toilette) is a popular perfume by Caron for men and was released in 1985. The scent is spicy-green. It is being marketed by Cattleya Finance. Pronunciation

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Perfumer

Richard Fraysse

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Bergamot, Mandarin orange, Lemon
Heart Notes	Clove, Coriander, Lavender
Base Notes	Oakmoss, Vetiver

Ratings

Scent

7.9 (272 Ratings)

Longevity

8.0 (197 Ratings)

Sillage

6.8 (191 Ratings)

Bottle

7.2 (182 Ratings)

Submitted by DirkDS, last update on 19.10.2020.

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Reviews

09/29/2020

WildGardener
119 Reviews

WildGardener

Big Fish in a Small Pond

If you want your perfume to make a big splash, launch it on a small pond. And there aren't many smaller ponds than the masculine floral.
Third Man is a white floral fougère,* with a gritty overtone and powdery amber rising from the base. There's not much to it really, making it suitably simple - but still 'daringly' floral for a masculine.
It's nicely done but it gets a bit sweet by the end.

3*+

Part FB, bought second hand

* Fougère : Michael Edwards - Fragrances of the World

04/06/2020

9
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage 8
Bottle

FvSpee

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FvSpee

Top Review 32

CoViD comments, seventeenth play: Kim Wilde.

The crisis, with its extended stays at home, is leading to the fact that long periods of lying still are being tackled. So today a commentary on the "Third Man" of Caron, or, because that's how you can translate the label to the "Third Man of Caron"! Because this has been one of my absolute favourite fragrances for a long time, but nevertheless it has always remained a statement (the same applies to Bal d'Afrique, by the way; but maybe it will be next...).

Why no long version so far? Probably also because this scent is hard to grasp and difficult to describe. If one reads through the comments and statements, everyone seems to perceive it differently. This is not an industrial accident, because this Caron opens up large open spaces and interpretation areas. It's not based on a cliché, it stands for itself (that's the great perfume-making art) and it really has a very mysterious, open, undefined aura (that's the great perfume-making art).

Le 3e homme was published exactly in the middle of the 80s. It is anything but one of the typical powerhouse fragrances, no Magnum (and by that I don't mean ice cream), no green fougère spice monsters, nothing of aftershave, nothing of uninhibited masculinity. And yet this fragrance radiates an 80s aura, one of finest synthesizer artificiality and above all androgyny. This is Boy George with "Do you really want to hurt me", David Bowie with "China Girl" and, coming from the other side of the gender spectrum, Kim Wilde with "You keep me hanging on"; all songs that have been released in close temporal proximity to "The Third Man". Thus he is not superficially sexy or sensual; however, he has his very own eroticism of a mysterious aloofness, a brightly illuminated plastic world, a very physical incorporeality
If I could try a classic description of the fragrance: Despite the citrus triad, which appears hyperclassic on paper, this fragrance has no top note at all, and certainly none of carefree, free-floating citrus freshness. These notes may be present somewhere, but are compactly built into the machine. In a way, the same applies to the base. The heart, however, can be identified, and I recognize it today (unlike at the time of my statement) as classically dual: This is a lavender-clove fragrance, just as "Pour un homme" is a lavender-vanilla fragrance. When you smell good, you smell lavender and clove very good, and yet (that's why it's a work of art) it doesn't smell like lavender water or Old Spice, but rather very different and unique. "Le 3e homme" is for me very, very bright; friendly, but also very mysterious (like a good alien), distinguished, crystalline, a little unreal-dreamy, but at the same time wide awake.

For the name, as for the fragrance itself, there are 9 points. It is supposed to allude to the fact that this was the third men's fragrance by Caron (very likeable, only 3 men's fragrances within 50 years!), as well as to a (of course, superficially seen, completely wrong, and therefore also ingeniously right, because the fact that nothing opens and "is right" characterizes this fragrance again) trail to the film "The Third Man"
With this Caron, many, if not all, of the scents are right for me, which is why it is one of my most worn scents: The actual scent is fantastic, but also the durability and projection are very, very remarkable (without being brutal and obtrusive). By the way, the price is right (under 100 Euro for 125 ml) as well.

If I have hesitated for so long, it is not only because this fragrance is so difficult to describe, but also because it is already so excellently commented. Because there are already many great reviews of the third man, but I want to highlight one of them. I joined here so late that I didn't manage to subscribe to Seelanne anymore. He wrote his last comment here about 3 years ago, before he unfortunately fell silent on Parfumo, and that was his comment on this fragrance. This comment is really excellent, much better than mine, and I highly recommend it for additional reading. It was inevitable for me to repeat some of it (I hope it's not plagiarism, but simply the same feeling).

