Arquiste Él's1 backstory is based in 1970's Acapulco, at Armando's Le Club:
Nighttime at Acapulco’s sultriest disco. Revelry on the dance floor. In the heat of the moment, he smiles coyly and motions to the beach outside, hinting at a midnight swim. He unbuttons his shirt, flashing bronzed skin and the scent of his cologne, a virile muskiness loaded with patchouli, oak moss and elegant woody notes. A masculine impression of a day under the sun, intensified by the thrill of the night.
If a guy started undressing in a club after motioning to the beach...it would give me pause (but I was never in a 1970's disco, so I may be coy myself)! I looked at lots of images of Le Club and its "jet-set" clientele in the 1970s and admit I burst into laughter at the clothes, makeup and hairstyles. Still, Él would be right at home sitting on a Seventies chrome wardrobe...or dampening a hairy chest (see photo above).
Él starts off with delicious citrus and spice (rich sage, smooth geranium leaf and "resinous" cinnamon). The moment I sniffed Él I was excited and sprayed on more...and more (a mistake, but it was my "first time"). In its heart notes, Él shifts into floral territory with a lovely orange blossom note, augmented by moss (a great pair). After orange blossom takes its bow and recedes, a burly, slightly smoky musk comes to the fore (this is not a demure musk, but it's not "dirty" either). It takes a few hours for Él 's musk to "burn off" and let a talcy/woody vetiver-fougère-patchouli accord take over till the fade-out, which is about six hours distant.
Él smells fantastic and brings to mind any number of vintage men's perfumes of the 1970s and 1980s. Él has great sillage during the first several hours, and it easily lasts on skin an entire day. Do spray Él with caution the first time you wear it because it can easily take over a room. Él smells "sexy" (nighttime/winter sexy); it would be overpowering in steamy Acapulco so I can see why our Él guy would need to unbutton his shirt and head for the ocean.
Arquiste Él is available in 100 ml Eau de Parfum for $190. For buying information, see the listing for Arquiste under Perfume Houses.
Tomorrow: Jessica reviews Él's girlfriend, Ella, with her "plunging neckline and her voluptuous femininity."
1. Perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux: clary sage, rosemary, geranium, cinnamon leaves, orange flower water, oak moss, vetiver, castoreum and fougère accord.
Oh no, not another one to lust after! ????????????
Dusan, hey, how many perfumes are on your current to-buy list???!!!
None, actually. Many of the ones you’ve reviewed are on my to-try list only (in various degrees of anticipation) since I’ve promised myself I won’t blind-buy perfume anymore. And the truth is, I haven’t had time to seek any one of those out (for which my cobweb-infested wallet is much grateful).
D: Amen…it takes too much of life to find all these new perfumes to sniff. I don’t order samples anymore.
Same here. I got too much perfume already anyway, and lots of the things I’ve sampled recently were uninteresting.
I’ve tried both, and both are purchase-worthy (saving money furiously)… Can’t wait to read the Ella review.
Xendawg, I’m running over to Barneys on my lunch break to sniff Ella before tomorrow
Cafleurbon described it as White Linen when it’s been rolled around all night- pretty accurate desciption, really 🙂
I was so excited about the release of both scents and have a decant of Ella on the way. Now I may have to try El as well. I love frags with a classic/vintage feel (probably because I came of age with unisex/aquatic/clean frags battling it out with fruity florals), but both El and Ella sound great. This from someone who’ll happily douse themselves in Obsession before bed, loves wearing Rochas Femme in public and who’s still trying to track down some good vintage Opium. 🙂
Thanks for the review, Kevin. I don’t know about the fashion, makeup or some of that era’s music, but some of the scents are wonderful!
AbSent…you’re welcome…and there are many great perfumes of that era.
My decant of Ella arrived yesterday and I am totally smitten! It was so unfair–It arrived with a decant of Queen of the Night which I was also anticipating, and yes QOTN is beautiful without doubt and will be the perfect autumn floral. But I dabbed some of QOTN on a forearm out of curiosity after spraying on some Ella and well… let’s just say Ella blew it out of the water! I really like both, but as soon as Ella hit my nose, I started wondering if I could squeeze a bottle into the budget. It’s just that good. Spicy, sexy, feels so wonderfully vintage without worrying about the troublesome top notes vintages can have… It’s glorious and I wore it to bed, feeling all sultry even if it’s just me and my cat. lol
Now I really must try El. 🙂
I WANT! I Just ADORE Rodrigo Flores-Roux! He noses all those WONDERFUL John Varvatos fragrances that always, ALWAYS Entrance me! This is going on the To-Buy list!
TheNoseKnows: with this, he was able to take Varvatos-type scents to the next level. Hope you enjoy it.
I tried both of these at Arielle Shoshana when Carlos Huber was here. The style seems very different from his earlier scents, or maybe it’s just that the 70s were so different from the earlier periods that inspired them..
Aside from Anima Dulcis, the Arquiste that really tempted me was Boutonniere no. 7. I agree with your earlier assessment that it’s not a true gardenia, but it’s really lovely.
noz: still have not had the chance to smell Ella…
Sounds like Aramis–my #1 favorite men’s scent, and I AM NOT ASHAMED.
I bought Aramis Adventurer, for my dad. It’s very similar to Terre de Hermes, with a little undertone of the original Aramis. I thought it was so good I bought one for myself. ????
Yes to Aramis! And yes to the return to ads with pics of men with hair on their chest — don’t even need all those muscles.
They don’t hurt though 😉
CobraRose: no need for shame! I really like old-style English Leather myself for a cheap thrill. El would get along with Aramis I think!
I’ve coined a new word for a woman who finds the guy in the pic sexually appealing: ‘cavewoman.’ They’re women who are genetically hard-wired to be impressed with guys with muscles and extrovert personality types. But it doesn’t just apply to straight women – gay men suffer from it, too.
Suffer?
Lol!
Sounds lovely though I’m much more likely to wear an Ella over her masculine counterpart. I can’t wait to see a tester.