Reviews of Le Mâle (1995)
by Jean Paul Gaultier

I think of this one as a modern classic that's time has passed. I found it to one of the more powerful EdTs, and a little bit went a long way.

I loved the smell, but I tend to think it was a fairly polarizing scent...some loved it and some hated it. There wasn't a lot of middle ground.

Since I discovered Basenotes, and have tried a variety of high end colognes, it smells a bit artificial to me now.

I have and use plenty of frags that could be considered "out" but this one's best days are likely gone.

I remember when i first caught a whiff(sp) of this on someone in school (some years ago) I was like, "I gotta get that!", and now I'm not too sure about this one. This smells like mint scented baby powder that has been mixed with water to an almost muddy plaster like texture and then left out, uncovered, at room temperature. With that said I cant suggest that the fragrance is as horrible as my description my appear, however, its just not that interesting. On me, Im not too fond of the longevity

Nice bottle but cant help thinking of waking up with a massive hangover still smelling this on the pilow!

Le Mâle was the first designer fragrance that I sensed a profound olfactory connection with and had been wearing it, almost exclusively, for approximately nine years. It was only when I acquired my third 125ml bottle that I started thinking about obtaining a second scent, merely as a complimentary alternative.

Then I discovered Basenotes…

For the past year, I had not really worn Le Mâle (and I hadn't even touched that newly purchased bottle) – I just felt the need to take a break from it, while exploring other fragrances. Several bottle purchases later, however, it reached a point where, every time I mused over which fragrance to wear for the day, my bottle of Le Mâle was constantly ignored. After several weeks of this happening, this newly-formed habit compelled me to wonder why I was always overlooking it. However, for some unknown reason, I could never reach a firm conclusion – I simply assumed that I was too busy enjoying and exploring new (and unfamiliar) fragrances.

Then, a few days ago, I decided to finally spray some Le Mâle on my arm (more for the sake of nostalgia than anything else). It then became very clear why I never reached for it...

Maybe it’s an age thing, maybe my tastes have drastically changed, or maybe my nose has become more sophisticated (thus prompting the inevitable prospect of fragrance snobbery). Whatever the reason, it suddenly dawned on me how uncomfortable and self-conscious I would feel if I was to ever wear it out in public again.

Like everyone else, I want to feel proud of whatever I’m wearing and, sadly, Le Mâle has now fallen heavily from grace – I had long moved on, without even knowing it. In addition, the notes smell more synthetic now than when I last remembered. I still admire it for its longevity and sillage but now find it to be too brash, unsophisticated, clichéd and somewhat embarrassing to even consider applying to my skin.

Although that third bottle is now with a new owner, catching whiffs of Le Mâle (from time to time) will always conjure up many happy memories. Well, as long as I’m not the one wearing it…

R.I.P. Le Mâle.

[Original submission date: 26 February 2007]

A rather industrial and deliberately jarring assembly of components. The dominant feature of the opening is mint, and this appears to have been designed to sharpen the bum notes that one is exposed to for the first hour. This is fragrance by numbers, and these simply do not add up. The top notes are deliberatley mismatched, the middle notes designed to sweeten the mess, and the base includes all the usual suspects for a mainstream sweetened cliche.

I tried if i could like this fragrance, but ultimately i have to agree that this one (whether good or bad) a typical "metrosexual" reality!
Thereafter, being lasting and silage monster is an impractical quality and can't insist me to put in regular use.

Neutral: just because i spent a heavy price to get it. Worst "2nd" Buy in my 75+ collection. 1st is the "Fleur D' Male" (yakhhhhhhh!!!)
And after getting these 2 from JPG, i learnt to try atleast twice before buying any PERFUME!

It's Le Male. Everyone knows it. By all means, it's quite a good sweet vanilla scent that women love. However, I see absolutely no reason to buy it when I can walk into my local Perfumania and pick up a 1.17oz of Cuba Gold for four dollars. Cuba Gold is basically a "better" knockoff of Le Male. And it's so much cheaper!

I am indifferent to this fragrance. It is a pleasant enough smell, albeit very synthetic. It is also very cloying if over-applied, and unfortunately, the multitudes of men who wear this tend to bathe in it! I was once in a crowded movie theatre and pegged a man sitting five rows in front of me who was wearing it! It is a very popular scent for clubbing and is excessively popular with both young and older men, but for me, it is just too overdone and synthetic, and it is also somewhat too sweet and feminine for my tastes. Another detractor as I have already mentioned is that so many men own this (probably 1 in 3), so that the infamous "you smell like my ex-boyfriend" will become an all-too familiar refrain. It may be fun to wear once in a while, but I tend to steer clear of it, and once my bottle is finished, I highly doubt that I will re-acquire it. Ultimately, I have many more superior fragrances in my collection that deserve far more of my attention and respect.

Not sickly, milky sweet like Gaultier2 and feels weak in comparison but this is still very, very strong. A peppery vanilla scent that lasts forever. If it's too strong for you I recommend trying Perry Ellis 360 White for Men. The packaging is avant garde but still silly looking.

I purchased "Azul" from the Anchor Blue chain of stores in the United States. I thought it had a pleasant scent, if a bit overpowering. It is quite long lasting on my skin.

I have been stopped by several people to ask if I am wearing JPG Le Male. It seems that Azul is a bargain basement rip-off of it.