19 Replies

01/05/2020

0.5
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage 9
Bottle

Meetjoeblack
9 Reviews

Meetjoeblack

Less helpful Review 1

For the Retirement Community Set

With all of the rave reviews out there on the internet I picked up a bottle of this. Terrible, terrible fragrance and an utter waste of dresser space. I have a very strong stomach and this stuff nauseated me. A woman I am dating told me to wash it off immediately.

I like a lot of macho, stronger, classic scents from decades past (Hugo Boss No. 1, Azzaro, Paco Rabanne, etc.), so that's not my issue with Third Man. It's in a special category of terrible all by it's lonesome, and I can't see it being used for romance unless you are trying to chase down old ladies in a nursing home.

6 Replies

11/21/2019

9
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 8
Bottle

Pepdal
189 Reviews

Pepdal

Le 3e Homme Review

The first Caron I ever added to my collection and one that probably doesn't get discussed as much as its masculine predecessors, Pour Un Homme and Yatagan. Here is my video review for this 1985 release, thank you for watching.

11/15/2019

8.5
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 9
Bottle

Hautgout

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Hautgout

Helpful Review 11

The gland of Zibet

....is not the sequel to "7 years in Tibet" or the compendium of the Association of German Proctologists and certainly not the latest blockbuster from Uhse....
The idea to deal with the butt of a cat against the background of the extraction of animal smell substances or attractants probably only comes from humans. Zibet, which originates from the anal glands of the civet cat, has long been a common ingredient in perfumes. The main component of the musky secretion of the animals, which excrete even the most expensive coffee beans in the world, (droll that there are such a few rich idiots who actually buy such things) is nowadays synthetically produced.
Good for the cats - there were times when the poor critters were put into 45 degree preheated ovens to increase the yield of the civeton and then harvest the "whole thing" with a wooden spoon in a process called curettage. Place of action: Ethiopia.
We'll sum it up: Ethiopia is known for great coffee, smart cats making coffee beans, nimble anorexic young men and women competing in a monkey's tooth in an oval (and in the best case getting paid well for it) and zib concrete. Panem et circenses. First a Jägermeister or a Sambuca with coffee bean...

Third man. The intro makes sense because the Zibeton plays a not insignificant role in the fragrance because in the top note the Zibet strikes the office a bit in need of getting used to - that is to say: in about 3-5 minutes you stick to the backside of the cat and fight (due to the position) with a discreet gag reflex (slightly exaggerated). Everything not so bad smells but definitely something animalistic...
From our own experience we can say that the vintage version is really only for hardcore aficionados - the test strip obtained in a noble perfumery made you constantly wonder where this slightly fecal vibe comes from on your way home. It wasn't from the drunken visitors to the Volksfest who were redundantly present in the S-Bahn and stared at you with glassy eyes... Clear preference for the current version.
If the anal phase is over, you get a wonderfully powdery, carnation-dominated fragrance with minimal sweetness, which rightly received a 4 (or 5?) star rating from Lucas Turin. Well, the cat can do something. With a lot of imagination one could assume that Helge Schneider's "Katzenklo" is a coded homage to Le Troisième Homme.
Miao.

5 Replies

01/29/2016

6
Scent 7
Longevity 7
Sillage 9
Bottle

Hajuvana
13 Reviews

Hajuvana

Not what I expected

The pyramid looks all wrong to me. From a 2015 bottle, what I get is a borderline case between an aromatic fougère and a leathery chypre. As I happen to love that specific mix, here are some observations.

Opening: Not much citrus nor lavender. To be completely honest, all I get is jasmin, Juicy Fruit and juniper.

As the heart uncovers, the strange synthetic fruit note fades (thank goodness) and we're in the same ball park as, say Paco Rabanne pour Homme or, even more so, Worth Pour Homme. The kinship with the latter is especially in the interplay between a fougère accord and smoky leather notes. Now that I think about it, not even Kouros is that far away. If you took Kouros and removed everything interesting (the artemisia from the start and the urinous, animalic civet & honey effect from the other end), you'd be left with Le 3me Homme, basically.

A floral masculine? Just about as floral as my ass. Not bad, but disappointing considering its reputation. There are several similar eighties' pieces I'll be choosing over this.

06/15/2014

10
Scent 7.5
Longevity 5
Sillage 10
Bottle

MasterLi
375 Reviews

MasterLi

Wonderfully striking, balanced and unique!

