Armitage’s alter egos smell sweet…
Remember a couple of weeks ago, I posted on Chanel No 5 and the need to use any one of Richard Armitage’s alter egos to sell my favourite perfume?
Do you also remember that the Queen of perfumes, Pat Sweet, said the challenge would be finding the right colognes for each of the alter-egos?
Remember that I took the challenge up to her and said go for it?
Well she has.
And this is what she has come up with:
Guy of Gisborne:
Some scented “water” for splashing on after bathing, scented with healthful and cleansing herbs like rosemary, thyme, pine, or hazel: the sort of thing that might also be used as a digestif. Distillation and alcohol-based scents were only just being developed in the Middle East, and probably early distilled “waters” like rosewater were starting to come back with the Crusaders. Hungary Water is probably the closest thing:
Harry Kennedy:
Caron Pour Un Homme. A lavender/vanilla/musk classic from the ’30s that smells elegant, masculine, comfortable and old-fashioned:
John Thornton:
Eau de Cologne. Most fragrance of the mid-19th century were soliflores (single floral scents) and unisex, and mostly bespoke creations. Jean Marie Farina’s Eau de Cologne was one of the first “industrial” fragrances, consistent, homogenous and widely marketed. The name has since become generic, with many companies selling their own versions, based on the traditional mixture of citrus (orange, lemon, bergamot, and neroli) and herbs (lavender, rosemary, and thyme):
Lucas North:
Métal. As Tania Sanchez says in Perfumes: the A-Z Guide, “It is at first a lovely classic floral of pretty hyacinths, jasmine, and muguet – except for a massive, sharp, icy, metallic note that you feel more than smell. . . . . As it goes on, the monster, shedding all reference to flowers and overtaken by a powerful oily green note, smells even more poisonous.”:
John Porter:
Grey Flannel. A classic of clean, sharp restraint, with fresh citrus notes made almost woody by the fresh green of violet leaf. A love-it-or-hate-it scent;
Thorin:
Muscs Koublai Khan: Animalic musk, green patchouli, smokey furs, burnt beeswax candles, incense and ambergris, cognac, deep red roses, and ball sweat.
Pat, thank you so much for this. I think you have nailed it perfectly. And may each of those gents smell sweet and ride high in their saddles!
Wow. Really interesting. Some combinations that are uhhh…unique?!! That last one surely is a typo?!! 😉
Knowing the perfumed lady as I do, I think she was having a tongue-in-cheek jest. When you think about what the Dwarves wore and how they lived (furs, leathers etc, and how they partied hard, fought hard, ate hard), she’s probably not far from the truth. They are certainly not refined beings…
And she does tongue-in-cheek well!! I don’t want to even think about what a dwarf smells like. THe way RA describes them is cringe-worthy!!
Love this. Hilarious! Especially the last one 🙂
Anne, Pat lives in California… I just KNOW you and she would get on!!
A lovely post! Must say the matches are perfect and funny!
Have you ever thought of a perfume for the real RA? For me is Man by Bulgari, the most perfect male fragrance I have smelled in years. In fact, do you remember who is the official testimonial for this perfume? 😉
Hi ladycassiadw,
Pat is seriously the Queen of Perfumes. I think in another life, she could be a ‘nose’, those people who are paid thousands of dollars within the perfume industry.
I am very instinctive with perfumes: for me it’s either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’!
And in respect of Richard himself: who knows?
Now my husband, I can tell you what he wears and I adore the fragrance: Dunhill. Very woody, lemony, clear, elegant (which is my hubby when he’s not in farm clothes: he’s tall, broad-shouldered and wears a dinner-suit awfully well) and the scent makes him utterly huggable.
Thanks so much for the link to Clive Owen, a very suitable Bulgari man!
Love this!
Thanks Gratiana!