Hello everyone, this is my maiden post. I just want to say that I have been lurking for a few months and I have finally emerged. I would like to thank you all for your contributions to this forum; it’s been a very useful tool for me.
I recently started exploring niche fragrances by acquiring/purchasing a number of samples (27 of them) and subjecting them to my highly scientific fragrance analytics technique. I decided that I would purchase the winner of this competition after wearing them at work over the course of ~2 months.
Each sample was applied at 9:00 am for a full day analysis at work. The fragrances were applied in two spritzes/dabs: One just below my neck/above my chest and another behind my neck/upper back.
The fragrances were scored as follows:
Longevity (1-10) – L -Essentially 1 hour = 1 point. Once a fragrance gets past the 10 hour point it is obviously maxed out.
Projection (1-10) – P - This one is kind of difficult to ascertain. I would say that this is actually the hardest to properly measure. I treat this sort of binary, as in: is it a skin scent? OR. Is it more than a skin scent? In any case, my general method for scoring is like this:
1 – Skin scent throughout the life of the fragrance.
2-3 Skin scent after 2 hours.
4-6 Skin scent after 3-4 hours.
7 -10 Moderate to high sillage which transitions to skin scent after 4-5 hours.
Scent (1-10) –S- Obviously the most subjective score, as it pretty much comes down to how much I personally enjoy the smells on a hedonistic (or cerebral) level. I don’t necessarily care about how linear/non-linear a fragrance is. I care more about how well the notes work together and if they persist. If they evolve, do they evolve into something I also like?
Complement Score –C - (1-10): - Multiply the number of complements by two to get the compliment score. This maxes out after five complements. For example, two complements will yield a score of four. Four complements will yield a score of eight. Five or more will yield a score of ten.
After scoring the fragrances, I then subjected these scores to a ridiculous formula which puts more weight on the scent score and the longevity score:
Total Score = L*3 + P*0.5 + S*6 + C*0.5
As you can see the scent score is by far the most significant score (twelve times more important than the complement score or projection score). The longevity score is fairly important as well (3 times more important than projection or complements).
A scent score of 10 and a longevity score of 10 will automatically put a fragrance up to 90 points. At this point, it is up to projection and complements to carry the fragrance from A territory to A+ territory.
Now that we have established that I am a lunatic, let’s now look at the actual fragrances tested:
Amouage: Lyric Man, Reflection Man, Memoir Man, and Beach Hut Man
Creed: SMW, Royal Water, Viking, Aventus, Bois du Portugal, Pure White Cologne, and Original Santal
Neela Vermeire Ashoka
Profumum Roma: Arso, Ichnusa, and Acqua di Sale
Le Labo: Rose 31, The Noir 29, Santal 33, and Labdanum 18
Byredo: Eleventh Hour and Pulp
M. Francis Kurkdjian: Grand Soir, Baccarat Rouge 540, Lumiere Noir PH, Amyris PH
Xerjoff: Mefisto and 40 Knots (was supposed to get Uden, but it never arrived)
The Results:
Some general observations about how these houses performed on my skin:
Amouage and Le Labo were very beastly on me.
Creed, Byredo, and Profumum Roma were very subpar in the performance categories (with the exception of PWC and BdP).
I was especially disappointed in Profumum Roma on my skin. I was anticipating much more longevity out of these (I really, really liked the scent of Acqua di Sale).
Xerjoff and MFK were excellent performers, with perhaps a bit less projection than Amouage and Le Labo.
Scores:
Pure White Cologne 98, Beach Hut Man 96, Rose 31 91, Lumiere Noire PH 91, 40 Knots 90, Grand Soir 86, Eleventh Hour 84, Mefisto 83, Santal 33 82, Bois du Portugal 82, Original Santal 81, The Noir 29 80, Ashoka 78, Acqua di Sale 77, Baccarat Rouge 540 77, Memoire Man 76,Viking 74, Amyris Homme 73, Ichnusa 71, Aventus 67, Arso 64, Silver Mountain Water 62, Royal Water 62, Labdanum 18 57, Lyric Man 51, Reflection Man 51, Pulp 50
Though many of the Creed fragrances did poorly, the highest scoring fragrance was actually Pure White Cologne which I thought was very unique and also performed very beastly on me. I really loved this one and I already ordered it. PWC also happened to gather me the most complements of any of these fragrances (Beach Hut Man, Rose 31, Acqua di Sale, and Aventus all garnered decent complements as well). I received negative feedback on Labdanum 18, Viking, Bois du Portugal (“you smell like a grandpa”), and Lyric Man (“You smell like a girly man”).
Other than PWC, I would say my favorites were Rose 31, Beach Hut Man, Eleventh Hour (the scent is great), and 40 Knots.
Also, Memoir Man smells like what I envision being beaten senselessly by an Ent is like.
