Now, this week brought joy to my heart in the shape of a new addition to the Mankind family – my all-time favourite fragrance Geoffrey Beene’s Grey Flannel.

I’ve been lobbing for us to stock it for nearly a year now and finally my cajoling and arm-twisting has paid off.

For those of you unfamiliar with the designer, Geoffrey Beene was a true American original, whose clients included President’s wives to A-list celebrities and Grey Flannel, lunched back in 1976, was his first and most successful male fragrance.

I first came across it as a callow youth back in 1985 and it rapidly became my own signature scent, so much so that I’m still wearing it more than 20 years later! (yes, I am that old thanks). And whilst I do wear other fragrances and am a fan of even more, I always come back to Grey Flannel.

In Britain it’s always been fairly hard to find (I used to stock up on trips to the States) and this made it even more appealing. It’s unusual too. Don’t expect another mainstream, safe men’s fragrance – Grey Flannel is distinctive, with sweet floral notes of violet combined with citrussy orange and neroil, along with oakmoss and a warm, masculine sandalwood base note. Thanks to the violet it often reminds people of that distinctive parma violet smell but it’s more masculine than that.

I can’t guarantee it’ll float everybody’s boat but for me, Grey Flannel is a timeless, inventive and quirky fragrance that has never dated and whose very existence is proof that, along with fragrances like Aramis Classic and Dior’s Eau Sauvage, you can’t keep a good scent down! You can tell I like it right?!

Lee, Mankind Grooming Ed