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What did Michael smell like/what perfume or cologne did he wear?

KOPV said:
I am in no way saying this to make Michael sound extra Magical!


BUT.. When I and my wife (than girlfriend) shook his hand in 2009.. my hand smelled nice for the rest of the day!! As silly as it sounds, but that scent that his backup dancers mentioned on the special features in This Is It is REAL..

the scent was not so much "cologne" type sent.. but almost a powder scent, if I can try to explain the difference that way.. it had a.. ahh it's hard to explain, a Vanilla, cinnamon-esk type sent.. !?!?

I promise you, my wife and I smelled our hands all through the day "I don't want to wash my hands ever again." even while eating dinner (while Michael was rehearsing) and before I knew I could actually HEAR him if I was close enough.. I was like "oh no, we're eating." checked my hand to see if the food masked the MJ scent, and it was STILL there.

I have never shook someones hands and make ME smell better! haha.. I thought to myself, that's how I want to be with others, leave that lingering to subconsciously remind people of me all day.
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😲

moonstreet said:
Nothing weird about it, it was one of the regular topics of conversations when on Michael trips and outside hotels. Whenever fans met Michael his scent would linger on their clothes/ coat/ hands for about an hour afterwards.
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😲

moonstreet said:
It was one of the ways we used to check whether fans were telling the truth about meeting him.
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🤣

moonstreet said:
the info about Black Orchid and Bal de Versailles came from Karen Faye after Michael died. You can judge for yourself whether the info is reliable. Michael wore many different scents though. Me personally I dont recognise either Black Orchid or Bal de Versaillies as what Michael smelled like when I met him.
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@turtleneck_sweater - FYI

We had a discussion about Michael's perfume / cologne over on - hm, I think it was Those Eyes thread. And it popped up somewhere else, as well. Then there are the comments from Marsha Ambrosius. It's a compelling subject, lol. Anyway, bumping this just in case you're interested.
 
zinniabooklover said:
@turtleneck_sweater - FYI

We had a discussion about Michael's perfume / cologne over on - hm, I think it was Those Eyes thread. And it popped up somewhere else, as well. Then there are the comments from Marsha Ambrosius. It's a compelling subject, lol. Anyway, bumping this just in case you're interested.
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Nice, thanks!

bluemoon7 said:
tumblr_m9epugXfKk1qf36afo1_500.gif
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WHAT IS THAT?!?!? I cannot escape curls and sweat and BWT. It haunts EVERY THREAD, I SWEAR...
 
zinniabooklover said:
Well, that particular gif a good one so it gets posted everywhere, lol. Also, I love that particular hand gesture he does. Is it more of a BWT thing? I'm not sure. Hm ...
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I think MJ would be glad to know people appreciate and pay attention to his hand movements and gestures. He put tape on his fingers for people like you - those who focus on the pointing and pushing and drawing shapes with the fingers. Such an important component of his performance and expression.
 
turtleneck_sweater said:
I think MJ would be glad to know people appreciate and pay attention to his hand movements and gestures. He put tape on his fingers for people like you - those who focus on the pointing and pushing and drawing shapes with the fingers. Such an important component of his performance and expression.
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Probably need to take this over to Heresy but, tbh, I'm not mad keen on the tape. I get why he did it but, for me, it's not necessary. Don't hate it and I do quite like the way it makes each hand stand out on its own but I would be very happy if he didn't use it. It's like his short pants to show off the white socks. I think it's unnecessary.

You will notice that I am NOT living the life of a world famous musical genius. There is a reason for that, lol. :ROFLMAO:

But his hand gestures - well, I mean, all of his gestures but particularly those he makes with his hands, fingers and arms - ooh!

Can't get enough. I literally post photos just bc of his hand shapes. I mean, it's a separate thing to the Hands thread ...

oh, you've got me going now! I'm all agitated, lol.
 
turtleneck_sweater said:
I think MJ would be glad to know people appreciate and pay attention to his hand movements and gestures.
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Sorry, you were making a serious point there. Yes, I hope he would be glad. We do pay attention to the detail and since he worked so hard on every little aspect of his art I think he would appreciate the fact that we do pick up on that. We notice those things and we love them. So I hope he knew that.
 
