Paisley Cologne
Geo F Trumper (2018)

It is a Fougere, and so there is Lavender, Geranium and Bergamot. It is a very sweet Fougere, and I can smell Anise.

What it is, is a knock off of Brut. And there is nothing wrong with that.

I don't have any Brut to compare but I think Paisley is sweeter and less musky. Mind you I haven't smelled Brut for decades, but can remember the original ( with an overdose of Musk Ambrette) perfectly. I doubt if Paisley contains any nitromusk, although there are musks. I am surprised that after all these years it was thought suitable to produce another Brut clone, but there you are.

This is a quintessential barbershop scent! Not just in the neighborhood of a barbershop scent like At the Barber, Azzarro, Paco Rabanne, One Man Show, and Sung Homme; Paisley literally places you in a barbershop. It starts out smelling a little like Brut, only much stronger, and then it comes into its own unique scent after the dry down. Performance is actually pretty good, but it is a little overpriced (luckily got mine at a deep discount). Paisley and Dapper 1959 by Alexandria Fragrances are the two that shout BARBERSHOP!

TRUMPER – PAISLEY (2018)

Paisley is an ornamental Persian design using teardrops. It is named after a town in west Scotland, known for textile manufacturing, from which its popularization originated.

Reviews on Fragrantica variously describe it as a soft, warm, green, spicy, woody scent.

There are nine notes: Orange, Lemon, Spearmint; Pepper, Geranium, Cardamom, Anise; Vetiver, Patchouli

Trumper's Paisley fits neatly into the fougere family, despite its lack of lavender, oak moss and coumarin, the basic components of the classic fougere. Paisley gives the impression of a very green lavender, arising from the spearmint and geranium perhaps. I get also the impression of galbanum in the very greenness of it.

It is quite gentle, not at all sharp or harsh. Its vetiver and patchouli base does not intrude on the general impression of soft greenness.

As a fougere this a fine gentleman's scent, though it is certainly unisex as well. This harkens back to Trumper's second scent, Wild Fern (1877), its only true fougere in its fragrance catalogue.

My spouse also liked it, finding it gentle, refined, dry, warm and above all, subtle. For him the pepper, geranium and cardamom are a lovely dusty and dry spice combination that is truly a new olfactory find. Most intriguing.

Paisley is a welcome and clever addition to the fougere family, clever in its ability to give a distinct impression of a genre without using any of the usual notes associated with that genre. A very uplifting and comforting scent, surprisingly successful.