Chandler Burr's 10 Favorite Fragrances

[Dennis]

Interesting article:
http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0303/burr/essay.html

tl;dr:

1) Angel by Thierry Mugler
2) Bigarade created by the perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena and En Passant, by Olivia Giacobetti for Frédéric Malle/ Editions de Parfums
3) Vera Wang by Vera Wang
4) Quartz by Molyneux
5) Hanae Mori for Men by Hanae Mori
6) Paris by Yves Saint Laurent
7) The Dreamer by Versace
8) Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel
9) Happy for Men by Clinique
10) Chanel No 5 by Chanel

[Kouros]

Glad I don't own any...

[Isaac]

Whos Chandler Burr?

[tweedcab]

IsaacRN, you beat me to it :w00t:

[drumana]

Whos Chandler Burr?

He's some guy who's #1 favorite cologne is "Angel".:001_huh:

Yikes.

[Brodirt]

Me: "Hey mates, whats up? I just barely got out of the house...I'll take a pint."

Mates: "What's that smell?"

Me "It's Angel! It's Chandler Burr's #1 scent!"

Me: "Owwww, my nose...gimme a f'in napkin and ice cube would'ya...oh and call me a cab."

[RILEY]

Whos Chandler Burr?

Was'nt Chandler Burr,
Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Ross & Joey's best friend on the TV series Friends? :lol:

[cnconner]

He refers to Luca Turin in his post. I ended up at this site after reading Turin's book Perfumes: The Guide and spending a fair amount of time at Basenotes. Scent is so subjective, but Turin and other folks on Basenotes have a lot of experience and their thoughts and reviews can guide you to something you really like. It's very much the same on this site.

Turin has a list of his top 10 masculine and feminine scents. I ordered a sampler of the feminine for my wife. Out of the 10, Angel and Bulgari Black were by far our favorites. I really like Angel. I think Angel is great on a woman. Could a man pull it off? I don't know -- depends on the guy and I'm not that guy.

Turin has some interesting things to say abou masculine scents. Men (historically) have been cheap and wouldn't dream of spending a lot of money on scents. Consequently, we get excellent low-priced scents like Old Spice, Clubman, and other scents that are often discussed here. Some of the real crap is in the designer brands.

[The Nid Hog]

Was'nt Chandler Burr,
Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Ross & Joey's best friend on the TV series Friends? :lol:

If only I had been a little faster.

[Muirtach]

Whos Chandler Burr?

Aaron Burr's other brother?

[Brodirt]

Men (historically) have been cheap and wouldn't dream of spending a lot of money on scents. Consequently, we get excellent low-priced scents like Old Spice, Clubman, and other scents that are often discussed here. Some of the real crap is in the designer brands.

Not men who buy Creed, Floris, ADP, T&H, etc.

[Scentronic]

I think this guy is seriously overrated as a fragrance connoisseur. Then again, I think I too have exceptional taste in fragrances and that people should take note of my recommendations. :biggrin:

So on that note, let me critique his choices!

1) Angel by Thierry Mugler - If the guy's favorite scent smells like a box of 20 year old chocolates in the basement of my old fraternity house, then I'd say we just plain have different taste in fragrances!

3) Vera Wang by Vera Wang - Pretty good tobacco scent actually; my favorite of his choices. The only real downfall of this fragrance is it's notoriously poor lasting power.

5) Hanae Mori for Men by Hanae Mori - An imbalanced mess of a fragrance. Way too many notes and accords to make any sense in any meaningful way. Almost like a Jackson Pollack painting... although his work did convey some sense of proportion and balance, albeit amongst the chaos.

7) The Dreamer by Versace - A strange fragrance with a strange shape. It hits your nose like most fragrances don't. It is in fact unique and interesting, but if the particular woody accord that this fragrance focuses on doesn't appeal to you, then it can be a big turn off. I hated this stuff initially. Now I can only respect it as a sort of facimily of a MPG fragrance.

8) Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel - Disgusting, overly-perfumed, over-makeuped, stiff, conservative businesswoman from the early ninety's wearing a gaudy houndstooth blazer and nauseating everyone within her realm of stench.

9) Happy for Men by Clinique - decent, generic, slightly plasticine and synthetic, but still refreshing in an illusory way. Most men wouldn't buy this if they actually knew of the other great orange scents out there.

10) Chanel No 5 by Chanel - See review #8 above and magnify x10. I would have thought that in all the years that this fragrance has been around, someone at Chanel would have been honest enough to admit to their boss that this stuff smells like a stale old lady.

[rabelais99]

Mr. Burr does, indeed, seem a bit 'precious'.

I find a good bit of fun in the unisex colognes of the 19th and early 20th centuries, but a line needs to be drawn somewhere.

Chanel #5 ? On a guy? I just can't see it.

