In today’s blog post, I’ll take you through some of the stranger fragrances and notes I’ve come across in my fragrance journey. A mix of designer and niche, and best of all, a little left of centre.
Comme des Garcons Tar – The synthetic series from Comme des Garcons features many weird and wonderful fragrances, including Garage, Soda and Dry Clean. However, Tar, for mine is the wackiest. It’s burning bitumen, acrid smoke and car tyre rubber. Very industrial, very strange and very Comme des Garcons.
Zoologist Bat – Fancy a trip into a bat cave? Well if you do, Canadian outfit Zoologist can take you there with their Bat fragrance. It’s damp, tropical and dirty. Notes of soil tincture, banana and rotting tropical fruits combine to take you straight into the dark world of the bat. Get in quick though as I’ve heard this is being discontinued.
D.S. & Durga Burning Barbershop – burnt matches and smoke combine with the classic barbershop note of lavender to deliver exactly what the fragrance advertises, a burning barbershop. The opening is very challenging, and for the first hour all I get is a burnt plastic kind of smell, but it soon settles into quite a classical scent as lavender and vanilla take hold. One for those looking for something a little bit different in their classic gentleman’s scent.
Serge Lutens Jeux de Peau – Jeux de Peau features the notes of wheat and milk, and they combine to transport the wearer straight to the bakery. A fragrance for those that want to smell like baked bread. It can be difficult to find a time to wear this one though. Certainly, a unique gourmand from Uncle Serge.
Byredo M/Mink – Swedish outfit Byredo give us M/Mink, an incense heavy, inky, dusty, somewhat metallic scent. There’s no musk listed but there is something animalic about this scent. Not for the faint hearted.
Dzing L’Artisan Parfumeur – A very odd one from the French house. Dzing is like heading to the fair, there’s hay, leather, musk, toffee and cotton candy. It’s very sweet and some say it smells of urinal cake. Whatever it is, it’s strange and difficult to pull off, for even the bravest of perfumistas.
Yves Saint Laurent Kouros – This early 80’s release still has men, women and children running for the hills. Animalic musks, notes of civet and sweet honey combine to once again send us into the men’s change rooms. Try before you buy.
Carner Barcelona Costarela – Perhaps the most palatable of my selections thus far, Costarela delivers a middle note of sand. A grainy like fragrance that sends the wear straight to the beach with the wind in your hair and the salty air of the sea in your nostrils. Don’t forget your sunscreen.
Etat Libre d’Orange Archives 69 – There are plenty of strange fragrances that have come out of Etat Libre d’Orange. I bet you thought I was going to include Secretions Magnifique on the list. However, Archives 69 is one of the lesser known scents from the house, a camphorous, medicinal scent that reminds me of cherry cola. There is something weirdly cough syrup like about it. Try it, if you like sweet scents.
Paris*L.A A Lab on Fire – Starts of fizzy with the notes of coca cola, lime and ginger, berfore drying down sweet with notes of amber and macarons. If you like all those things you will love Paris*L.A.
Note: Bottle images courtesy of fragrantica.