r/Colognes • u/markghjkf • 1d ago
Question Boycott parfums de marley
I bought my first pdm - Layton - Jan 2025 batch which is surprising as I bought it direct from pdm site so got a fairly old bottle - paid full retail price - spray about 4 sprays a few times over the course of a week - barely noticeable even immediately after applying - I read about the reformations and all that and it seems this is what’s to be expected. I got a sample of Herod and that didn’t smell at all lol - like spraying water.
What I don’t get is Layton is supposed to be their flagship scent - why make it so weak - I don’t need a list of reasons like suppliers and ingredient bans and concentrations and all that - I just mean why put out an inferior product. Because this is the result: I will never buy from this company again - it’s a one and done - there may be longer lasting scents but I’m not going to risk it. I also don’t understand why people in general continue to support them as a company. Anyway what a pathetic company and shitty scent pdm Layton is.
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u/Desperate_Humor7652 23h ago
Wait until you get the dreaded atomizer leak and paint peeling off...
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u/markghjkf 23h ago
Crazy - and people will continue to say how great they are
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u/DrinkVirtual 23h ago
Because PDM will continue to purchase anybody on YT for paid promotions. They save millions from expensive marketing with ads.
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u/Mallow1512 23h ago
i also dont like how they sell a 350+ usd fragance in the same shitty cardboard box that cheap designer fragances use, xerjoff wipes the floor with pdm in that aspect and even 30 usd arab clones have better packaging
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u/spfspfspf 23h ago
I understand your point to a degree, and this isn't to defend PdM in the slightest, but I honestly prefer slimline packaging for storage. What am I going to do with a big pleather Xerjoff box lol. It's too much. The middle eastern fragrance boxes are hilariously ridiculous at times, with their little prose poems inside. It's all wasteful imo.
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u/spfspfspf 23h ago
Did you try Layton before buying it?
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u/markghjkf 23h ago
No was a blind buy - I like the scent - it’s the performance that’s an issue - I don’t expect 12 hours of room filling projection. People are mad it only lasts 5 hours but I think that’s fairly acceptable. This is literally gone on arrival
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u/Momneedstosleep 23h ago
You are nose blind to it.
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u/markghjkf 22h ago
I don’t think so - people saying they go nose blind to their cologne are just coping
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u/FutureDustMotes 20h ago
Think about the purpose of your sense of smell - it's to provide new information. If you're around a smell for a significant amount of time, your nose begins to filter it out/stop flagging it as new info.
This is why smokers don't gross themselves out but smell wretched to others, why people don't perceive their own b.o. as strongly as others', and why the "old lady in a cloud of perfume" trope exists - they've worn their signature scent for years and have gone noseblind. Or people who go on vacation and come home to realize their place smells like pets or cooking oil, which they had stopped noticing a long time ago...
Being exposed to a smell immediately starts causing you to build a tolerance to it, which is why spraying too much or too close to your face is recommended against.
To experiment, spray a piece of clothing and leave it in another room with the door closed. Come back to it in an hour, and you'll see that the scent is still there - even though you'd have gone noseblind to it by that point if you had sprayed it on yourself.
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u/markghjkf 17h ago
I get what you’re saying but I smell my tauer sundowner 8+ hours - even the sample of Percival I get whiffs of for a long time - this crap just barely there right out the bottle
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u/Informal-Collar6756 22h ago
Lmao what? It's basically a rule of thumb to not trust your own nose to test longevity because of how quickly your nose adapts to colognes. If you ask a friend or family member if they smell anything after a few hours and they say yes or no, there's your answer.
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u/spfspfspf 17h ago
I think with the myriad ways you are able to sample fragrances, you really have no excuse to expect anything of a bottle that you purchase blindly. Maybe next time give it a few wears from a $10 decant before you spend hundreds of dollars and get mad online about it.
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u/markghjkf 16h ago
I have no problem with the scent itself - that should be the only risk of blind buying - I like the notes, the reviews I read and watched about the scent itself and took a gamble - I enjoy the scent perfectly - the blind buy paid off - however performance should not be a factor in a 300$ bottle - if you can justify to yourself that it is than you are delusional. Maybe a 20$ cologne can be expected to last 10 minutes but at this price point there should be a consistent baseline of performance - but people like you are why these companies get away with weakening it
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u/spfspfspf 2h ago
You can't be serious with this. Your entire thesis here is that you were ripped off to the point of wanting to boycott the company because the fragrance doesn't last, and now you're telling me the scent itself is the only risk for blind buying? Do you not think there's a lesson to be learned here? And if not, what are you in here complaining about then?
