Shortly after graduating from college with a degree in English literature, I decided I should, like so many other graduates I knew, “go into sales.” I got a job at a public relations company and was assigned “non-profit/government accounts” (not exactly the money-making and glamorous clients I had envisaged). My first appointment was at a busy, city police precinct. I arrived for my meeting with the police department’s media relations specialist at the same time an infamous rapist had been brought in for booking. News reporters swarmed the building and my contact paid scant attention to what I had to say or what my company had to offer. I felt rather puny in that environment, especially as I looked at the P.R. guy’s tanned, bulging biceps...his upper arms were almost the size of my thighs. He left the room “for a second” and never came back. After waiting way too long for him to return, I snuck out of the building.
Almost all my appointments were in some way or other embarrassing and unproductive, and my sales career ended within a month. I was left with two expensive souvenirs from those uncomfortable and futile weeks: a “business” suit (long ago donated to charity) and a Coach attaché. The attaché still resides, wrapped in a soft cotton t-shirt, on the top shelf of my bedroom closet; it’s taken out for moisturizing once a year.
At the time I bought my attaché, Coach’s goods were considered high quality but a bit stodgy. These days, Coach is hipper, and I wish I could exchange my “corporate” attaché for a new Coach leather tote, something I’d use.
I was not excited to learn Coach was releasing a men’s fragrance — perfumes by Banana Republic and Brooks Brothers have been so dull I’ve never been tempted to review them, and I imagined a Coach scent would be similar in style. But when I recently went into a Coach store and asked the sales clerk if she liked the new men’s fragrance, she said, “Uh…(giggle)…it’s okay I guess. You know?” (No, I didn’t.) I asked if it smelled like anything she knew (“No!”). I asked what fragrances for men she liked; “Sean John …Clinique Happy…lots of stuff.” Her perfume/“stuff” tastes were different from my own, and when I sniffed Coach for Men, I liked it. (Clerk: “REALLY?”)
Coach for Men was developed by perfumer Honorine Blanc, and features notes of grapefruit, bergamot, Mandarin Naartjie NaturePrint (tangerine), Darjeeling tea, petitgrain, juniper, oak moss, cedar and patchouli. Coach for Men begins with lively and true-to-life smells of citrus fruit (I love the wonderful-exuberant fruity blend). Mid-development presents notes of tea and what passes for oak moss these days, let’s call it contemporary moss; there’s also an ever-so-slightly-sweaty accord (a mix of grapefruit and juniper?) The cedar-patchouli base is “matte” (smooth, restrained) and tinged with the scent of citrus peel. Coach for Men’s overall composition has a “Seventies French feel” and I’d classify the fragrance as “dressy-casual” (for what it's worth).
Coach for Men ignores the obvious: a leather note. (Are leather fragrances a hard sell to men?) Coach for Men is a sweet scent, not in the cupcake sense but in the “Ain’t he sweet?” way; the perfume smells charming and easy-going…like a nice, well-dressed guy who doesn’t really worry too much about his cowlick or the cat hair on his pants. Coach for Men is an “adult” perfume and will probably be considered “old fashioned” by those who love “fresh” men’s colognes (there are no melon, no marine, no ozone notes in this fragrance).
Coach for Men has good lasting power and mild sillage; it can be worn by either sex. Coach for Men has not received much promotion since its debut in late summer (I have not seen one ad or blurb in any magazine I read); it’s contained in run-of-the-mill packaging without its name on the bottle. Apparently, Coach is no more enthusiastic about this fragrance than the clerk who let me smell it for the first time. Coach for Men is available in 100 ml (Eau de Unknown) for $75.
Note: Top and middle images via Wikimedia Commons.
Hooray for the notes it does Not have! My husband’s interest in fragrance is really expanding, and I will suggest he check this out as your description sounds quite good. You mention in the review that the Coach name is not on the bottle, so I was wondering what bottle is pictured here.
Rusticdove: “Coach for Men/Eau de ???” (the assumed name!) is not on the bottle…just the basic Coach logo….
Oh, I get it. Duh. 🙂 I think the bottle looks cool – I like the logo. I found some samples on ebay and can’t wait for my husband to try it out. I love being his bad influence. hehe
I was just ebaying this today! I reallly wanna try it! Sounds great!
