It is with a certain necessity that I now will review some of the best mens´ perfumes on the market right now – the appearence of Reflection de Amouage, a scent so spectacularly overwhelming in the best olfactory sense, well, what can one say? A note of sweet spice, supple, but not one of these HERE-I-AM eau de toilettes, and with the price of 170 euro a bottle certainly an investment. And where does it come from? Well let us see, what the brand writes about itself, though it is not my custom to just reprint PR-texts, but I shall make an exception here, if you forgive me: „Amouage was founded 25 years ago by His Highness Sayyid Hamad bin Hamoud al bu Said on the request of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the ruler of the Sultanate of Oman, to reflect the wonderful traditions of his country for creating the finest perfumes and giving them as gifts to honoured guests.“
Surely it is a better choice than the latest designer products like the new Dolce&Gabbana – don´t get me wrong, the latter might be a nice arome, so to speak, but there are worlds between a flashy bottle (who lately made the one in the shape in a gold bar, called Millionaire? Jean-Paul Gaultier, I believe…, no it´s million and it´s from paco rabanne, sorry) and a lasting classic, and Reflection has the chance to be named among Givenchy Gentleman, Guerlain`s Habit Rouge and the famous Knize Ten, that one of my dear friends can´t leave his hands (or wrists) of, so appealing is this „gentleman´s toilet water“, on the market, I believe, since the turn of the century – a visit at Knize´s fabulously wood-panelled boutique in Vienna is worthwile, but who indeed under the tailor-savy does not know this? Every time I take a droplet of this „Wässerchen“ as we Germans say, I am reminded of one of the most wonderful times I ever had, and perhaps it is the time now to greet my dear friends Christian Bretter and Sebastian Tschugmell, who made my last visit really unique. But I will not bore you with details of my private life – let us instead find a scent that is surely on a par with the best available on the market: Surely Marc Jacobs has to be mentioned, a note so rare that you can only get it at one of Marc´s boutiques, for a stunning price, of which I am ignorant, since I got mine as a present some time ago, a fresh though a bit harsh note, the right thing for an evening at a night club. For an afternoon tea in your Club though I shall rather advise you to wear Michael from Michael Kors, my modern favourite by far for its sweet and citrus tones, with a strong heart note of moschus, a smooth and elegant choice, I should say. Narciso Rodriguez new creation of the same name is a youthful alternative, though rather light and something to respray on your wrist in the Underground, if that´s not too tacky for a gent (I say, it isn´t). The powdery after shave from Léonard surely deserves mentioning for its near-too discreet character, not for the Sarkozy´s of our time, but for the Giscard-d´Estaings, perhaps. And then, my noble friends, there is always Bowling Green by the late Geoffrey Beene, my ultimate choice. It is so, well, green that you imagine yourself to be somewhere in the country, in spring, when the grass has been cut – just as Calvin Klein scents always remind me of my first visit in Manhattan.
But unbeaten is the ultimate bouquet: Bel Ami d´Hermès. I was lucky enough today to attain one 100ml bottle for 30 euro, since the perfume shop didn´t have another one – it was sold out. For years, obviously, but you can still get it at your nearest Hermès boutique. It is Paris in the bottle, trust me. And if you can construe happy memories with a little (or slightly bigger) flacon, well, isn`t that just note-worthy?
