Matt has taken dominion over several of the bottles in the perfume cabinet, and we share quite a few more. However, there isn’t one fragrance that is only his. For his birthday this year, I’d like to find him a bottle of his own. Not a hand-me-down, not for sharing.
So I turn to you, dear readers, and ask for a helping hand! You were so helpful to Ari, when she was looking for a new scent for Drew, that I can think of no better resource for this challenging task.
Without further ado, let’s talk about what he already likes or loves… and what he does not.
Likes
- Chanel no. 5, Eau Premiere, no. 19, no. 19 Poudre, no. 18; Dior New Look; By Kilian A Taste of Heaven; Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille; Guerlain Jicky parfum
Loves
- Bulgari Black; Pre-reformulation Vol de Nuit parfum; Sonoma Scent Studio Champagne de Bois; L’Artisan Safran Troublant
Dislikes
- Chanel no. 22 (surprise! I thought he would love this one); Histoires de Parfums – 1740 (Marquis de Sade)
It’s pretty clear that he likes aldehydes (an AldeHo, if you will), classically femme scents, and isn’t afraid of creamy or sweet notes.
What say you?
beauty on the outside 
He has exceptional taste (not that I expected any less of course) and I’m glad to see another guy rocking the aldehydic florals (I love the term AldeHo btw).
Can I suggest Etat Libre d’Orange’s Tom of Finland, it has a similar vibe to No5 but is a bit more creamy and tonka based. Has he tried Traversée du Bosphore by any chance? He might like that too!
Spot on Tommy! Matt does like Traversee! He likes it quite a bit… But so do I, and I had if first 😉
Tom of Finland sounds like a fantastic idea, and has the added benefit of a cool bottle, lol!
Haha – finders keepers 😉
Tom of Finland is a must for any AldeHo!
I’m not going to tell him we keep calling him an AldeHo… Lol! 😉
You won’t like to hear it, but what comes to mind and sits there quite unshakeable is a very uneconomical suggestion: Amouage Gold Woman – the ultimate AldeHo perfume. (Sorry.)
Another idea could be Bois des Iles, you still don’t have that yourself, maybe the reason is that it really belongs to Matt’s side of the closet? 🙂
Amouage Gold!! But I thought we were friends! 😉
I think I have a sample or two floating around here… I’ll see what he thinks of it, and if he loves it… Well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there!
Regarding BDI, I did end up getting in on a bottle split, so have 30mL that I hoard for myself. I love him a lot, but he cannot have that one. 🙂
I really need to try Amouage Gold, eh? Sigh. The Amouages are a rabbit hole I’m very fearful of going down.
The good news is that Matt is wearing Gold right now, and informs me that it’s “Good, but not my favorite.”
Whew. Close one. Although, I did suggest he spend the next few days with it… Hopefully it won’t grow on him 😉
Ah, good then! But I’m still glad the suggestion wasn’t a total dud. 😉
Hmmm, his loves speak woody and warm to me. Off the top of my head, Chanel’s Bois des Iles and Coromandel, Hermèssence Santal Massoia and Diptyque’s Tam Dao. (I haven’t tried Timbuktu, Wonderwood or Hinoki yet, but those could be possibilities from what I’ve heard about them.)
Timbuktu and Wonderwood have recently been adopted by two of my co-workers as “their” scents, but they’re both excellent suggestions— you’re on the right track, for sure! I’ve got a sample of SM here, and I’ll add that to his rotation…
I don’t know, Tableau de Parfums Miriam reads as very feminine to me somehow, but it has aldehydes and freaking gorgeous woods, which seem to be two of his fave notes. Arpege is a classic aldehyde that reads more masculine or gender neutral – I think Octavian or someone posted about how they think it’s a better masculine than feminine once…?
If you want to go on a wild aldehyde chase, how about vintage My Sin? (which I’ve never tried and would looooooove to….)
Seeing what Dionne wrote above, Tam Dao might be good too.
If he really wants to go down the aldehyde rabbit hole, how about Van Cleef & Arpels First? Now THOSE are some FREAKING ALDEHYDES. lol
Oh, Miriam! I winder if that would work for him? He does like Arpege (we’ve got some vintage extrait), but I don’t want to go chasing any more vintage scents (too heartbreaking). I really love the Miriam suggestion, and will track down a sample of that for him!
(I really like that bottle, too 😉 )
I personally like the modern version of Arpege that can be had in stores – I’ve never smelled the vintage and honestly I’m somewhat scared to do so!
I will have a Miriam purse spray very soon, my preciousssssssssss… honestly I will probably go through it and have to buy a full bottle!
Do you? That is good to know! I haven’t tested it, but will do so.
Congratulations again on that Miriam spray! I’d like to try that on him, as well as SSS Nostalgie, I think. 🙂
Miriam is a great suggestion!
