Katie,
I'm wearing Comme des Garçons Laurel for my run. Wish me luck. Wish the town luck.
Okay, I’m back. A quick report on Laurel: it's Frédéric Malle French Lover. Almost exactly. Except with French Lover, and even more so Geranium Pour Monsieur, there's this weird clean musky Comme des Garçons stage, when the minty vegetal accord fades and the perfume turns slightly ozone-y, almost like CdG 53 and 71.
That doesn't seem to happen with Laurel. It's more linear and, ironically, more traditional. It's good and I like it a lot, but if I had no dedication to the vertical, it would be hard to justify owning both this and French Lover.
I'll send you some.
Dan
Dan,
This "Laurel" is complete news to me. Keeping up with perfume releases is exhausting. An Italian viewer wrote to request that I do a video covering top ten new men's AND women's releases. Um, no. That video will not be forthcoming.
What will be forthcoming are more videos on seemingly random perfumes extruded at a doh-de-doh pace. I’m a Play-Doh Fun Factory of fragrance reviews.
Katie
Katie,
Speaking of Play-Doh, I bought a bunch of cans the other day. On impulse. (Nobody my age plans to buy Play-Doh.) I wanted to smell it again. And, of course, play with it. But it's a little disappointing: not as pasty smelling as I remember, and definitely not as texturally grainy. And now there's Play-Doh on everything. Bad impulse.
Dan
Hi all. So even Play-Doh couldn't escape the long reach of the IFRA? Well, I suppose reformulation was inevitable at some point. But did they have to tamper with the texture? *whines just a little*
ReplyDeleteI remember Play-Doh, but was more of a Silly Putty fan back in the day. Loved the way it took imprints of newspapers. And bounced!
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure I spotted Hinoki by CdG in Sweden last year, but tuned out at the mention of "Monocle". They might as well have said "deerstalker" or "sock garters" ("suspenders"?) in a bid to attract me.
Does this scent dig with both feet, would you say, Dan?
Dan, you should have just bought Demeter's Play Doh scent. :) (And of course, now I want to go out and buy some Play Doh, just to test it myself. Maybe I'll pick up a Mr. Potato Head while I'm at it--surely that can't possibly disappoint?)
ReplyDeletemelisand61- Ha. After all its efforts to ruin our fun, we shouldn't be surprised to see the IFRA go after children next. And I do miss contemporary Play-Doh's lack of graininess. Who's to blame for that? The International Texture Association?
ReplyDeleteflittersniffer- Silly Putty stole art whereas Play-Doh required you to make your own. (One look at my Play-Doh "sculptures" and you'd surely send me a case of Silly Putty.) And I wouldn't say Hinoki nor Laurel digs with both feet, but only because I'm not in the practice of using English metaphors. But both are good and of similar character: very dry, green and woody. Classy and unostentatious. Hopefully nothing to trouble the IFRA. Or the ITA.
Angi- After playing with this Play-Doh for some time, I can say with confidence that its scent stays on the skin longer than any Demeter perfume does. (Although it looks slightly less dignified on the shelf.) And I've not seen a Mr. Potato Head in awhile (halfway between Silly Putty and Play-Doh on the "make your own art" scale), but potatoes aren't entirely healthy and it's probably only a matter of time before we're stuck with Mr. Summer Squash Head. Thanks again, IFRA.
Dan, there's one aspect of Play-Doh's sensory appeal you haven't addressed: the taste. Does it still have that salty, phantom marzipan flavor, the fudgy mouthfeel? Or perhaps you didn't eat non-food items as a child?
ReplyDeleteY'know, I just realized you never described what Laurel smelled like, other than to compare it to French Lover. Oh, okay, you said it's "dry, green and woody" in your last comment. So's my Christmas tree. Does it smell like my Christmas tree?
Katie- Yes, exactly, Laurel smells like your Christmas tree. Although it tastes more like my Christmas tree.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, it smells smart. Is that a proper description? Like many of the Comme des Garcons, it's the perfume equivalent of that fellow who only speaks in long sentences with long words, who can provide deep analysis on forty different subjects of the day, but who is also emotionally distant and often unkind. Laurel is that guy. You can learn from it but it won't love you.
"It's the perfume equivalent of that fellow who only speaks in long sentences with long words, who can provide deep analysis on forty different subjects of the day, but who is also emotionally distant and often unkind. Laurel is that guy. You can learn from it but it won't love you."
ReplyDeleteOMG, exactly! There's a vast emotional remove to Laurel. It took me several weeks to find any way of connecting with it whatsoever, and even once I finally wormed my way into its grudging graces, the connection lacked warmth and feeling.
But it's oh so "smart" . . .
Shit, I think I dated Laurel.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few Laurels out there for sure, augmented by a larger subgroup of Bonsai Boys who are not as smart, but just as emotionally stunted.
ReplyDeleteCrikey, is Laurel more emotionally unavailable than OJ Man? I find that one pretty aloof and austere and intellectual, ditto OJ Woman for that matter, though obviously I speak as a girl and monoped. Of course they both famously have black hemlock, which doesn't strike me as the most cuddly and approachable of notes.
flittersniffer - s'funny, in my vid for Ormonde Man, I said wearing it made you seem smarter than you really are. We all seem to be picking up on an "intellectual accord" in these scents. I wonder what that is?
ReplyDeleteflittersniffer- Comparing the two, I think Laurel is leaner, drier and more modern than OJ Man. And even less likely to send flowers.
ReplyDeleteKatie- I know nothing but I suspect the "intellectual accord" is more about what's missing than what's present. There's nothing to fill in the spaces between Laurel's dry, dry woods, its wisp of incense and your skin. It's like a Brian Eno record.
Katie - yes, I came across your vid of OJ Man while googling the notes to see how they compared to Laurel! I also get this "intellectual accord" in Angeliques Sous La Pluie and Chanel Sycamore. Unfortunately, I have the biggest decant of OJ Man which I got for myself but find too discombobulating to wear. And I am rarely in the mood for Woman, thinking about it. I have always thought that if Woman was a film it would be the Blair Witch Project. And if Laurel is a Brian Eno record, what film would it be? Maybe A Beautiful Mind(!), or something by David Lynch or Peter Greenaway...?
ReplyDeleteflittersniffer - Ormonde Woman is too polished to be the Blair Witch Project. I'm thinking a Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab oil would be more Blair Witch: cheap, creative and punchy. Not sure which film Laurel is - my synesthesia is off today. I'm putting in a call to the tech guy to get it sorted.
ReplyDeleteYou are quite right about Woman - it is a very polished production, like all the OJ line indeed, with absolutely no mad camera angles. I was riffing off the sinister aspect to black hemlock and that dark green forestyness, but production quality is a key feature. Not familiar with the BPAL range - it is another one of those quirky little brands I have not yet summoned up the strength to investigate.
ReplyDeleteYes, and you'll need every scrap of strength for the BPAL range, since there are 600 fragrances in the line. Maybe save that for your retirement hobby.
ReplyDeleteTheir website is fun to read, though!