C & s _

[USCGME3]

With August on the horizon I believe I will be ordering a C&S scent from Bullgoose. Narrowed it down between Oxford and Cambridge or Cuba. Which first?

[rearviewmirror]

O&C, since Cuba smells like.....poo

[The Nid Hog]

Have you tried them yet? Maybe go with the C&S sample pack first. I really dislike Cuba--it strikes me as quite foul. At the same time, I was not impressed by O&C at all, although it is fairly popular herl. I'm a lavender fragrance fan, but O&C smells like lavender and toothpaste to me. Out of the whole sampler, the only fragrance that I would buy is 88. Daek Rose was OK too, but there are better possibilities out there.

[StylinLA]

I'm with Nid... Sample these first. The C&S scents all share to me a foul note. I know there are many who enjoy their scents and I'm not asserting my opinion trumps any others. But lurking around these fragrance boards a lot, there are some others that experience the same foul notes from C&S scents. I do not think the majority of people have this experience, but the topic comes up enough to make me advise a bit of caution. Cuba especially.

[The Knize]

With August on the horizon I believe I will be ordering a C&S scent from Bullgoose. Narrowed it down between Oxford and Cambridge or Cuba. Which first?

C&S might still be my favorite house. It once was. Bold scents. I smell and really like that funky house note that is in many of the C&S scents, but is not in O&C.

Try before you buy. I like both Cuba and O&C, but I guess I have always been concerned about wearing something with a poo note that so many people, but not me, get from Cuba. That poo note is different from the funk note above! To me that poo note is a near perfect unburned cigar tobacco accord. The funk note is more ashtray.

The mint note in O&C is somewhat controversial. I did not like it at first at all, but have come to think of it, and O&C as a whole, as genius. One of my very favorite lavenders. Strikes me as more versitile than Cuba. It is perhaps the most versitile of all the C&S scents. And I like the way the bottle looks on my shelf!

[USCGME3]

Sampler set it is.

[professorchaos]

Good advice, good decision. Cuba is one of my favorites of the line though it is disappointingly short lived.

[S'eth]

I definitely recommend trying out samples first. I ordered some directly from C&S for around $9 shipped which included a 0.7 sample vial of each of their scents. They all share a very strong incense which I guess is more related to the natural oils instead of synthetics. I don't get the dreaded fecal smell from Cuba and its probably my 2nd favorite scent from them. I am however in love with the Vetiver Vert, a great green woodsy scent. My rankings on the C&S scent line is as follows:

1) Vetiver Vert - (Top Notes - Mandarin, Bergamot / Middle Notes - Laurel, Galbanum / Base Notes - Haitian Vetiver, Sandlewood)

2) Cuba - (Top Notes - Bergamot, Lime, Peppermint, Rum / Middle Notes - Clove, Bay, Rose / Base Notes - Tobacco, Frankincense, Cedar Wood and Vetiver)

3) Oxford and Cambridge - Great English scent containing a blend of French and English Lavender topped with peppermint, rosemary, and bergamot on a base note of warm oak moss.

4) 88 - Blend of spicy, floral and citrus notes set against a warm but dry base of Vetiver and Sandlewood.

5) Paradisi - Californian grapefruit with subtle hints of spicy coriander and pepper and balanced out with patchouli and oak moss.

[delamain]

Hmm, the Vetiver Vert does look good.

Personally, I want to try Cuba the most. I am also afraid of the fecal note though, so I won't ever blind buy it. Too many reviews mention it for it to be a subjective opinion; it must come down to body chemistry or something. I'm hoping to get a decant from The Perfumed Court...

Knize, I hope that I get unburned cigar tobacco instead of night soil!

[Oscroft]

I got a C&S sample set a little while ago, and I really like No 88 and O&C - I haven't got round to ordering them yet, but I hopefully will this month.

I really like Cuba too - I do get the fecal note, but it's reminiscent of cigar tobacco and I actually don't dislike it. But I probably won't buy any, because I don't really want other people thinking I smell like poo. (But on the other hand, the fecal note doesn't last long, so maybe...). Anyway, it would surely be a massive seller if they could get that note out of it without damaging anything else.

The Vetiver Vert is very good, and I seriously considered putting that on my wish list too - but though I do like the resinous scent in it, I don't think I actually want to smell of it.

[The Knize]

Hmm, the Vetiver Vert does look good.

Personally, I want to try Cuba the most. I am also afraid of the fecal note though, so I won't ever blind buy it. Too many reviews mention it for it to be a subjective opinion; it must come down to body chemistry or something. I'm hoping to get a decant from The Perfumed Court...

Knize, I hope that I get unburned cigar tobacco instead of night soil!

I have written in posts a number of times about fecal notes in Cuba. I have probably forgotten what all I said and am probably contradicting myself! But a couple of addtional thoughts. I think the fecal and the cigar notes are the same notes and folks are just smelling them differently. I do not think it is just a difference in associations different individuals have with what each perceives in the same way. It is my theory that the sense of smell varies much more widely in humans than any other sense, and that if there was much variation in sight as there is in smell among humans, we would not be able to drive a car down the road, for instance.

