I've been meaning to review Aramis1 for years (it's a classic, and I've never tried it!) Reading two articles back to back last week, randomly, led me to the perfume counter for a fresh Aramis sample...and this review. These articles have apt connections to the “old-man” perfume that is Aramis (it was first released in 1964 and is regularly disparaged by men, and women, on perfume forums as being “old” fashioned and, thus, un-wearable today).
First up was an interview with Frances McDormand, talking about aging in The New York Times:
We are on red alert when it comes to how we are perceiving ourselves as a species. There’s no desire to be an adult. Adulthood is not a goal. It’s not seen as a gift. Something happened culturally: No one is supposed to age past 45 — sartorially, cosmetically, attitudinally. Everybody dresses like a teenager. Everybody dyes their hair. Everybody is concerned about a smooth face.
She continued:
I have not mutated myself in any way. Joel [Coen, her husband] and I have this conversation a lot. He literally has to stop me physically from saying something to people — to friends who’ve had work. I’m so full of fear and rage about what they’ve done.
Frances and I part ways here; I could care less if others inflate their faces with fillers to the point that their heads resemble basketballs. And if someone prefers blonde hair to gray? Go for it. (I’m betting some of her “mutated” friends will think twice before accepting a dinner invitation from the Coens! And some of The Mutations may themselves think, when looking at Ms McDormand: “God, Frances…at least use some retinol!” All's fair when criticism of one's looks is concerned.)
The second article I read was in GQ: an overly-fawning interview of Roja Dove (conducted by a guy who knows nothing about perfume). GQ must have a rather unlearned/uninitiated readership…so many GQ articles are written in this style of "XYZ for Dummies" — in this case, the topic is perfume. In the article, Dove names "Five Scents That'll Drive Women Wild"; they are — Santos de Cartier, Chanel Antaeus, Terre d’Hermès, Roja Parfums Reckless Pour Homme, and today's subject, Aramis.
The Dove article led me to many comment streams off GQ’s website and the overriding theme was: "what does an old gay man know about driving women wild?” (The article gives Dove’s age as 58.) Again and again, the word “old” was used as an insult (and nothing makes me want to go into a rage à la McDormand more than people using words like “old,” “ugly,” “fat” and “poor” as put-downs. Earth to perfume trolls: lots of “old” gay men run the fashion, design, perfume and high-tech worlds, producing products that not only drive women wild, but men, too.
Aramis is 50 years old (so its first wearers are now, probably, 68 years old and up); and just like being a middle child, being middle aged in the perfume world puts you at a disadvantage in 2014. Lots of perfumes still exist from the late 19th century and early 20th century and are beloved and in lucrative production. Perfumes from the 1960s through the 1980s…well, they come with baggage (in many instances, suitcases, trunks and cargo holds full of strong aldehydes and powerful oak moss). The Aramis I’m reviewing is "basic" Aramis as it exists today...no doubt reformulated many times since 1964.
Aramis opens with a burst of warm citrus and cool aldehydes, accented by oak moss. I've read about the notorious manly, armpit aroma that older versions of Aramis possessed; today, there is still a fleeting masculine skin/sweat note in Aramis’ mid-development, but this note or accord says the Aramis man may have exerted himself through a long day, but that day certainly started with a shower and maybe some sandalwood-scented talcum powder on his armpits. The current version of Aramis, to my nose, has no cumin/raunchiness.
Light clove, accompanied by a sweet herbal bouquet, appears in Aramis’ heart notes, and the spices have a leather-edge. Like many of the older Estée Lauder perfumes, there is an “elixir” vibe about Aramis…nothing here is light and airy, super-clean or simple…there’s density and complexity — but nothing weird is going on either. A meaty sage note leads to Aramis’ base: a rounded accord of woody notes (patchouli and vetiver are discernible) with a tad more moss (but this time it's a bit smoky).
Verdict: Aramis does not smell like any perfume being made in the last 25 years. Men in their 20s and 30s (and perhaps their girlfriends) are used to fresh, clean, sporty fragrances, perfumes with a synthetic vibe that broadcast themselves far and wide. Who cares if these fragrances smell like candy, shampoo or detergent? Aren’t those nice smells? (And come to think of it..."youthful," too?)
