fragrance tour, part 6

Continuing the tour of my colognes and eau de toilettes.



Calvin Klein
Encounter


What a strange scent. Rummy and woody nightclubbing scent, but it has that bit of oud in the base, like so many men's colognes from the early teens, all colored by the cool, smoky, barky taste of cardamom. It's sweet and medicinal, and very much of its time, although not all that popular as far as I can tell. Warms up to a nice sweet presence. Works well in cooler weather, but good all around too. It's so strange!
WORN SINCE: 2016


Prada
Luna Rossa


A compliment-getter for sure. It caters just enough to popular tastes while standing solidly on its own. The smell starts as a battle of lavender, citrus, and mint, but fades quickly to an orange-and-cedar combination that people just love, myself (and Catherine) included. In this way it reminds me of Azzaro Chrome, a superb scent I can't wear because it's so owned by my immaculately turned-out colleague Ken Slavin. I can't pick out the smell of ambergris, but they say it's here in synthetic version, and maybe that's what makes Luna Rossa just different enough that it smells like me and not my friend constantly lurking around the corner. It's a great big smile of a fragrance, a snazzy outfit, unfailingly clear. I got a couple of tiny free sample sprayers of it recently. Gotta get a bottle!
WORN SINCE: 2017


Yardley
Yardley


This after-shave was always at my grandmother's house on childhood visits, generously applied after a bath. I clicked around and found a vintage bottle. Even as I opened the shipping box, the smell overwhelmed me with memories. It's an old-fashioned smell, mentholy and witch-hazely, with a distinct lavender top note and a lingering mid-century smoothness. I put it together that the first times we used it at our grandmother's house were really only a couple of years after our grandfather had died. What did it mean to her to splash this on the young Brake boys? What fragrances will Greta and Clara, or their children, associate with bright or dim memories of me?
WORN SINCE: 1972

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Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

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