Brut Special Reserve

Epic Journey Into the Bottled Yonder, 004 ------------------------------------------------------- Purchased May 2017 Part 1 Brut is the obvious choice for all ages. I tested out the talc of this, was my dad's, and immediately fell in love. I already had worn Boss for a while and became glued to Axe/Lynx. Brut transformed all possibilities, to keep it short. Without that, I'd probably be that stinky deodorant guy smelling the same everyday in all situations. That's not nice. But nowadays even Brut has a slight stank to it, when it gets sweaty. Everybody knows it. It's the first affordable fresh/clean scent. Not so clean anymore, but you have to understand the period it was invented in. Today it ends up becoming a little muggy feeling after lingering much of the day as it gets warmer, but I'll always wear it when something simple and dumb reach calls. Reminds me of my old days for sure and that's a big reason why I keep a bottle in my stable at all times. Super wearable, fuck-you-it's-cheap fragrance. There's more poetic ways of discussing Brut but I don't have all day here either. The bottle I have is by Idelle Labs, Ltd. (with the medallion in a clear glass painted green that chips away over time). It's my favourite only because they don't let us have the early 2000s/original version from much earlier. My second most used Brut is the rectangular art deco looking one with a curvy waste by Parfums Prestige/Unilever. There's also a new one in the Special Reserve bottle, but better quality manufacturing/design also made by Parfums Prestige. That one currently smells like Avon Wild Country. If you can't find that, just get Wild Country if you're mad for Brut. BUT there also is a new Faberge bottle in the Special Reserve design from India on Ebay right now. It's about $50, quite pricey but I'll have it sooner than later. Hopefully it combines the Special Reserve and the newer Parfums Prestige (in the same bottle) with staying power of the new bottle. This is all confusing but if you're a Brut fan and need clarification, send me a PM.

I can understand the frustration with reformulation, repackaging, and potential cheapening of beloved classics, but I don't think it helps the fragrance world to speculate. I'm no Brut expert, but I do have a wallet-crippling fragrance addiction, and I landed here while looking around for potential candidates for my next purchase. I was a bit shocked to see SPNKr's comment below mentioning alleged cancer risks with the new formulation of this (SPNKr's other comments across Fragrantica have been immensely useful and fun for the record). I did some research and now feel cosmically compelled to mention that the new, bricky bottle made in Mexico does not contain any ingredients classified as carcinogens in the USA or EU. I went through each ingredient listed, of which there are only three after the standard alcohol, fragrance, and water. The only ingredient likely to have been mistaken as a carcinogen is BHT, an antioxidant chemical found in a lot of packaged foods and cosmetics. In long term studies, they apparently blast-fed it to rodents and concluded that, in rodents, ingesting extremely high levels of BHT over a prolonged period of time led to liver issues and, in some cases, liver tumors. That said, there are no studies linking BHT to cancer risks in humans, and I think we can all agree not to drink our fragrances. I should mention that BHT is in a bajillion fragrances, like Terre d'Hermes EdT, Loewe Essencia, Drakkar Noir, Dior Fahrenheit, and even the Parfums Prestige Brut EdT. My only other guess is that the original person making the allegation somehow mistook this new bottle for the deodorant spray that was recalled some years back for containing benzene: a carcinogen. Now, with my conscience clear, I am back to searching for the next bottle to set my wallet alight, which might even be this one!

WARNING: Apparently the above, new, rectangular shitty looking product called Brut - For Men of Character [Long-Lasting Scent] is not what it's supposed to be. It's apparently different. Allegedly contains an ingredient that causes cancer. Changed my mind immediately. If people talk about this enough they'll change all this bullshit. Don't make me go without Brut, or I'll seek out a clone and no corporation likes their customers ditching for alternatives. Also that above bottle is made in Mexico, that alone changes everything. It's like my passion for India's Denver Hamilton Honour deodorant. The fragrance spray doesn't smell as good as it, it also performs poorly. It's as if Denver deodorant is actually the fragrance and the perfume is the deodorant instead. These countries, when the parent brand lands ho and starts manufacturing using the local labour force, do not end up ever making products of the same quality and calibre of the original manufacturing plants, its employees and original established product in market/country of origin. So I'm gonna skip on the above ugly bottle and go for the new/recent Indian market Faberge Brut Classic in the Special Reserve bottle we all know and love. Seems like it could be as promising as the Parfums Prestige Brut in that same Special Reserve bottle (I've talked about this, that PP version smells like Avon Wild Country and PP Brut in the Victorian/art deco curved bottle with black ribbed cap (which I must say is quite champagney and not as green as Special Reserve). I finally am able to get this Faberge Brut Classic, so I'll be back. Been talking about this moment for about 9 months.

I'm time traveling through perfume memories tonight. It's funny reading that the old Brut was a typical 'aromatic fougere'. I just remember it as musk. When I was a young girl I think, wistfully now that I have learned that animal musk comes from the death of a little deer, that many beautiful perfumes had some animal or at least nitro musk in them. They say that the plasterwork of ancient villas still smells of deer musk because they mixed it into the mortar. Whatever, the smell of Brut back in the sixties and seventies was enough to send me into orbit. I do have some real deer musk, a tiny smear inside a vial that is so incredible and haunting in its beauty that one can believe that empires rose and fell because of it. The Brut of the last couple of decades just isn't it. The old Brut had a way of mixing with the scent of a hormonal young male that was earth shifting. It had a sort of sweetness. The old cheap Dana perfume Ambush was a close cousin and is just as unforgettable. Well, that's it for my memories of Brut. You'd think someone would bottle it again.

This is the true brut out of all the bruts that’s has remained supreme maintain most of that original Brut DNA. Absolutely stunning and doesn’t compare to the other brut bottles that I have. It really does have decent longevity and projection for the first 1-2 hours then it quickly dies off. Like you can’t smell it at all after. But if you dose yourself with like 20-25 sprays of this, it will be decent in longevity but only for the first hour or two. Regardless this is a masterpiece, I’m so glad my grandfather and father both really loved spraying this fragrance when I was a child and I’m so happy to carry on that tradition. Because it is a tradition, this scent is just priceless to me. Never stop making this brut and I don’t doubt they stop considering they’ve been making this DNA for the last 80 years or something. If you want the original brut dna with most longevity your best bet is this!