Hello! Hi, how are you? I'm Robin. Welcome back or welcome to my YouTube channel. This
little world right here is Man For Himself. If you like hair product, if you use grooming skincare,
fragrance, and videos like this very one, then
press subscribe right now. You are going to love it around here.
So, this year has been a bit of a shitter. Let's just be honest and upfront. I was going to try and
pussyfoot around that. No, it's been tough. It's been tough and it's been rough and lockdown across
the world has just been difficult. You're not used to staying in your own zone and not seeing your
friends and not getting dressed up and looking after yourself so much. But during lockdown,
I kept my routines going. I very much was locked down by myself in this one room
and my bedroom and I still wear froyg... Still wore fragrance? I still wore a fragrance.
I still wore my fragrances and I loved it because these fragrances transported me to somewhere
different and they just made me feel good about myself, and I needed that boost.
Fragrance is so emotive and it can make you feel like you're ready for a night out;
it can make you feel sexy; it can make you feel mysterious; it can make you feel warm;
it can make you feel happy. And these five fragrances here were ones I kept on going
back to time and time again. I should say over this lockdown period, there's been 15,
20 that I've been using, but I wanted to highlight these ones.
Now, the first one, let's go Tom Ford Ombré Leather I kept on coming back to. I've got
fragrance podium in my bedroom. I've got loads of fragrances in the office, having a bit of a
clear out at the moment, and so many of them have landed back here, and this one I got back into
and just loved. I absolutely love Ombré Leather. They started off as a private blend fragrance by
Tom Ford. And then moved into the signature. This is all about the modern day cowboy, they've said.
This Leather is like no other leather. This is so accessible. If you are someone who
wants to maybe move into these, I think, more mature fragrances, which are more
like the ouds and the leathers, something maybe slightly more earthy like patchouli,
then this could be a really great gateway fragrance for you. For me, this gave me warmth;
this gave me something which made me feel like I wasn't just sitting in my flat.
Now, with this one, there's also a jasmine in this. Now, jasmine is floral, but this is jasmine
sambac. I'm pretty sure it is, which is slightly more masculine in terms of jasmine. And then with
the Leather, it just is so beautiful. This to me is bright. I quite often think purple when I
think of this fragrance and it sits so well in the skin and it lasts. I think it's just a beautiful,
beautiful warming fragrance and the bottle is gorgeous. I'm so pleased that I went back to this.
Another one, which has been very light and bright. I'm not normally a citrus sort of
guy. I used to be when I was slightly younger, but I have gone back to some of these citruses
and this one is Vetiver & Grapefruit by Molton Brown. This is an eau de parfum,
pretty sure. Molton Brown had a bit of a rebrand. They changed up the way
that they were doing their fragrances. I really liked the new bottles with the
spherical cap on the top, but the fragrances are also really great, really great.
And Vetiver & Grapefruit, I think grapefruit is a really...
I think it's a really clever alternative to the ubiquitous bergamot that we have of summer.
I think grapefruit is more impactful. I think it's livelier. It seems to still move on the skin.
I think it's youthful, but very much anyone of any age is able to wear this. But what I have
enjoyed about this is this initial pop. The grapefruit is so present. It's so much fun.
And with that vetiver, you are given a grounding, which I love. And the dry down, it's still lively;
you don't get rid of that great fruit, but you are left with something slightly grassy
with the vetiver. It's beautiful. This is such a beautiful fragrance. I think it's a really solid
launch from Molton Brown. There's other ones that I love from them and Russian Leather is great.
Bizarre Brandy, which was the end of last year, which is a gourmand fragrance
and it is so Christmassy, it's so warming and it is beautiful. But this one I think is fantastic.
Let's go to the other end of the scale. This is Acqua Di Parma Oud. Now, this is,
out of all of these, the heaviest one. I've kept it middle of the road to up it in terms
of weight of a fragrance. I do want something with an impact. I want something that I knew
that I'm wearing, but when I sprayed this, it just took me into very much an evening event.
It took me back to some of the launch events that I went to and the stuff that I got a bit
more dressed up with. So instantly, just spraying this and shutting my eyes just,
again, got me out of here and into something, which was a little decadent, a bit like some
PR team had chucked too much money at a launch, honestly. But I just really enjoyed wearing this.
Now, the performance on this is fantastic. It really does last. The sillage is amazing,
not like anyone else could smell it in here, and it really does sit on the skin. I said on
ManForHimself.com where all these fragrances are plus more. I said that this was slightly
more accessible in terms of someone that wants to get into an oud. But actually, I think this
is quite heavy. Definitely, it's a bit heady on that initial spritz, but the dry down is warming.
It's warming and it's comforting. And of those evenings where you just thought, "How much longer
is this going to go on for?" and you've sat with a glass of red wine, just to have this on the skin
was like the cat or the dog or boyfriend that I didn't have, and it was really, really, really...
refreshing is the wrong word... comforting, and I just think it's gorgeous.
