Views from a Paris window   +  review

Knize Ten

My perfume voyage started about six months ago when I was briefly in hospital. The delightful people who came to visit me all seemed to bring me something smelly. Some particularly good friend brought me some Jo Malone Sweet Lime and Cedar cologne. And it smelled incredibly dry. “Ooh, that’s dry”, I thought, “What an incredibly dry fragrance.” And, “How can something smell so dry?..” And I was hooked on fragrance.

A Knize Ten sample landed on my doormat this morning. I’ve just sprayed it, and “Oooh its dry!” The dryness seems to come from the cedar. Although why an evergreen tree’s aroma would remind you of dryness I don’t know – but that’s how it seems.

Next, there’s a tang of Cusson’s Imperial Leather soapiness, which must be the leather element. I can’t stand Imperial Leather. It was my family’s soap of choice when I was growing up in the 70s. In my opinion there’s nothing good about Imperial Leather soap. There was a sticky label in the middle of the soap bar. Do they even still make it? Who cares?

Now that I’ve identified the Imperial Leather link I think I have to go and scrub it off…. Euugh. If you're looking for a more palatable classic male fragrance, then Cool Water by Davidoff is much more enjoyable. And if you're looking for a long-established female fragrance, then Houbigant's Quelques Fleurs L'Original has been around since1912. Unlike Knize Ten — I can understand why it's been so successful for so long.