Thread: Colognes of the Famous!

OK, Like most I live on a tight budget. So I'm perfectly willing to let somone with more money than me reduce the field (so to speak) and save me some money on something I might not like.

So when I came across a list (I pared it down alot) of colognes preferred by the famous it got my attention pretty quick.

If any of you have personal experience (not your brother's sister-inlaw's uncle) with these colognes I'd like to hear your input.

GENDARME (Eau de Cologne)
Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Tom Cruise, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O Neal, Henry Winkler, Hugh Grant, Joe Montana, Joss Stone, Kevin Garnet, Milton Berle, Robert Downey, Jr, Rodney Dangerfield, Rod Stewart, Sugar Ray Leonard.

CASWELL MASSEY (Greenbriar, Trafalgar, Michelsen's Bay Rum, Sandalwood, Number 6, Tricorn)
George Washington: Number 6, John Adams: Number 6, JF Kennedy: Jockey, Humphrey Bogart: Tabarome, Dwight Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, John Barrymore: Tricron, George Gershwin.

GUERLAIN (Vetiver, Habit Rouge, Imperiale, Jicky)
Ronald Reagan - Imperiale
King of Spain Juan Carlos: Vetiver Guerlain
Sean Connery: Jicky, Habit Rouge
Robert Redford: Habit Rouge
Sir Alec Guiness: Guerlain Imperial
Coquelin (the first actor to play Cyrano): Eau de Coq was made for him by Guerlain
Kirk Douglas: Eau du Coq Guerlain
Tom Cruise: Guerlain Vetiver
Alec Baldwin: Habit Rouge
Paul Bettany: Guerlain Vetiver
Paul Mc Cartney: Vetiver Guerlain
Keith Richards: Habit Rouge

Interesting !

I agree with Tsunami, that is interesting. I would really like to see a list of famous people who shave with straight razors. In my heart I have to believe Clint Eastwood does because he's all that is cool. Just my opinion.

The Guerlains listed are certainly some of their more popular. The modern formulation of their Vetiver is, IMHO, but a shell of its former self. It is soapy and the vetiver is not the star. Jicky is actually marketed as a feminine, though I can't imagine why. It opens with a huge blast of civet before it settles into a lavender. I find the opening a bit overpowering, but in the end this is a nice scent. Their Mouchoir du Monsieur is the "men's" version of Jicky. It's definitely one to be familiar with. A very old school, but very gentlemanly lavender scent. Habit Rouge is an amazing classic scent. The leather and vanilla in it is smooth and refined. If you're really looking to indulge, though, find a bottle of the EdP strength of the Habit Rouge. Of those you've listed from Guerlain, that is my favorite fragrance!

Originally Posted by rwebb1683

... I would really like to see a list of famous people who shave with straight razors. In my heart I have to believe Clint Eastwood does because he's all that is cool. Just my opinion.

How about Chuck Norris? It would be a given that he uses a straight razor, but I would like to see the razor he uses!

Originally Posted by LegalBeagle

The Guerlains listed are certainly some of their more popular. The modern formulation of their Vetiver is, IMHO, but a shell of its former self. It is soapy and the vetiver is not the star. Jicky is actually marketed as a feminine, though I can't imagine why. It opens with a huge blast of civet before it settles into a lavender. I find the opening a bit overpowering, but in the end this is a nice scent. Their Mouchoir du Monsieur is the "men's" version of Jicky. It's definitely one to be familiar with. A very old school, but very gentlemanly lavender scent. Habit Rouge is an amazing classic scent. The leather and vanilla in it is smooth and refined. If you're really looking to indulge, though, find a bottle of the EdP strength of the Habit Rouge. Of those you've listed from Guerlain, that is my favorite fragrance!

Alright if its good enough for Robert Redford AND LeagalBeagle than it's good enough for me. I'm bumping Habit Rouge up ahead of Green Irish Tweed (only because I could afford Habit Rouge sooner).

If not Guerlain's, is there a Vetiver you would recommend?

Ha guaranteed chuck's razor has a beard.

Anyone have experience with Caswell Massey Number 6? I am a huge George Washington fan.

I have no evidence to back this up, but I'm sure that Ricardo Montalban was a true fan of Spanish Leather (Trumpers or T&H). And if you think he smelled great, well you should have had a whiff of his Corinthian leather-clad Cordoba....

