Mon Numero 10

Haven't smelled this in years, and it certainly brings back memories. Another bottle I grabbed from the depths of my closet to retry. I know I liked it back in the day, but there's a reason why it was in the closet for years. The thing about Duchaufour is that he's a true artist. He could take the most boring ingredients and still make something interesting. I'd love to taste the things he cooks. In this case he's not trying to make something edgy, just something easy-to-like and artful. I don't think there are going to be too many people who smell this on someone and think that it's bad. I also don't think there are going to be too many people who think it smells like anything else in the mainstream. I personally don't know what it smells like. I smell a whole spectrum of fruits and flowers and soft gourmand and spicy stuff, all thrown in a pot. It's all very gentle and easy to like. If it had a message it would be just that: gentle and easy to like. There's nothing sharp or rough about it. Total positivity. It smells like a perfect day on vacation, sun starting to set, everything's going right, love and camaraderie, plans for a night party later with friends. I've noticed that in art in general for a while there's a requirement to have something dark in it to have it be accepted as art. I don't know why that is, exactly. Maybe because so much normal stuff is done by non-artists, and lacks the deeper messages that can be communicated more forcefully by darker themes by more skillful artists. And then you get a skillful artist who doesn't have to communicate a dark theme to be cool, and can just let a positive thing be a positive thing. That's how this perfume smells. It doesn't have an agenda. It just smells nice in a really nice way. Maybe something to wear when the world is ending to remind oneself that we once had nice things for their own sake, and probably ignored them. Leans feminine, especially in the drydown. Very powerful and lasts a long time. People will be tempted to wear this in cool weather, which is a sign that it's also good for warm weather. Clear bottle with black stripe.

This is one of my VERY FAVORITE fragrances for EXACTLY the same reasons some people detest it. I am extremely particular about my fragrances because I am sensitive to a large variety of scents, and my body especially abhors those mass-produced florals almost every major designer pushes. This is lovely because it is rich and spicy with strong incense and amber. Yes, the very top notes are a bit odd and fruity, but like most top notes, they are very short-lived. There is a tiny bit of a medicinal note in the heart, almost like a tinge of menthol, but it hardly comes through at all for my nose and chemistry unless I intentionally focus on it, and simply lends it a clean, almost green undertone. For me, it dries down into soft, slightly powdery spice, and the amber comes through much more strongly more than the incense after about half an hour. As much as I love this fragrance, though, I agree it is not a blind buy. Nothing should be a blind buy, honestly, but this isn't a “safe” fragrance for people who tend to love the usual scents. It feels somewhat familiar, but it is too complex to take all in at once. It is warm and cozy like a bear hug on a bear rug by the fire once the chill hits the air. And it's not for people who are unwilling to give it a chance to develop and take them on its unique journey.

I don't have much to add, that no one else has yet. This is unisex, but as someone else mentioned, at some moments, it seems more feminine, and at others, more masculine. My husband wears Z-14 and it smells amazing on him. I think I'll make him try this on one day. I don't get the cherry coke reference. I think the only thing I can say that no one else has, is that Mon Numero 10 has a soft, fluffy cashmeran feel to it (due to the aldehydes?), but I overspray this one, and I get zero nausea, so there's obviously no cashmeran in here. This perfume also appears to have avoided the modern pitfall of overusing Iso E Super. If it is present here, it's very judiciously used, and completely or nearly completely imperceptible as well. The main notes I smell are cinnamon, cedar/woods, aldehydes, incense, other indistinguishable spices, and leather. I do get sweetness but not necessarily vanilla. I do not get the tobacco note others describe. Perfumes with this scent profile often do feature tobacco, but I don't detect it here. I also get no florals. Due to the spices, it might be assumed to be an autumn scent, but I think this is actually better for winter, after the snows have begun to accumulate and everyone has a fire in their wood stoves.

I thought Mon Numero 10 was a good masculine scent when I was first given a bottle. However, I have been reaching for it quite often this Fall and have fallen in love with this fragrance; I find it to be an excellent, interesting, masculine incense, cinnamon and leather scent with a very nice eclectic mix of aromatic and animalic accords in the background. Performance is pretty good; it lasts 7-hours on my skin and projects moderately, which is fine for this type of fragrance. I get that spiced Cherry Coke vibe some have mentioned. Although a very different scent, I also get a similar Cherry Coke vibe in YSL M7. If I had to describe Mon Numero 10 to someone, I would tell 'em that it's like taking two-parts Boucheron Jaipur Homme and mixing it with one-part M7 and one-part of that L'Artisan DNA I smell in so many of their fragrances. It's a unique scent that stands on it own. It's a bit different (eclectic) but not too different to the point of making it strange or odd. If you're into oriental-spicy fragrances, then give this one a try. There's a good chance you'll like or love it.

Peaceful, like Holy Water, enveloping, warm-indeed incense from Duchaufour. Sprayed it - loved it straight away. To me it smells like a Tibetan centre, that I visit often. It carries aura of Nepal, Bhutan, Himalayas. More wearable than Passage d'Enfer, which is too cold and distant on me or Tea For Two, where ginger was too sharp to enjoy, both of Giacobetti I was on the fence regarding this fragrance for few years, reviews were slightly off-putting due to coke references. Also I usually a bit cautious about ginger, - nah. Soft, sweet, calm, - woody incense with touch of spices, where all is well-behaved and evenly dispersed. After first minutes, when spices absorbed you left with tranquil sweet woodiness, balmy and aromatic. I know some ppl do not know where to wear such scents - I just wear what I love EVERYWHERE, Numero 10 can easily become your own spiritual identity, with this exotic aura of mysticism.