Category Archives: Fougère

The Scent of The Modern Gent – Penhaligon’s Sartorial Perfume Review

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Gentleman

“Sartorial – sar-tor-ial adj. [attrib] of or relating to tailoring, clothes, or style of dress: sartorial elegance”

I chose not to write a post on my fragrant new years resolutions simply because I have only made three. They are; to keep producing interesting and informative content for The Candy Perfume Boy, to review more fragrances from as many brands as possible and finally, to review more masculine fragrances.

Those who read this blog on a regular basis will know that I wear a lot of feminine fragrances and my reviews reflect this. I don’t have anything against masculines at all, they just tend not to be within my bracket of taste, whereas as feminine and niche ‘unisex’ (or sexless) fragrances tend to be right up my street. So, in the interest of balance I will ensure that I review more masculine fragrances and I will start with one of my recent favourites.

Sartorial (2010) is the latest masculine release from the über-British perfume house Penhaligon’s and is inspired by the workroom of a Saville Row Tailor. Created by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour (who is also responsible for other Penhaligon’s fragrances such as Amaranthine and their Anthology Series) Sartorial is described as “a contemporary interpretation of a classic Fougère” [1]

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Gone, But Not Forgotten Series Part 3: Only the Good Die Young – Jean Paul Gaultier Fleur du Mâle Perfume Review

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Fleur du Male

Fleur du Mâle had some big boots to fill, released in 2007 it came a whole 12 years after the tour de force that was Le Mâle. Le Mâle is one of the greatest ‘Marmite’ fragrances, it has its lovers and its detractors, but very rarely does it provoke a feeling of indifference and despite whichever camp you find yourself falling into you cannot deny that it is a well made and interesting fragrance.

Gaultier isn’t one to shy away from controversy and Fleur du Mâle, with it’s name that is a play on Baudelaire’s collection of poems ‘Les Fleurs du Mal’ (The Flowers of Evil) and overdose of orange blossom doesn’t either. Sure, a masculine floral is nothing new, us boys have been wearing florals for yonks, but the idea is rarer in the mainstream and one so overtly floral (and advertised as such) as Fleur du Mâle was a breath of fresh air.

As you can see from the above advertising image (which I have included for informative purposes only, not because it’s a picture of a VERY attractive man in a bath, honest *cough*) Fleur du Mâle aims to strike a softer chord than the ultra-sexed, ultra-metrosexual image of Le Mâle.

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Good Clean Fun – Etat Libre d’Orange Tom of Finland Perfume Review

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I have a confession to make:  I am unashamed to admit that I am an Etat Libre d’Orange fanboy. I enjoy their fun, pop art-like scents with wacky names and over-the-top marketing, which in my opinion needs to be taken with a rather large pinch of salt.

Tom of Finland was released by Etat Libre d’Orange in 2008 and was created by perfumer Antoine Lie who has created a number of other ELDO scents such as; Rien, Vierges et Toreros, Rossy de Palma Eau de Protection and the Infamous Sécrétions Magnifiques.

The fragrance is inspired by the drawings of Finnish erotic artist Touko Laaksonen who is more famously known as Tom of Finland. Tom of Finland’s drawings usually depict leather clad, muscular men in overtly sexual poses. Only Etat Libre d’Orange would even consider creating a scent for such an artist.

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