I have a love-hate relationship with cologne. I love the idea of the clap of a tart, citrusy cologne and how it wakes you as surely as jumping into a swimming pool. I love the luxurious ritual of a splash of cologne between shower and dress. In Perfumes: the A to Z Guide, Luca Turin summarizes it well:
A good cologne is the perfumery equivalent of a postconcert encore: brief, familiar to the entire audience, which sighs with pleasure when hearing the first notes; and completely devoid of any ambition beyond transient joy. It is also one of life’s absolute necessities, perfume for when you don’t feel like perfume, before going to bed, to splash on your kids after the bath and introduce them to life’s finer pleasures, etc. In short, cologne is a cleanser for the soul.1
How could you not want some of that?
Truth is, I’m the sort of person who bristles at too much sharpness. I bathe instead of shower, because I don’t like having to stand under an assault of pelting water. I’ll take the rambling drive through the country over the thrill of a racetrack any day. Although the idea of a brisk cologne appeals, I like to be woken gently.
So, I’m always on the search for a warm, gentle Eau de Cologne. Atelier Cologne Oolang Infini sounded like a contender. It launched in 2010, and its notes include Calabrian bergamot, Tunisian neroli, freesia, oolong tea, jasmine, blond leather, tobacco flower, gaiaic wood and musk. Its branding includes a typewriter, a glass of whiskey, and copy about writing. Maybe Oolang Infini was made for me.
Oolang Infini’s opening notes are all about bergamot. In the fragrance’s opening minutes, rather than the more delicate oolong tea, bergamot-inflected Earl Gray comes to mind. The bergamot is warm, thanks to a cushion of musk that grows as the cologne’s tingly citrus transitions to tingly jasmine.
Musk can be a touchy subject among perfume enthusiasts, and musk can smell so different, depending on what kinds are used. This musk isn’t the soapy laundry type of musk or the musk that smells like dirty skin. It isn’t that foul, peppery woody-musky headache inducer used in so many new perfumes, either. It’s the 1970s Bonne Bell or Coty Musk type of musk, warm and slightly chewy, and a nice counterpoint to Oolang Infini's bergamot and jasmine. A bit of bleached wood bolsters its edges.
Oolang Infini’s citrus and floral notes don’t make it past lunchtime on my skin, but the musk purrs quietly along most of the day. Don’t be shy about applying it. Once the initial citrus hit fades, the fragrance sticks close to skin.
Will Oolang Infini unseat my current warm cologne favorite, Rochas Eau de Rochas? No. But it’s nice to be able to know a musky cologne is out there if I need it.
How do you feel about classic colognes? Are you a fan? If so, which ones are your favorites?
A 200 ml bottle of Atelier Cologne Oolang Infini Cologne Absolue is $225; 100 ml is $150; 30 ml is $85; and a 2 ml sample $3. A soap ($20) and candle ($55) are also available. For information on where to buy Oolang Infini, see Atelier Cologne under Perfume Houses.
1. page 183, from the review of Institut Très Bien Cologne à la Française.
Hi Angela!
I would highly recommend Jacques Fath Green Water, the one that was reissued last year after Panouge revived the brand.
To me it smells like a lemonade, there’s a lot of juicy lemon but also a whole bunch of crushed mint. When you inhale it, it feels incy inside of your note. Perfect refreshment for summer, but not only for that part of the year.
PS. Love Atelier Cologne but this Oolang Infini was not for me.
Green Water sounds so refreshing! Almost good enough to drink. I’ll definitely have to give it a try.
PPS. I got my copy of NEZ, I’m halfway through it so upcoming weekend I should be reading your piece about Arquiste. Looking forward to it.
I can’t wait to see the issue, too!
Oh goody. Still waiting for mine!
Oooh, this sounds lovely – will look for it!
I love classic colognes or fragrances that scream citrus. My list from first worn 46 years ago to present time-
4711 (we had copious amounts of this all over my parents’ house)
Vintage Cristalle EDT
Vintage O de Lancolme
AG eau D”Hadrien (pre-reform)
AG eau du Sud (pre-reform)
JM Lime Basil Mandarin
all of the original Ateliers with Orange Sanguine being my absolute favorite of the bunch
Dame Perfumery Citrus Man
I am sure that I am missing some!
Oh I forgot Love’s Fresh Lemon!!!
I can practically see the bottle now!
I love those old Goutals, too! And the moss in O is wonderful. Great recommendations, thanks!
Good review, Angela 🙂
I have some troubles with this brand..I think the only one I like is Rose Anonyme, but not enough to buy a full bottle.
My fave colognes is:
Chanel “Eau de Cologne” and Christalle eau de toilette (not a true cologne, but has the same feel of it)
Mugler “Cologne”…so beautiful and with an interesting bite to it 😉
Sisly’s “Eau de Campagne” is always good on hot summer days. I keep my bottle in the fridge, so when I come home after a hot day outside, it’s a fantastic way to mist yourself down 🙂
I forgot about Mugler Cologne! I used up my bottle of it, but I enjoyed it while it lasted. Your other recommendations are wonderful, too.
