Aramis by Estee Lauder (1965)

Calling all skank-o-philes, do you read me? Put down your Oudhs, your Kouroses, your Muscs Koublai Khans, and pick up a bottle of the unassuming-looking Aramis for men. It may be politer than some of those scents, and without their lore and glamour, but strangely, it's more compelling because it dares to be beautiful as well as shocking in its animalic stinkiness.

This glorious leather chypre starts off with a wonderful fresh/bitter herbaceousness combined with a very prominent body odor note from cumin. Please note: the cumin here doesn't suggest just your run-of-the-mill body odor, either. The BO note in Aramis is the smell of a man's arm pits who's been exercising for a while and possibly hasn't bathed in a couple days. It has that almost metallic sharpness that accompanies the aroma of an especially ripe pair of pits. Jarring — but sexy, in the way that smelling the body odor of someone you're attracted to can be both repellent and erotic.

Beautifully blended gardenia, jasmine, amber and sandalwood sweeten and warm the scent almost immediately, giving Aramis a comforting softness that invites you to snuggle with it on its Naugahyde couch.(Just snuggling — it promises!)

Top notes: Artemisia, aldehydes, bergamot, gardenia, green note, cumin

Heart notes: Jasmine, patchouli, orris, vetiver, sandalwood

Base notes: Leather, oakmoss, castoreum, amber, musk

But don't believe Aramis's innocent act — this cologne has carnal intent. As it starts to dry down, the well-worn suede portion of the scent comes forth, primarily through the amazingly creamy and smoky castoreum* and leather accord. The base notes join forces with the initial cumin note like (forgive me) a leather daddy's big strong arms giving you a bear hug.

It's rare I'm in the mood to write about a man's scent, but this gold-chain wearing, red-blooded, hairy-chested porn-stachioed cologne is a one-night-stand in a bottle.

It's the scent equivalent of Burt Reynolds' Cosmo centerfold in the 70s: smiling, naked and leering  on a bearskin rug. (In fact, I bet the perfumer was given something along the lines of this perfume brief: "Make it smell like Burt Reynolds' chest hair as he reclines naked on a Naugahyde couch.") Aramis is good natured and friendly, but it still wants to rip your clothes off and get it on.

On a recent perfume-sniffing outing with my budding perfumaniac pal Jonno, we went to Macy's and stopped to smell as many scents as our noses could take until they screamed uncle. At Sephora, they just line perfumes up against a wall and let you spray, sniff, and discuss to your nose's content without bothering you. Macy's? It still has corny displays and perfume box sets, but the worst part is that the hapless sales associates shadow your every move, arriving suddenly while you're in an olfactory revery to ask, Nurse Ratched-like and suspicious, "Is everything all right?"(Grace, I'm talking to you!)

On one drab and nondescript glass counter sat Aramis and various box sets of Aramis cologne with deodorant (ha — deodorant that smells like BO!), Aramis cologne with after shave, etc."Doesn't this just remind you of dads and the '70s?" Jonno asked wistfully. Not particularly dazzled by the bottle or what Luca Turin describes as the "burl-walnut-veneer-effect" box that Aramis is "still touchingly encased in," I sprayed it on a scent strip anyway.

"Hmmm," we both said, raising eyebrows at the same time. "Dirty." "Body odor." "Amazing." "This just gets dirtier and dirtier!" "I smell mint, herbs, BO and Naugahyde," I said. Jonno: "It's a scent that can only be described as postcoital," and, later,  "It reminded me of my stepdad and the stack of Hustler magazines he kept under his bed or a hairy-chested man from the 70s." (Hello, Burt!)

Needless to say, we were hooked. We were still wandering around Macy's, spraying and sniffing, and we even moved on to Sephora. But for both of us, amid all the other nice and even beautiful scents we'd sprayed on ourselves, we kept sniffing our arms for that cozy, furry, animal warmth of Aramis.

We soon both ordered it — Jonno got the modern reformulation, which is clearly still amazing, and I got the vintage. (Here are how the bottles differ.) I would say the reformulation is  really close to the vintage; I wonder if I'd be able to even tell the difference in a blind sniff test. (I hope so?) The initial blast of cumin in the vintage seemed a little more feral and rude, and I wonder if the castoreum in the vintage is natural rather than synthetic. Vintage Aramis seems a little "rounder" overall. (I'll get Jonno's impression on this and update this when I can).

