THE JOURNAL
Three scents selected by our panel of stylish men.
Choosing a fragrance is an intuitive thing. A light, zesty scent that works well in summer can feel out of place when the mercury plummets, and from oud to vetiver and juniper to neroli, finding a fragrance that works for you is easier if you can get a trustworthy recommendation or two. We asked some of the discerning gents on the MR PORTER Style Council what their go-to fragrances are in summer 2018, and what makes them worth keeping beyond that.
Mr David Macklovitch
Musician
**Frédéric Malle Vetiver Extraordinaire **
“This has been in my rotation for about a year now, and I’ve always been a Frédéric Malle fan. Known for a great nose and high-quality ingredients, his fragrances can be a tad literal, but they have the advantage of fitting a type. Vetiver is hard to nail. It can easily err on the side of too old school, too cologney, or it can smell messy, metallic and dirty. This iteration gets it right. In winter, the woody notes make the vetiver masculine and warm. In summer, it reads as zesty and sophisticated.”
Mr Chris Glass
Director of European membership, Soho House
Diptyque Philosikos
“Diptyque Philosykos is something I’ve been using since it was gifted to me by a dear friend more than 20 years ago. I have an extremely sensitive sense of smell, so I don’t try new fragrances very often, but this is one of the few that I enjoy both in the bottle and on my skin. Few things say summer like sun-ripened figs. The eau de toilette version of this fragrance is light enough for summer in that it won’t disturb your neighbour, but it lingers nicely into those balmy nights. And it always gets a response.”
Mr Lewis Alexander
CEO, Lewis Alexander Executive Search
Escentric Molecules Molecule 01
“I’ve been wearing Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 for about 10 years now. Kate Moss had it on one evening over drinks and I was so drawn to it that I’ve been converted ever since. It disappears, then reappears throughout the day, neither masculine nor feminine, but very seductive nonetheless. You get an incredible reaction from people when you’re wearing it. It’s less a fragrance and more a chemical compound, and works by enhancing the wearer’s natural pheromones. It reacts to your body differently depending where you are in the world and in what season. Each time it creates a slightly different scent that’s never quite the same yet always magnetic.”
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