I like Aramis. But as I've admitted in the past, I enjoy oak moss light and smooth and coy…I don’t like it to dominate a composition. That said, I think adventurous men and women — of any age — should give Aramis a try; it’s a landmark of sorts in masculine perfumery. Thinking of dear "old" Aramis led me back to McDormand, whose words can, if tweaked, just as easily be applied to a venerable perfume as to an older person:
Looking old, she said, should be a boast about experiences accrued and insights acquired, a triumphant signal "that you are someone who, beneath that white hair, has a card catalog of valuable information."
Aramis is available in drugstores, department stores and at online perfume discounters.
1. Perfumer Bernard Chant; listed fragrance notes: bergamot, myrtle, clove, clary sage, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, oak moss
Sorry, but have to chime in with Craig Ferguson (Kevin will be annoyed with me already) on Why Everything Sucks & Deification of Youth and Imbecility
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROJKEwYEx8Q
Thanks, Robin – this is one of my all-time favorite links – I spent hours searching for it on YouTube more than once before I finally found a clue that it was Craig Ferguson (whom I wasn’t really familiar with). You should really start a video section under resources that has this and other essential references such as the Mandom and early Old Spice Man ads. 🙂
In reality, the young people I actually know are insightful, and I know plenty of middle-aged and older imbeciles, but of course marketers are hired to pawn off expensive cheap stuff in the name of youth.
Glad it made someone (other than Kevin, sorry Kevin) happy! It explains nearly the whole perfume industry — except for oud. We need Ferguson to do another one on luxury marketing to rich people in the Middle East 🙂
I’ll be watching?/listening? soon…!
That video is fantastic!
Imagine if you will, a set of my hands, enhanced, botoxed and sculpted, permanently, into a thumbs-up in support of a world *against* perpetual youth. A squirt of goop, some rockin’ wrinkle cream, or hair color aside, I’ve seen articles about miracle working “gurus” of the filler and sculpted face, and they all look like shiny skinned martians that everyone is worried will come and abduct them in their sleep. It must be some joke – plump weird cheekbones and skin that glows in the dark! I’m not saying we all have to totally let ourselves go, but sheesh! We all have to get old and die eventually and filler won’t change that or bring back your youth or rub away regret. I’m in early, temples are grey, light wrinkles, middle age, so it’s not like I’m not “there” or getting there, but I don’t want to look like a side-show and scare my daughter b/c I can’t deal with reality.
Ann: fillers are scary…but I guess they break down so there is a “turning back’ if you hate the results.
R: You know you never annoy me!
I actually understand at least half of those GQ commenters’ complaints- the part about Roja Dove being gay, not his age. It is a little strange to have someone whose sexuality doesn’t involve women at all acting like an expert on female sexuality. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a training session with Mr. Dove, and I did find his frequent comments about women and what we supposedly want to be a little uncomfortable. Completely agree that his age (and Aramis’!) is irrelevant.
On the other hand, Roja is one of the very few openly gay perfumers/brand owners. It’s even weirder to hear the many closeted male perfumers go on about “a woman’s sensuality”.
Ari: well, I think it’s all rather insane, this talk of driving women (or men) “wild” with passion using fragrance…NO perfume worn by a man has driven me wild, insane or put me into “stalking mode”, you know? And I’ve never seen a trail of panting men or women following me down the street even when I wear my most fantastic perfumes. HA!
I would never want to wear perfume in order to drive somebody wild :). It seems far to unpredictable to me. I wear perfume for its beauty in itself and the interaction between the scent and myself.
Petronella: me, too. Anyway, if you want your partner to love your perfume…go shopping together and choose a fragrance you both love.
Nor is female (or any other kind of) sexuality a monolith with universal responses!
melissa: indeed…ha!…as if five magical perfumes astound ALL women.
There is a totally horrible article about “mixing” fragrances in the current issue of In Style magazine, and I think, who the heck are you getting to write these articles? I assume the magazine editors just assume the readers know even less then they do, so they don’t really care at all about the sense of these fragrance articles.
Ann: yes, the editors assume ignorance…as they pump out the same articles every four months…don’t they think their readership EVER learns?
I’m with Ari here on the oddness of Mr. Dove’s “expert” opinion on women’s sexuality. I postulate that perhaps he listens to what his female customers happen to mention, in terms of “this one drives my husband CRAZY,” or, “If I wear this scent out clubbing, even if I’m having a bad hair day and left my Manolos at home, men follow me around,” and shares those stories, but those are anecdote. I dunno. Gah, stop me before I say something really rude about GQ readership, about which I know nothing.