zinniabooklover said:
Probably need to take this over to Heresy but, tbh, I'm not mad keen on the tape. I get why he did it but, for me, it's not necessary. Don't hate it and I do quite like the way it makes each hand stand out on its own but I would be very happy if he didn't use it. It's like his short pants to show off the white socks. I think it's unnecessary.
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I meant that he used the tape to make his hands visible from afar so that fans could notice gestures better! Back when we couldn't make gifs and stare at closeups, haha.
 
turtleneck_sweater said:
I meant that he used the tape to make his hands visible from afar so that fans could notice gestures better! Back when we couldn't make gifs and stare at closeups, haha.
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No, I understand that. It's like the white socks thing. I understand why he did it. I just don't think it's necessary. I never saw him live and I never did stadium gigs, I only liked small gigs. I have no idea if the white socks thing worked if you were halfway back in a stadium. I find it hard to believe, tbh. Ditto the white tape. Plus, he did also do it in his videos so it wasn't something he reserved for his live shows. As I said, I don't hate it but I kind of disregard it most of the time.

But not his actual gestures. I never disregard those.
 
See when i bought the ones Ms Faye was kind enough to suggest i didn't ever think it was like the scent people were trying to describe... it was so heavy and ..heavy......and ...well....


Yeah he did (we believe) change scent a lot and because i love the idea of what my top contender was, it's history. A real established gentleman's scent. Launched in 1950s
It was powdery and indeed mysterious....smelled like Cinnamon ...smelt sweetish - i am still going to say he liked Orange (spice) Creed
Created by James Henry Creed
so there :LOL::love:lol

On other days , i still think of the brand Philosophy . The Graces range. Amazing Grace from the Philosophy range my top contender ....Pure Grace, Living Grace...Inner Grace not so much ...
Another member here (🥰) was convinced that it was that Philosophy brand (now most of these are discontinued ) Baby Grace and (bloody) Love Swept, ... and the - .. Falling in Love..... Grace ... :rolleyes: (we used to fight over that :ROFLMAO: ) is what people could sometimes smell in 2000s.

ill stick to my guns( never having smelt the man of course !) and still say Creed. 🤪- but maybe Philosophy really was another contender that caught his eye. ( before it all went pete tong in 2016 of course)

It was said to be a top brand for sensitive skin in 2007 though , had been around since ooh, 1996 ? Science was the core to that brand so we know alot of care and knowledge for highly sensitive skin went into those bottles. It was never harsh stuff back then... I get though , m would spray it on his clothes , he would do it alot. I think he loved smelling good. Did't he like Dior- Poison at some point- too ? Mid 90's ? God Calvin Cline everyone loved that.😒 So many brands haha .Yeah creed. lol

The "Smells sweet" thought...🫢god,i love that... Some said he smelt " clean" . Some "sweet" . ....Maybe he never wore just one ?
Such an interesting thread. Good times... Great times.
i wish loz @Lorraine would come back for her take on this because she met him many times loz @Lorraine creed creed creed i beseech you darling :ROFLMAO: :D
 
@wendijane

Trying to bring together random bits of info re Michael's perfumes and colognes. We've had conversations on at least two other threads. Might be replicating info already on this thread but better safe than sorry!

zinniabooklover said:
[ ... ] I just found a new bit of information (new to me). I was re-visiting a little audio clip that I posted ages ago. A Vanity Fair journalist called Lisa Robinson was remembering the times she interviewed Michael and her account was interspersed with clips from interviews that Michael did. The audio clip is about 10 minutes long and most of it Lisa Robinson talking. Towards the end she mentions a conversation she had with Michael about Jungle Gardenia perfume. I went to look it up and it turns out to be a classic perfume much loved by Barbara Stanwyck and Liz Taylor and also Michael. Apparently, he used to love to wear it on stage. The reason I say it might be pointless bringing it up is it looks like the perfume isn't manufactured any more. At one stage it was revived but with a new recipe which no-one liked. I haven't checked properly to see if it definitely has been discontinued but I think maybe it has. But I was interested, nevertheless, to find out about it. For example, I wondered what was the significance of him wearing it onstage. Did he wear it offstage also or not? So many questions.
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Finding this convo on the board is what got me started wondering about Michael and perfume.

zinniabooklover said:
This is all FYI ...

Over the years I've read various bits and bobs about how Michael always smelled beautiful.

