The Mechanic

Would you like to know what it smells like to be on the inside of a Bugatti Chiron, a Lexus LC, a Mercedes AMG GT, or a Koenigsegg Gamera? Let this fragrance transport you into the luxurious cockpit of one of those for a 100th less than a down payment. My god. The Mechanic by St. Giles is a luxurious leather note made realistic with nuances of a very bitter coffee-like smokiness balanced on top of patchouli earthiness. lightly bittersweet like the odor of sweet fumes from tar or charred wood. Greasy oil slick and leather seats. A clean hand-stitched and treated leather. This faint hint of smokiness from a bitter caramel nuance, never sweet, brings a photorealistic leather quality to The Mechanic that is custom of caramelized biological compounds that have been preserved in leather by the tanning and polishing process. A perfume heavy on castoreum but enhancing and idealizing all of the ingredient's thick, starchy, edgy and gothic facets. Rubbery, bitter, chewy, and very true to life, very sexy, very mature and incredibly smooth. You will know it is leather you are smelling! This will not be easily enjoyed by people still into their hypebeast-niche, safe niche or popular niche in the camps of Roja, Clive Christian, Xerjoff, Boadicea the Victorious, Creed or Parfums de Marley. No, this is different, and much, much more daring but sexy as hell if you can pull it off. The Mechanic is bitter and will take a few weeks to come around to, believe me, much like the other offerings. They are very unique smells with a bitter DNA that Bertrand Duchafour has properly established in the whole line. They are smart perfumes. This should be called Le Mécanicien! Haha just joking! The Mechanic has landed itself into my reference leather spot. It is my absolute favorite leather and I shelter my sample because I have almost finished what I had since last year. I need a bottle this winter 🥶 ❄️ but at the time of writing this review it has been sold out since September 😩. It is always sold out when I want to order it. If you had any of the Pour Homme versions of the Bottega Veneta or all three of them this will undoubtedly remind you of unique combination of the three or probably a higher quality bitter and richer version of both Bottega Veneta Pour Homme Parfum and the original Bottega Veneta. The Mechanic is just overall better, as it should be. The opening is similar however, the dry down and unique bitterness of the leather dismantle any further associations. The Mechanic is an incredibly unique, and sophisticated, modern leather. If what let you down about the Bottega Veneta line was the performance I promise that this has got you covered and more... Once again Betrand Duchaufour has not broken a sweat to create a masterpiece of a fragrance that tells a very specific story engagingly and properly - the privileged, brainy mechanic that works passionately, almost obsessively on sports and luxury cars. 🧰🏎🛠 10/10

My favourite from the brand. To me, it's a soft leather-floral, with a touch of castoreum(real stuff? I don't think so!) Not a trace of caramel to my nose, nothing gourmand here. Not getting any caoutchouc neither; I think it's more of a marketing thing, tbh. The problem is that this one and the Tycoon are sold out for months now, and not to be found anywhere. I contacted them on FB, and they didn't bother to reply! I'm sure it's discontinued. Shame!

This scent has a herbaceous and bright opening which quickly transitions into a leathery castoreum vibe. If you are looking for an alternative to Dior's Fahrenheit with more power and a fougere twist this will be well for you. There's a nod to 90's corporate London bankers with slicked hair, suited and booted - reminiscent of mid 90's vibes. Think back to Tom Cruise in The Firm. It takes you there!

Great scent, and price. Bought it to gift, and then for self. Top quality fragrance, I love the leather that powers through that oily masculine scent. You will not go unnoticed!

The smoke and leather make this lean too masculine for my personal use, I gave it to my partner and truly love the smell of it on him.

I purchased the discovery sample set of all 5 St. Giles fragrances - given these are small vials with not the greatest atomizers, no comment will be made on performance, sillage, projection or longetivity. The Mechanic The most challenging of the line. Even though I'm not one myself, I respect the hell out of blue collar men and this scent is an ode to them. Rubber, tires, grease, oil, gasoline, sweat. All mixed together to create one accord. I don't personally pick-up on any development which I think is okay in this case. This scent, which is beautifully executed, will definitely trigger instances in your brain of visiting a car/auto shop. This is a perfect scent for a blue collar man during the daytime when he's on the job or even off-work when he's wearing a plaid shirt and jeans. Also, although anyone can wear what they want, this wouldn't fit a heterosexual woman. If you're in the UK, the price over there is more reasonable but here in Canada, it's quite expensive to get a bottle here after currency conversion. I think these St. Giles scents offer niche smells done in a way that's still wearable so they're not too challenging but definitely not mainstream designer either. Main highlight for me = that it so effectively takes me back to the smells of the auto-shops I've been to when having my car fixed I rank this #3 out of 4 [but that's not meant as a slight - The Writer, Stylist & Mechanic are all great scents that would appeal to 3 different tastes] ("The Actress" is excluded since it's the only one explicitly geared to women) YT channel - The Scentrovert

On the first whiff, you do get some sensation of the leather (I don't smell any Caoutchouc, disappointingly enough, unless I'm genuinely nose blind). But pretty quickly, that fades away into a more typical patchouli, faintly minty (geranium) smell. This is what you smell throughout the life of the fragrance, which is fine, but the profile is a huge let down. Were they trying to be on the safe side, or was it a marketing ploy? Either way the profile is not really unique, smells pretty generic, and doesn't particularly stand out unless you like using cheap designer "over the counter" perfumes, then this is probably a safe blind buy. In general, becomes a typical herbaceous, aromatic fragrance as denoted in the top notes in the end (and maybe the slightest bit of leather, if any at all). Where is the mechanic in this? I can barely tell.

The dry down on this smells almost exactly like an old Lynx (Axe) deodorant I remember smelling in the air in the locker room in the early 00s, mixed with the smell of sweaty bodies and smelly gym socks. It smells like a working class teenager. No class, no taste, no hygiene.

In the opening I can smell some patchouli and leather. The castoreum note, which to me often smells like a pungent leather smell, almost reminiscent of some kind of shoe polish, is also detectable later on. Its spicy and green nuances are sitting somewhere in between The Writer and The Tycoon. The Writer is way more spicy, while The Tycoon reminds me more of a classic green chypre, this one has both components and is probably the best of the bunch. Very virile. After some time, I also get a sweaty accord which is very apt for the name of the scent. It's nothing unwearable or extremely challenging, but I could understand how some people would find this to be quite a harsh scent overall. It's another mature release from the brand of which fans of classic masculines from the 80's or 90's might appreciate. Performance is decent and will last for some hours with average projection. 7/10

*Not a review* -I was browsing the latest news on Fragrantica, when i stumbled upon an article about HUNQ Perfumes. -The concept struck me as familiar.. turns out St.Giles has done a similar concept 4 years prior. -HUNQ fragrances does a spin on it with a focus on muscular young men, portrayed as representatives of five working-class professions. (gardener, barman, carpenter, lifeguard and mechanic).

Interesting notes. Perhaps mabey similar to L'Artisan DZING!

I give Mechanic by St. Giles 5 stars 😁