"My Own Private Classic" by Olfactorum

When I was still a teenager, I used to love to wander through the self-service perfume shop closest to my high school, with friends or even relatives. My curiosity aroused by Fahrenheit’s colors and ambiance, I was enthusiastic about it from the moment it came out: my first case olfactory crush.
When I was still a teenager, I used to love to wander through the self-service perfume shop closest to my high school, with friends or even relatives. My curiosity aroused by Fahrenheit’s colors and ambiance, I was enthusiastic about it from the moment it came out: my fAt the time, there was nothing else like it, except the scent that inspired it, i.e. Grey Flannel, but it distinguished itself from its predecessor thanks to the note that I identify immediately and that appeals to me the most: the supple leather, which is actually a violet-cedar-styrax-and-vanilla accord to my mind. It was also quite unlike the fougere scents, e.g. Azzaro and Drakkar Noir, that were all the rage back then. At the time, there were no niche fragrances, Dior used to create scents that flaunted strong personalities.
I divine in Fahrenheit the tender green lily-of-the-valley that has been Dior’s signature since the Roudnitska era, as well as a rare gentleness, in total counterpoint to the style of the late 80s.
rst case olfactory crush.

A violet hemmed with a deep, warm leather accord.
I find Fahrenheit fairly abstract, since I’m unable to describe anything from nature that it evokes. Perfectly melded, like the colors that grace the bottle, the fragrance creates a sort of compact block that varies little, with just nuances of shading in its evolution, perfectly matching the concept of temperature variation, like a color spectrum. I associate it more easily with something tactile, so strongly does the softness call to mind the feel of supple leather or wool felt.
Equally comfortable in jeans–polo shirt–leather jacket or a suit, over time, it gradually became a classic men’s scent.

And since it is a classic, a lot of people wear it, and what made it uniquely yours also became what it is on another man or for another woman. And so it had to yield its place in my life to something more personal, and Méchant Loup took over the role.
With hindsight, I realize that it also has a “fougere” facet that’s a bit sweet and soapy, that ages it a bit. Rarely copied, perhaps because it can be seen as too feminine, Fahrenheit has never really had any direct descendants, but has stayed sufficient unto itself. There have just been a few summer editions, some more well-composed or fresher than others. Nowadays, the Absolute version cultivates the warmth of the spices and the leather facet more deeply, and in a less floral way than the original, but also less perfectly “melded.”
Despite it all – and this is something it shares with Guerlain’s Heritage, you could say Fahrenheit is my madeleine, whose scent brings a whole era back to my mind, always causing a twinge of emotion.

My future classic?

What recent scent could become my future classic? Almost without hesitation I want to designate Narcisso Rodrigez’s For Him. Alas, alas, alas, it doesn’t really speak to me, or become a part of me, except in the Musc Collection flanker, which is no longer available. A future classic, contemporary, very masculine, develishly original and absolutely unique. For Him plays very cleverly with the codes of masculine perfumery; classically composed, it flirts with florals with a modernity characterized by certain ingredients, including the new synthetic musks.

About the author

There must be a bit of Jean-Baptise Grenouille in Méchant Loup, because from a very young age, I followed my nose. I obviously never went to the same extremes as the character in Perfume, but we share many things in terms of fragrance and olfaction. Fascinated by scents from a very young age, I only belatedly took a few “fragrance” classes, after something clicked at the osmotheque, which led to a few other initiatives. Yet my life is such that I have never managed to make fragrance my livelihood. So in 2008, I decided to create a blog, just for the pleasure of talking about my fascination. For the name, I chose my fragrance.
It was really something very personal, and I never thought that this blog would let me see my fascination in a whole new… and fascinating light.
See her blog: http://olfactorum.blogspot.com