Here is a conversation I found here on the board:

1 - and to know that he also smells so good !!! it's tortue !
2 - Would you PLEASE tell me more??? PLEEEAAASSSEEEE.....
3 - Apparently, his dancers on TII said he smelled incredible
4 - I've heard the same.I have some Bav,and Black Orchid...both of which he wore...and they are incredible.I can only imagine what they smell like mixed in with his natural scent.Both are intoxicating and feminine but masculine..Bav smells strong at first,but changes as the day goes on,and smells very nice.A lot of people don't care for it,well I've run across a lot,and I think it's because they might not be buying the real one..there are a lot of knockoffs out there,and they don't smell the same at all.I love both,but Black Orchid is incredible,very heady,and sexy,and my favorite out of the two.It's feminine as well but then changes to just pure,exotic,sexy manliness once you wear it for a bit...it's quite an experience.I have to look for my link,but like I said,I'd watch what site you order off of...it can be expensive but worth it knowing it's the real deal.I spray mine around my room and on my pillow at night...very sweet dreams.:wub:

Here is some stuff from Isabelle Petitjean's blog:

I had learned of Michael's passion for perfume, and expensive perfumes in particular. I had never been interested in them myself, not having the budget and not seeing the point of paying for expensive perfumes when standard eaux de toilette were just fine. So I wrote down a list of the perfumes he used to soak his clothes, rinse his clothes, perfume the rooms he was in or simply soak himself in, because, by dint of putting them on, he didn't smell anymore, like everyone else in this situation, and he used them in large doses. He had been wearing it for 30 years. A good old French perfume that smelled, I think, "old bourgeoisie", another one, more spicy, that he had worn during the rehearsals of This Is It in particular, another one, which was used for his laundry, others more occasional... I learned, thanks to him, what perfume represented... An extension of oneself. A form of aura, made sensitive... A presence which survives you when you are not there anymore... A fragment of your soul, which says a lot about you, through its fragrances, spicy or sweet, heady or light...

I went into a famous shop in Nice to ask about their mythical fragrances…

I thought I would pass it off as a gift for my husband, who was accompanying me... It was bad luck, it was only women's perfumes! Holy Michael, should we be surprised? Again, this will not to compartmentalize anything... During my visit of this store, my ear was suddenly challenged by a familiar music... The loudspeakers of the store began to play a cover version of "Man in the Mirror" that I had never heard before, in a salsa mode. Already there, I was seized... It was funny!

As I couldn't find the old French perfume that he had supposedly been using for over 30 years, I asked a saleswoman if she had any. She explained to me that this perfume had not been manufactured for 10 years but that she was going to see if she had any left in stock. So I waited for a few long minutes, listening with a smile to this musical cover that seemed to beckon me... But what was my surprise when the saleswoman came back to me and said: "Did you order it from us some time ago? I told her no, it wasn't me. She explained to me that she had one bottle left in stock, which had been ordered a few months ago by a person who had never come to pick it up... She was about to return it to the supplier. So she was going to sell it to me. Unbelievable! I was stunned...

OK, so from Isabelle Petitjean's blog I learned that two of the perfumes Michael used were:

1 - Bal a Versailles (sp?)
2 - Black Orchid by Tom Ford
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@MacMandy90 said this:

MacMandy90 said:
Here are the bottles lol
bal-a-versailles.jpg

black-orchid.webp

I loved the descriptions of them as well, not only unique, but very special it does bring him to life ❤️ [ ... ] It really does feel like a connection to him, I was just so bogglingly curious that I just had to take a chance lol and to me a little goes such a long way but it's definitely Michael 🥰
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This really has nothing to do with Michael's perfume except that it kinda does. Marsha Ambrosius talks about what it was like working with Michael and how awesome he was. But in the middle she has a couple of seconds where she kind of zones out as she remembers how beautiful he always smelled. Her face is a picture.

"He smelled so good ... I don't know what cologne that was but it was amazing."

Time stamp for that tiny bit approx 1m 13s

 
wendijane said:
See when i bought the ones Ms Faye was kind enough to suggest i didn't ever think it was like the scent people were trying to describe... it was so heavy and ..heavy......and ...well....
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I thought about buying Black Orchid. Tested it in Boots, didn't like it. Did not suit my skin at all. However, I also had some on a test strip and I kept that and, over the next few days, it did mellow out and turned into something absolutely wonderful. It lasted for about two weeks - that tiny little test strip scented an entire room for two weeks or more. It was gorgeous. And it did seem quite 'Michael' once it calmed down a bit. I still didn't want to buy it but I could imagine him wearing it. The scent seemed to be a good match for his style.
 
