Varvatos Cologne

This is a classic fragrance that I get compliments on every time I wear it.  I was instantly attracted to the bottle with the leather collar wrapped around it, this said man all over it. 

The smell of this cologne is timeless with top notes - This is what your nose smells first, these dissapate quickly) of West Indian tamarind tree leaves, Medjool dates and Mediterranean herbs

Heart notes (this is what you smell secondly, these emerge as the cologne evaporates.  They are used to mask the initial unpleasant odor of the base notes which become more pleasant over time.  They can last for two minutes or up to an hour, are coriander seed, clary sage flower, tobacco, Indian ajowan, sage and thyme

Base notes are balsam, amber, leather notes, sandalwood and vanilla.  Base and middle notes are the central theme to most fragrances.  These notes are meant to be strong and deep, and generally are not understood for roughly 30 minutes when they begin to bloom.

John Varvatos is like an ideal combination of masculine aromas that succeeds in coming across as familiar. It evokes the atmosphere of history and tradition.  It imbues the picture of a virile man relaxing at a table nursing a glass of whiskey between his hands while the fireplace crackles in the background.

Comme des Garçons - Odeur 71, the anti-fragrance

Do you ever find yourself not wanting to smell like cologne or perfume? While I am a self-professed cologne hoarder, this is one fragrance that I would never live without. I am going to start covering my favorite fragrances to inspire you to try something new. This invention by Comme des Garçons is suprisingly not manufactured like other fragrances you see on the market.

Normally when you go out to the mall and walk through the fragrance department at your local boutique or department store, your olfactory senses kick in smelling mostly essential oil blends mixed with various liquids by scientists in labs. Take that laboratory perception, but gear yourself toward technology and the age of cloning. This is where Odeur 71 enters the room.

Instead of cloning organic smells like musk or sandlewood, scents we all associate with frangrance, Comme des Garçons has clones inorganic smells to create this frangrance. Try to envision how electricity smells, the salty taste of a battery or freshly welded aluminum. Now you are working with modern-day, not-your-normal fragrance. I also love how this can be worn by men or women.

So much so is this off the beaten path, that the essence of their marketing campaign was to educate consumers that this was not a fragrance, but a skin scent. I would say it is not just a revolutionary scent structure, but it's a testament that a combination of the truly weird can make a truly fantastic fragrance.