Endymion

Endymion, fair Endymion...one of the very FEW mortals blessed enough to know the love of one of the gods, (and live!) who received immortality, eternal youth and a peaceful fate of eternal slumber. Endymion was a shepherd on the slopes of Mt Latmos (on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey across the Bosphorus from Greece, near the mouth of the river Meander). Selene, who drove the chariot of the moon across the night sky, saw him and fell in love with his beauty. She bore him no less than 50 daughters (the Menae) and so hated the idea of him dying, that she asked a boon of Zeus: to keep him eternally young and make him immortal. It is said he is not dead, but eternally resting, beautiful as ever, in a cave on Mt Latmos; and it is here that Selene still visits him nightly embracing him with her soft silvery beams... I can see why this scent was named Endymion. It is one of the most beautiful man scents I have ever smelled and a fitting homage to the beauty of a young man who captured the heart of not only a goddess, but a daughter of Titans. The opening is stunning, the bright sweetness of the bergamot and mandarin are like a disarming grin that makes you like this guy on first meeting him. The sexy spicy cardamom, smooth nutmeg and peppercorns add a bit of the "wild" edge to him. (He was a shepherd who lived on a mountain, after all). There is something here that reminds me a bit of LALIQUE's Le Faune; only it is much more elegant, almost royal, and still quite "down to earth" but not as lewd or brash as a satyr (or faun) would be. Here, is a son of royalty, who just happens to prefer to be out of doors, living under the starry skies and free. The "heart" of this (amber, lavender, sage and vetiver) give this a very masculine air, yet are combined so very beautifully it is hard not to love it on first meeting it. Warm and sweet, clean and smooth, sharp yet not "biting" and smoky but clean...if a goddess fell in love; what chance do we mere mortals have? *sighs* In the cool recesses of his cave, we are wrapped in animal skins (leather), the warmth of his embrace (myrrh) and can smell a divine musk. The scent of his skin, washed in mountain streams, smelling of earth, man and nature. Adrogyny was considered the ultimate beauty in ancient Greece, and that is truly what Endymion is...softly (almost femininely) stunning while maintaining a quiet strength that is at once elegant and powerful. Penhaligon's, you have outdone yourselves!! Sillage: good but tender Longevity: impressive Overall: 5/5 (Who am I to argue with the Gods?) Though Endymion is marketed (and constructed) for men. I see no problem with women wearing this stunning creation. Though it lacks fruits and flowers, it has a definite sweetness, a subtle (very SEXY) smooth spiciness and a "to die for" drydown. Many people (non-perfumisti types) that I know would ROLL THEIR EYES at paying close to 100 USD for a 50 ml perfume...I just roll my eyes at THEM, sniff my wrists, sigh DEEPLY and walk away. Penhaligon's may cost more but it is definitely worth it here, and for this scent...I would pay more, if need be. Guys, do yourselves a favor: if you want ONE cologne that is spicy, sexy and just a tad bit sweet...but you do NOT want to smell like all the rest of "those dudes"-invest in a bottle of ENDYMION. You'll understand when you sniff it, trust me! There are many accounts of Endymion's birth and his "story". Almost as many stories as there were storytellers, but ONE thing they all agree on was his beauty, quiet strength and his absolute charisma and charm. For once, the perfume really does match the name...

This is a comfort scent. I legitimately only wear this one at night and it puts me to sleep. Not to say it's boring, it just has that calming lavender effect. Presentation.. Well, it's Penhaligon's. Cool bottle, great sprayer. I wish they would do away with the stickers and do all their bottles like Blasted Heath (etching) but... Still quality. Looks good. Lavender piledriver. About as masculine a lavender as you are going to get. Barbershoppy (is that a word?). There's a lot going on in this one and it is an exquisite blend.. However, it's fairly linear. Not to fret, it's linear in the most pleasing way possible. Lavender dominant, bergamot adding a touch of brightness, coffee and leather adding depth, sage adding spice. When it does change, it loses some of it's brightness to the myrrh, sandalwood and incense but it generally stays the same. Again, VERY lavender based. If you do not like that note, you will not like this. Endymion has a strange quality to it. Alluring, complicated and mysterious but not in a "bad boy" kind of way. More in the vein of an introverted intellectual. Captivating and sexy because of it. It flirts with being a dandy type of scent but is decidedly masculine. I think this is for sure versatile in any way possible (except maybe a dead humid summer heat). Dressed down, dressed up, no age hang ups... It's a utility scent. Sophisticated enough for a suit, relaxed enough for jeans. Hell, I wear it in my PJs most of the time. The downfall with Endymion is it's strength. As an EDC, it lives up to it's stated concentration but it's not a dramatic underperformer. It lasts for about 4-5 hours with about 30-45 minutes of walloping sillage. After that, very nice skin scent that people will still detect, although it may be just a glimmer of spicy lavender. I really love this stuff and I'd buy (and wear religiously) an EDP if it smelled exactly the same and didn't cost an arm and a leg. It personifies my attitude in a scent.

