Eau De Magnifique
The line that people seperate men's and women's fragrances is becoming less distinct and this is totally fine by me.
Pour homme is french for men and eau de parfum or parfum generally refers to a ladies fragrance. That is changing now that some men's fragrances are made in an eau de parfum concentration and rightly so. Who has the time to be spraying fragrance three to four times a day, which is the case with an eau de toilette.
The game changer in 1989 was the men's fragrance Joop! pour homme. The juice, as we call it in the industry, is pink! Were men ready to wear pink?
In Europe, men were definitely ready to wear pink. Our parents bought us a new fragrance and a new shirt when in preperation for an upcoming special event. What better way to stand out than a fragrance like Joop! which boldly goes where other men's fragrances have never been before, to the floral and sweet category. Nightclubs weren't quite ready for this eau de toilette, bordering on an eau de parfum, as it outlasted its rivals on the skin and became rather overwhelming when half of the club in scent sync. Women started to take note as they could smell something that they liked on their men, with a floral heart in it's composition. This was a game changer.
Women bought more fragrances for men than men would buy for themselves, so it made sense to create a fragrance that a woman would want to smell on a man. Breaking the traditional spicey, woody, fresh fougère category which had a vice like grip on the market in the men's fragrance category.
Then David Beckham visually brought men's grooming into the modern world and he was crowned the title of a 'metro sexual'. European men have known the benefits of keeping themselves well groomed since the day that they were born. Quick, label it and market it!
Euphoria for men softened the blow to the senses with its violet coloured hues and soft undulating fragrance notes. Still sweet in nature, but subtle in its nurture. Here was a more refined blurring of the men's and women's fragrance divide.
Amber was the base note which gave Euphoria its warm and sweet base. Amber worked as a romantic segue into 2008 when Paco Rabanne hit the world stage with the men's fragrance One Million. But what is this? There is rose within this fragrance blend. A men's fragrance with rose? Surely this will be the end of the world.
We ROSE up from the global financial crisis in 2008 slightly bleary eyed and unsteady on our feet. Finances where not stable. Those who had the money to invest did so in gold bullion. So what is a left of centre fragrance house like Paco Rabanne going to do? Create a bold scent which is housed in a bottle that looks like gold bullion.
In my time on the shop floor we could not get enough of One Million as it was consistently selling out. A fragrance which was worn by as many women as men. Yes they bought it for themselves as well. Genius Paco!
2010 heralded the creation of One Million for women, but that ship had sailed. Women liked it, but preferred the men's fragrance. The bold statement to the world that we are strong and we want you to know it, was captured with the men's fragrance, perfectly timed.
A parfum concentrate still remains a bastion in the vernacular of ladies fragrances. Unless that is that you live in the United Arab Emirates where made to order takes on a whole new meaning in the fragrance world. I was privy to serving many a middle eastern princess in my time working in Harrods and the sale of a 50ml, 100ml or 1 litre parfum was not a problem for us at all. In Australia a parfum is sold to order and 7.5ml at best. Why buy an eau de toilette that will last on your skin three to four hours, if you are lucky. Yes an eau de parfum is better value at twice the longevity on the skin than an eau de toilette.
Parfums are priced much higher than an eau de toilette or an eau de parfum, not just because of the fragrance concentration, but sometimes for the deluxe packaging as the bottle is often made of crystal. Objet d'art.
Yes parfums are found in the ladies fragrance category, but who cares after what I just wrote about these blurred categorical lines. Does that mean that as a male I want to walk down the street smelling like a freshly cut bouquet of flowers or a fruit mèlange? Definitely not. There are many more fragrance categories, which Michael Edwards from Fragrances Of The World painstakingly evaluates and publishes in his world famous fragrance directory.
I had the pleasure of being trained by Michael and subsequently many fragrance houses that I worked for would quiz my sense of scent by presenting me with their latest releases sprayed on a card for me to see what fragrance notes I could discover by sniffing the card alone. This takes many years of practice and it is definitely a buzz when I guess a note correctly.
I do want more value from my fragrance, I do want it to last longer and I do want it in unique packaging.
King M. Rakic
#OnFragrancesRemoveGender
Pour homme is french for men and eau de parfum or parfum generally refers to a ladies fragrance. That is changing now that some men's fragrances are made in an eau de parfum concentration and rightly so. Who has the time to be spraying fragrance three to four times a day, which is the case with an eau de toilette.
The game changer in 1989 was the men's fragrance Joop! pour homme. The juice, as we call it in the industry, is pink! Were men ready to wear pink?
In Europe, men were definitely ready to wear pink. Our parents bought us a new fragrance and a new shirt when in preperation for an upcoming special event. What better way to stand out than a fragrance like Joop! which boldly goes where other men's fragrances have never been before, to the floral and sweet category. Nightclubs weren't quite ready for this eau de toilette, bordering on an eau de parfum, as it outlasted its rivals on the skin and became rather overwhelming when half of the club in scent sync. Women started to take note as they could smell something that they liked on their men, with a floral heart in it's composition. This was a game changer.
Women bought more fragrances for men than men would buy for themselves, so it made sense to create a fragrance that a woman would want to smell on a man. Breaking the traditional spicey, woody, fresh fougère category which had a vice like grip on the market in the men's fragrance category.
Then David Beckham visually brought men's grooming into the modern world and he was crowned the title of a 'metro sexual'. European men have known the benefits of keeping themselves well groomed since the day that they were born. Quick, label it and market it!
Euphoria for men softened the blow to the senses with its violet coloured hues and soft undulating fragrance notes. Still sweet in nature, but subtle in its nurture. Here was a more refined blurring of the men's and women's fragrance divide.
Amber was the base note which gave Euphoria its warm and sweet base. Amber worked as a romantic segue into 2008 when Paco Rabanne hit the world stage with the men's fragrance One Million. But what is this? There is rose within this fragrance blend. A men's fragrance with rose? Surely this will be the end of the world.
We ROSE up from the global financial crisis in 2008 slightly bleary eyed and unsteady on our feet. Finances where not stable. Those who had the money to invest did so in gold bullion. So what is a left of centre fragrance house like Paco Rabanne going to do? Create a bold scent which is housed in a bottle that looks like gold bullion.
In my time on the shop floor we could not get enough of One Million as it was consistently selling out. A fragrance which was worn by as many women as men. Yes they bought it for themselves as well. Genius Paco!
2010 heralded the creation of One Million for women, but that ship had sailed. Women liked it, but preferred the men's fragrance. The bold statement to the world that we are strong and we want you to know it, was captured with the men's fragrance, perfectly timed.
Parfums are priced much higher than an eau de toilette or an eau de parfum, not just because of the fragrance concentration, but sometimes for the deluxe packaging as the bottle is often made of crystal. Objet d'art.
I had the pleasure of being trained by Michael and subsequently many fragrance houses that I worked for would quiz my sense of scent by presenting me with their latest releases sprayed on a card for me to see what fragrance notes I could discover by sniffing the card alone. This takes many years of practice and it is definitely a buzz when I guess a note correctly.
I do want more value from my fragrance, I do want it to last longer and I do want it in unique packaging.
King M. Rakic
#OnFragrancesRemoveGender
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