APassionateJourney: a pleasant surprise for me.
Hi Kevin: This sounds worth a sniff at least, but probably falls somewhere on a similar citrusy continuum as AdP Colonia Intensa & Allure Homme Edition Blanche, would you say? Always nice to have another well-created scent in that category, even if it’s not groundbreaking or “quirky.”
FYI: I recommend sampling Cereus No. 11.
Oh, and I enjoyed hearing about your illustrious career in “sales.” I think many grads would benefit from books such as “Careers for Nonconformists.”
Joe: HA! Maybe I could “sell” perfume and art, but that’s about it.
Joe, there’s a book that needs to written! Seriously! I know a lot of people who could benefit from it.
Kitty: It exists! I found it on Amazon when I was looking for another similar title I thought I remembered hearing about.
I’ll have to check that out!
Joe: I like the Coach better than either of those…it’s more in the AdP Colonia Intensa category though.
Wow! Better than either of those? I may need to pop into the local Coach boutique for a sniff then!
Kevin, you sold me! (Fellow English degree holders, unite!) This one should be relegated to the online discounters soon, if it hasn’t already since it won’t be as popular as the other men’s “stuff.” Love the description of the well-dressed guy with cat hair on his trousers…
Suzanne: may it arrive at the discounters…SOON.
I think I’m the female version of that guy. I had a job years ago where one of my coworkers told me that after I interviewed for the position, everyone was laughing at how I came in in a suit covered in pet hair. I guess I must have impressed them in other ways. (Or they were desperate.)
Kitty: as the ‘kids’ write: LMAO!
Of course, I’m a dog…
Miss K: I assume you OWNED that pet hair…and thus the hire!
I like to think of it as just one more way to accessorize.
Thank goodness I’m not the only person who walks around with pet (dog) hair on my clothes.
If I didn’t have at least a little cat & dog hair on my clothing—people would think I was an imposter! And since I have a white dog and a black cat—it matters not at all what color I wear, they’ve got me either way.
Yup. We’ve had a few black-and-white cats; there is nothing you can wear that will hide black AND white cat hair (except a really busy ‘seventies print, but that may not help you get the job, either).
I really want to get a sample for the dh now, because he’s just the kind of guy Kevin describes–easygoing, ignores cat hair and cowlicks, and doesn’t like the modern “fresh” scents.
I’m so with you…an obvious note would (should) have been leather!
C: I doubt Coach would have given the powerhouse leather I like…so for me, best they went this route I guess.
LOVE your story, Kevin. (Great mental picture of his bicep vs. your thigh: perfect!) You sure can write. And I think you’re sweet. ;-D
Robin R: HA! Thank you.
Kevin –
I absolutely love chuckling at your reviews when I get home from work. Thanks!
Rappleyea: glad you liked it.
As usual, great review. Coach sounds very pleasant, and miles from the usual shaving-cream-masculine-scents that send me away, shrieking in horror. (On myself, that is. I’m perfectly pleased to smell those on men.)
Your early post-college job landscape is exactly the reason my CPA father insisted that I not major in English lit… he even went so far as to say that my classes were paid for if I aimed for a degree in “something marketable,” and that support would be withdrawn if I didn’t. Ack. Since Making Daddy Happy was, at the time, more important than doing what I wanted to do – always, always a mistake! – I now have degrees in Business Administration and Accounting. Useful, yes, but dull. And I spend a shameful amount of time wishing I’d gone into publishing…
So I blog. 🙂
Oh, mals, if it makes you feel any better, I studied what I wanted to and I still have a dull job. 😉 Seriously, though, working among many university students, I sometimes want to shake them and scream, “The world only needs so many Bus Econ graduates! Study art or music or ornithology if it excites you!” And in general, hardly anyone’s undergrad degree bears ANY relation to what they end up doing “when they grow up…” Ah well.
mals86: blogging — the mini-saviour for us all.
It’s never too late to go back to school:
http://www.ccsp.sfu.ca/MPub/
(where almost everyone is former English major)
sounds like i should try this one. wonderful review
Rictor: hope you enjoy it.