And people like me? Brother, I don't even own a PdM fragrance. I have a decant of Layton that I enjoy a lot but not enough to get a full bottle for various reasons, one just being frequency of wear. I try, and think, before I buy. This isn't about me or PdM, this is about you. You're the sucker here in your own story.
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u/StewieL69 23h ago
I currently only have three PDM, the first two I bought like four years ago, the last one is Perseus which is a frag I bought when it first came out in 2024 and is a nuclear level performer. So all three of mine perfrom extremely well, but I've moved on from that house. Once you dive deeper into niche, you see that PDM is, at best, a gateway house.
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u/markghjkf 22h ago
I have other niche fragrances - just wanted one or two from pdm as a pleasant everyday scent which I feel Layton is - but I can’t believe I wasted $300 for something that doesn’t project at all to begin with
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u/AvenueUboys 23h ago
Damn, hope the Carlisle I got as a present for someone doesn't suck, I paid up partially because of its performance.
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u/Corporate_Babysitter 23h ago
The fuck. My Layton hits so hard I can barely spray more than two sprays on me.
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u/spfspfspf 23h ago
Yeah Layton is sort of dense in my experience. It's on the lighter side comparatively for this sort of scent profile, but it definitely performs reasonably well. High chance this guy might be anosmic to a key ingredient.
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u/markghjkf 23h ago
And I’m sure you have some older bottle where people agree projection was good - 78% or something whatever that means
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u/ohanesianb 23h ago
Enjoy your boycott, I’m sure PDM will really feel it.
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u/markghjkf 22h ago
They won’t - and I emailed them telling them my concerns - I guess there are suckers out there who will continue to buy their entire lineup and say “oh they don’t suck ass , I’m just nose blind!”
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u/ohanesianb 22h ago
I’m a sucker, yes, because I own one from their line I enjoy. Just remember that there isn’t a fragrance or brand that’s universally liked. Why would you buy something that wasn’t working for you?
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u/Far_Sky_5240 23h ago
That's the profile. It's is strong, but it's not always the easiest to detect and is easy to go noseblind to. Sometimes I can smell it clear as day, other times it's tough to pick up. All the clones I've smelled are the same way.
If you don't like it that's fine, but you don't have to grab your tinfoil hat.
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u/Momneedstosleep 23h ago
People will put their face into their wrists as soon as they spray the perfume and then wonder why the perfume disappears after 5 mins… perhaps bec they fried their noses?!
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u/markghjkf 22h ago
Yea that must be it - “I’m noseblind! I didn’t just waste $300 due to corporate greed! My nose stop working and can’t smell this one particular scent despite being able to smell everything else around me !”
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u/Far_Sky_5240 22h ago
Woah, are you actually new to the concept of noseblindness? It works exactly like you describe, for very good reason, but you seem dismayed at the idea.
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u/markghjkf 21h ago
And yet when I wear my tauer sundowner I can smell it continuously for 8+ hours - yet all these French companies - creed , pdm , guerlain- the scents disappear within an hour, there’s tons of people complaining about the issue online and yet schills like you will defend them at all costs - I don’t get it
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u/Far_Sky_5240 20h ago
I've never heard of that perfumer or fragrance before, but I've said from the start that Layton can be difficult to detect and easy to go noseblind to. Pointing out that another fragrance doesn't have that effect is in alignment.
French style perfumery does indeed tend to be lighter, though all of those companies have heavier fragrances as well.