(I’ll also say that it’s pretty great to be aging as attractively as Frances McDormand, and easy from that standpoint to say that you look down on the surgical fix, when you don’t really need it.)
I’m guessing his ‘expert opinion’ comes as you say from listening to customers, and looking at what sells. I’ve always found him a pompous windbag, but that’s nothing to do with his age or sexuality!
Given that 95% of the big fashion designer designing clothes for women are gay and constantly talk about making women ‘look sexy’ or ‘feel sexy’ (ie tom fords entire career) it seems to be a general thing not just perfume related.
nathanthomas: and that constant comment one reads in style sections, fashion magazines: “…he UNDERSTANDS women….” People don’t have much NEW to say on any subject I guess. (I’m not excluding myself either! HA!)
Mals: I’m sure Dove was given that “task” by GQ…surely HE would know the dumbness of thinking five perfumes are guaranteed to appeal to women. Probably just named five of his personal favorites.
I started thinking about that later, that it was probably GQ asking that question.
I don’t know; speaking as a gay man, I can certainly pick up on – and appreciate, if not in a libidinous sense – a woman’s sensuality. Some things are universal. But yes, the whole “drive women wild” thing is so hackneyed. I get the angle GQ is going for, but…enough, already.
Re: driving the gender you’re attracted to crazy with smell: let’s cut R Dove (or GQ or even the entire perfume ad industry, for that matter) some slack. While the over-simplified version seems crass or even insulting, consider that it is a simplification of this nuanced version: “if I smell this wonderful (to me), the inner glow, contentment and confidence from smelling so adorable and from having applied some self love would make me be, feel and act in a way that is attractive and sexy. With that I can associate!
Ida…true, but it’s hard to show that nuanced, self-confident, assured attitude in commercials…by itself. There must always be some guy or gal hovering nearby, simply entranced and lustful at the model wearing the perfume du jour. Even when there’s a solo model, they are usually half-clothed, self-absorbed (touching themselves), staring blankly out of a skyscraper window. HA!
I love Aramis! To me it’s the dude version of Jolie Madame. (Handsome Dude.)
I can’t remember what Aramis smells like. Love Jolie Madame, though.
It’s one of those leather chypres with a lot of isobutyle quinoline, and they all have somewhat similar characters.
Elisa: do you wear Aramis? If so, do you get comments?
I almost never do. My husband wears it a lot though.
WOW! I just re sampled Aramis last week after reading that article while perusing through the magazines at Books A Million. I loved it and I didn’t find it old fashioned at all. It funny though how the name “Aramis” conjures up images of Bryant Gumble and of old male who you only saw on Easter drenched in Aramis. I would be interested in your take on Aramis Devon.
*Male relatives
chandlerb: and did you notice Ted Danson in the Aramis ad I included? HA!
I say just wait…
“Don’t throw the past away
You might need it some rainy day
Dreams can come true again
When everything old is new again” — Peter Allen
Very well put :)!
Oakland…maybe Aramis needs another 50 years to appeal to a whole new generation? SOMEbody is buying it, that’s for sure.
Well, I never smelled Aramis so can’t comment on that.
However, I can comment on getting old. 7 months ago I decided to stop coloring my hair and I am stunned and amazed by the number of people, complete strangers mind you, who offer me their opinion about my hair!
Never fails to leave me speechless 😡
Unless you’re a close friend then MYOB is what I say.
Deva: are they telling you to color again…or saying your silver hair is gorgeous?
I stopped colouring my hair about 2 years ago and I let it grow long – and I’ve had so so many compliments about it! I wear it loose and pin it up and I have lots of silver streaks and dark bits – its lovely! And in much better condition!!!! Hair colourants are so bad for the hair!
Love Aramis btw!
I don’t care for Aramis, and I’ve tried it many times. However, I admire the willingness to create something that is so different. It takes guts. These days so many “new” men’s colognes are interchangeably bland…When Aramis was created that was definitely not the case. I started using cologne around the time I got out of college and the fragrances from back then were different…I remember Polo (like it or hate it, it wasn’t like anything else when it came out), Grey Flannel, Eau Sauvage, Armani Pour Homme (the very first Armani men’s fragrance), Antaeus (sp? made by Channel), etc.