What a gem! The House of Caron does it again... Always unique, and quite unlike anything else out there on the market. The Third Man is a perfectly balanced masculine floral. Yes, a (masculine) floral... (Dior Homme take note!).

This is how it's meant to be done! Everyone sees something different in this, a fizzy, mossy, aromatic, enveloping cloud which is unlike anything you've smelled before! Even with a hint of champagne in the opening! I mostly get beautiful indolic Jasmine, dry Lavender and tons of Oakmoss. You gotta love 80's masculines!

Overall, a perfectly balanced, unique and intriguing fragrance. This is how a male floral should be done. Top class. Elegant. Unique. Well done Caron!

07/14/2012

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

Helpful Review 4

Dark, Diminishing

A classic aromatic fougère, good clean manly fun. The lavender freshness is there, the bitter coumarin is there. But so is a fetching jasmine. It brings a pretty, clean floralcy that outlasts the lavender. But there is also a burnt note that darkens the whole composition and adds an angular element. It smells like desert creosote bush in 110 degree heat. It’s a very specific burnt scent. The bitter coumarin, some moss and this singed accord should overwhelm the jasmine, but it all winds up extremely well balanced and feels like a dark night breeze. It’s a remarkable trick. It reads as a dark fougère but with jasmine, not a heavy one.

However it was composed, 3ème Homme leads with both the gruff and the lovely, and keep them both out front throughout the dry-down. Sort of butch and femme in one. (The above based on bottle purchased in 2006. )

(I feel somewhat obliged to keep adding these caveats, but I’ve smelled Troisieme Homme recently, and while it’s a rich, strapping fougère, it doesn’t nearly have the juxtaposition that made it so appealing. Even a few years ago, I could have stocked up on 4.2 oz bottles for $30 a piece of the old formula. Uuggghhhhh….)

05/14/2012

8
Scent 7.5
Longevity 7.5
Sillage 7.5
Bottle

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Top Review 5

Wonderful Tribute to a Splendid Film

I acquired the Caron masculine triptych, POUR UN HOMME, YATAGAN, and LE TROISIEME HOMME, after reading countless raves about all of them and discovering how reasonably priced they are. By far my favorite is LE TROISIEME HOMME. This smells simply splendid and strikes me as entirely unisex if not slightly more feminine than masculine. There is something very appealing about this floral fougère, which goes relatively light on the lavender, happily, and is so well blended that I have difficulty teasing out any individual notes. I will say that it strikes me as an olfactory neighbor of ELdO JASMIN ET CIGARETTE, which I recently tested and very much enjoyed. True the compositions are completely different, but the timbre and texture (and perspective!) are very similar, it seems to me. In addition to the jasmine overlap, there is also a tobacco-esque quality here as well, perhaps imparted by the vetiver mingling with the oakmoss.

IMNSHO, this is a million times better than POUR UN HOMME, which is way too lavender-loud and vanilla proud.

Coincidentally, "The Third Man", directed by Carol Reed and starring Orson Welles, is one of my favorite films of all time.

2 Replies

03/28/2012

8
Scent 7.5
Longevity 5
Sillage

Missk
1165 Reviews

Missk

Very helpful Review 6

Great for women too

Le 3' Homme de Caron, and like most masculine Caron scents, is a fragrance with a lot of what I call, 'oomph'.

It's hard to find fragrances like this these days that represent the way a manly man should smell. This fragrance opens with such power and masculinity that it's difficult to resist a tester card sprayed with this, let alone a man.

It's perhaps not as 'savage' as Yatagan, but Le 3' Homme de Caron is fiercely green and herbaceous in its opening. As it settles, lavender, sweet lemon and clove are apparent.

For the first hour or so this is all about being a man, however towards the drydown it takes on a powdery accord and a sweetness that can only be likened to the scent of shaving foam. This is where female consumers may feel obliged to wear this fragrance themselves.

It manages to be refined yet sensual, and upon further testing it seems that there's a touch of vanilla in there somewhere too. It's a pity that Caron's masculine fragrances have been overshadowed by the ghastly aromatics and aquatics as of late. I would buy up on scents such as these just to keep them in the market.

Older men probably prefer this over the younger generation but I can only encourage them as a young twenty year old woman to broaden their horizons. This is not dated despite being made in the 80's and is in my opinion, one of the finest woody aromatic scents for men that I've had the pleasure of smelling.

Wonderfully complex, soothing and classy, a man should not go past this classic Le 3' Homme de Caron.