I had to smile along with your description of your carefully tended yet so out of place in your life Coach bag. I received a Coach hobo as a college graduation gift many years ago now. At the time, I thought ‘meh’, old fashioned and boring. But it was of too high a quality to simply discard. It moved with me for years, never coming out of its dust bag, until one day I noticed it and it just seemed ‘right’. I’d grown into my Coach! For the last 7 years I’ve carried it happily. It’s beautifuly made and indestructible. And of course now it’s the height of style. My son’s fiance lusts after it, so I’ll probably pass it on to her one of these days.
Teri: I know…mine looks brand new…but it has NOT gotten the use your case has. I really am full of shame that those cows gave their skins for nothing!
Wasn’t impressed with the womens versions when I sniffed them in the store. Took home a sample, sprayed and it opened nicely. Really like it, actually. No testers for men though (bummer!)
77: at the Coach I went to the situation was reversed…no women’s perfume out…but a new tester of the men’s. Coach does not seem really committed to its perfumes. I did smell the women’s long ago and the men’s is WAY better in my opinion.
I’ve already bought this one for myself (thanks to the recent Coach PCE 25% discount that they are kind enough to still be sending me when they occur). It did freak out the SA just a bit when she asked if I needed gift wra and I said (as I always do in Coach) “nope, it’s for me”. My shorthand description is a “lighter” version of L’Artisan Eau de Navigateur, which I had just bought days earlier. If you like the L’Artisan, you owe it to yourself to check out Coach for Men. And because Coach is fairly vigilant about keeping their beauty products out of secondary markets, I’d be very surprised to find this at the usual discounters, but it might show up at the Coach outlets in a few months, perhaps after the holidays. I wouldn’t have paid the full price, but was happy to get it with the 25% discount.
mharvey: well, it’s well priced no matter where you get it, right? $75 is a steal these days for 100 ml.
How I look forward to the weekly peek into your brain.
Coach—to me this sounds like the most interesting men’s new release in quite a while! I cannot convey (without many facial expressions) how much I’ve come to loathe the standard aquatic/fresh/sporty men’s fragrance.
I doubt it’ll show up at discounters, but I have hopes of seeing it in an outlet….hmmm maybe TPC will get it……
Daisy: this one shocked me…wasn’t expecting much. I wore it several days to make sure my “surprise” didn’t sway me. I do enjoy this fragrance….
I really want to try the perfume,cuz you made me excited about the new design.
aha,Kevin,really appreciate your introduction,i always come to get something new. actually i am a chinese boy and still a university student , i can not take any perfume shows, but maybe i will further in Europe.
yeah ,i am trying ,anyway ,thanks a lot for sharing.
renowang: you’re welcome!
Another English Lit major, eh? I remember thinking I was going to write the Great American Novel, or some such thing. One thing that degree did give me was an appreciation of good writing. Nice to know I’m in good company.
Interesting that the perfumer is Honorine Blanc. A local Avon lady left her catalog on my doorstep the other day, and perusing it, I saw that the perfumer responsible for some of their scents is… Honorine Blanc!
Exist: she’s improving! HA! I know she did a Banana Republic scent and Polo Explorer…this is her first fragrance I liked.
The review is spot on,Kevin!
I just sampled it today in Houston’s Galleria (on vacation on the US for a week weeheeee!)
I liked it a lot, and “70’s French Feel” is really accurate IMHO (having smelled french male perfumes in the 70s hehehe, I was only 6 in 79 but is funny how fragrances can bring memories back)
Now… I’ll be here for a week still, this and some of Tom Ford’s frags (the oud for me and the violet for a gift to my mom) are the candidates for travelling back to Buenos Aires 🙂
Kaos.Geo: have fun and happy shopping!
Just back from the Toronto Coach store and was told that Coach for men is not/will not be available in Canada…. hope this is a case of a sale’s associate that doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
Hey FYI there’s a Toronto meetup happening Sat Nov 28th. For more info search Basenotes…
I would love leather in a men’s fragrance – in reasonable amounts. (I like Jo Malone’s Napa Leather Living Cologne.)
eminere: I’ve never heard of the Jo Malone Napa Leather…will have to look for it.