Scentrack
Pet
Shop Boys – Being Boring
I was a kid back then, but I clearly
remember how Blue Jeans was huge at one point during the 90’s in my country. My
older cousin literally was drowning himself with this Versace’s commercial
success during those colorful and vivid years. Very soon Gaultier’s Le Male was
the new kid in the town, and already by the end of the century Blue Jeans was somehow
forgotten. That’s a pity, because Blue Jeans was, and still is a very
interesting piece of perfumery. Like a missing link in perfumery evolution. The
transitional form between classic men's perfumery of the 80’s and novel sweet masculinity
of Kurkdjian’s Le Male and its successors.
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| Source: Instagram |
The perfumer behind Blue Jeans was Jean-Pierre
Bethouart. Master Bethouart will later precisely define his vision of Oriental
masculinity with a slightly powdery twist with Versace Dreamer (1996) and
Burberry Touch for Men (2000). Personally, I am a big fan of Bethouart’s vision
of new age masculinity, and I consider him as a founder of 21st
century men's perfumery. To my knowledge, Blue Jeans was a detonator of a new
explosion. While Kurkdijan’s Le Male kept only the basic fougere genre
characteristics, Blue Jeans gently introduced new tendencies in perfumery.
The interplay of notes in Blue Jeans is
absolutely amazing. It opens with lemon hard candy mixed with coke, very
similar to lemon flavored Pepsi Twist infused with herbs and woodsy note of guitar
rosewood. The lavender in Blue Jeans is simple, clean and synthetic. The note
of Siberian fir is pronounced, and it is amazing that so easily fits within the
composition. Surprising is how strong is an old school, floral bouquet of
geranium, carnation and lily of the valley. Nowadays this retro floral kick
might be little bit repulsive to contemporary noses. Towards the base, the
clean musky powder becomes stronger, while vanilla and Tonka bean give a sweet
aspect. Like sweet aspect of Jack Daniels mixed with coke.
I prefer to wear Blue Jeans during cold
winter days, when this clean powdery undertones mixed with Tonka are easily
released. It makes wonder for me.
Sometimes words are not sufficient to
fully describe a composition, and Blue Jeans is one of them. The interplay of
notes is outstanding, and great skill was needed to harmoniously mash all these
notes. I have a great admiration for Blue Jeans, but one can feel it was made
more than a quarter of a century ago. Personally, I like to wear it, but I dare
Versace to hire Jean-Pierre Bethouart once again and give him a budget to
create Blue Jeans 2.0 – a little bit cleaned up contemporary, 21st
century version, devoid of the old school floral bouquet with amped base notes.
Blue Jeans is synthetic and fun, like its tacky bottle, but I would like more
90’s fun imported in this millennium.
Longevity / Projection
Solid (6-8 hours) /Average
Suggested wearing
Casual / Daily in autumn, winter or spring
Alternatives
Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male – 21st
century modern fougere
Versace Dreamer – Bethouart’s polished
lavender-Tonka combo
Burberry Touch for Men – clean violet leaf-cedar-powder
Pros
Addicting base notes
Extremely fun
Clean and vivid
Reasonably priced
Bottle and can
Cons
Little bit outdated – 80s flowers
Synthetic
Possible performance issues
Bottle and can
Rating
7/10
men jeans available in really good price range.
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