Or what about Tauer’s Une Rose Chypree or Rose d’Homme from Parfums Rosine?
I also thought of Aramis, a lovely leather chypre and my Black-loving boyfriend has worn a lot this year.
Aramis! That is another fantastic suggestion— I’m going to see about tracking down a sample of that one too. Based on notes and reviews, I think it might be a good fit… Though it may be too masculine, but it’s worth a try 🙂
You can take him to Macy’s and spray him down with Aramis for free pretty easily. 😉
In theory, at least 😉
Oh how I love the punny title! Which half of Safran Troublant does he like- the rosy beginning, or the sandalwood part? If he likes Black, I say Lonestar Memories. It’s another leather scent, and it’s SO DAMN MANLY.
Hmmm… Well, I think he just likes the whole thing, though I know for a fact he is very fond of rose scents and sandalwood scents separately. However, I think there are more rose scents overall that he likes.
Black doesn’t smell leathery at all on him, interestingly, it smells like a sweet vanilla with a asphalt twist— he likes that it smells like an outer-space version of Shalimar!
Which puts me in the Habit Rouge frame of mind… I think he should try that too! He doesn’t like masculine scents, but HR might just work 🙂
An idea nobody else has mentioned- you could get him his own bottle of Bulgari Black or A Taste Of Heaven. Those are two of my favourites. From Chanel, I wonder if he might like Pour Monsieur or Antaeus.
James, Antaeus is a spectacular suggestion! I like it so much, yet never quite enough to go for a bottle— in theory, just the sort of thing I’m looking for.
I’m going sample hunting this weekend, and will see if I can track down some at Nordstrom.
I’m glad something I said made sense, Dee 🙂
🙂
Antaeus reminds me of original Chanel Egoiste, too.
I think of Antaeus as “dusty” leather, and Egoiste as “plummy,” but they are both gorgeous!
Just swinging by to say hello and good luck. I’m not much good at this sort of thing. I suppose Matt has tried the lovely Amaranthine? I suspect it would be a shared fragrance between you, so would not count for this purpose.
Off topic: I have just clicked my way into ownership of 17mls of SSS Nostaligie. My first real purchase from Laurie for yonks. Happy.
Amaranthine! I’ve got a sample that I’ll hand over to him today to add to his growing sample collection, I think that it would probably smell great on him, and actually, I think he has a lot in common with your scent-tastes (a helpful thing to have) 😛
Happy day! Congratulations on your Nostalgie! I’m going to give Matt a sample of that too, I think.
Can I suggest F Malle’s Lipstick Rose?
Absolutely! LR is right on track with his scent preferences… although I do wish he had less fancy taste 😉
Esprit d’Oscar is my other fave aldehyde scent after No 5 Eau Premiere, and an alternative to Black might be Smell Bent One or maybe Un Bois Vanille? Smell Bent One is vanilla and libraries or something!
He doesn’t like the smokiness of UBV, but Smell Bent One might be a good option! He’s such a good sport, testing away… we’re going to find him the perfect scent!! 😉
My earlier comment obviously got lost but I was complimenting your hubby on his broad-minded and excellent taste in ‘fumes.
You have lots of great suggestions above. I would suggest L’Artisan’s Dzing! but I think you have that? Or Vanille Absolument (sp?). Otherwise maybe Le Labo’s Rose 31 for a manly rose, though very pricey of course. Other ideas, Dior Homme, Bois d’Argent or Eau Noire.
Have you ever tried Memoir Man? I haven’t but wondered if it could be Matt’s “King of the World” perfume, so you could rule together 🙂
Look forward to hearing how you get on!
LOL, thank you Tara— I will send your compliments to the hubby 🙂
I do have Dzing! and VA (though the bottle is the HV one), and he loves and wears the second; I will give him Dzing! to try as an option, since we don’t have a FB.
Memoir Man… OMG. Can you imagine??? I should get a sample, because that would be very fitting!!!
I’d like to suggest Tom Ford’s Black Violet and Arabian Wood. They do not fit your criteria but for some reason I think one of them might work.
Those are both good suggestions Undina, I especially like Black Violet… 🙂
What do I do when I can’t sleep at night? Right. I think about other people’s husbands. Ok, it was slightly more innocent than it may have sounded: I kept thinking about “his only” perfume for your husband. And came up with two more suggestions: Amouage’s Opus II and, more budget-friendly suggestion, Ineke’s Field Notes From Paris.
Ha! 😉
I really like Opus II, but Matt actually prefers Opus III of the line-up… I love him so much, but I don’t know if I love him $325 worth… Lol, but I will keep my eyes peeled for a deal!
There is a sample of Field Notes somewhere bumping around here, I think… Wait— I think maybe you sent it to me??? Must find!