07.25.07
Bel Ami
By Hermès, 1986
Bel Ami by Hermès is a black hole cologne, you try to escape from its pull, but ultimately succumb to the stygian Pine-Sol Musk depths, its bug spray-like sillage is the electromagnetic transmission signalling a fresh victim.
This is from the ’80s, but smells as harsh as a cheap cologne from the ’70s (an old, very cheap one called Archie, whose bottle was a miniature plastic hard hat, comes to mind). When I tried it on my fiancé it reacted as the creators probably intended, his skin swallowed up the scent almost immediately, and curiously, released the faintest whiff of clove. In an hour the piney-bug spray scent appeared, but much weaker and less noxious, it was almost nonexistant in a few hours and disappeared before the end of the day.
Earlier “cologne” was a unisex scent, usually heavy on the citrus, maybe a little something piney but not much. No. 4711 being one of the originals Read the rest of this entry »