Here's a bit more from the original convo I found on the board. Sorry it's all a bit fragmented. Too tired to link everything up properly.

@wendijane - the first three points on my bumped post are from a convo elsewhere on the board but I can't remember which thread I found it on and didn't bother to note down the names of the people commenting. Sorry! They might have been people that you knew back in the day.

zinniabooklover said:
1 - Thank you! I can imagine how he smells... When he was in munich and I met him he smelt like vanilla. So sexy! My little Vanilla bean.... *lol*
2 - Last time I met him it was a mix between cinnamon and Black Orchid. The vanilla scent I´ve felt too, not sure it came from a perfume though.
3 - I've read so many times that he smelled like a mix between vanilla and baby powder :wub:

OK, so this is the rest of the conversation that I didn't include last night cos it might trigger industrial amounts of envy since these peeps presumably did actually meet Michael. Otoh, interesting info. Useful and interesting.

Cinnamon and vanilla? Love both of those aromas and so easy to imagine. Looked up Black Orchid and can see it contains almost all of my fave essential oil fragrances - patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, vanilla, ylang ylang, jasmine. There's loads of others in there as well but these are the ones for me. I used to use all of these all the time. With the base notes you have to be careful cos they are heavy and they are tree resins so a very small amount goes a very long way. Vetiver and patchouli, in particular, you have to be very careful with. If you get the patchouli wrong you'll end up smelling like some rank old hippie from the 60's (trust me, you don't want that, lol).

Also looked up the Bal a Versailles perfume. Similar list of essential oils which is what I expected:

sandalwood, vetiver, ylang ylang, patchouli, jasmine, vanilla.

But, and here's the kicker, it also contains neroli. OMG!!!! Neroli is beyond. Expensive but worth every penny. It's better, imho, than the most expensive rose essential oil.
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zinniabooklover said:
I thought about buying Black Orchid. Tested it in Boots, didn't like it. Did not suit my skin at all. However, I also had some on a test strip and I kept that and, over the next few days, it did mellow out and turned into something absolutely wonderful. It lasted for about two weeks - that tiny little test strip scented an entire room for two weeks or more. It was gorgeous. And it did seem quite 'Michael' once it calmed down a bit. I still didn't want to buy it but I could imagine him wearing it. The scent seemed to be a good match for his style.
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omg when i got my first bottle i literally CRIED after smelling it for the first time. i felt his presence all around me after the fairy dust from the spray settled in the air for a while. then i sprayed it on my pillow as if michael was next to me in my bed 🤭🥺 even the shape and colors of the bottle are so reminiscent of him!
 
@wendijane

I'm still obsessing over this perfume malarkey! Got this list off reddit. I can see that Creed is mentioned - two different versions. No way to know if this list is legit or how this person is supposed to know all this stuff but thought it might be worth capturing it, anyway. I can always delete if you think it's all bogus.

"I am seeing a lot of stuff online as to what MJ wore as fragrances, the fact is he wore many different fragrances. I am going to shed some light on EVERY fragrance that this man wore to end all the speculation.

Late 1980s- Lagerfeld - Classic
(unknown time) Calvin Klein Obsession
(unknown time) Joop Wolfgang (most likely Fall 2008)
(unknown time ) Creed- orange Spice
(Unknown Time ) Creed- Royal Water
(1995/2007 )Yves Saint Laurent - Opium for Men
(somewhere in the 90's he wore this also wore it in 2007, this was the
mystery YSL scent his bodyguard was referring to )

(Unknown time )
Jungle gardenia
2001- Dior- Dune
Wore this during invincible era
2002- Calvin Klein - Eternity
(There is a video on youtube of him spraying it)

2004/2005- Dolce & Gabanna for Women- (Red Cap)
(Wore this during the trial, Jermaine Jackson even said he was wearing
The Dolce & Gabanna Red cap fragance)


2009- Tom Ford - Black Orchid, Tom Ford - White Patchouli,
Jean Desprez -Bal A Versailles, Clive Christian- No 1