Aramis, as a Basenotes commenter astutely suggested, is Azuree's masculine sibling. (Both were Estee Lauder scents.) These two leather chypres are surprisingly multidimensional, with green, herbaceous, sweet, and floral notes that take your olfactory imagination in many directions and, although animalic, have the chypre category's chic formality.

Although this is a masculine scent, I'm going to wear it myself. It's one of those scents you could cozy up to while reading a book, before falling asleep. Someone once said of Muscs Kublai Khan that it was their favorite olfactory pet — Aramis is now mine.

* Castoreum comes from the castor sac of a North American Beaver. It's a yellowish secretion that, mixed with urine, is used by the beaver to mark its territory. It's an important animalic note used in leather fragrances, now only in synthetic form. I got some synthetic castoreum from The Perfumer's Apprentice for $3, and once you get a whiff, it's easy to recognize its suede-like, animalic softness in perfume. Yum.

Comments

[Meliscents]

THANK YOU for being another woman that loves Aramis! I thought I might be alone in my love. I wear Azuree A-LOT but sometimes I want that extra "funk" that Aramis has. And you're also correct in that it's a great cozy, bedtime scent. I offered it up to my husband after I purchased it & he actually said it was too feminine for him. Hmmmph! Figure that!! I have got him wearing Mitsouko, so I guess there's still hope. I haven't been brave enough to wear it in public yet, but it could still happen. And while we're on it. I was a kid when the Burt Reynolds COSMO issue came out, but I was certainly drawn to that chest even if I wasn't sure why. Now I KNOW why!! :-)

[Perfumaniac]

Meliscent, I can't believe last weekend was my first introduction to Aramis, but better late than never. It smells more like suede than leather to me, and has the comforting funk that vintage Femme has. Interesting your husband thought it smelled feminine — maybe the amber and florals? It isn't THAT tough, it's true. You should totally wear it in public. I would be thrilled to smell this on someone in passing, and doubly thrilled if a woman were wearing it! As for Burt Reynolds' chest hair, it's a nice contrast to the overly coiffed/manscaped men of today. No Aramis man would be caught dead with a waxed chest! :)

[Meliscents]

He/He! You're right on target!! Where ARE the real men? I certainly don't want a man who's hands are softer than mine or who uses more product in their hair than I do. Give me that "man's man" any day!
And how appropriate that MACHO MAN is playing on the radio right now!! With your support and in honor of Burt's chest hair, I think Aramis will be my scent for tomorrow. :-) -MELISCENTS-

[Anne]

I wonder if the woman in that ad is wearing Azuree? But no, her style is too plush. Youth Dew? Nah ... What else did EL have in the 60s? It's too soon for Private Collection isn't it? For myself I'd put her in something like Joy or First.

A gay male friend of mine wore Aramis in the 80s, the first man I knew who wore scent. I must give it a spritz next time I'm passing the fragrance counter. I liked it on my friend, but he then moved on to Fahrenheit, and at the time I could not follow him there. He also wore Grey Flannel, and that was prrretty nice.

[robin]

I will have to try this the next time I'm at a department store, it sounds very raunchy and intriguing! Speaking of raunchy men's scents, I also hope to smell the original formulation of Caron's notorious Yatagan someday. As for Burt Reynolds...well, he's never done anything for me. (whispers: I don't like hairy guys. blech) ;-) How cool is it that Ted Danson is in that Aramis ad though! He and Mary Steenburgen make such a cute couple, and in my mind I am superimposing Mary Steenburgen's face on that woman when I look at the ad. lol

[Perfumaniac]

I love Yatagan! Sour and urinous. And yet, beautiful.

[Perfumaniac]

Anne: I think this ad might be from the late '70s or early '80s since it features Ted Danson (he used to be a model), and model-turned-actress Connie Selleca. (Can't believe I know any of this.) So it's safe to put Private Collection on her, I think, although that intense green fragrance might clash with Aramis's warmth. Perhaps Cinnabar? (1978). Its warm, cinnamony self would match Aramis's cuddly, libidinous self, and it would also match her cinnamon dress!

Robin: I think you'll like Aramis even though you don't like hairy guys! And I agree, Ted and Mary are a cute couple. I didn't know they were still together; did he get together with Whoopi before or after Mary?

[Flora]

Oh, I love Aramis! Back when it was really popular I would follow men around (surreptitiously of course) just to smell it on them. It really is one of those scents that smells both different and better on men. One of my favourie Lauders of all time. I would just about pay a guy to wear this for me!