The bottle of Mugler Cologne is questionable but I kind DNA like the odd shape 🙂
Thank you 🙂 I am crazy about Chanel’s edc but not so much the price 🙂
Kinda**
There should be a law saying that cologne–like good sheets, decent coffee beans, and other staples of the good life–should be affordable!
I second that 😉
Here’s an oldie but a goodie….both my hubs and I love it: Florida Water! I keep it in the fridge for a refreshing slap in the face every now and then! 🙂
And you can use it to do voodoo rituals, if I remember right! You just never know….
LOL!! Yes, I think that’s something I need to look into at some point! 🙂
I can offer up some potential subjects, if you’d like.
Chanel’s Eau de Cologne has already been mentioned, but I’ll mention it again as a warm, as opposed to a cool and biting, cologne. It sits on a bed of musk and tonka. This lady likes to feel cool and fresh but no way would she dampen her pretty shoes in the dewy grass outside her window. Trouble is – the cost! And if Oolong Infini lasts only until lunchtime, the Chanel has disappeared even before you leave the house. ????
Maybe we should invent a new way to measure cologne: dollars per minute. Yikes!
Hmm… I’m like you – I like the “idea” of a cologne. But I can’t seem to embrace splashing something on that’s only going to last for a few minutes. And I understand about keeping it in the ‘fridge and using it repeatedly to cool down in the summer, but my poor skin is so dry that the idea of constantly bathing it in alcohol doesn’t work for me either.
I love the smell of colognes, but I wish that smell would last like regular perfume. The closest I come to a cologne – and it isn’t really a true cologne – is Guerlain’s Cologne du 68.
I love the Turin quote!
Isn’t that Turin bit wonderful? It’s been in the back of my mind since I first read it, probably years ago now.
Love that Turin quote. I also like what Frederic Malle said, (paraphasing, since I can’t remember which blog I read it on), that you should look forward to spraying a perfume on when you start the day, and enjoy sniffing it when you go to bed. That seems self-evident, but a lot of my favorite fragrances don’t have that effortless comfort. I’ll think, “Ooh, I don’t feel up to that one today.” Maybe being both wearable and statement-making is too much to ask.
I know what you mean. To me, different times of the day engender different moods and want different fragrance. I like the idea, though! (Also, I hope he didn’t mean that the spritz you put on in the morning would necessarily last under bedtime. That would limit the number of contenders.)
I’ve given up on Atelier. I’ve tried a lot of them, but have never fallen in love, and the line is too big, and too repetitive.
However, I love colognes and own a lot of them. Another lovely gentle and rather unusual cologne is Eau de Lalique (a JCE creation). It’s musky, pale green with a teensy bit of dill in it.
Have you tried Eau de Cartier, a metallic violet cologne? Very modern and streamlined, but interesting.
My own favourite is, and always will be, Eau de Guerlain. Which has a great review in The Guide, but I still prefer the slightly longer blogpost he did on it all those years ago:
“It is often hard to notice when something has gone missing. After years of wearing it every day, and even more years of not giving it a thought, I came upon Eau de Guerlain (born 1974) sitting forlorn at the back of a shelf populated by younger heavies. I had forgotten how good it is.…”
It gives the review a kind of wistfulness that goes so well with the nostalgic, retro feel of this particular cologne.
I love Eau de Cartier! The bottle is great, too. Last summer I stumbled on a bee bottle of Eau de Guerlain at a thrift shop–one of my best finds–and I’ll have to move it to the front of the cabinet as the warm weather moves in. (Speaking of Guerlain, I just dumped a sample vial of old Jardins de Bagatelle on my arms, and it’s lovely.)
Jardins de Bagatelle is glorious. One of the most underrated Guerlains.
I admit that I had only vague recollections of it until today, but I agree 100%! It’s lovely and green to begin with, then a quiet garden of summer flowers after, with a nice spine of vetiver and wood. Love.
And today my bottle of Chant d’Arômes arrived. It’s so lovely and so very easy to wear. I’ve got a sample somewhere of Jardins de Bagatelle. I tend to do well with older Guerlains.
Nice! By coincidence, I pulled out my bottle of Chant d’Aromes earlier this week and discovered that the sprayer is busted. I have to figure out how to fix it. Enjoy yours!
I adore cologne. When I was very young I was allowed to use my mother’s Jean Nate after-bath splash. Citrus love lasts a lifetime. Favorites today are 4711, Chanel EdC, Eau de Guerlain, Cologne du 68, and Eau des Minimes.
Thinking about a few of the scents I wear often – Eau des Merveilles, L’air du Temps EdT, Apres L’Ondee – in a certain light they can be seen as cologne-adjacent perfumes with their transparency, lightness, and citrus/aromatic touches.
