Caron 3eme Homme

By Tom The eighties were a time when everything was big: the Reagan years featured giant shoulder pads on women, balloon pleated pants on men and hairdos on both that resembled lions manes in both breadth, height and desperate need of a good conditioner. Everything was about the flash and the glitz; "Dynasty" and "Dallas" ruled the airwaves and the scents of the times could double as chemical weapons when applied with the abandon that was common at that time. Trust me, I lived through it. Being trapped in an Express elevator for 50 stories with some dude who bathed in Lagerfeld is not a happy memory. On the other hand that's the decade where Annick Goutal debuted as perhaps the first true niche house, so... It's also the decade that Caron brought out 3eme Homme, ostensibly named after the Orson Welles film from 1949. 3eme is a big fragrance, if not nearly as large as some of the other scents from the 80's; it really does seem like a 40's scent filtered through the eye of the ironic 80's. It's a fougere, with a slap-you lavender that's bright and spikey. Just when you think you have it pegged, it takes a sharp left into jasmine and ginger that takes the scent into androgyny. The sharp lavender never leaves the composition, even unto the woody, powdery and musky drydown, and that's a good thing; the he-said/she-said play between warm floral and chilly lavender is a delight, and a nice reminder that the 80's weren't all about sequined jumpsuits and mall hair. It also makes it a scent that would be perfectly suitable for a woman in a Kate Hepburn in Pants sort of way so ladies, feel no compunction about stealing this one. 3eme Homme is available at e-tailers at shockingly low prices, mostly around $35. This makes it cheap enough to want to spray with abandon, but I would resist that urge. This might not be the loudest concoction ever brewed, but in a decade that screamed at the top of it's lungs even a booming voice can be drowned out. In this decade of meek, watery little scents this could be a bit much...