Monsieur

Try before you buy, you will either love or hate this. Yet when I say try, I mean go spray it on your arm, wear and try nothing else. Dedicate at least a day to it. The amber and musk in this will react differently on your skin to someone else, so a test strip will do no justice. Now you tried it, if you was not sure or hated it, I suggest you come back to it two or three times. It may take you a while to appreciate this one. The musk, incense notes and almost transparent yet grey paradoxical patchouli make it quite dry. The hidden woody notes in the background accentuate this dryness and add the faintest greenness that suddenly gets drowned out with a hefty amber note in the dry down. This one, I think is well done, but I do understand the controversy surrounding it. I personally love it and own a bottle, yet I love patchouli, and this is an unusually transparent patchouli, not thick, not dense, somewhat earthy, not chocolatey. At first you get hit with a top burst of a slightly boozy, musky, woody accord that is slightly sweetened by a fruitiness that is more dry orange rind that juicy or zesty. A medicinal, woody-incense airy quality lurks behind, waiting to dominate in the heart. You get patchouli after about 30 seconds, yet it is a very clean, no-rough edges patchouli. Patchouli essential oil is quite brown and oily, yet this feels more like a transparent vapour, leaving behind all the dirty aspects. The rum-booziness for me is a transitionary note that bridges the amber in the heart to the tangerine in the top, all the while the airy, woody, patchouli heart sits patiently beside. The composition remains quite dry all this time. There is a definitive leather note, which does come across as a suede when paired with the dry dusty incense note. As the fragrance transitions to its dry down, amber and musk start to dominate. The woodiness of the patchouli remains, yet the medicinal aspect is mostly lost. Synthetic ambers warm up and can get quite noticeable, moving it away from its dryness as the incense is lost, becoming more thick, a little more sweet. Yet, sweet in comparison to a very dry heart, not at all sweet stand-alone. The musk structure in this reminds me of Portrait of a Lady (POAL), and is very 'Frederic Malle'. The musk accord mainly adding support, push and longevity to the fragrance. Some people are anosmic to certain musk and may not smell this similarity, and some may. The patchouli and incense notes may also push this association, although the two fragrances are not alike and head in different directions. I have heard some reviewers say that this is very black and dark. I disagree, I think there is enough going on in this with regards to a slight greenness, a slight booziness and fruit zest that makes me think of shades of brown, dark green and rusty orange in a grey shadow. It does feel dark, but the initial sniff may take you so far away from your usual comfort zone that all you see is black, black, black. A good analogy for me is when you go turn the lights off in a room at night. You cannot see anything. That is your first reaction, as the contrast is great. Yet your eyes will adjust slowly with time and you start to pick out certain shapes and objects in the room. After a while, it is not so black and you can see more colour, more detail. This fragrance is like that. Back to my original comment, give this one time and you will start to see depth and intricacy. Maybe then, you may start to love it. Peace to you all :) EDIT: After analyzing this perfume, I have to say it shows how great a perfumer Bruno Jovanovic is. The dry and darkness really is coming from the meticulously placed AmberXtreme. AmberXtreme smelled neat and undiluted is so powerful, black, so dry it sucks all the moisture from a 10 mile radius. To use such a tenacious molecule to create the effect we all detect in monsieur, without it being apparent is just genius. Amazing.

My God, guys. This one nailed the patchouli too damn well. I have no complaints about its intensity. To me, the note reeks to me of earthy masculinity - a grounded realist who always wants to get great things done. The best way to describe this scent: leathery, incense-based soil. Scent: 8/10 Seriously, this is THE patchouli fragrance. Some say that it's overpowering to the point that it smells like oud. But to my nose, this doesn't smell edgy enough to remind me of the streets of Dubai (cf. Promise). There is a certain grassy, wet soil freshness that smacks me straight as patchouli. As the dry down continues, the sharp rum from the top and the dirty soil scent gives way to the incense, along with hints of vanilla and musk in the background. Very interesting development; keeps you sniffing it all day! Projection: 7/10 A patchouli-dominant fragrance shouldn't reek. Such an earthy, grounded note should linger around the user's personal space; nothing more. And that is exactly what it does with 3 sprays on my chest and neck - it creates an enveloping aura of confidence and aged wisdom. Longevity: 8/10 For the quality of its juice, lasting around 10 hours is perfectly fine, although I'm okay if it does power through a day like CDNMI. However, the latter's synthetic; this is not. Versatility: 6/10 Certainly, such a grounded scent should only be used when dressed up, at least to smart casual. I really can't think of pulling this off on college students - it just smells too wise and well put together. This can be used day and night, although I don't think this will survive in the high heat of summer. Total: 7.5/10 (Great) Any FM fragrance is a piece of artwork that deserves admiration, no matter how much one dislikes the note within. I happen to like patchouli, although I would prefer a mix of vetiver. But this work just goes to show how patchouli alone suffices as a wondrous note, and vividly represents what it wants to: a sophisticated, elegant monsieur.