When I sniffed through my first sampler of about a dozen from Atelier Cologne, I liked or even loved 8 of the scents. Oolang Infini is near the top of my list along with Bois Blonds and Grand Neroli. If I were ever to buy a bottle it would be one of those three, though I might choose another if I were able catch up on the additional dozen (?!?!) that Atelier has since released. For now I’m using up samples and a few decants.
Thanks, Angela, for the review and the reminder to enjoy more cologne.
“Cologne adjacent” is an interesting qualifier, and I know just what you mean. I have a few of those around, too. Goutal Des Lys and Parfum d’Empire Eau Suave come to mind.
Tiffanie- thank you for reminding me of Jean Nate!!! that was another staple in my house of origin! Loved it too 🙂
I have a bottle in my refrigerator this very moment!
Oolong Infini is my favorite Atelier fragrance, hands down. And it’s in my top 5 scents of all time. If they could make it last just a bit longer, without making it an “extreme” version that invariably changes the concept, I would be so happy. Something about the sharp and the fresh opening yet being the opposite of cloying and heavy is genius to me. Millions of fragrances out there with bright citrus openings, but most of them smell like an actual fruit. This to me is very conceptual – it makes you think of hot yet bracing and refreshing tea even though it doesn’t necessarily smell like “tea.”
Thanks for chiming in with your impressions! I can see why you think of tea–especially Earl Grey–in the beginning. The musk warms everything up really nicely, too.
Usually when I one wear an eau de cologne, I wear Chanel 28 la Pausa or Guerlain Vetiver. In late August and September ONLY, when grass and wild plants are drying out, giving a somewhat Provençal effect, I wear AG Eau du Sud.
In terms of classic eau de cologne, I do like Astier de Villatte Eau Chic, (which Kevin reviewed very positively). You might like the AdV Chalet something that Kevin also liked.
Last night, I tried Erik Kormann Juli, which has lemon, herbs, and not a bad musk. I am tempted, since there is very little I can stand to wear in DC’s hot, humid summers. And thanks for this review; I’ll give Oolong Infini a sniff the next time I’m at Arielle Shoshana.
I want to try Eau Chic now–thanks! A hot and humid summer is difficult to wear perfume in, but I can see how the right fragrance could be a god send.
On my first visit to the Elizabeth St. Atelier boutique, I smelled the range but could not smell anything from the Oolang Infini test strip no matter how many sprays. I ended up withe soap which was super fabulous. As to colognes, I view anything sheer, light and citrusy as colognes and based on that definition, most of the Prada Infusions are colognes and I very much enjoy the iris, oeillet and my latest purchase mimosa.
I really want to try the mimosa. You like it? I adore mimosa, and as far as I’m concerned, there aren’t enough fragrances that star it.
Thanks for this review… I get a bit overwhelmed by the range of this house’s offerings, and mass-dosing oneself with citric topnotes via a barrage of paper strips at Sephora is not a good formula for discernment, so I appreciate this attentive breakdown of one of their better-known offerings. I love the idea of cologne and the splash format in general (my first bottle of cologne was a splash bottle of Grey Flannel in the 1980’s). When I became interested in fragrance again recently after a long hiatus, I came to realize that most of the things I liked (Eau Sauvage, or Habit Rouge, for instance) had the translucent freshness of colognes. My current standby is Caron’s Pour un Homme, which, despite its room-filling opening, really wears like a tenacious EDC. Wonderful as a splash, great after a bath (I prefer them too), and unbeatable before bed.
Testing cologne really does burn out the nose! And I’m happy to meet another bath-taker.
Pour Un Homme is wonderful–note to self, must add this to collection–and you can hardly go wrong with Eau Sauvage and Habit Rouge.
Not a cologne fan in general as citrus is not my favourite note and I dislike short longevity, but FM Cologne Indelebile is good.
How could I forget that one? I seem to remember that it lasts well, too.
I love Cologne Indelebile! However, it costs about 3X as much as my other cologne favorites, so I doubt a bottle is in my future.
That’s the problem with so many great fragrances! Fortunately, there are plenty of other good ones for less.
I love cologne and wear it about 75% of the time during the (long) desert summer. My favorites are Mugler Cologne and Terre d’Hermes Eau Tres Fraiche. I’ve tried several Ateliers and not found one I loved (though I do like Trefle Pur quite a bit) but Oolong sounds promising – a decant might be beckoning . . .
Oh, and for those who like cologne but hate its lack of staying power – give Oscar de la Renta’s Sargasso a try. It has a green bite to it, and it’s the only one I’ve tried that truly lasts all day.
I haven’t even heard of Sargasso until now. I’ll look for it!
Thanks for the recommendations!
One more recommendation! If you like the idea of something light, but don’t like orange/citrus/neroli, give Cinq Mondes Eau Egyptienne a try. It’s packaged like a body mist, but I get at least 2-3 hours of wear from it. It’s very herbal with a floral edge – no citrus at all.
Oh, I like that recommendation! Sometimes something herbal is exactly what the doctor ordered. Thanks!