Reviews of Caractère (1989)
by Daniel Hechter

Stays close to the skin. Came out the same year as Boss Spirit and smell almost exactly like it, just more leather. This is good stuff, too.

This is one of the fragrances that doesn't smell to the wearer as it smells to surrounding. Once I tried it and I did not like it that much. To m it was not somehing very special, but it was not bad at all. Because I'm a scent freak I always smel the air like a dog. Time to time I smell a nice scent but I did not know what it is. I got so curious that I began to ask the men that what they were using and answer was always Caractere. The other thing about this fragrance is that you don't smell it anymore after a short time and you think that it doesn't last longe, but in fact it does stay on long. I wonder what the reason is, but with some of the scents I have noticed that Like Canali, L'instant Guerlian, Chanel Anteus and some others.

Like other 80's male fragrances(Tsar, Fendi uomo, Anateus, Salvador Dali, Drakkar Noir, Farenheit) this one is very leathery and rather heavy, suggesting also a dark and powerful masculinity. Rather for formal and evening wear, complimenting perfectly the autumn and winter wardrobe. The box with its ambery, slightly melancholic touches of colour remining a little of an Ungaro III box, yet not that elaborately luxurious, while the dark brown minimalistic bottle of almost impenetrable glass is harmoniusly fitting the content- like wine or perfume bottle from yesterday, containing very old and precious essences.
While the first notes might seem agressively smokey, powdery and both too sharp and too sweet, it gradually developes a much more cooling, subtle woody, mossy, sligtly green-citrus leathery touch.

Dan Hechter's son, the handsome Caractere, used to hang out with a crowd of equally good-looking guys - Joint, Omar Sharif, Lord Molyneux, Free Life, Marbert Gentleman, etc. Sweet Jane used to tell them: 'All you boys are real babe magnets, so smooth and so cool when you dance to that fine, fine music! But I've got to tell you, guys, Caractere's got the edge, Caractere's got smoothness squared, Caractere's got coolness cubed, Caractere can really make the cutecakes crumble!'

A warm and woody, and very autumn-type fragrance, it was given to me by someone about 12 years ago for my birthday.
Caractere used to have a beautiful ad - all about yellow and red leaves (that's as much as I can remember). The design of the box - part Art Deco, part African cloth, is also dominated by the tones of falling leaves.
The fragrance is truly accomplished and, given the right marketing, could have been something as popular as Farenheit - it has a similar strong distinctive characteristic and, along with the best compositions, it is timeless.
In UK, it is still available from specialist retailers.