And yes, I adore Yatagan too. :-)

[Perfumaniac]

I love the image of a woman following around men who smell like Aramis. Were you in a hat and sunglasses? ;) Did you get up close and sniff? The visual is just priceless. Perhaps Aramis does smell better on men — their sweat and hair mingling in with Aramis's sweat and hair. And I have to say, Estee Lauder has some kickass scents!

[Heather]

I actually find this to be the closest thing to Coty's vintage Chypre that can still be found. I assume I've only tried vintage though, as Dad has been slowly working his way through the same mega-bottle since about 1975. At any rate, it's a super under-praised fragrance!

[Perfumaniac]

I hadn't thought of Aramis and Chypre together, but it's an interesting comparison! I love that your dad has a mega-bottle he's still working on from the 70s. He must love it; either that, or he's not wasteful! Aramis was a total surprise for me. I really wasn't expecting it to be so interesting and comforting at the same time.

[harper]

this is one of my all-time favorite perfumes (for men or women. worn sparingly, of course :-)i didn't see it mentioned anywhere, but i think it is worth making note of that aramis (as well as azuree) is a bernard chant creation, the nose behind gres cabochard, lauder's aromtic's elixir (and it's masculine counter-part aramis 900), as well as halston (and did he do cinnabar as well? i can't remember. anyway, i do love and wear all of these). so yes, chant, starting with cabochard and from there moving on to aramis etc -- and building on knize ten, tabac blond, and bandit, of course -- really *is* the perfumer who developed the woody-leathery chypre category further.

[Perfumaniac]

Thanks for this authorial information on Bernard Chant, Harper. I keep meaning to update this blog by naming the perfumers when I can find them, which I only do occasionally. Thanks for the motivational push to make it a habit and for the list of perfumes you like that are related to the wonderful Aramis. (I couldn't find information on the perfumers for Cinnabar and Halston, though. I'll keep digging.)

[harper]

hi again -- chant definitely *did* create halston. also aramis devin (for men) as far as i know. and the original antonias flowers (but this in conjunction with another perfumer, i forget who. and it is a departure for him in its floralcy, although it *is* rather dry.)

as for cinnabar -- i'm not at all sure that chant created that one, but now i want to know and will have to do some hunting myself :-)

harper

[Le Nez]

Another Bernard Chant creation

[Amy]

Can anyone tell me who the guy was that replaced Ted danson as the aramis man

[Aurumgirl]

I remember the Ted Danson/Connie Seleca ad so well! So I always associated Aramis with that Tuxedo-in-the-kitchen-at-a-party intimacy. It has always been more Ted Danson's dressy but barely veiled sex appeal than Burt Reynolds' southern-good-ole-boy athleticism for me. Also, I love the way Estee Lauder has always done a "male counterpart" scent: Aliage and Aramis Devin; Aramis and Azuree; even Cinnabar with JHL (have you tried that one? It's hard to find, but so good). Hope to read more!

[Perfumaniac]

Aurumgirl: Devin and JHL? I'm going to have to try both! And I do love how heteronormative Estee Lauder is! ;-) Also, why don't more men wear tuxedos in the kitchen? It's a good look!

[Aurumgirl]

It's a great look! And they wouldn't even have to keep them on for very long! ;)

[Patty McDaniel]

My husband has worn Aramis for decades-we are both in our late 50s-and I love it! The"comforting" aspect is dead-on; I am a sort of fruitcake when it comes to fragrances-my mom once told me when I was very young I would open all the bars of soap and smell them. My ex wore Old Spice-yuck-so when I met my husband, his scent was very much appreciated.

[Perfumaniac]

Mmmmm, Patty. I LOVE Aramis. The reformulation is good too!

[hr]

Aramis is a bit too strong for my liking. GREAT packaging though.

[Del Reno]

Great fan of all Chant creations and the subtle variations from Lauder to Aramis. The model featured is Shaun Casey who was contracted after Karen Graeme and prior to Willow Bay.Btw- If you ever stumble onto the Azuree bath splash from the 70s in the plastic bottle- Snap it up! It's really something special.

[Perfumaniac]

Thanks for the tip, Del Reno!

[Guy Testarossa]

I'm sorry, but Aramis is absolutely dreadful. It's certainly unique, but it smells like pipe tobacco and raw hide. It's something you'd expect to find in a dusty old chest that hasn't been cracked open since the 1920's. It's just aweful.