Derrick
Orlane (1978)

Derrick by Orlane (1978) is like all unassuming B or C tier drugstore cheapies from days gone by, in that it presents a relatively fuss-free fragrance in a kitschy package; this is something Avon built a career upon for most of the 20th century until make-up sales outpaced their perfumes. Orlane is not your average drugstore brand clinging on for dear life in the 21st century, as it has a bit of provenance and mostly exists in Europe: A place where they still care about both legacy and accessible toiletries because the EU isn't run by politicians bought or sold between multi-billion-dollar megacorps that have raced every aspect of commerce to the bottom on behalf of anonymous, soulless shareholders like much of the US. Orlane just quietly plods along, filling a niche in the market like it always has, not hollowed-out or taken up-market like old US titans of the drugstore circuit that no longer are.Waxing philosophic and nostalgic aside, the house of Jean d'Albret, famous for Écusson by Jean d'Albret (1947), launched the Orlane label for make-up in 1966.

Jean d'Albret itself shuttered in 1977 and saw some of the fragrances re-released downmarket as Orlane perfumes going forward (including Écusson), until the Jean d'Albret name fully disappeared by the 1980's (and Écusson with it). Derrick was the first proper men's fragrance from the house, released under the Orlane name, and has a simple fougère structure underpinning it, with a creamy barbershop aspect coming from a combination of cistus labdanum, musk, oakmoss and tonka. The trip down into this herbal creamy-fougère finish is a mix of lavender, tarragon, thyme, with geranium brightening things up a tad. The usual "70's brown" is here too with the way patchouli and cedarwood are paired with caraway and nutmeg. People compare this to Balenciaga Ho Hang (1972), and I can see it to a degree; but this is far creamier in the base. The performance is long-lasting, although this is a fairly close wear like most old drugstore scents, so do not expect to get the power of old Ho Hang on the cheap by buying this instead, or you'll be disappointed.

A more fair comparison, if one was to make it, would be between Ho Hang and maybe Caractère by Daniel Hechter (1989) with its dirty jasmine, mixed with some Un Homme Charles Jourdan (1979) minus the anise or sandalwood. Even then you could invite Carrington by Charles of the Ritz (1984) to the party or Fabergé Macho (1976) if you wanted to keep within the 1970's drugstore pantheon. Not wholly unique for its time, but likely seen as a worship-worthy by today's collectors pining for an era they never lived to experience, Derrick survived the subsequent sale of Orlane to Max Factor, then Morris, and who-knows-what now. I've never seen bottles newer than shortlist ingredients, so it definitely never survived the first round of IFRA restrictions on oakmoss, and went by "Derrick Black" for a time as other flankers entered the market. My friends tell me this was particularly popular in Pakistan, which is where a lot of unsold inventory went after the scent ceased production, which is a quirky fact if true, as if the US-spec "Jerry Can" petrol tank bottle shape wasn't quirky enough. Thumbs up

There is some good stuff in here. I love this period of perfume, and Derrick does a great job representing what was possible back then. This is strong, but not harsh.

I feel like it's essentially an oily woody-leather accord that I'm smelling. It's super familiar, but I can't remember what exactly it's reminding me of. It's mouthwatering. 1978 was a good year - even the cheapies, like this reportedly was, were awesome.

In flashes, the top notes / opening accord almost smell like mustard seed to me, in a good way. I can smell this as midway between Gucci Pour Homme (1976) and Antaeus (1981). I was especially having visions of Antaeus Sport (1985) during the dry down of my most recent wearing.

Derrick easily explained is shaving cream scent that is green, darkly aromatic, and bitter.

I get a barbershop base of creamy lavender and patchouli. This comes off as a very musky shaving cream smell. A steady amount of pine and oakmoss throw some freshness and green bitterness in there. Those two green notes in the composition seem to be filtering through a dark mixture of notes. The dark mixture I'd say is 50% myrrh incense and the other half being a spice blend containing amounts of clove, anise, and cinnamon. This smells very interesting and is kept smooth from the barbershop base.

Derrick by Orlane was a green and black fragrance if you could picture a color reference to match it. This wasn't a powerhouse really because it goes to very low projection within 2 hours and hangs on for 8 hours total. It is very mature and I think fans of Azzaro PH (1978) and Quorum (1982) might be drawn to this fragrance. It is shame because I think Orlane discontinued this $25 fragrance.

A spicy manly jus, reminiscent of Krizia Uomo but with a side of latex. I am sure it isn't actually latex but I pick up a latex note in some fragrances and this is one of them. Overall a pretty nice spicy scent.

An "old school" spicy/soapy scent. A bit like Red by GBH but not as well blended. It's a little "rough round the edges" The bottle looks like a land rover petrol can!!! But it was cheap and I quite like Derrick.

Derrick is an interesting fragrance – quite unusual. It seems like a very serious scent: there seems to be no sweet in it. I certainly can't find any florals in it. It is almost 100% spice and woods and moss. I'm surprised that a designer or mainstream fragrance would be this dry and (smelled close) dark, even in 1978. Besides its spiciness and woods, there isn't much else to it. The spices – cinnamon, pepper, clove, ginger, nutmeg, and coriander – form a unified pungency the individual notes of which, I can't separate out except for the cloves. The base's patchouli, sandalwood, and oakmoss form a dry, light, textured background through the run of the fragrance. MisterK makes a reference to amber, but I can't find it, although I don't doubt that it is there: They couldn't make a fragrance with no sweet notes, could they? Derrick is an odd fragrance that I give a thumb's up simply because it is so unique. It's quite a linear scent and it has less than average longevity (it's an EDC). But what I find makes it unusual is that, sniffed near the skin, it smells deep and dark and dry, but its sillage is not at all strong. Derrick strikes me as being very light. Since it's so inexpensive, I'm going to buy a bottle just in case I will someday want to wear a light, dry, masculine, fragrance like this. I haven't seen another one like it.