This summer has been weird so far. Here in New England, we’ve had 40s, 60s, then 100s, back down to 50s. It’s hard when you’ve just brought your summertime frags to the front of the collection and now you have to go back to cooler time fragrances – but that’s where some of these new fragrances actually can get some wear!
The three new fragrances we’ll be talking about today are Pacific Rock Flower by Goldfield & Banks, Myslf L’Absolu by YSL and finally Invictus Victory Absolu by Rabanne. Three fragrances that you wouldn’t normally think would be coming out in that particular season; however, it’s happening more and more lately. It’s kind of like McDonalds releasing the Shamrock Shake in August when St. Patrick’s Day is in March. Doesn’t make sense but happens a lot in fragrance land. I have to say, I was surprised by these new fragrances. Some wow’d me and some were good but not spectacular. I’m going to start with the non-spectacular and build it up to the best, shall we?
Myslf L’Absolu by Yves Saint Laurent
The third flanker to come in behind the original EDP and the follow-up Le Parfum. This fragrance breaks away from the traditional black bottle motif and heads straight to the overused chrome look that is just a magnet for those fingerprints. Checking the note breakdown we have: ginger, bergamot, and cardamom in the opening; orange blossom and floral notes in the mid; and patchouli in the dry down. I’ll be super-duper honest with you and say that I really don’t detect most of those notes. I think if you’ve been reading this blog long enough, you’ll know I can pick patchouli out of a gym bag filled with dirty socks, and I don’t smell patchouli in this fragrance whatsoever.
The immediate opening DOES smell kind of like Dunhil Icon but then immediately goes to a shower-fresh clean smelling fragrance. Not bad, but not what I expected. It does smell similar to the original Myslf fragrances but it’s a bit off the beaten path enough that it’s not a bad flanker. The dry down is almost 100% dryer sheet scent and, again, some people love this, but I’m not fully in love with it. It’s bright, fresh, clean, and citrusy. If you wore this on a bright sunshining day you’d be getting compliments for sure.
I’d give Myslf L’Absolu a 7/10. Not my cup of tea but not bad smelling either. This fragrance can literally be worn day or night and in ANY season so it’s a perfect fragrance for the current weather in your neck of the woods.
Invictus Victory Absolu by Rabanne
Full disclosure notice – every time I would go into a Macy’s or a department store that had Rabanne fragrances I would skip over smelling these - just not for me. As an older guy I prefer the more masculine traditional smelling fragrances as well as some bright and fresh smelling frags too. In regard to sweet smelling fragrances, I will smell them, have an appreciation for them, however I just can’t put them in my collection because I won’t reach for them. I had bought Valentino Born in Roma Intense once before and it was too bubble gum sweet for my liking. It’s obvious that younger teens prefer sweet smelling and sweeter tasting foods than mature adults so tailoring these fragrances to the younger kids is what they are designed for. I will vouch for 1 Million Royal by Rabanne though. That frag hits so hard I love it. So, there are some gems out there even for us older folks. For you younger readers, this frag is 100% for you.
That being said, Invictus fragrances just haven’t been on my radar as much. When I tried this new Invictus Victory though, I was very surprised. The notes are: black pepper in the opening; in the mid it’s amber, ambergris, and woodsy notes; sandalwood, frankincense, and patchouli in the dry down. For me, in the opening it’s straight up caramel. I don’t know what’s in these notes, but the way it mixed on the first rip it was sweet, sweet caramel to my nose.
The way these notes gel together tip toes that line between youthful and mature. It’s like you like watching cartoons but you’re just old enough to rent a car as well. You want to sleep in until 10am but you work a 50-hour work week. You’re just on that precipice and this fragrance is your daily driver. I’m here to tell you there’s NOTHING wrong with that, this fragrance is appreciated by me, so I definitely recommend it.
I would give Invictus Victory Absolu an 8/10. It’s one that if I smelled on someone I would 100% appreciate. The projection on this beast will make it so everyone smells you whether you want them to or not so, give this one a shot for sure but spray with caution.
Pacific Rock Flower by Goldfield & Banks
Goldfield & Banks is a majorly slept on brand and that needs to change. This fragrance company is a niche company located in Australia, and they use locally sourced ingredients in their fragrances. They are affordable and they are so well crafted and unique that no matter the fragrance, you can find a use for it.
Pacific Rock Flower is a direct flanker to Pacific Rock Moss, which was my first experience with this brand. The original was very fresh and clean smelling, kind of soapy clean but not in an Ivory or Irish Spring kind of way. It was a spring and summer dumb reach and was my go-to gym fragrance for a while. However, the new flanker has some of that old DNA present but definitely is its own fragrance. This new flanker is designed to capture the essence of Australia’s sunlit coastlines with its white florals, salty air and warm sands. The notes are: sea salt, lemon, eucalyptus, and tea in the opening; peony, mimosa, and tuberose are in the mid; and sandalwood, cedar, patchouli, and moss round up the dry down.
This fragrance holds onto that freshness but also is more woody and earthy than the original. Once again, there’s patchouli in the base and I’m sorry, just not getting it. 0/2 in the patchouli department this time around, I guess. The moss and cedar mixed with the lemon and tea are just amazing complementary notes and make this fragrance an overall fantastic flanker to an already 9/10 fragrance in Pacific Rock Moss.
I would give Pacific Rock Flower a 9/10. It’s almost close to perfect in my opinion when it comes to the notes, the bottle with that fresh and clean gradient look to it, the situations the fragrance is meant for and the scent profile that it emanates in the warm, bright summer sunshine. My usual fragrances for the beach lately have been Louis Vuitton Lovers or Creed Virgin Island Water, but this new Goldfield & Banks frag has earned a slot in my beach rotation.
Final Thoughts
With a whirlwind of new fragrances out now and an army of new fragrances on the horizon, including re-releases of fragrances from years ago, I picked these three because they definitely caught my nose and left a lasting impression. These three will cover any and all situations for you this summer and I hope to have more new releases read in the next few blogs. Grab these three and test them out for yourselves and let me know in the comments which is your favorite. And buckle up because there’s some really amazing fragrances on the horizon and I can’t wait to smell them and tell you about them! Until the next one, have a good 4th of July and be safe!
