Royall Rugby

You might have the impression my medicine chest is beginning to resemble a drinks cabinet. You would not be far off. I should probably bring in the contractors to build an extension. Or, I could just convert Frisby's room into a cocktail-and-fragrances den. The thing is, I enjoy trying on new scents. The Royall line is one of my favourites, and, as you know, I am already a firm fan of Royall Musk and Royall Lyme. I find the packaging itself has a satisfyingly vintage, old-fashioned feel to it. Now there is a new one: Royall Rugby. A Brooks Brothers exclusive. I fail to see how I missed it when it was first introduced. I vaguely remember seeing a bottle in a Brooks Brothers store, but it was not until quite recently that I decided to take the plunge. The description reads:

A truly masculine fragrance that opens with a refreshing and aromatic touch of exotic dry wood. Geranium leaves and black currant unveil an earthy voyage with rugged notes of patchouli and vetiver which fuse with warm under laying nuances of incense suede.

Masculine, woody, rugged, warm, incensed: these are all perfectly apt descriptions of yours truly. Royall Rugby has quickly become my daily go-to scent, beating out even my collection of Creed, including Royal English Leather. Which is really saying something. Stay tuned.

Geo. F. Trumper Extract of West Indian Limes

When trusted colleagues tell me I smell like a G&T, it is usually because I injested a dozen of the bloody things the night before. Now I have an entirely different excuse.

At the suggestion of some Interweb colleagues, and that of my good friend Sefton who knows about these things, I recently took receipt from a New York City establishment of a bottle of Trumper West Indian Extract of Limes fragrance. Pictured (above) is the same bottle together with a pair of Brooks Brothers bathing shorts in Harbour Island Blue and Palm Beach Green.

Note the charming pink colour of the Trumper box. Here is the story:

The story behind the famous 'PINK LABEL'

It has been asked so often, "why does Trumpers Extract of Limes have a pink label, surely it should be green?"

We have to relate that once it was but during the Great War (1914-1918) supplies of the correct paper dried up and the only alternative available to Trumpers was pink, so pink it became and has remained so ever since. When a tradition stretches back so far it seems a pity to change it so when we decided to introduce a bath soap perfume with Extract of Limes we had no hesitation concerning the colour of the carton--pink.

I lack the language to describe fragrances, so I will leave it to Trumper themselves. The advertising copy proceeds thus:

Bright green bursts of life-force charge from the tangy sharpness of tropical Limes, while vibrant citrus flashes allow a gentleman's mind to surge with the majesty of life. And as every pore is infused with the zing and zest of freshly squeezed West Indian Limes, so an exhilarating thrill is marvelously bestowed.

Extract of Limes, first introduced in 1880, is a pleasant enough scent, cool and refreshing, ideal for breezy summer conditions. It does indeed smell of limes, as you would expect. However, you may also notice that it simply does not persist long enough on the skin. Like an orgasm, the initial burst of explosive pleasure is over in mere seconds.

Cruising the Creed Bar

Just last week, you may have heard, I had occasion to visit Neiman Marcus in Newport Beach to procure more Creed fragrance, of which I am a devotee. There are only two reasons to visit NM: Creed and Kiton. To reach the Creed desk one must first pass through the ladies' perfume department. Normally such a detour is not particularly exciting, but it is an entirely different kind of trip when one realises one has dated almost half of the women under 40 working there. Still I soldier on and the accompanying photo (above) shows the rewards of my brief adventure. I purchased the ol' regulars Green Irish Tweed and Royal English Leather. I tried Aventus, the terrific new scent designed by Edwin Creed himself. I strongly recommend it. I have a feeling it will be added to the line-up. I typically do not wear scent to the orifice, where it would have a distracting effect on the female staff, but I do wear Creed at weekend rendezvous. Men's scent, I suspect, is often deployed to camouflage the smell of fear, shame, or dishevelment; in my case I use it to mask lust and contempt. Do you have a favourite fragrance, and if so, which one?

Creed Blog

Group of Creed

Creed Royal English Leather

As you know, I have been a devotee of Creed fragrances since I was a young man.

The first Creed scent I acquired was Royal English Leather. As the name indicates, it is a rich leather fragrance with an intimation of tangerine in the top notes. It is a long-lasting perfume, without being overwhelming. I apply it once in the morning. Even after a day in the office and the gym, and then spending an evening in sweat-, alcohol- and pussy-soaked debauchery, followed by a shower or two, I can still detect REL on my skin the next morning. Amazing. This scent's lasting power is about as legendary as mine, which is really saying something. The fact REL was first created in 1780 for King George III warms my Royalist heart.

The House of Creed is a private firm owned by the France-based Creed family. President and Master Perfumer Olivier Creed is responsible for many of the range's most famous scents, including my other favourites Green Irish Tweed and Millesime Imperial, and is a noted yachtsman and polo player. I recently met his son and next-in-line, Erwin Creed, at the Neiman Marcus store in Newport Beach. He is a charming and capable young man and we should have every confidence in the continued success of the firm in his hands.

If I wore a hat, I would take it off to the House of Creed.