Claiborne for Men (1989)
by Liz Claiborne

When I blind-bought Fujiyama Homme last year I got a pleasant, albeit harshly chemical lemon drop and light mint summer frag. After several wears I found myself wishing it had a real base to speak of- Japanese scents are usually very light-handed in that regard. I found my prayers answered when I bought Claiborne for Men (also blind). It's uncannily similar to FH, but the entire structure, top to bottom is enriched, and it is greener, more floral in the heart, and in every way more satisfying. It lasts longer, too. There's no mint like in FH, but I realize now it's likely for the better. If you added mint and vanilla to Claiborne for Men you would have a scent uncomfortably similar to Iceberg Twice (the men's version), which I already have. Anyway, this one is worth the $13 I paid for it. I know exactly how cheap, how inauthentic it really is, but here it somehow doesn't bother me a mite. Smells good, performs well, attracts favorable attention. What more could one need?

13rd April, 2011.

Very good. My current everyday casual go-to. Inexpensive? Yep. A little synthetic? Yep. Kind of immature at times? Yep. What can I say? I like this scent a lot. It’s sweet and fresh, but I don’t mistake it for a woman’s scent. Citrusy, fruity. It's got a good balance to my nose.
Living in Southern California, there’s a lot of warmer weather, and this scent works well in this desert climate. Top notes put me in a good mood, and after that, the drydown gets a bit fruity, but I haven’t ever found it cloying, even when sweating.
Having surely offended many in my youth by dousing myself in Kouros or Obsession, I’ve got anxiety about it now, and try to stick with safer scents with less sillage, though Claiborne retains moderate sillage and good longevity for me. A youthful scent. I feel like it’s a guilty pleasure, and I rarely smell it on others.
Is it really discontinued? There are references to this in the oldest reviews, but it's 2010 and still easily available, at least online.
To me, Claiborne is like a strong number 2 or 3 starter on a loaded pitching staff: he puts up good numbers and gets his team a lot of wins, but doesn’t get the credit or attention (or the money) that the ace of the staff gets. And you know, sometimes, the ace has a bad year, and Claiborne steps in to shoulder the load. Apparently though, some of you see Claiborne as a spot starter at best, or worse, a minor-leaguer. To each his own. For me, he’s getting a lot of innings.

29th August, 2010.

its a very abrasive chemical chypre with a harsh unpleasing aroma. the lady at the scent counter did NOT approve of this stuff and actually almost burst out laughing when she thought they were selling it

9th June, 2010.

Found a mini of this and decided to give it a chance. What can I say? It's simply the best of a bad lot and now it is discontinued so the whole thing is moot. Does Claiborne try to make the most wretched scents possible? Seriously...I'd rather wear something from Avon from the mid-Seventies that comes out of a bottle shaped like a racing car. Every scent they make is cheaply synthetic, unsophisticated, and nausea inducing. Why? It's probably just as difficult to consistently make lousy fragrances as it is to produce just one good one. Is that too much to ask Liz?
This original attempt at a mens scent is just mediocre. It was all down hill from there. It's a fresh and fruity summer scent that has absolutely no sillage and is only worth smelling at the end of the drydown. Which again, is moot, since you can't smell anything at that point unless you press your notrils against your skin for several minutes.
Pointless.

10th April, 2010.

Before starting on my frag-quest, this was one of the very few scents I owned. Outstanding smell, decent longenity, and cha-eeeep. Another goo cheap scent.

18th November, 2009.

This is a great cologne, I was looking for a fresh-green cologne to add to my collection and I ended up sampling it at TJ Maxx. Instead of a generic citrus top it starts off with grapefruit which is definitely nice considering most colognes you can't detect any specific fruit when it comes to citrus. One of my favorite notes in a fragrance is juniper and Claiborne doesn't disappoint, it also comes off with a pine needle note that is just fantastic. The crowning achievement is the fact that it only cost me $12. Overall this is a great cologne that starts out with a melon/grapefruit top, a juniper/pine middle and a warm ambery/sandalwood bottom.

3rd June, 2009. (Last Edited: 5th June, 2009.)