VMFan: “back then” we didn’t see a new release every day either…so many scents seem rushed to market
Hey Kevin,
You know that’s Ted Danson in those early 80s print ads for Aramis.
Hmm after reading your rant about “aging remarks” I’m holding off on saying anything about his looks…now!
LOL
Ted Danson gets hotter every day!
Eric: oh, of course…knew it was him, that’s why I included it. Hey, I think he still looks pretty good!
My dad wore Aramis. I don’t remember it, but I might like the oakmoss now. My fav of the fragrances he wore when I was a kid was Dunhill by Alfred Dunhill. I had to really work hard looking this up to figure it out! My favorite of all of his fragrances was Balenciaga, which is totally discontinued. It smelled gorgeous!
Ann: which Balenciaga scent did he wear? I can barely remember the Dunhill…did it have tobacco?
It was a white/cream opaque bottle with turquoise/teal accents.
My mother remembers when Aramis was released — she was working in midtown Manhattan at the time, and she always says that she still remembers smelling Aramis in all the office-building elevators.
The age issue is complicated, I agree.
Jessica: I understand where McDormand is coming from for sure…but this culture is obsessed with youth and there are many ways you’ll be discounted, penalized and looked over if you accept the “inner hag” as Germaine Greer advised. Being independently wealthy certainly protects McDormand…tell any of her peers who are looking for a promotion at work, or searching for a job to “act and look your age”! Might not work so well for them in the U.S.
Oh, yes… I work in a field that’s not *as* age/youth-obsessed as some others… and yet… I recently started to notice that senior staff respond differently to 20- and even early-30-something junior staff than they do to (older) me. And now that I’m on the job market (as you know!), I’m competing with people ten years younger, and it’s tough. I won’t be rushing for the hair dye and Botox, but all the same, it’s frustrating.
Bernard Chant also did Clinique’s Aromatics Elixir and while Aramis is lighter and not as blunt, the two certain share more than just a smidgen of dna.
sayitisntso: I hope to review that one shortly! Like, next week!
I don’t know (or don’t remember) Aramis, but slightly off topic, thank you for the link to the NYT article. I had no idea they were making a mini-series of Olive Kitteridge (loved the book), and while I might not agree with all Frances McDormand’s comments—I mean, why go to the trouble to get enraged about the work others have done to themselves?—I imagine she’ll be great in that role.
To continue briefly off topic, I imagine that one reason Frances McDormand gets enraged is because when the majority of ageing public figures have extensive work done on their faces for whatever reason, it skews everyone’s perceptions of what ageing looks like, and that affects us all. We can’t quarantine such individual decisions from their greater cultural effects .
beck: good point….I remember all the media comments following Joan Rivers’ death, each with some remark about her “youthful” appearance….”though she didn’t look her age, she was in her 80s….”
Janice: yes, looking forward to watching it, too.
I love Frances McDormand. She’s a class act.
I’m not an Aramis fan but I do love his sister Azuree.
And adore the line – we started deifying youth – and that evolved into deifying imbecility!
And what scent is Craig Ferguson wearing – because he is driving this woman wild 😉
Merlin: HAHAHA! (I appreciate Azuree…in fact, I’d like an Azuree candle)
Aramis was my gateway scent to appreciating perfume. When I first began selling fragrances, Aramis was somewhat of a joke around the counter. When I read Luca Turn’s guide, he gave Aramis a positive review so as an experiment, I wore Aramis the next day and found I really loved it. I then realized that I had let other peoples perceptions about older scents influence my taste. Now I practically only wear vintage style perfumes. Thanks for reviewing one of my favorites. By the way, the soap is a marvelous product.
BChant…you know at one time Aramis had SEVENTY grooming products! The variety was mind-boggling! Never knew there was a soap…now, I will try it.
Why is it that so many think it odd for a Gay Man to comment on Female Sexuality? Does that point negate any insight into the Feminine Mystique of Sex? I think Not. In fact, I think it lends a particularly deeper insight because we as gay men are not looking at women as something to be conquered or enjoyed, we listen to our women friends and their issues with hetero men who have no clue as to how to bring happiness to a woman, sexual or otherwise. Gay men have always been keen to the needs of women and how to attain those needs. I think it’s rather bigoted to say that a Gay Man can’t be attuned to the desires of a Woman!