Vetiver scents are a wonderful hodge-podge. Vetiver itself is an oil extracted from the root of vetiver grasses. That provides for a tremendous variation in the type of scent the perfumeur gets. Vetivers can range from a sweet, herbaceous note (a la Korres' Vetiver Root, Green Tea & Cedarwood) to a very raw and pungent earthy element (a la Frederic Maille's Vetiver Extraordinaire or Lorenzo Villoresi's Vetiver). This lends itself to a continuum.

All of that is said because, to my mind, you have to isolate the vetiver note you are looking to match before someone can suggest a good "alternative." To my nose, the modern Guerlain Vetiver is so devoid of vetiver as to not really be a part of the mix of vetiver scents. Guerlain seems to have used a very subtle form of the green/herbaceous noted vetiver and then overwhelmed it with tobacco and citrus. As a result, I get more of a soap note than I do a vetiver note.

Back to the continuum, I think you can get a sense of vetivers from sampling along that range:

To my nose, the one extreme would probably start with Korres. Much like Guerlain, you don't get a strong sense of the vetiver root from it. Instead, you get a green accord that is quickly overcome by the sweetness of the Green Tea and Cedarwood. Personally, I consider the Mazzolari Vetyver to occupy this same range of the spectrum. While I really appreciate the Mazzolari juice, I find the green note of the vetiver to be overwhelmed by the Mazzolari "house note" leaving a sense of the vetiver as a cut grass rather than a root.

Somewhere closer to the middle, I would place Piver's Vetiver, MPG's Racine, Carlo Corinto's Vetiver and Floris' Vetiver. These fragrances all have a sharp, dry mix of the herb and root. Each of the houses add their own notes to that vetiver, and ultimately the root never truly takes center stage in the colognes. Nonetheless, these are all incredible juices and to my mind, at least the Racine and the Floris (if you can find it) should not be missed! Towards the more aggressive side of these middling vetivers I would place Givenchy's reissued Vetyver. The sandalwood, cinnamon and citrus create a surprisingly nice accord with the vetiver. To my nose, this version is a great classy take on the note. It's one which many people would be comfortable wearing to the office or even to a cocktail party. In the same vein, if you're looking for a classy take on vetiver, you might consider Chanel's Sycomore. It shares that same sort of classy feel with the Givenchy offering.

As you progress farther along the continuum, such entries as L'Occitane Vetyver and Encre Noire must be included. In each of these EdTs you really get the earthy element in the root. Vetiver de Carven (vintage) is, IMHO, a small step further down the line from these, but fairly close. The mandarin and citrus in the Carven keeps the vetiver from being the slap in the face it is capable of while the musk, cashmere and cypress in the Encre Noire give it a smoky depth that tends to mellow the earthiness into more of an ethereal scent. Again, these two frags are definitely worth keeping in mind. Another vetiver fragrance that I would place in this category would be Annick Goutal's take on the root. Goutal adds a healthy dose of iodine to the mix. The iodine tends to pull a very salty note from the vetiver which reminds me of wearing vetiver by the ocean. Another great scent, but one which suffers from sever longevity issues IMHO.

Further down the row, I find myself in nirvana. This is where you find the real essence of the vetiver - the hard fought rootiness of the bourbon, java and haitian vetiver grasses. This realm is occupied by MPG's Route du Vetiver with its swamp gas affront, Frederic Maille's Vetiver Extraordinaire, and Lorenzo Villoresi's Vetiver. Sigilli's Athunis might fall here, but probably at the more mellow end of this grouping. These are vetiver scents that focus on the vetiver. They are scents that, to me, say you are a man. The carry a raw, sweat element into the fragrance that speaks to the primal side of scent wearing. Not surprisingly, these (especially the Frederic Maille) are also at an extreme end of the price spectrum compared to many of the other scents. These are fragrances that may have supporting casts (lavender and citrus in the Villoresi and cedar in the Sigilli) but also carry a solifleur type of singular accord made from simply heaping varieties of vetiver together (as seen in the Frederic Maille offering). These are also the more polarizing of vetiver scents. Love them or hate them, if you think you want to experience vetiver, you really need to spend some quality time at this end of the spectrum!

WOW!!! I could have spent a week on on BaseNotes and not got half that information.

Thanks, almost like actually trying the scent.

Based on my preferences and your description I will be putting Encre Noire toward the top of my list also.