CB I Hate Perfume 2nd Cumming: When Cumming Once Is Not Enough

 

 

Perfumer Christopher Brosius is not a fan of celebrity fragrances and had no interest in producing one of his own, that is, until he met the right person, actor Alan Cumming. Alan had the right qualities and charm to seduce our genius Brooklyn perfumer into producing not one, but two perfumes over time, both with the same name “Cumming”, the second of which sits nicely in my hand sporting the provocative moniker 2nd Cumming. Both gentlemen, Mr. Cumming and Mr. Brosius, have a knack for reinvention so the 'second coming 'of Cumming was reborn from a desire to remake the splendidly successful first edition in a smaller batch, with better ingredients, and to give every penny of the profits to charity. Christopher is helping to fund the Smoke Free Project which he himself attended and found instrumental in his battle to quit and which was in danger of being shut down due to lack of funds.

 The notes in the original Cumming fragrance were all chosen by Alan himself and reflect his Scottish heritage and personal taste(E-I-C's Note: What's up with the Scotts and anti-celebuscents? We gave Like This featuring Tilda Swinton by Etat Libre D'Orange a Best of 2010 award).  Notes used in 2nd Cumming are: Bergamot, Black Pepper, Scotch Pine, Malt Whiskey, Cigar, Heather, Douglas Fir, Rubber, Worn Leather, Highland Mud, Burnt Rubber, Peat Fire and White Truffle.

Apparently 2nd Cumming is exactly the same scent as the original Cumming the Fragrance but in Mr. Brosius’s unique format. Since I did not have the opportunity to try the first version of the scent I asked my colleague Mark Behnke, Managing  Editor of CaFleureBon for his opinion.

 

He (Mark Behnke) said: "2nd Cumming is not so much a sequel as a reformulation. When I first applied 2nd Cumming I thought, “no difference”. With the passage of time I noticed the real difference, the longevity compared to the original. I wore both fragrances on a different arm at the same time and 2nd Cumming developed more slowly and I have to attribute that to the better quality materials used in 2nd Cumming. The other side effect of the more leisurely unfolding is 2nd Cumming comes off warmer than the original. If you, like me, enjoyed the original I think 2nd Cumming will be surprisingly better than you remember. Now Monica can tell you what she thought as someone who is trying 2nd Cumming for the first time.

She (Monica Miller) said: Personally I find this fragrance 2nd Cumming very sexy, provocative and  for me, not at all reminiscent of the notes listed as part of the fragrance. I find the fragrance more literal, reminding one rather of…dare I say it… male secretions. A fresh healthy clean male I will quickly add. It has a nutty, almond like note that is quite quickly gone leading to the peaty smell listed among the notes but I really can’t say as I smell any pine, cigars or heather…it has a rich pungent fresh smell to it reminding me a bit of when I went horseback riding in Big Sur (bareback) through the mossy canyons. Back then I remember thinking, more than once, that the whole smell of nature, in all its glory, smelled rather like….what I think 2nd Cumming smells like.

 

Of my five Martha’s Vineyard friends I asked to sniff the fragrance 3 looked at me quizzically and said they liked it but left me wondering if they really did. Two people genuinely liked it.

OK, so now you simply HAVE to try it. Tell me if I’m right, or wrong. I would really like a few hundred more opinions and since all the profits from this perfume are going to charity why not?

http://www.cbihateperfume.com/

Worth the risk to buy unsniffed: Yes, CBIHP also sells trial/travel sizes

Natural or blended: blended

Sillge: gentle

Longevity: average

Photo credits wild Scottish heather http://www.bing.com/

http://www.riversidecampground.com/ThingstodoinBigSur.html Big Sur Pic.

Monica “Skye” Miller, Natural Perfume and Senior Editor

Read Editor-in-Chief Michelyn Camen's original 2008 interview with Christopher Brosius and Cumming https://cafleurebon.com//flashbackinterview-with-christopher-brosius-of-cb-i-hate-perfume-does-he-or-doesnt-he/

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11 comments

  • Very nice review. I only have a spray sample of the original Cumming, but I am really curious to try this one, and I may just buy it unsniffed because I felt the original was a must-have for almost any collection. Also, I love CB's work.
    Just curious if the perfumer of the original is known?

  • chayaruchama says:

    Anything that even smacks of CB or Alan  is something to be sniffed 😉
    I'm a huge fan of both.
    ADORE that Alan odalisque !

  • Joe, CB made the first Cumming fragrance as well (that was your question, right?) He wanted a do-over to really get it the way he envisioned (smella visioned?) with better ingredients and in a smaller batch. I would say it's a must have for perfume collectors.

  • This review of 2nd Cumming has left me wanting to sample this scent. The video of Alan Cumming promoting the first one left me thinking is this real and I didn't even care to research it to know Christopher Brosius was involved. Sad, but I just found it over the top. Now that you've bought me into the light, it actually sounds interesting. I'm on it!

  • I love the idea of a perfumer getting a do-over, especially when it was an interesting idea to begin with.
    Toss in the fact I never got my hands on a first Cumming, and well, I'm extra ready to receive the second.
    Thanks for taking the time to describe a side by side; I'll not get my knickers in a twist looking for the first, but will simply muster resources to get some of this version.  I've got a few other CB's that I've been queueing up, anyway.

  • I would love to try this, but it's completely impossible where I live. The pic of the forest makes me want it even more. Oh well…

  • Nice photograph. Were they consciously paraphrasing the famous image of Sophie Dahl for Opium, do you think? I won't pretend I want to sniff this, but I commend Brosius and Cumming for their creativity and their charitable work. I really do like the photo…

  • The old version was Scotland in a bottle, minus the diesel smell of Glasgow streets!  Genius. Can't wait to try the CBIHP version.  

  • @ Barney- I agree OTT's can be (often are) a turnoff…glad we have you turned around..
    @Kjanicki – The second is better by Mark's review… and very similar to the first..but you must decide if Cumming once is enough… (sorry…just had to.. )
    @ Elizabeth… thats what I thought…
    @ Kate..great, if you liked the original you will be happy you came back for more… 🙂