As you may have guessed from the title, I’m totally blaming the pregnancy hormones for this one. Whether or not they are actually culpable remains to be seen but it feels slightly less shameful to rest the responsibility upon my ever-increasing levels of hormonal angst.
Some women eat coal, crave the taste of rubber and leather… me? Well, I just want to smell like all of those things instead. You can keep your girly florals, sweet fruits, and vomit-worthy vanillas… give me all of the MAN SCENTS.
Were my pockets big enough, I’d carry the above candles around with me 24/7, pausing regularly for a sniff before continuing on my way. My Jonathan Ward Woodstock candle, which I picked up whilst scouring the shelves at T.K. Maxx is the least masculine of the trio and perfect for the season, reminding me of a dampened but very-much-alive forest floor… woody and aromatic.
My Mum picked up the Rigaud Cuir de Kyara candle for me after spotting it nestled on a tabletop at her local Emmaus in France. She said that the smell of pure, unadulterated leather “nearly knocked her head off” and thus, knew instantly that I would fall in love with it. She was right. It’s a blinder and I’m now obsessed with finding other candles from this Parisian brand.
Finally, and thanks to a Zuneta/Amazon bargain, I’m pleased to finally be able to add this Malin + Goetz Vetiver candle to my collection! I haven’t been able to walk past the display of M+G candles in Liberty for ages without stopping to sniff this one in all its earthy, woody and downright sexy glory.
But my obsession with man-scent doesn’t just stop at candles. Oh no! It gets far more serious…
I bought L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Tea for Two during their Summer sale a couple of years ago and it was love at first sniff but recently, I just can’t get enough of it and have upgraded to a massive 100ml bottle in order to get my fix. The perfect blend of smoky embers, honeyed tobacco and warming ginger to keep all thoughts of frostiness at bay this Winter.
Ahhh, Molton Brown… I remember when I first came across your distinctively delicious Re-Charge Black Pepper scent (now called black peppercorn) a few years ago whilst staying at a hotel in Basel. To this day, I kick myself for being good and not stealing all the hotel toiletries, it just felt too naughty to take the ones that I hadn’t actually opened to use during my stay! Instead, I scoop up other people’s spoils on eBay and long for the candle version!
My final fragrant craving is one that Mr. L is less than impressed with. He can cope with sharing most of his scents with me, infact… many times, we purchase a fragrance under the certain knowledge that we’re doing so in order to share the bottle (it makes a £70 splurge so much more palatable split two ways). My desires to wear his smells-just-like-a-freshly-wet-shaved-man Floris Santal*, however, are falling on deaf ears. I’ve been allowed a quick spritz, twice. Only twice. I actually think that might constitute domestic abuse.
Are there any “boy” scents that drive you wild? And, question is… are you wild enough to wear them?
* press sample