It seems just when you think people have given up such antiquated and fundamentally idiotic mindsets about Gayness, they rear their ugly head when you least imagine they would. I am kinda shocked to hear this kind of talk of all places here.
NoseKnows: I hear you, some people, no matter their sexuality, just “get” each other and communicate, but I know that if a straight woman told me, a gay man, what other gay men really want, in the bedroom, dining room or movie theatre, I’d probably chuckle, since most such suggestions smack of cliche or stereotypes (at least in my personal experience).
Flip it around the way Kevin has, with a straight woman making pronouncements about what gay men want, and you’ll see why we women are feeling a little miffed.
I mean, I could certainly report what my male gay friends tell me… but that info is merely what they *tell* me. It’s not based on my experience, obviously.
Well put TheNoseKnows. I agree. I think that what we as individuals find sexy in fragrance is so subjective that no one should ever make generalizations about those preferences for the rest of us. I love Aramis. Estée Lauder made masculines to go with her feminine line so that a couple could wear complementary fragrances…….
I’m not sure if I’ve commented on your previous reviews, but I always really enjoy your posts.
While I definitely agree that ageism is a real problem, I’m kind of irked by Frances McDormand’s article. Putting aside her judgmental ideas about what other people should and shouldn’t do with their body, she talks about this ~modern tendency to “deifying youth”… and my question is, when have we not? Openness about sex/technological advancements bring it to the fore, I suppose, but people have always placed a high value on youth, for a variety of reasons. People dye their hair now because hair dyes now exist. They get botox because of the ~wonders of plastic surgery. I don’t know – I’m sick and rambling. I guess I’m just a little tired of this tendency to view civilization as heading toward the dumpster, and it seems to me like people always view the past through rose-tinted glasses.
Katys: first, thanks! And it’s true…you have to go a LOOOONG way back (cavemen?) to find an era when people weren’t obsessed about their looks and ways to fit in with societal norms. Look at people of all ages today who exercise all the time to keep in shape…that’s part of fitting in and looking younger too. Complicated topic.
Re: driving the gender you’re attracted to crazy with smell: let’s cut R Dove (or GQ or even the entire perfume ad industry, for that matter) some slack. While the over-simplified version seems crass or even insulting, consider that it is a simplification of this nuanced version: “if I smell this wonderful (to me), the inner glow, contentment and confidence from smelling so adorable and from having applied some self love would make me be, feel and act in a way that is attractive and sexy. With that I can associate!
Tks for a great review, Kevin. Wish I had some Aramis, would wear it for the Friday gender-bender. Also wish I had either Eau Savage or Kouros, because a certain someone drove me crazy wearing that 🙂 – all those years ago!
Thanks for the review and the most interesting topic, Kevin! Age is a topic I’ve been reflecting on for a while (a Saturn transit apparently).
Yes people are afraid of old age but my guess is there are two reasons: one is looks and the other is … making mistakes and having to live with them. Anyone feeling the same?
Age vs experience. Look at those series about immortals if any kind – Highlander, The Collector, True Blood and any other vampire series – and you see how people revere in having someone age 100+ talk about their experiences … as long as they look 30 max. 🙂
Never tried Aramis but love fragrances such as Vetiver or Habit Rouge.
Nile, you’re welcome! I may be in the minority, but the thought of being a 200 year old with a 30 year old’s body is off-putting!
I actually had a bottle of Aramis ages ago, but it was too masculine for my teenage, Anais Anais wearing self. Very hair chested stuff, I think.
My two cents on the hot topics oc the week:
1. Women can be beautiful either embracing their age or defying it. What I think is ugly and vulgar is commenting on other people’s looks. Is it so hard to just let people be?
2. Roja Dove is talking about perfumes that can make a man attractive, and I think this is kind of universal, I mean, I can´t see ‘being sexy to a man’ as essentially different from ‘being sexy to a woman’.
Solanace. agree…just look at the HUGE deal people have made of the “new” Renee Zellweger this week in the media. We should be used to this stuff now…
Love the expression “hair chested stuff”. Especially considering hairy chests fell out of fashion when Sean Connery stopped playing James Bond …
Sorry, I dupplicated my comment! So embarrassing.