Les Mauvais Garçons

This stuff is really pretty exceptional. I suppose that statement makes the rest of the review a bit superfluous - but I felt compelled to be blunt. I'd only recently discovered Strangers Parfumerie and the other work of Prin Lomros. This was actually a blind buy based on the fragrance description - something I rarely consider. But this has been perhaps my most successful blind fragrance purchase - a remarkable autumnal fougere in shades of brown, gray, and green. There is a juxtaposition of classical and modern sensibilities here that is really cool - traditional fougere notes, but pieced together in such a way that the fragrance feels entirely fresh. The first half of the fragrance is dominated by the hay, lavender, and coumarin - almost akin to something Lutens might have done, with a cosmetic twist similar to that found in Dior Homme. But over time, the fragrance becomes increasingly earthy. It's not dirty, but redolent of rich soil, which I suspect is a melding of the tobacco and oakmoss notes. It's ultimately somehow less masculine than traditional fougeres, having an androgynous allure that is mysterious and subtle. Now that I think of it - it has something in common with Le Troisieme Homme Caron. Perhaps the Caron was an influence, but that's a major compliment as well. The Strangers website indicates this fragrance is temporarily discontinued, but due to return in the next year or two. I certainly hope so - and I hope Prin doesn't change it one bit. I've now been able to sample other fragrances from the Strangers line - some of which are quite inventive. But none are as strikingly beautiful as Les Mauvais Garcons. An instant classic for me.

Beautiful and inventive fougere! I also appreciate the duality between its sillage--sweet coumarin and a touch of lavender buoyed by something fresh that feels like a very sparing use of dihydromyrcenol or some other fresh fougere molecule--and its smell closer to the skin, where the more herbal, fruity, earthy smell of hay absolute and tobacco is evident. There is this musky/animalic accord, also used judiciously, that feels common to several perfumes from this line. Here, it melds the green, pastoral elements with skin. Super lovely! I especially appreciated how it manages to be offbeat but wearable--part of which I feel is reflected in the difference between its sweeter waft and its loamy, dirty, earthiness that the wearer can smell on themselves. Though it is discontinued, it is still available from Bloom Perfumery as well!

Got bottle of this juice? I'm willing to buy it.

Yes there is hay. And it’s nice. But to me it’s wet, fecal, farmyard hay. It’s incredibly intriguing but it’s very odd and it merits comparison with others (purely for fragrademic purposes now). The comparisons below to Chergui and Cobra & the Canary are welcome and helpful but tangential. Chergui is sickly hay and quite sweet but is quite generic. Like thick quality honey on a strong breeze, it’s awesome but you wonder ‘what if there was a back room?’ By contrast, Cobra and Canary is extremely dry and simple (and obviously synthetic), quite unimaginative but with a posh leather plus a sweet-ish iris (which I think saves it and makes it quite iconic, if only in a very simple way). C&C is Two Dimensional. But it nails the same magic hay note as Chergui. So if you want dry hay on the breeze (lofty coumarin) then those two are a better choice. “Tonka bean” (ie synthetic coumarin) does that in other fragrances, sometimes. I mention all this because context is everything. You can’t smell LMG without raising a knowing eye to the above wafts on your mental wind. That’s probably why you’re here, right? Don’t get sucked into the Parisian dream of LMG, you’re decades too late and it’s just a ghostly memory nowadays. But it’s fun. LMG is dirtier, wetter, harder, thicker and faster than either of the above. It has the house ‘animal hair’ note, which I think throws the intended vibe off and goes too farmyard (same notes and direction as Prissana’s Haxan). If you want a proper hay note, this is great. If you want a more abstract ‘sweet end of summer hay on the last of the season’s dying air’ then the others above are better. This one is discontinued so maybe none of the above matters. But I think the comparisons are important because LMG is an outstanding example of the smell of proper, genuine, authentic end of summer vibes: too much sun on too sweet fields, September dreams left to rot in the sickening sunshine. Beautiful but complicated. Not entirely pretty. If you’re intrigued, good, but this part of the story is over. You now have to seek something new. Maybe Erawan by Dusita. Maybe MAAI. Or seek anything with a genuine and quality “tonka bean” note. And remember, you’re probably just chasing your own memories (which you can never catch anyway).

Hmmmm this really makes me want to get Pineward's Hayloft now. This one is like a softer, slightly less sweet version of hayloft IMO. I'm happy to have this in the collection! (Not a clone) I just associate the sweet hay with pineward's hayloft Perfect greenery type of fragrance Update: Yeah this is Prin Lomros's best work yet!