Let me know if you guys want to see my mad man excel sheet.
I recently started exploring niche fragrances by acquiring/purchasing a number of samples (27 of them) and subjecting them to my highly scientific fragrance analytics technique. I decided that I would purchase the winner of this competition after wearing them at work over the course of ~2 months.
Each sample was applied at 9:00 am for a full day analysis at work. The fragrances were applied in two spritzes/dabs: One just below my neck/above my chest and another behind my neck/upper back.
The fragrances were scored as follows:
Longevity (1-10) – L -Essentially 1 hour = 1 point. Once a fragrance gets past the 10 hour point it is obviously maxed out.
Projection (1-10) – P - This one is kind of difficult to ascertain. I would say that this is actually the hardest to properly measure. I treat this sort of binary, as in: is it a skin scent? OR. Is it more than a skin scent? In any case, my general method for scoring is like this:
1 – Skin scent throughout the life of the fragrance.
2-3 Skin scent after 2 hours.
4-6 Skin scent after 3-4 hours.
7 -10 Moderate to high sillage which transitions to skin scent after 4-5 hours.
Scent (1-10) –S- Obviously the most subjective score, as it pretty much comes down to how much I personally enjoy the smells on a hedonistic (or cerebral) level. I don’t necessarily care about how linear/non-linear a fragrance is. I care more about how well the notes work together and if they persist. If they evolve, do they evolve into something I also like?
Complement Score –C - (1-10): - Multiply the number of complements by two to get the compliment score. This maxes out after five complements. For example, two complements will yield a score of four. Four complements will yield a score of eight. Five or more will yield a score of ten.
After scoring the fragrances, I then subjected these scores to a ridiculous formula which puts more weight on the scent score and the longevity score:
Total Score = L*3 + P*0.5 + S*6 + C*0.5
As you can see the scent score is by far the most significant score (twelve times more important than the complement score or projection score). The longevity score is fairly important as well (3 times more important than projection or complements).
A scent score of 10 and a longevity score of 10 will automatically put a fragrance up to 90 points. At this point, it is up to projection and complements to carry the fragrance from A territory to A+ territory.
Now that we have established that I am a lunatic, let’s now look at the actual fragrances tested:
Amouage: Lyric Man, Reflection Man, Memoir Man, and Beach Hut Man
Creed: SMW, Royal Water, Viking, Aventus, Bois du Portugal, Pure White Cologne, and Original Santal
Neela Vermeire Ashoka
Profumum Roma: Arso, Ichnusa, and Acqua di Sale
Le Labo: Rose 31, The Noir 29, Santal 33, and Labdanum 18
Byredo: Eleventh Hour and Pulp
M. Francis Kurkdjian: Grand Soir, Baccarat Rouge 540, Lumiere Noir PH, Amyris PH
Xerjoff: Mefisto and 40 Knots (was supposed to get Uden, but it never arrived)
The Results:
Some general observations about how these houses performed on my skin:
Amouage and Le Labo were very beastly on me.
Creed, Byredo, and Profumum Roma were very subpar in the performance categories (with the exception of PWC and BdP).
I was especially disappointed in Profumum Roma on my skin. I was anticipating much more longevity out of these (I really, really liked the scent of Acqua di Sale).
Xerjoff and MFK were excellent performers, with perhaps a bit less projection than Amouage and Le Labo.
Scores:
Pure White Cologne 98, Beach Hut Man 96, Rose 31 91, Lumiere Noire PH 91, 40 Knots 90, Grand Soir 86, Eleventh Hour 84, Mefisto 83, Santal 33 82, Bois du Portugal 82, Original Santal 81, The Noir 29 80, Ashoka 78, Acqua di Sale 77, Baccarat Rouge 540 77, Memoire Man 76,Viking 74, Amyris Homme 73, Ichnusa 71, Aventus 67, Arso 64, Silver Mountain Water 62, Royal Water 62, Labdanum 18 57, Lyric Man 51, Reflection Man 51, Pulp 50
Though many of the Creed fragrances did poorly, the highest scoring fragrance was actually Pure White Cologne which I thought was very unique and also performed very beastly on me. I really loved this one and I already ordered it. PWC also happened to gather me the most complements of any of these fragrances (Beach Hut Man, Rose 31, Acqua di Sale, and Aventus all garnered decent complements as well). I received negative feedback on Labdanum 18, Viking, Bois du Portugal (“you smell like a grandpa”), and Lyric Man (“You smell like a girly man”).
Other than PWC, I would say my favorites were Rose 31, Beach Hut Man, Eleventh Hour (the scent is great), and 40 Knots.
Also, Memoir Man smells like what I envision being beaten senselessly by an Ent is like.
Let me know if you guys want to see my mad man excel sheet.
