Wednesday, March 01, 2006

ASK MARLEN: Cuppa Java

Marlen,

Do you know of any good coffeeish frags (outside of the pricey New Haarlem) that
you'd recommend?

PHey P,

Ok, you mentioned New Haarlem and in earlier correspondence Miracle as well. Though I gave new Haarlem glowing reviews at NST a few months ago, I've found that I rarely reach for it...wonder why that is.

As for Miracle for Men by Lancome, I don't find that coffee plays too much of a role in this at all...it's more like someone is brewing a pot of coffee in the room next door and the scent merely trails in the background and combines with the candles and carpetfresh (not that Miracle resembles carpetfresh in any way)!

My current favorite coffee scent is Ava Luxe Cafe Noir, reviewed here. I had a sample and small decant and used up both of them. It may not project as much as I'd like, but it's incredibly warm, comforting, and rich.

Here's a list of others that I can recommend:
  • CSP Vanilla Cafe (Mokha)
  • L'Artisan L'Eau de Navigateur
  • MPG Eau des Iles
  • Angel for Men
  • Mat; Very Male
  • Yohji Homme (original)
  • Balenciaga, Cristobal pour Homme
  • CDG Series 7: Wood Coffee
  • Jo Malone Black Vetyver Cafe
  • Bond 9 So New York
Additionally, I find that Shiseido's Basara has a coffee note in the base, though it may actually be just a wood note that smells like coffee. I've heard great things about Sonoma Scent Studio's coffee inspired fragrances, but haven't tried them myself yet. Finally, I've heard that DSH Cafe Noir is also quite good.

Geeeesh! 3 Cafe Noirs...gonna have to have a sniff-down soon!

Hope this helps!
Marlen

I know we've already done this, buycan you make any other rec's? Any off the beaten path coffee-inspired scents?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Noa de Cacharel!

Rochas Man.

Demeter Cappuccino and Espresso, Jaqua makes shower gels that smell just like Starbucks' coffee concoctions.

Anonymous said...

Second Rochas Man.... And Yohji Homme.

CdG Wood Coffee? Oh well.... a watered down, too sweet cold latte with barely a hint of coffee in it. Hardly qualifies as a coffee scent, in my opinion.

The problem with Black Vetyver Café is that - nice as it is - it last about 5 minutes. Maximum. You'd get better results scenting yourself with a bit of the foam on your espresso.

marlen said...

Rue - I can't really detect the coffee notes in Noa...but how could I forget Rochas Man!?!

marlen said...

dinazad - as to the Wood Coffee, well, I didn't say I particularly liked it, but it's not entirely unpleasant.

Anonymous said...

Really? Writing this comment and another previous on Cacharel got me thinking about Noa and how it smelled awesome on me, especially the warm, coffee note that I had to order a bottle last night after not wearing it for nearly 6 years. I guess posting comments on your blog has been cathartic because I'm looking forward to wearing it again regardless of the association of my father battling and then succumbing to cancer. Freaky. :)

marlen said...

Rue - well, glad to be of SOME use...LOL

Anonymous said...

Hey Marlen, it's Stan (myaccolades on basenotes - though I'm taking a break from that, I still keep up with your journal).

Though not coffee-inspired, I find there is a pronounced coffee note in MPG's Santal Noble.

marlen said...

myaccolades - thanks for reading and posting Stan!