----------
alan

[Semi-Constant Gardener]

I believe he is the fragrance critic for the NY Times, and he has written at least one book on fragrance that is actually very good, "The Perfect Scent." In it, he follows the development and launch of two frangrances, one from a European house and one in the US for Sarah Jessica Parker, of "Sex and the City" fame. It was a quick and educational read. I am not sure that his list actually are scents he would wear, or scents that he just admires. I think that Base Notes carries his blog or articles from the Times. Can't take any of it too seriously, of course.

[davecmu]

Fragrance in general makes the most compelling case for "YMMV." I find some of his recommendations (Quartz, Vera Wang, Happy) to be excellent fragrances, but some of the others mystify me (No. 5?! Seriously?).

From his description, I love to get my nostrils on some Paris as I've never smelled it before.

[Black Adder]

Was'nt Chandler Burr,
Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Ross & Joey's best friend on the TV series Friends? :lol:

Sorry, guys.... while it would be hard to come up with a more irritating name than Chandler Burr, the producers and writers of one of the worst television comedies ever made managed to do it....

It was Chandler Bing.

Don

[TimMechEngr]

I think this guy is seriously overrated as a fragrance connoisseur. Then again, I think I too have exceptional taste in fragrances and that people should take note of my recommendations. :biggrin:

So on that note, let me critique his choices!


10) Chanel No 5 by Chanel - See review #8 above and magnify x10. I would have thought that in all the years that this fragrance has been around, someone at Chanel would have been honest enough to admit to their boss that this stuff smells like a stale old lady.

IMO, Chanel No 5 should be moved to the No 1 position on the list. It is mine and my wife's all time favorite. The scent is a classic, classy, sophisticated, sexy, and alluring fragrance that makes heads turn and automatically start looking for the most beautiful woman in the room. There's a good reason this perfume is still around since having been introduced in 1921! My guess is that it will still be around long after many on this list are long forgotten!

[davecmu]

It is mine and my wife's all time favorite.


:w00t: I bet it smells fabulous on you! :lol:

just kidding, mate :a30:

[TimMechEngr]

:w00t: I bet it smells fabulous on you! :lol:

just kidding, mate :a30:



:biggrin: I knew someone would have to bring that up. However, I expected it would be the Lime Cat! :lol::lol::lol: He's shooting for 9k by the end of the day tomorrow, isn't he?

On another note: ROLL TIDE!!!!!

[millertime150]

Interesting article:
http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0303/burr/essay.html

tl;dr:
2) Bigarade created by the perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena and En Passant, by Olivia Giacobetti for Frédéric Malle/ Editions de Parfums


Cologne Bigarade is good stuff. Jean Claud Ellena has made smell great fragrances imho. Terre De Hermes, Cartier Declaration, and Cologne Bigarade. These 3 smell similar imho so I guess that is why I love them :biggrin:

It may be the bitter orange that is in common. I am not sure though.

[EnvYuS]

I like Chandler Burr as a fragrance critic. I think he's got some interesting things to say, not always the best things, but you don't have to listen to everything.

I like the selection he picked out. I don't agree with a few of them, but he has a unique nose.

How recent is this list? When was it posted by Chandler Burr?

[Austin]

Interesting article:
http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0303/burr/essay.html

tl;dr:

1) Angel by Thierry Mugler
2) Bigarade created by the perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena and En Passant, by Olivia Giacobetti for Frédéric Malle/ Editions de Parfums
3) Vera Wang by Vera Wang
4) Quartz by Molyneux
5) Hanae Mori for Men by Hanae Mori
6) Paris by Yves Saint Laurent
7) The Dreamer by Versace
8) Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel
9) Happy for Men by Clinique
10) Chanel No 5 by Chanel

Most of these scents are synthetic and not very pleasing. My girlfriend does wear #8 and #10. They smell great on her.

[millertime150]

i wonder if he is referring to Angel for woman or for men??

[millertime150]

I think this guy is seriously overrated as a fragrance connoisseur. Then again, I think I too have exceptional taste in fragrances and that people should take note of my recommendations. :biggrin:

So on that note, let me critique his choices!

1) Angel by Thierry Mugler - If the guy's favorite scent smells like a box of 20 year old chocolates in the basement of my old fraternity house, then I'd say we just plain have different taste in fragrances!

3) Vera Wang by Vera Wang - Pretty good tobacco scent actually; my favorite of his choices. The only real downfall of this fragrance is it's notoriously poor lasting power.





We agree on these!!!!:biggrin:

[drumana]

I don't mind Chanel No.5 - I even kind of like it - but I think it's because it's what my mother wore when she dressed up to go out when I was growing up. I wouldn't be caught dead wearing it, and I wouldn't want my girlfriend wearing it either though...

[Corey]

I kinda dig Angel for men. It's got a nice understated scent to it. Where it completely fails is on people who decided to use it in place of a shower and douche themselves in it. Then it's a miserable, overpowering, nauseating mess. When used lightly as a cologne and not a cover up, it's a really nice cologne.

[OldSchoolYoungin]

This guy's taste sucks. YMMV :biggrin:

[blantyre]

Surprising choices for an expert. I guess my own tastes are pretty narrow and niche, but I would not wear any of these from choice.