On the other hand, pick up that Montecristo Habano (that is, a real made in Cuba cigar), close your eyes and sniff. Fecal notes, right? I seem to have used up my materials for doing that test, so I am going by memory. I think the smells put off by many unburned cigars contain fecal notes. In fact, I am guessing, based on a very small test population indeed, that true Cuban cigars may have more intense fecal notes than some other types of cigars. I chatted with my cigar store guy once about this and he sold me a cigar that he said was the most fecal of any he had ever tried. Certainly it was the most fecal I had ever tried.

Also, when we say "fecal" we are using a shorthand for earthy stinky notes that remind of us poo, but perhaps not only poo. I am not going to do the survey, but there are poo smells and there are poo smells. Anyone who have ever been nearby a hog farm and then nearby a dairy farm can probably confirm this. I guess folks have said Cuba has baby poo notes, I am not sure.

Nothing at all wrong with earthy funky notes overall. Certainly a fundmental part of much scentmaking. I think the quesiton is whether those in Cuba seem just oo specific to too many people.

By the way, I also think the notes we are talking about in Cuba sort of blow off and marry with the notes notes rather quickly. I think I will get my decant of Cuba and start wearing it again. Good hot summer night stuff. Lime, mint, rum, cigars, other islandy smells.

Also, I had forgotten about Vetiver Vert. I had really looked forward to it when it was coming out, and then was disappointed and lost interest when reports said it was not really much, if anything, of a vetiver, which I do not understand coming out of C&S. Why mislabel? I finally tried it from a tester, but that is not a fair test. I need to put a little more study into it than that. It did seem nicie and green.

[Austin]

Also, when we say "fecal" we are using a shorthand for earthy stinky notes that remind of us poo, but perhaps not only poo. I am not going to do the survey, but there are poo smells and there are poo smells. Anyone who have ever been nearby a hog farm and then nearby a dairy farm can probably confirm this. I guess folks have said Cuba has baby poo notes, I am not sure.

Nothing at all wrong with earthy funky notes overall. Certainly a fundmental part of much scentmaking. I think the quesiton is whether those in Cuba seem just oo specific to too many people.

I think the scent is more earthy and natural. It can be off putting but it quickly fades away. The same description is given to over scents with civet.

[delamain]

I am all about earth and funk and the smell of unburned Cuban cigars, but I suppose it is unacceptable in some quarters. That tempers my enthusiasm a little bit, because I don't really want my fragrance shot down as being vile.

I'm not completely discouraged by other people's descriptions of Cuba, but it is a concern that it will be something unpleasant like a hog farm rather than the notes we have discussed. I guess there is no way to know unless I get a sample. (A blind buy is definitely out)

I trust your assessment of the frag over the swift gut reaction that other people may have given on a short Basenotes review.

If anyone has a decant of Cuba, please let me know!

[USCGME3]

Sampler ordered from Bullgoose...updates to follow next week.

[dgerson]

I've tried the o&c and the 88. Wasn't impressed with the 88 at all but the o&c has become one of my favorites.

[USCGME3]

$140 for a bottle is kind of expensive, isn't it?

Expensive is a matter of opinion.

[Matt555]

$140 for a bottle is kind of expensive, isn't it?

$140 for a bottle of fragrance is on the expensive side. But most niche fragrances seem to break the $100 mark. Many break the $200 mark.

[UngerWoo]

Cuba is my favorite from this house. I like O&C but I find it gets tiring to wear for a full day.

[USCGME3]

Cuba...I now understand why everyone says this smells like poopy. Don't get me wrong, I think they nailed the scent of a fresh cigar, particularly once it dries down. I suppose I just never before made the association between the scent of a cigar and poo. I can respect this scent, but I would not want to be associated with this scent.

88...I have never been a big fan of rose...it always seems to remind me of a funeral parlor. My aversion to the scent has been waning since purchasing Floris 89 and Hamman Bouquet. I like these scents more and more and have become very comfortable with people associating me with these scents. I do, however, LOVE jasmine. Lavender, too. The rose in 88, in my opinion, takes a backseat to the jasmine in particular, and to a lesser extent, the lavender. The rose plays a supporting role rather than being the main feature, which is exactly where it needs to be if it wants to hang out with me.

Thoughts on Oxford and Cambridge and Vetiver Vert to follow...

[The Knize]

Cuba...I now understand why everyone says this smells like poopy. Don't get me wrong, I think they nailed the scent of a fresh cigar, particularly once it dries down. I suppose I just never before made the association between the scent of a cigar and poo. I can respect this scent, but I would not want to be associated with this scent.

88...I have never been a big fan of rose...it always seems to remind me of a funeral parlor. My aversion to the scent has been waning since purchasing Floris 89 and Hamman Bouquet. I like these scents more and more and have become very comfortable with people associating me with these scents. I do, however, LOVE jasmine. Lavender, too. The rose in 88, in my opinion, takes a backseat to the jasmine in particular, and to a lesser extent, the lavender. The rose plays a supporting role rather than being the main feature, which is exactly where it needs to be if it wants to hang out with me.

Thoughts on Oxford and Cambridge and Vetiver Vert to follow...

Interesting notes on 88. I am really drawn to jasmine, and sometimes I will really like a scent, and not figure out at first that it has signficiant jasmine notes. I do not wear 88 very often. I like it more not on me, I think. It does seem to me to be amazing perfume making. Floris 89 has never drawn me in. I generally really like Pens, but HB seems a little too exotic to me to wear. If I am going to wear rose it is more than likely going to be Montale Black Aoud.