Heading back to another Tom Ford. This was a fragrance that I wore a lot, maybe like four years
ago. This is Tom Ford, Oud Wood. I think this is one of the most solid launches of Tom Ford in the
private blend. I think Tom Ford is a fantastic designer, but moreso in what he's done with
fragrance and beauty. I just think the way that they have launched these fragrance... I say they;
Tom Ford is owned by the Estée Lauder group who are really slick, the way that
they use their marketing, the way that they really describe their frequencies, I think
is just like some of the best around. And Oud Wood is one of the fragrances that I would always,
always recommend to you and that's because I think this is...
Now, a lot of people wear Oud Wood, a lot of people wear Dior Sauvage, a lot of
people wear Creed, but this one just has different connotations for me. This says that it's a guy who
really wants to feel refined, who wants something, which could be statement, but not too much.
It also just has the most beautiful sillage, and when someone is walking past you or when
you're walking past someone else, you just know that they're clocking that
it. It is such a great fragrance. There's a slight sweetness in here, a slight vanilla.
It's got agarwood, which really does last on the skin, which is oud, and there is a really great
accessible warmth to it, unlike the Acqua Di Parma Oud, which is definitely heavier. You do
feel like it's this blanket or fragrance, which is pushing down on you. This is much lighter.
I also always think that this is for a guy who has a good blue suit, who has a good job who just
wants to look after himself. It's not necessarily a peacock fragrance of, "Look at me, smell me,
look at who I am." But this is a fragrance, which is just comfortable and I love it. So, on
those days that I want something, but I don't want something too much, it's what I quite often go to.
So gorgeous. They also do an Oud Wood Intense, which as you would expect is slightly heavier.
They also do the Oud Minerale, which is saltier and I really liked that one too, but
this is so great. I've also got the beard oil. This is almost finished,
so we'll be getting another one right there.
My final fragrance, talking of salty and transporting,
was a brand new launch for L'Artisan Parfumeur this year, 2020, and this is Couleur Vanille. Now,
Couleur Vanille is what I've described as... and I featured in a video before... I said that it was
almost like having an ice-cream on the beach. Because you've got Madagascar vanilla in this,
which is really very sweet, but you've got a salty note in it, which makes me think that
you've got the sun, you're walking along this beautiful promenade or you're out onto a pier;
you've got seagulls around you; there's a slight chill in the air, but it's very much
summer. It's like a British summer, although Madagascar, but this is my life right now.
What I've loved about this is that there's been several memories attached to this. One is being at
home and having that saltiness in the air of the northeast coast, but then sticking in a Madagascar
vanilla to transport you. The Madagascar vanilla is also very warming. It's got a brightness,
almost like a solar quality to it, which does very much transport you to those warmer
beaches. And another memory from this is, last year, I shot a video in Paris around
five fragrances with L'Artisan Parfumeur. Was it five? It could have even been more.
But I did this whole journey around fragrance and what L'Artisan Parfumeur has done, starting with
their very first one, which was Passage d'Enfer, which is where they had their offices, and that's
got this smokey incense. We started there. We then moved down onto the Seine and we looked at Au
Bord de L'eau. And what else did we have? We went to the Moulin Rouge and we looked at the Absinthe
one, which... What's it called again? Absinthe one? Can't remember, but it's a gorgeous one.
So, there was several memories in this because L'Artisan Parfumeur has such a strong at brand
DNA, it's like a thread throughout all their fragrances and it's so, so beautiful. I also
just like... I think in terms of the branding; I think the bottles are beautiful. So,
in a morning to reach for this and you've got this purple of the bottle below, to reach for this,
to spritz it, shut your eyes, take that moment and that instant transportation to the beach.
I just loved. That is so important and I'll say this again, fragrance is about you. And whatever I
say about, "I don't like this; I don't like this; don't do this," you do. Fragrance should be your
calling card. It should be something which makes you feel good about yourself. It should give you
that confidence and that boost for a date, for an interview, just for you to feel good in yourself.
So, these are definitely five that I've loved and I'd like to explore a few more with you because
there have been other fragrances and fragrance, which changed the way that I feel about myself,
or how I think other people see me. So, those are just five, but they are
all on ManForHimself.com. There are far more fragrances on there. Seriously, that website is
busting, so you can go through them. You can go back. You can leave your own reviews and
I'd really love to know what you think about these too, so make sure you comment below.
But thanks very much for watching, really hope you've enjoyed this. If you have and you've still
not pressed subscribe, then hit that subscribe button right now. The button is there. So some
movie suggestions down there, stay with me and watch them. The Man For Himself product pages for
fragrance is there. My Man For Himself Instagram is there. Please do become and follow. Also,
doing reels in there. And anything else? No. But until my next new video, buh-bye.