December 2015 Olfactif for Men Subscription Box Review

Olfactif throws caution to the wind yet again with its Modern Man collection.  Traditional, heavy masculine scents are de-emphasized, giving way to more nuanced and vibrant scents.  Olfactif  is a monthly unisex fragrance discovery subscription box. You’ll get 3 samples in your box, each containing 15-20 “wears” of an independently designed perfume. With every box, your account will be credited with an $18 voucher to use on fragrances from the store. Olfactif‘s focus is on niche fragrance, so you’ll see different & unique scents, higher quality and hard-to-find ingredients.

The regular Olfactif box is unisex meant to be worn by women and men who enjoy niche fragrances.  Because it features fragrances intended to be wearable by both sexes, it only occasionally indulges in the heartier scents typically associated with Men’s fragrance.  The Men’s box is centered around traditionally masculine fragrances, all from the niche world.  You will still see the same creative spirit and defiance of convention, but the focus will be on the yang.

Olfactif Men’s comes in the same cool packaging as their flagship subscription.  It is attractive and the flap retracts within the box when you pull the ribbon.  The information card for the fragrances is tucked inside.

We love a traditionally masculine scent. Give us those dark woods, the zesty citrus, and the weathered leather notes anytime. But this time, mix it up. Give it a twist or two. Surprise us! Because there’s nothing wrong with traditional, but it’s much more fun to smell something that refuses to blend in with the crowd.

This collection features three scents that take traditional themes in masculine perfumery and add a modern twist for the modern man—in other words, for you.

The theme for this ensemble of men’s fragrances is “Modern Man.”  They are meant to capture the essence of the modern man — more sensitive, intuitive, and tolerant of nuance than his forebears.  

The three fragrances come tucked neatly within the very cool case.  The bottles are testers, but they have enough spritzes to last quite a long time, so they are perfect for keeping around for a change of pace well into the future (but make sure to take advantage of the subscription credit toward purchase, and pick up a full size of your favorites!).

The fragrance notes give detail on the composition of the fragrances, but the prominence of each element changes as the scent ages on your body.

The December Theme is Modern Man:

• König by Yosh:  The warm, smoky character of this scent is enchanting.  The bitters and smoke give it the smell of a fine Scotch.  Sage and firewood are the dominant secondary notes, with the flowers fading away and leaving a tail of vetiver and red apple.
• Anvers by Ulrich Lang New York:  The citrus is the main opening note, the fragrance exhibiting very little scent apart from the bergamot and lime at the outset.  The flowers and herbs then present themselves, with the geranium and jasmine providing the main push.  Honey, leather, and amber, provide a surprisingly masculine end note to what appeared to be a very floral scent.
• Nio by Xerjoff:  Straight from the sprayer, the first notes to my nose reminded me of fresh lime, and then a quick blast of bugspray.  Within seconds, the latter dissipated, and the former presented itself as neroli (bitter orange) and bergamot.  Mid-notes of cardamom and rose pepper arise, but the citrus remains dominant.  Cedar, vetiver, and the faintest hint of patchouli provide a lasting base.

This was an interesting group of fragrances.  The description hinted that they may be less characteristically masculine than other selections in the line — I didn’t find this to be the case.   Once on the skin for several minutes, none of the samples maintained any heavy floral notes.  The Konig paired its sweet vetiver with smoke, and the Nio’s neroli persisted to give each a smoky and citrus character, respectively.  Neither is characteristically feminine.  The Anvers was perhaps the closest to approaching the gender boundary, with the bergamot floating atop floral and herbal notes.  Yet, this fragrance was such a mosaic of warm notes that none of the botanicals rose to dispel the leather, amber, and wood that grounded the scent in the masculine.

Visit Olfactif to subscribe to the Men’s box or find out more!