( I posted pictures of both of them from inside his bathroom in a previous thread )"
 
wendijane said:
See when i bought the ones Ms Faye was kind enough to suggest i didn't ever think it was like the scent people were trying to describe... it was so heavy and ..heavy......and ...well....
Yeah he did (we believe) change scent a lot and because i love the idea of what my top contender was, it's history. A real established gentleman's scent. Launched in 1950s
It was powdery and indeed mysterious....smelled like Cinnamon ...smelt sweetish - i am still going to say he liked Orange (spice) Creed
Created by James Henry Creed
ill stick to my guns( never having smelt the man of course !) and still say Creed. 🤪- but maybe Philosophy really was another contender that caught his eye. ( before it all went pete tong in 2016 of course)
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"Creed Orange Spice is a fresh, aromatic, spicy and mysterious fragrance with a powdery dry down, perfect for those who love long-lasting citrus scents.
Orange Spice celebrates the mix of wild and carefree citrus fruits of bergamot and orange in the top notes, composed in a classical method with neroli in the middle, and ambergris and spices in the base.

Orange Spice by Creed is a Citrus fragrance for men. Orange Spice was launched in 1950. The nose behind this fragrance is James Henry Creed. Top notes are Orange and Bergamot; middle note is Neroli; base notes are Spices and Ambergris."

375x500.7507.jpg
 
Here's another picture of a Bal a Versailles bottle (this one is body lotion).


iu
 
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zinniabooklover said:
@wendijane

I'm still obsessing over this perfume malarkey! Got this list off reddit. I can see that Creed is mentioned - two different versions. No way to know if this list is legit or how this person is supposed to know all this stuff but thought it might be worth capturing it, anyway. I can always delete if you think it's all bogus.

"I am seeing a lot of stuff online as to what MJ wore as fragrances, the fact is he wore many different fragrances. I am going to shed some light on EVERY fragrance that this man wore to end all the speculation.

Late 1980s- Lagerfeld - Classic
(unknown time) Calvin Klein Obsession
(unknown time) Joop Wolfgang (most likely Fall 2008)
(unknown time ) Creed- orange Spice
(Unknown Time ) Creed- Royal Water
(1995/2007 )Yves Saint Laurent - Opium for Men
(somewhere in the 90's he wore this also wore it in 2007, this was the
mystery YSL scent his bodyguard was referring to )

(Unknown time )
Jungle gardenia
2001- Dior- Dune
Wore this during invincible era
2002- Calvin Klein - Eternity
(There is a video on youtube of him spraying it)

2004/2005- Dolce & Gabanna for Women- (Red Cap)
(Wore this during the trial, Jermaine Jackson even said he was wearing
The Dolce & Gabanna Red cap fragance)


2009- Tom Ford - Black Orchid, Tom Ford - White Patchouli,
Jean Desprez -Bal A Versailles, Clive Christian- No 1

( I posted pictures of both of them from inside his bathroom in a previous thread )"
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I love it zin . Thank you all this research. i love that. I love that Creed is listed haha...Royal Water? hmmm interesting
Joop , and dune ..
 
zinniabooklover said:
@wendijane

I'm still obsessing over this perfume malarkey! Got this list off reddit. I can see that Creed is mentioned - two different versions. No way to know if this list is legit or how this person is supposed to know all this stuff but thought it might be worth capturing it, anyway. I can always delete if you think it's all bogus.

"I am seeing a lot of stuff online as to what MJ wore as fragrances, the fact is he wore many different fragrances. I am going to shed some light on EVERY fragrance that this man wore to end all the speculation.

Late 1980s- Lagerfeld - Classic
(unknown time) Calvin Klein Obsession
(unknown time) Joop Wolfgang (most likely Fall 2008)
(unknown time ) Creed- orange Spice
(Unknown Time ) Creed- Royal Water
(1995/2007 )Yves Saint Laurent - Opium for Men
(somewhere in the 90's he wore this also wore it in 2007, this was the
mystery YSL scent his bodyguard was referring to )

(Unknown time )
Jungle gardenia
2001- Dior- Dune
Wore this during invincible era
2002- Calvin Klein - Eternity
(There is a video on youtube of him spraying it)

2004/2005- Dolce & Gabanna for Women- (Red Cap)
(Wore this during the trial, Jermaine Jackson even said he was wearing
The Dolce & Gabanna Red cap fragance)


2009- Tom Ford - Black Orchid, Tom Ford - White Patchouli,
Jean Desprez -Bal A Versailles, Clive Christian- No 1

( I posted pictures of both of them from inside his bathroom in a previous thread )"
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What a list! :love:
 
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