Endymion holds a special place in my heart less as its the first cologne I ever bought and more the story behind it. Like most guys growing up in the late 2000s I was obsessed with Lynx (Axe for those across the pond) body spray. And naturally being the absolute yob I was then, bathed myself in the stuff to the point that you could smell me half a kilometer away. Then one day I went to visit my granddad's and minus a few politically incorrect terms, he proceeded to drag me over to the local shopping centre for a "real man's cologne and not that spay can garbage" And there I was introduced to Penhaligon's. Granddad chatted up the old bluenose running the shop and gave him the short of it, and I was given a few scents to try. Eventually it came down to either Opus 1870 or Endymion. Granddad suggested Endymion because he liked the lavender coffee and incense combo. He on the other hand got himself a 10mL atomizer sample of Lord George. 8 years later I still have that bottle of Endymion and his sample atomizer too after he passed away. But granddad had a good eye, or rather a good nose I suppose. Endymion a highly versatile scent that's both office safe and good for wearing out; it can be worn year round but does tend to perform best in spring/fall and to a lesser extent summer. I've been told it makes me smell bookish but it has a calming, confidence boosting effect on me. Longevity has always been an issue with Endymion for sure, but some excessive spritzes go a long way with improving duration considering it is an EDC and not an EDT and if not, keep a bit on hand in an atomizer at school or the office.. So to summarize, Endymion is a safe blind buy for both first timers and frag vets who tire of the more avant garde. Traditionally British yet modern at the same time.

I woke with a start at 5:00 this morning, drenched in sweat, a churn in my stomach. I had taken way too high a dosage of cough medicine, and my body was not happy about it. Dry heave - okay, I guess it's fine now. After dealing with that, the last thing I wanted to do was go to work, but circumstances left me with no choice. I needed something light, not too spicy, smooth. Please no giant "scent cloud" today. Just something nice, pleasant, barely there. I reached for my sample of Endymion, knowing its Eau de Cologne concentration wouldn't be so intrusive, and the second I sprayed (and dabbed the residual dribble) I knew I made the right choice. Despite having to drag myself to work, it's as if Endymion tucked me back into bed and smooched me on the forehead. Nothing else in my collection does this, and if it tries, it's way too loud to be effective. Previously, I'd written Endymion off as a waste of money. Why would I get this wimpy creamy coffee scent when I have Pure Coffee? Okay, past me. Time for a lecture: You're not always going to want to smell like a dark roast black coffee. Sometimes you're going to want to smell like a local cafe around the holidays - warm, inviting, coffee smells lingering with bakery smells, bakery smells lingering with the faint whiff of a stranger's perfume. I see my fragrance collection as a support system, in a way. It helps me see myself how I wish to be seen, it helps when I'm feeling depressed, it helps when I'm bored. Endymion is the fragrance equivalent of that friend who can sense when you need a hand to hold. He starts out as a hug and dries down to your dear friend, holding your hand, giving it gentle strokes when he hears so much as a sniffle out of you. Endymion is the friend I'm ready to welcome onto my shelf.

Not being a Penhaligon's fan (the brand has recently become associated with a tourist souvenir shop, targeted at people who have never visited the UK before) - and detesting powdery scents - it took me a while to appreciate Endymion. Endymion falls bang in the 'clean' domain, but it does the 'clean' accord in a different way to any other scent I know of. There is no explosion of citrus or neroli here; instead lavender is the backbone of the scent. It is woven with bergamot in the opening and a faux coffee and geranium in the heart. I say faux coffee because I haven't come across a scent that does coffee just how it smells (to my nose) in a coffee cup or from a freshly opened bag of beans. That said, the coffee note here is impressive and works better than say MFK's Amyris Homme duo. The opening can be a bit of a challenge, so I always go easy on the trigger with this one. Once the scent is settled in to that complex base, it really shines. This is especially true in the cooler months and specifically at night, where the resins and spices come to life, but do not become overpowering (unless you've done too many sprays). The current bottles project moderately and last a working day; the scent does not need to be topped up. All in all, Endymion is quite a masculine creation, fresh/clean and yet spicy, with an adequate (not too bitter, not too sweet) incense in the base. A great cool weather 'pick me up' for longer nights and when a citrus-laden freshie just won't do.