Reviews of Envy for Men (1998)
by Gucci

ENVY FOR MEN has been on my test list for quite some time yet for some reason I never got round to sampling it. The listed notes alone are worth investigating IMO, esp. for fans of opoponax and incense. So it was with some disappointment that I finally sampled Envy for Men only to find a dominant 'old' ginger note interfering with my enjoyment as the scent progressed. Perhaps a lighter ginger component like that of Kenzo Tokyo or more complimentary accords would make this oriental composition a little tighter and win that thumbs up from me.

Smells exactly like JOOP to me. Can't believe no one else has said this, Old Spice I don't see. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this and Joop. Still, it smells good, decently long lasting, wouldn't buy again.

by no means a bad fragrance, there's a lot of notes here that i love. unfortunately the execution very quickly becomes jarring - whilst the notes dont clash, they certainly arent in harmony and this is a little tiring on the nose for me to enjoy it.
the drydown is very pleasant and a lot calmer, but equally it's quite generic and uninspiring.

Except for being colored green, Envy for Men has nothing in common with the original Envy. Instead, it is famous among fragrance aficionados for being the scent that brought ginger to designer fragrances for men. This it did with far greater élan than the later, overly powdery and insufferably sweet Bvlgari Blv pour Homme. Envy for Men’s ginger is overlaid upon a solid, if conventional sweet woody oriental structure, and both the bergamot and ginger opening and the spicy-sweet heart are stimulating and pleasant to wear. I would prefer that the ginger note, which is after all this scent’s signature, remained more prominent after the first half hour of wear, but Envy for Men is congenial enough without it.

For its finale, Envy for Men employs an accord that must come in gallon jugs labeled “Masculine Drydown,” though it’s less crude and cloying than it could be, thanks to a judiciously applied soapy note. The potent woody amber component ensures that Envy for Men carries great distances and endures tenaciously for many hours: it is not by any means a subtle scent. On the whole I think Envy for Men is nice work, and clearly preferable to the Bvlgari, or even Serge Lutens’s Five O’Clock au Gingembre. I would have liked it better, though, if it were outfitted with a less crass and banal drydown.

"Instant classic?" Yeah right. An overused term quite apt for this equally trite affair. This has been done a million times before from the start to the cheap drydown. Yawn.......

Great scent, but somehow I get a hint of Chinese mooncake fresh from the oven that Chinese people always have during Mid-autumn occasion,a little strange

Ginger Sandalwood

Seduction in a bottle. Very refined, quite good, for formal occasions or on a date.

Also try Floris Santal if you love this scent.

Mentholated wood with a hint of vanilla. Mainstream frag that can be had for a decent price at the present.

Not bad,not great, but not totally uninspired either. I find it a smooth, unoffensive scent that I will wear in my work rotation.

My goodness this is strong and lasts forever. It does smell strongly of incense and pimento. Envy is best in small doses (i.e. one spray maximum). Good evening scent, but it gets cloying.

spicy green, woody incense on a base of amped up Amber and musk...i didnt find it spectacular and i wouldnt care if it got discontinued...this one didnt inspire me. well, had high expectations on this...but since i've tried Floris Santal before, ill pass on this.

I bought a sample of this and, absolutely floored by the wonderful smell, ended up buying a large bottle a week later. I found it to be very woodsy, very rich, and very intense. It seemed to be the perfect scent for…something…I just couldn’t put my finger on what.

My opinion of the scent has slowly changed. I still enjoy it, and I’m still glad, I suppose, that I went right for the large bottle. But overall, the middle notes and dry down have become much less enjoyable for me. I still think the top notes are fantastic, and if the fragrance simply captured those notes for a longer time, I would agree that it’s one of the best fragrances of all time. But once the dry down comes, it just feels cheap and I feel the need to either reapply or just wash it off. The vanilla brings too much sweetness to the mixture for my tastes.

