Victorian gentlemen's colognes - best options?

[PrinceofcatS]

I looked at this thread and this one but neither of them is what i'm looking for (the former is more dark academia/bookish, the latter very broad). I want something to evoke a Victorian gentleman, one who is a little bit seedy - not rigidly masculine by contemporary standards (florals are a hell yes), but dark/deep, with notes like oakmoss, ferns, tobacco, woods, etc. 

 

My taste leans conventionally feminine (ie light florals, nothing dark/deep at all) but I'm trying, self-indulgently, to find just the right scent to evoke a character I am trying to write, and my cluelessness is making it hard!

 

I've tried Dorian (A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea), Dee (English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods), and Wilde (A sophisticated traditional gentleman’s cologne, with just the slightest taint of patchouli’s passion, tonka bean’s decadence, the philanthropy of bergamot, moss’ cynicism, the sharp wit of lavender, and the hopeless romantic longing of jasmine and thyme) in the distant past; I think the former two are very sweet/have a lot of vanilla, and Wilde I remember only being patchouli-dominant.  Recently I tried Whitechapel (White musk, lime, lilac and citron), which was all lime on me, like a lime jell-o cup. Of mainstream perfumes, I tried Arquiste Misfit recently, which does indeed have a bit of a Victorian bohemian poet vibe, but is pretty much all patchouli.

 

Of current LEs I'm contemplating The Decadents (Lilac cologne and luscious blackcurrant, blonde tobacco, laburnum petals, and sugared absinthe) and Poets' Hearts Break So (The shuddering beat of a poet’s heart ― filigree-fair, diaphanous: bourbon vanilla fougere, violet leaf, iris root, Italian bergamot, porcelain accord, and a trickle of red musk), though since they haven't had many reviews yet I'm apprehensive about blind-bottling them.

 

 

There are lots of options of course, when you look up cologne, fougere, etc on the site or the board - I am looking for some expert opinions to help me narrow it down.

[Failmingo]

I'd give Frederic a try! Or in a more floral direction, A-Rovin' from the sea shanty anniversary series.

[Amoraexcena]

Have you tried Dracul? It definitely evokes Victorian gentleman for me. Notes are black musk, tobacco, fir, balsam of peru, cumin, bitter clove, crushed mint, and orange blossom - it's definitely dark to me, with that black musk and tobacco, and a touch of floral orange blossom.

[theredkilt]

Bram Stoker

Foolish and Vacuous 

 

[PrinceofcatS]

Thank you!! These are all very helpful ❤️

[ShadowEtienne]

On 3/21/2024 at 8:06 AM, PrinceofcatS said:

I've tried Dorian (A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea), Dee (English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods), and Wilde (A sophisticated traditional gentleman’s cologne, with just the slightest taint of patchouli’s passion, tonka bean’s decadence, the philanthropy of bergamot, moss’ cynicism, the sharp wit of lavender, and the hopeless romantic longing of jasmine and thyme) in the distant past; I think the former two are very sweet/have a lot of vanilla,

 

I was going to come in here and recommend Dee, which while it's isn't one of my favorites seemed to fit the bill of what you were asking. I'm fascinated to see it described as sweet or vanilla, because while I've got more impression of it as a beard oil than as a perfume oil, it mostly gives me rosewood, incense, and something a touch spicy and tannic. This might just be a skin chemistry thing, but if some of it is readily available for you to test, it might be worth revisiting.

 

Otherwise, I wonder if some of the Picnic in Arkham scents might be an interesting possibility. I think of this partially because Cthulhu is my favorite beard oil (and one of my favorite perfumes), and I feel like anything that ends up in the beard oil category might be a possibility. The others in Picnic in Arkham that I could maybe see being worth a thought: Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, R'lyeh, and Y'ha-nthlei. I'm not sure this will be the right vibes, but they seemed worth putting into the ideas being tossed around.

 

Also just in general looking over some of the beard oils and seeing if they give you ideas to reference back into perfume oils.