Thread: Im looking for a cologne with a sophisticated yet rustic cedar and vanilla scent?

JL,

Try this link. I have ordered from them before, esp. Creed colognes. They have hundreds of men's colognes, many with descriptions of the scents. Their search engine may even allow you to narrow your choices down to cedar and/or vanilla scents.

Discount Men's Cologne and Fragrances at FragranceNet.com®.

I ended up buying the Loccitane cedar and hoping I would like it. As it turns out, I do like it a lot. Its an interesting cologne, as it starts strong, but then fades into almost a sweet scent (my wife says it smells like baby powder, but thats simplifying it quite a bit), but then sneaks up on you from time to time with a more masculine aroma, as it smells out of the bottle. Its certainly more complex than I could explain, as I really dont know much about cologne.

Its much more refined than it is rustic, in fact it smells like a cologne that you would smell in the board room, not on vacation, which will suffice for now, as Im in one of my phases where I tend to get dressed nicely for everything. My only complaint would be that I wished the scent wouldnt fade so quickly. However all the reviews I read stated the opposite, that the scent lasts for a long time...and it does I suppose, but only very subtly.

On the flip side it smells just enough, so that when you are near someone, they will just get a gentle whiff of a scent that teases and tantalizes the nose, that they wont quite be able to place, but it certainly wont be an overpowering smell that screams "this guy is wearing cologne".

So, my question is...how does one pronounce L'Occitane? I guess I should be able to pronounce it in case someone asks me what Im wearing.

Originally Posted by JLStorm

I ended up buying the Loccitane cedar and hoping I would like it. As it turns out, I do like it a lot. Its an interesting cologne, as it starts strong, but then fades into almost a sweet scent (my wife says it smells like baby powder, but thats simplifying it quite a bit), but then sneaks up on you from time to time with a more masculine aroma, as it smells out of the bottle. Its certainly more complex than I could explain, as I really dont know much about cologne.

Glad you like it. I don't know really anything about cologne either, I just look and find things that I like. I went through a phase about a year and a half ago where I was trying colognes. Now I have a set that I like, and a few that I love that really fit me, and stick with them. Eau Des Baux is one of them.

Eau Des Baux actually does smell a bit like baby powder, in that it's a powdery scent overall. But as you figured out, there are a bunch of layers in there that pop out over time. L'Occitane lists it as a unisex scent, but it smells masculine to me, anyway. And the complexity is better than anything I've found for under $100 a pop.

Originally Posted by JLStorm

On the flip side it smells just enough, so that when you are near someone, they will just get a gentle whiff of a scent that teases and tantalizes the nose, that they wont quite be able to place, but it certainly wont be an overpowering smell that screams "this guy is wearing cologne".

Yeah, that's pretty much what I shoot for. I like a scent that I can smell myself, and that only people very close to me can smell. And like you, I prefer more informal scents than boardroom-type scents.

Originally Posted by JLStorm

So, my question is...how does one pronounce L'Occitane? I guess I should be able to pronounce it in case someone asks me what Im wearing.

L'Occitane Eau Des Baux = LOX-sih-tahn oh-deh-BO

Here's a pretty cool French text-to-speech pronunciation site that I originally saw posted over on B&B, I think. I have used it many times to try to avoid sounding like a total rube when asking for colognes with French names I didn't have a clue how to pronounce. Hit the pull-down to get French pronunciation - choose "Alain" to hear the male voice, "Juliette" for the female voice. I kind of like Juliette's voice...

Tom Ford Tabac Vanille

I was going to suggest making your own.