I’ll still wear it to a bar or on a date, but it is simply too intense to wear to the office or for anything casual. And for all the times I’ve worn it, I still can’t find the right situation for it. It’s too edgy for a nice date, too woodsy for a hot club, too sexy for anything formal, and too conspicuous for anything casual. All in all, I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll finish the large bottle I so hastily purchased.

This is a green fragance of a very good brand. Is not bad at all, but something chemical like menthol or I dont know what is here. Try Gucci pour homme, 100 times better. A trully experience.

There's something about Envy that I find distasteful, and it's also boring, and I like other, similar fragrances much better (such as Prada and Richard James Saville Row). I've sampled this four times and it is just unappealing to me. It may be a bit too sweet or "synthetic" smelling. A frugal application might be okay if you want to use it for a specific occasion, but I can't wear this to enjoy it by myself, because it's just not enjoyable in any way. This may be a good "training wheels" fragrance for newbies, and I think that's why there are so many good reviews. I thought I liked it on my second sampling, but the third time I found it boring, and the fourth time I found it flat, "synthetic," and inferior to other fragrances I enjoy that are similar. I also think it might be appealing to those around you, and so many people like it for that reason, which is understandable.

One of the best scents for romantic occassions. To me this scent speaks candlelit dinners, ballroom dancing, walks on the beach, and star gazing. It's a bit formal and it would seem out of place wearing it to a baseball game wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

Envy is one of the first scents to impress me in quite a while. I was all set to buy another fragrance but asked the saleswoman to switch the other one out for this; glad I did because at last I've found an oriental fragrance I can wear during these warm Southern nights without overwhelming my senses and those of people around me. Wasn't sure about Envy at first but it's proven to be rather mysterious, earthy-oriental scent, and thankfully it's LIGHT on the musk which might have been a deal breaker other wise. If your body chemistry reacts well to the oriental family, give this one a shot!

This scent is an interesting one. At first spray it seems to be sweet, and as it dries down on me, it gets smokier and smokier. By the end (about an hour) it smells like i've just been outside burning wood. I'll have to say, yes it does smell good, but it's not something I would wear everyday. It's a sophisticated scent, and I wouldn't recomend it for anyone under college age, but for certain occasions this could be nice. I'll give it a Eh-Okay rating, since it just doesn't have much flexibility.

Too much for me, something in this does not agree with me. Love to smell it on others. On me however, it smells of menthol. Obviously, a rich, well put together edt. I just wish it agreed with me, therefore, a neutral rating.

Somebody here said it should be heavier? What were you thinking? I smelled this on someone in a class at uni last week, and asked the what it was. The said Gucci Envy for men, and that they only used three squirts!

Now, this Gucci Envy for men...the name was familiar...aah, yes, I had it for two weeks then palmed it off onto my brother about three or four years ago...

It was waaaay to strong, and the nutmeg was far too prominent, headache inducing, even...

I realised that was probably because I was using 5 squirts...

GOD, I WISH SOMEONE HAD WARNED ME!

But then I discovered Burberry Brit for men...Its much like Envy, bus softer and longer lasting, and not so in your face...

I know this smells 'nice' and is high quality. But I can't overrate it as there is an overtly sweet element to it that I hate - sickly sweet and that's a pity . 'cos its actually allright. Try B4 you buy.

On the blotter this is sweet green almost floral top accompanied by a good dose of spice with warm ambery undertones, with the fizzy green floral-spicy top reminding me of some sort of soda. On skin however, the top goes instantly, leaving sweet cloying incense and amber. Strong and good lasting power, but I find this unweareable although I can appreciate how it smells on paper. My skin kills the original balance of this scent on paper.

Very heavy scent. It is very woody as well. Though it smells very sophisticated, it is definitely very heavy, so spray a few times so people don't think you bathed in cologne! I like it :_

I'll admit that it smells good, but also quite generic. JHIVAGO 7 ELEMENTS is a much better choice for a men's woody oriental. Envy is missing something that would make it wonderful instead of just nice. Actually, most of the Gucci scents seem to suffer the same fate.

I can't seem to gather as many positive things to say as others about this. Just not what I want in a fragrance. But if others love it - go for yours.