This is a fine fragrance, and I can understand the comparisons between this and Patchouli Absolu, but only in the patchouli accord. My understanding is an aromachemical called Patchouli Coeur was used as the basis for this fragrance, and I believe that was one of three patchouli aromachemicals used in PA. While PA focuses on different, synthetic aspects of patchouli, to make it really green, earthy yet bright and sophisticated, this takes it more of an approach as patchouli just used as the foundation rather than the complete spotlight. Yes, you are going to get that very specific patchouli like smell, but accords of rum absolute, amber Xtreme, sucrasol (caramel/vanill-like), safranal (leather-like accord) & incense really are the driving force along this. Boiling it down, you will get a patchouli fragrance, with a suede-like leather, a bit of a boozy quality, some smoky incense and amber. The amber/vanilla synths used though create something more darker, not sugary or syrupy, but a dark sweetness to the fragrance. In the end, this is far from Patchouli Absolu and I feel it's easier to wear as well. It's actually a fairly complex fragrance and does have specific phases throughout, and as it dries down it becomes more balanced in all of the main notes, so it has a nice ride to it and is not really linear at all to me. Is it full-bottle worthy? Maybe, as a patchouli lover I can't help but own a bunch of patchouli fragrances, and I do think this fits a niche for the patchouli lover if they are looking for a "dumb reach" for most occasions, while still being complex and interesting to smell throughout its phases.

There are perfumes that decorate you, perfumes that seduce, perfumes that comfort. And then there are perfumes that hold you upright. Monsieur. begins with restraint. The opening is cool, slightly bitter, faintly green, and austere — almost architectural. It draws a clean line around the body. It feels composed, disciplined, intentional. Then, slowly, the structure warms. The sharpness softens into dry patchouli heat. Not sweet. Not syrupy. Not plush. The warmth is controlled — cedar and resin smoothed by a subtle rum glow that hums rather than announces itself. The bitterness fades, and what remains is balance. Nothing screams. Nothing performs. It is a rounded, seamless blend where every element exists in quiet proportion. On skin, it becomes calm. It doesn’t push outward. It doesn’t overwhelm. It doesn’t collapse into sweetness. Instead, it creates containment — warmth with edges, peace with hold. Though often described as overtly masculine, on me it reads as structure and warmth rather than bravado. This is not a comfort scent in the traditional sense. It does not wrap you in softness. It steadies you. It provides structure without rigidity and warmth without engulfment. After the first hour, when the austere opening has dissolved, Monsieur. settles into its true self: composed, grounded, quietly strong. It feels inhabitable. It feels sustainable. It feels like something I could live inside all day without fatigue. Some fragrances seduce. Some comfort. Monsieur. restores coherence. It is peace — with hold.

I usually don't blind-buy fragrances. With Frederic Malle Monsieur, I had to, not only because I am a patchouli lover, but because there are so many reviewers and just "regular" people who write on this specific blog, that feel this fragrance is not likable because its over powering, patchouly overdosed, unpleasant, dirty, and so on and so fort. Whenever someone expresses this way about an oud or patchouly fragrance, then I find that is a good sign; then I know it's a magnificent fragrance that I must have, even if I haven't smelled it yet. And this one is. In my opinion, it is patchouly heavy, a very statement-making patchouly; which is great. It is masculine, elegant, classy, dark, gothic, power-house-like, and a long etcetera. If you are into 70's and 80's power-house fragrances, you'll love this fragrance. "In my opinion" (these set of words are my shield against crystal personalities that get offended easily) this is a very masculine fragrance. This is a fragrance for a man, a confident, assertive, mature, and "manly" man. A man that is not afraid to offend with his masculinity. This fragrance enters a room and he know he is better than you, but he doesn't use his power to make you feel less-than. He'll be educated enough to say "hello', and move away from you to enjoy a cigar and cognac, while talking with other bearded men about cars and hunting. Very few deserve to smell this good. Very few will know that this is what "smelling good" is. For the few, the proud... Men. (In my opinion)