I only smelled this on a card so I cannot say whether or not it will be good on my body chemistry but I am going to wear it tomorrow. I get this barbershop thing from it. IMO it is like one reviewer said.. has a soda fizzy smell right out of the bottle. But after it settles you can smell the vanilla.

Le Male? Not so much to me, maybe Le Unisex would be a more descriptive name. Objectively speaking it is not a bad fragrance at all, but certainly not a definitively male fragrance as the name would suggest. Very much a product of the Metrosexual 90's.

Oriental, fougere, gourmand…take your pick—you can make an argument for any one of them. Le Mâle makes the most of a mint / lavender combination which, I think is the key to its special attractiveness —I find it an enjoyable accord in spite of the fact that it is quite sweet and is too synthetic. Its sweetness is, for the most part, diminished by the lavender; the synthetic feel is less than many of its contemporaries, and I find it only marginally disagreeable. Its heart notes are spice notes that are kept at a minimum and a not-too-floral orange blossom along with the lavender from the opening: These make the fragrance seem rather linear. The vanillic and musk heart notes are pleasant if a bit too sweet. I do not care for an excess of vanilla in a fragrance, and I think that the use of it here is beautifully done. I don’t find the synthetics of the heart and base too terribly annoying.

It certainly isn’t my kind of fragrance, but I rather like it in a disinterested sort of way. I don’t think it is as refined or complex as Body Kouros, nor do I think it is as well made or creative as A*men, but I can sort of understand why it is as popular as it is, and if application is not overdone, it is…wearable. It has excellent longevity, and it’s a fun fragrance. I can’t help but mention that Le Mâle’s feminine counterpart fragrance is an excellent scent—much better than Le Mâle.

This is a pretty good scent that women tend to like a lot. The smell after a while gets annoying and I really dont like it anymore. This reminds me of a relationship, it's great in the beggining but after a while it gets boring and you will want to move on.

I love the mint opening and the cool bottle, but (as with the evil, must-be-destroyed demon juice known as A*men by Thierry Mugler) the tonka overpowers me to the point of a dreadful headache. UNLIKE A*men, though, I actually LIKE this one. Too bad I can't wear the stuff.

First i avoided this scent due to its agressive marketig, speculating a gay connotation for commercial reasons, even more campy, vulgar and unrestrained like the Calvin Klein adverts full of provocative sexuality and androginous gender. I'm not much into the idea of a sailor or an old fashioned bathing suit as a sexual fetish, especially not when it comes to scents.
Besides, the association with a sailor or a bathing suit made me believe i had to expect an aquatic fragrance, light and refreshing, exahling a watery, ozonic, unpredictable sensuality( changing like the waves and tides of the sea). I couldn't have been more wrong, as this one is so extremely macho and dry,up to the point that it reeks. However there is one thing reminding of the sea, i always had the sensation of being on a ship full of spices, exotic fruits, strange essences, raw materials, all genuine, bot most of them in a very brute, bare staste, that is before the refinement and experience of a skilled hand turs them into exquisite perfumes, meals or objects, even slightly daying, towards a hint of moist wood.
One the down side, this perfume is heavy with vile, synthetic smelling notes, alfway between cheap sandalwood incense sticks frankincense( which make the air in very stuffy and suffocating curch intoxicating) and the swaety tones of many hyper-cheap sythteic sweet surrogates trying to smell like tobacco( just check out Cuba, Cigar etc. and you'll find out)- oddly even this disturbing part seems to be harmonious, as cheap incense and cheap, sweat tobacco imitation are fit for each other.
However as i waited i discovered its good half too, inspite of the initial deterrance, i also identified very equisite, yet quite onedimensional notes of spice, it felt like all of the loads of exotic merchandise were transferred to a very high-end kitchen belonging to a wealthy old-school residence. Raw, powerful notes with an almost edible feel- vanilla, cocoa, even a hint of cappucino, coffee or other hot drink spiced with cinnamon, generic wintery essences used to enhance punch, caramel and toffee. All of these in a very puristic and surprisingly masculine interpretation, the sweetness being counterbalanced by a pungent, dark bitter note of berries, wood and pepper, slightly resembling the overtly Oriental Opium PH launched in the same year. It still got better towrds the end, the notes of Tonka and Amber giving adding to it partly a hint of old cognac like Escada for men, partly an ambery, leathery, very carnal, very smoky-powdery, almost tobacco like gothic ending, reminding me of powerful, excessively, addictively masculine creations like Tabac, Old Spice, Aramis Azzaro,Caractere, Drakkar, Heritage and Rocabar. I defintaely have to try it out again and judge it more carefully, it is not a confortable, nor a predictable scent for me and further analysis might keep lots of pleasant and unsavoury surprises waiting, changing my rating towards significantly higher or lowers values.

do not purchase this one unless you are bottom-versatile... otherwise, you'll be turning heads in vain. great lasting power. but all too common. if u ever went to bruxelles, you would know what i'm talking about.

Not a bad scent but your lucky if you can get it to last more then 20 minutes on your skin; ...too sweet for man... Expensive too! So if Le Male is out of your price range check out Perry Ellis 360 Degrees White; it’s new on the market and the price is mega cheaper too!

It can smell totally amazing on the right person. I honestly get the impression of sweet baby liquid soap mixed with black pepper. Not for me, but it works on others.