| Your weekly wellness check-in. |
Now I’m convinced smelling like tar could actually be... chic? —Alyssa Bereznak, Wellness and Grooming Director |
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The Fragrances that GQ Editors Love to Wear |
Nothing sets the tone for your day like a signature scent. And given that GQ is the go-to guide on all-things style and grooming, it tracks that our staffers (1) smell very good and (2) are especially particular about their personal fragrances. Here are the stories behind how my colleagues found their favorite colognes and perfumes, from a gritty garage oil-forward Comme des Garçons concoction to a Clue Perfumery mixture that emanates freshly picked dandelions.
Cam Wolf, Watch Editor: Brain Dead Studios Shroom Cola |
“I didn’t wear cologne for nearly two decades. In middle school, I remember asking for a bottle of Giorgio Armani’s Acqua di Giò so I could make everyone in a 50-foot radius aware that I had been to the mall. I broke my colognestinence a couple of years ago when I was writing about Brain Dead and tried out the brand’s Shroom Cola perfume. Spritzing it smells exactly like cracking open a bottle of Mexican Cola in your warmest and most nostalgia-warped memories. As a former Coca-Cola fiend who gave the stuff up years ago, the smell is especially intoxicating to me. Unlike the Acqua di Giò, the Shroom Cola is a scent I wear for myself rather than anyone around me.”
Buy Brain Dead's Shroom Cola perfume here Avidan Grossman, Senior Commerce Editor: Portrait of a Lady for Frederic Malle |
“There are colognes that lure you in with allusions to macho bromides like wood, leather, and gasoline. And then there’s Portrait of a Lady, the instant-classic eau de parfum concocted by French scent whisperer Dominique Ropion 15 years ago. It’s elegant—bordering on chi-chi, even—but to my unrefined nose, that elegance is undercut by a wicked anarchic streak. If the usual top-note talk sounds like a bunch of wonky marketing hoopla to you, don’t stress it. The way I see it, life is too nasty, brutish, and short not to smell like you’re lollygagging around Monte Carlo—shirt rumpled, feet sandy, hair buffeted by the wind, half-lit cigarette clinging desperately to the corner of your mouth—when you’re sequestered by your desk on another glorious summer day. Forget the scent profile: Portrait of a Lady bottles that feeling, and I’d probably pay a lot more than 500 bucks for a few ounces of it. ”
Buy Portrait of a Lady for Frederic Malle here Kelsey Niziolek, Designer: Comme des Garçons Series 6 Synthetic - Tar |
“CDG Tar is the best possible scent, other than gasoline itself. It’s smells like tar (obviously), oil…a garage maybe? I first discovered it at Scent Bar in NYC. It used to always be on display when you walk in, along with the other perfumes from the CDG Synthetics line. It was love at first spritz. I usually prefer not to layer fragrances, but this one is perfect for adding an industrial note on top of whatever else you may like. Personally, I love layering this with a spicy violet perfume that I made myself. These types of industrial notes make me feel nostalgia, especially paired with the violet, which reminds me of violet flavored candies my dad used to buy me as a child (they weirdly enough taste like perfume). Tar makes everything smell more unisex and interesting.”
Buy Comme des Garçons Series 6 Synthetic - Tar here See more of GQ Editors’ favorite scents |
With all due respect to my fellow camp shirt devotees, I’m tapping out. But I’ve found some replacements. |
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David Corenswet’s greatest act of heroism is dressing for fall a full month early. |
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