Reviews of Le Mâle (1995)
by Jean Paul Gaultier

This scent is currently under review

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]

Spicy vanilla- is there anything sexier? Idk if they're still there, but I saw women giving out samples of Le Male in Boston around Harvard. if you are unsure and in the area, DEFINITELY go try it. you won't regret it

Cheapo synthetic vanilla cloying with an overdose of tonka drydown.
Otherwise perfection---in marketing.

The bottle is the biggest hit since Coca Cola decided to copy a woman's curves in theirs. And, from the official JPG ad:

"Since Jean Paul Gaultier's first men's collection, he has shown men that they can indulge in the forbidden, and that a kilt or dress can be worn with virility."

Yeah, I can see Braveheart forsaking his kilt to wear a dress, preferably a sequined gown while leading The Scots in battle.

We continue the hype:

" A reminder to them that nothing in life is totally black or white but always a blend."

Welcome to Orwellian Doublespeak. How many fingers am I holding up, Winslow?

"Jean Paul Gaultier now transforms the man in a sailor's T-shirt into both the symbol and bottle of Le Male."

Alone tonight, sailor?

FABULOUS! A TRULY GORGEOUS FRAGRANCE. From the start quite wonderful.Clear,clean,intersting,sexy..smells great hours later.I love it!

Waaaay to sweet and sickly, not for me, bottle is terrible aswell.

This one is possibly my favorite, at the moment tied with Guerlin's Vetiver. It's warm, sweet, and complex, with all the notes building up their neighbors rather than competing with each other in a bar brawl. Also, this stuff last all day, only needs a slight application, and covers a distance without being terribly loud (unless you bathe in it, as I did once for the character I played one halloween, and even then I got compliments more than complaints).

I think the only downside to this one is that is smells like a fragrance. That is to say, it smells like it came flying out of a bottle in a deliberate attempt to make someone smell like they're wearing a fragrance, as opposed to a milder, subtler one that adds to your presence without announcing itself outright. One too many sprays and this one kind of punches you in the nose and screams "Hey, this guy is wearing #@$^ing cologne!"

Also, this one is rather expensive. The bottle I have now was a gift, and while I like it enough to perhaps purchase another bottle, I might look into similar scents and save some cash.

Oh, and does anyone else think "duffel bag" when looking at the bottle sidelong?

An excellent summer scent -- very sexy, despite its ubiquity. (It was way too popular over here in Europe about 5-6 yeras ago, but that's not the case anymore, as popular as it still is.) It's surely no coincidence that most of the "Le Male" guys I've encountered have been pretty cool and sexy types, whether gay or straight, and it seems like it's always a hot summer night when I notice the scent most. Great stuff. And so much better than "Fleur du Male", which is entirely too sweet for a male fragrance.

I love this stuff. Sweet and masculine. Powdery and spicy vanilla is very sexy. Francis Kurkdjian is a genius. RESPECT!

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 can remember the first time I tried Le Mâle vividly. As soon as I sprayed it on, the mint / artemesia / bergamot top notes had a peculiar (and not entirely pleasant) effect on me. I was certain I had made a mistake with this intriguing fragrance, and almost regretted trying it.

However, as the day wore on, the scent actually transformed itself into one of the most delicious and ingenious blends I have ever experienced. The sandalwood / ceder accord was was soothing, while the vanilla note tied it all together into a scrumptuous confection. Le Mâle turned out to be Le Fantastique!

Advice: Use sparingly. Le Mâle is deceptively strong - - if you spray too much, it will overpower you. Used in moderation, it will enchant you.

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!

Well....after almost 6 yrs(was 17 when i first had it) i decided to buy a full bottle (now that im old enough..24 almost) and bought one today. Opening is sharp with Mint, Cinnamon & Lavender. After few minutes Jean Paul Gaultier's magic notes, i mean Vanilla-Amber (hint of cedar) kicks in hard with BRUT force and makes your day sweet as hell!

If you like it try Gaultier2...

THUMBS UP!!!

Le Male !!!!

Is a wonderful perfume. A magisterial contrast: Power and smoothness, and freshness and warmth.
Le Male begins very masculine, but evolves towards a base very feminine, very sweet, sensual and erotic.

Le Male is a masterpiece !!!!

Thank you very much Francis Kukdjian.

Glorious opening, unique (as far as I can tell), complex and strange. After trying it I needed a bottle just to have that opening experience again and again. Always gave me associations of ancient French (candy) stores that I have never visited. The opening alone deserves the thumbs up mark. But Le Mâle is a fragrance with problems. It is overly artificial and eventually wears you down. At the moment I can’t imagine me ever revisiting this (maybe in 30 years in a “man, the nineties were surely weird” move, like some are doing right now with seventies fragrances.)