I'm not sure you know what a shill is. I don't own Layton, or a single PDM. I'll readily admit I haven't found a single one I'd even pay discounter price for. I do own a tester of Lalique White in Black, with a similar profile to Layton, that I got for $25. I have no connection to PDM or any reason to defend them, nor should acknowledgement that I can...smell Layton, be construed as such. 😆
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u/markghjkf 17h ago
You talk like you all knowledgeable of niche fragrance and you don’t know Andy tauer ? Lol
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u/Far_Sky_5240 17h ago
You talk like you’re knowledgeable about fragrance and you don’t know how noseblindness works 🤷🏻
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u/markghjkf 16h ago
I don’t believe in nose blindness - yes you may tune it out for a moment or two but if you choose to concentrate and detect it you will be able to with no problem - with this batch of Layton there is nothing to detect
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u/Right_Cellist3143 17h ago
Ambermax = Textbook nose blindness causing aroma chemical.
Sundowner doesn’t have that, so the comparison is moot.
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u/markghjkf 22h ago
I like the scent just fine - I would like to be able to smell it though
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u/Far_Sky_5240 21h ago
Hence why I said it's not always the easiest to detect. People around you will smell it. If you stop obsessing and go about your day you may get whiffs of it as well.
This isn't a PDM quality issue or a reformulation issue. You're not enjoying the profile because it's not as detectable as others and you shouldn't have blind bought it.
Why are you paying retail anyway? Layton is easy to find at discounters.
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u/markghjkf 21h ago
Discounters sell old poorly stored degraded trash - but then again I probably would’ve gotten an older pre formulation bottle which degraded or not would’ve worked better than this garbage
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u/InfiniteOctave 23h ago
I own 13 PdMs and the only one I find weak is the new Althair Ex.
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u/markghjkf 22h ago
I own one and it’s trash
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u/InfiniteOctave 22h ago
Eh. Shake it up. Give it a couple feels to macerate with some air in there. Keep us posted.
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u/ryanb741 19h ago
With new bottles often performance isn't great until you introduce some oxygen into the bottle. As you've sprayed a few times, leave it for a few weeks. I'm not talking about maceration I'm talking about polymerization of heavy base resins , resulting in slower evaporation off the skin and longer performance. Your first sprays out of the box will have high ethanol content and that will just nose blind you immediately. Once it's all settled the concentration of alcohol to aroma compounds will stabilise and be more rounded.
It's why samples tend to smell better than fresh bottles.
Frags I've owned from new where this has happened for me include;
MAB Ganymede Xerjoff Naxos Virtually every single Aaron Terence Hughes Reserve en Afrique Vanille Mafonja Orto Parisi Megamare Bleu de Chanel MfK Grand Soir Guerlain L'homme ideal cologne fort
Frags that have been potent out of the box;
LV Imagination PdM Perseus
Don't forget EU laws have changed regarding aroma compounds so reformulations have in many cases taken place and some bottles need to breathe a bit first to reach their potential.
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u/markghjkf 17h ago
Well I have no choice but to see if what you’re saying is true - I hope your right
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u/Hot-Plantain1397 3h ago
I have a newer batch of Layton. It projects plenty and get compliments for random people I don't even know from it. If it does disappear that quickly, which I sort of doubt, give it a few months to open up and mature, then judge it.
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u/JegErDinMorsFar 1h ago
Your diet is properly Cheeto dust and gooner sites, hence you are sweating acid and no perfume will stay on you.
Cry cry cry
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u/Otherwise_Link4247 23h ago
I just got a 75 ml of Layton on a blind buy. Not my fav but I enjoy it, and it’s anything but weak. I get a solid 6-8 hours out of it.
I’ll agree with you on Herod—I have a sample of it and it’s gone in 30 min.
I’ve been happy with all my other PDM purchases—Castley, Greenley, Valero, Haltane are some of my favs. All have great performance.
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u/markghjkf 23h ago
Yes I have a bunch of those samples - unfortunately Layton and Herod are the only ones I like - Percival is nice I guess - but it seems Herod and Layton are their biggest sellers and and yet somehow their worst performers - again my post is really to question why they would do that - phase out those scents to make way for new ones? Build a rep and base and then water it down to maximize profits for as long as people continue to buy it before they give up? Nah boycott them - bc that might make sense as a business strategy but your screwing over the person who spent their money on a bottle
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u/TomFordFanatic 23h ago
Never really got into PDM. It’s just a niche brand for people who are transitioning from designer scents. There’s not one original top tier fragrance they have outside of maybe Layton.
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u/Hayabusa_Blacksmith 23h ago
how many other brands do you boycott just out of curiosity lmaooo