Best John Varvatos XX Elixir by John Varvatos Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

Here we consider the relationship between the sea and the art it has inspired.

Crabtree uses his grandfather's pen drawings of luxury yachts, his father's library of nautical fiction and his own tattoos as references. Accord of black ink dominate here; west Indian spiced rum; papers lost and found; the familiar dry accords of leather bound books balanced with warm enigmatic notes of vanilla pipe tobacco. All finely based around a dark heart of birch tar and labdanum.

As featured in Elle Magazine: Masculine Notes: A New Fragrance Trend

Sileno or Silenus in Greek  (or faun in Roman) mythology would be a creature of the wild forest – part man part beast. Silenus would accompany and entertain Dionysus in his god’s routines and parties.

The perfume is a sensual but fresh ylang-ylang with a generous crisp spices layer. 

Blazing sunlight glistens then fractures on the roiling surface of an angry tropical sea. A caravel bobs among the waves, its tall sail blasted by hot, salty winds. Dangling beneath the ghostly vessel, a curtain of lethal tentacles sways menacingly in the swell. The Portuguese man o’ war drifts, letting its unwitting prey approach. Up to 100 feet long, their lacy tentacles exude crippling venom with the merest touch. In an instant, the prey is paralyzed, and as its organs slowly liquify, the colony of zooids begin to feed.

While it’s wise to avoid a Portuguese man o’ war in the wild, prepare for danger and excitement when you encounter this Zoologist perfume. Crisp ginger and metallic gunpowder deliver a fiery sting to open, before casting you adrift on a wave of briny seaweed absolute, immortelle and geranium. You’ll thrill to this enticing scent where the only pain is the delicious pang of longing.

A luminous yuzu gourmand, lightened with a tropical note of coconut. The fragrance bursts with zesty citruses elevated by mint and ginger. The warm heart is accentuated by a cocktail of pepper and the creaminess of coconut milk. Brazilian copaiba balm adds depth with its smooth and spicy woodiness, while a delicious rum accord underscores the intrigue.

The Riviera. The Mediterranean fills the horizon. You’re driving along a coastal road with the roof down, feeling free. In this extrait, lemon caviar, zesty ginger and icy cardamom puts jut in your strut, while tomato leaf, neroli and black tea summons an aromatic dance. Frankincense and cypriol offer shade in the sunshine.

Perfumer: Paul Guerlain

Brocéliande is a bewitching concentrate inspired by the enchanted forest of Arthurian legend. Combining the power of the forest with the magic of the animal world, this extrait’s bergamot and lime opening leads to an unexpected wander through ginger, cinnamon and iris. A whisky sweetness rubs up against the velvet leather of civet and castoreum.

Pergola opens with the most incredible rush of twisted green vegetation and instantly transports you back to the heyday of that decadent walkway. There is so much happening in here but the notes of galbanum, bergamot, and ivy are particularly spectacular. The floral heart is a swooning blend of narcissus, tuberose, and jasmine but the pergola’s passage of history is provided by an earthy pairing of patchouli and vetiver. You get a real impression of its heritage from touches of resins and moss and, whilst it’s described as a fougere, there is definitely a feeling of the most glorious aromatic chypre.

Perfume: Karine Vinchon

A new addition to Bloom’s portfolio, an elegant cologne with herbaceous and woody undertones.

With classic formulas it’s the quality of the ingredients that matters. Marie Jeanne might be a new perfume house, but it’s founded by a young perfumer from a family connected to Robertet for several generations.

Robertet is a bit like De Beers of the fine natural perfume materials, for decades they have been dealing with the finest, purest and most precious stuff a perfumer can dream of.

This is Marcel, a classic elegant herbaceous cologne but with highly likely the best bergamot from Italy, ylang-ylang from Madagascar, vetiver from Haiti and patchouli from Indonesia among other notes in the formula.

Taiji, the symbol of Yin and Yang, refers here to the light and dark facets of the narcissus flower. This complex floral shimmers between the green of freshly-snapped stems and an animalic honey facet. Narcisse Taiji is a darkly luminous wonder, its narcotic allure underscored with leather and patchouli accents.

Perfumer: Marie Hugentobler