Also, for me, Le Mâle somehow is a “downer”, the dry down emits a certain sadness I can’t put my finger on. And the eternal problem: it got too popular for its own good. Although that is a fascinating fact in itself, it must be doing something right other than be presented in an interesting bottle.

Strength: Stupidly strong

Lasting: too long

This is the first blind purchase that I really regretted as there is nothing salvageable of this scent. Its a in your face powdery and sickly sweet vanilla/mint that just doesn't go away.. Honestly it reminds me of a bad air freshener =\ On another note I've a gay friend to was happy to take it off my hands as he told me its big on that scene 0_o ? :) I'm just glad it found a home.

Brilliant fragrance, very original. Love the spicy vanilla and lavender. The best part about it is the longevity. My God! This lasted on my skin for 14 hours and I loved every note. A bit expensive, but I definitely know why. Highly recommended
Definitely in my top 5 fragrances, a must for special occasions and/or work.

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 sprayed some of this on my arm and I smelled it all the way home. Potent in your face smell. I don't like the sweetness in this, theres too much. My sister used to have something that smelled like this. It also made me sneeze.

After all the hype, I decided to take a whiff at this. Not the type of scent I wanted. Has that strong, powdery, spicy vanilla thing going on. I like vanilla scents like Lacoste Pour Homme but this one is just an overload of vanilla. But I think this works best for cold weather, other than that, I dunno... And oh, the bottle.... hahaha!

I bought this during my senior year of high school, just after my 18th birthday. I had smelled it on several older men, and found that it tended to make me feel at ease and comfortable around those men. I wholly attribute this to Le Male. It is a fantastic scent, and one that will be around for a long time I think. Despite the overly homoerotic advertisements for this cologne when it first came out, I have not (thankfully) smelled it too often on the younger "club crowd." Whenever I used to wear it, before it became much more common (and knocked off several times, the latest of which is 212 Sexy Men by Carolina Herrera), women would, upon catching a whiff of it on me, often feel compelled to want to bury their noses in my neck. I'm just sayin...well, Thumbs Up I guess!

A personal favorite. Masculine and clean. After the refreshing minty top note comes the warm dry-down, reminiscent of that great talcum the barber would dust across the back of your freshly buzzed neck. Well blended, a bit synthetic, but who cares? Great sillage and longevity.

this is the most beautiful thing i have ever perceived. that's all.

im really sorry for being like a sabotager ....but ... i really only smell rice on this fragrance .....

The biggest problem for me with Le Male is it's ubiquitousness - believe me, you'll find it in any 'straight-acting' gay man's bathroom cabinet! I remember being given testers upon leaving a nightclub when it first came out, spraying it on whilst drunk and then blind buying! It's certainly strong and noticeable and the packaging's great but I never felt comfortable with it It's just like Kourous - MACHO MACHO MACHO - and both of them are the two most predictable, widely-worn and therefore boring men's fragrances.
SO many people wear Le Male and, call it snobbery, but it just seems lazy to me. There are so many different fragrances out there, go wild, try something new! Le Male lacks sophistication, it's just strong and spicy and it doesn't smell different after the dry-down, just weaker! Most of all, for reasons I can't explain, Le Male just smells cheap, although it's certainly not a budget fragrance! It's a little like JPG's clothes - once he was subversive and innovative - now he's just part of the furniture. Try something different! Please! Le Male is dullsville!

I thought I would hate this. Then at first spray, I absolutely loved it. Then I realized this is what all the douchebags in Montreal wear. Worst of all, they overdo it. Either way, once I put those associations to the side, I came to terms with myself, and admitted this is a masterpiece. It’s sexy, youthful, clean, and has the tiniest bit of barbershop accord to it giving it some class. It’s also unique in the sense that it’s a gourmand that doesn’t smell like cookies, but more like some sort of other dimension candy that doesn’t exist. Although Body Kouros and Lolita Lempicka have a similar vanilla base to le male, those fragrances get annoying on me while le male just stays so fresh and amazing the whole time. Strangely, if this wasn’t a synthetic, it wouldn’t be so good. I also have to reluctantly admit that I’d probably give this a 10/10 if it was niche or not so over-worn by everyone and their mother.

9/10

One of the best scents I had tried. Sweet but not annoying, remmarkable, attractive. It´s a pitty it´s one of the most worn fragrances, so you can riskly smell like some other guy. But it completely worths.

Oh, well. Where have I been all these years? Discovered it in several discussion boards but really had a chance to sniff it 3 days ago at the airport. I suddenly fell in love with it; this stuff is beautifully done and giving a seamless transition which amazingly impressed me. Bought it right after sniffing it.

Possibly, the reason I have shunned Le Male for so long is that it has a strange bottle.

Anyway, superb juice which I can't afford to miss.

A bullseye from Francis Kurkdjian. Bestseller here in Finland, like in everywhere else. Well deserved succes if you ask me.

I would even be bold enough to call this somekind of masterpiece, and although it somewhat follows the line of Joop! Homme, it`s still very original creation.

It smells synthetic and artificial, but in a most pleasant way. Minty lavender with a dash of cinnamon at the top of the plasticy, powdery vanilla-musk carpet. Weird combo of coolness and beating warmth.

Le Male is very intriguing juice in a great bottle. And if you keep you`re finger easy on the trigger, there isn`t that many other fragrances which are able to gain more compliments, if that`s something you care for.

Yes, might be overly sweet, might be (is, really) synthetic, but smells great.
It lasts very long on my skin, yet even if I shower on it (yuck!) I seem to absorb it. Unless people sniff me directly they won't smell it (unless I sweat it).

Not overly used where I live.

This is an overhyped scent in a bottle .nothing to shout about a regular sweet smell.no compliment because I smelled like a regular bloke .though not bad for £28 @ Harrods

overdose of plasticine. I hate it from day one, it makes me sick .

This stuff does my head in. Some days I'll spray it on, and think an hour later 'what was I thinking.' Other days, I'll spray something else on, and think 'I should've worn le Male.'

The burst of mint and lavender at the start is really deceptive - you could think that 6-8 sprays is not 'overdoing it' for the first half-hour. The mints very faint, while the lavender is a bit sweeter than your natural lavenders (I.e. Caron pour un Homme). Theres also some other notes in the background; orange blossom, a bit of powder, and a very faint 'aftershave-y' smell.

About an hour into it the vanilla starts to come out and, depending on your mood, the climate and how much you sprayed on, it's either blissful or nauseating. Some days I'll love it, others I'll get a head-ache and want to shower.
Longevity is excellent, silage also great. Some days I'll spray it on at 8 am before work, and wake up still smelling it the next day.

Also, definitely a cool weather fragrance.

Yummy! sweet spicy peppery long lasting scent for young men.
I can smell some of its notes like cinnamon,vanilla and a little orange.
Lovely scent not something epic or luxurious but an amazingly sweet
deep smooth casual fragrance within a odd bottle.well done scent!

This is an easy one to get along with. Its refreshing and not a clone of anything else I've tried.

Decent longevity and sillage. Bottle is a little different, but I'm not holding that against this great fragrance.

A classic fragrance, definately a favourite. Smells like toffees, not too sweet, popular with the ladies.

Let's face it. This is a GOOD smell.
However it can be a bit sweet and feminine depending on your taste.
The way I get around that is not to apply too much, and mix it up with something like a "refreshing/marine/masculine" smell like acqua di gio or cool water ... or if you are looking for a woody mix, something like calvin klein eternity or that new terre hermes stuff.

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.

This feels like a very sexy fragrance.

It has a very nice opening, where the mint is very prominent, before eventually settling down into a warm, woody-vanilla base.

The sillage and longevity are impressive.
However I can understand how some people could find this cloying and synthetic; I even think the same myself some days.

Overall, a tremendous "night-out" scent, but I won't be buying another bottle.

I don't know if I'm alone here, but when I smell this on other people in my office, they smell like they've been up all night on the sauce. This stuff makes people smell somewhere between still drunk and hungover. It's an overly oppressive concoction that seems to trample all other aromas in it's wake. It also seems that le male devotees have the same application issues as Joop! wearers (they seem to cover every inch of skin in the stuff). bleurgh.

A classic, pure and simple. It's perfect from start to finish and can work on just about anyone.

5 stars!

A groundbreaking classic. No other perfume of it's time better defined the era. I understand the criticisms i.e. cloying and synthetic. That however is to neglect the sillage, longevity, warmth, and uniqueness of this juice. In my mind this one sits very comfortably among the other legendary frags like Paco Rabanne, Aramis, Azzaro, Eau Sauvage etc. 2 thumbs way up!

It smells very nice although it might be too popular for its own good. It has good longevity. It might smell synthetic, but who cares, it's a nice smell either way. I have almost finished my bottle and this is one that I will feel bad about if I don't get a new bottle.

It's a very sweet smell with powerful sillage so you should not over apply it.

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.

"This is the sexiest scent a man can wear"... these were the words of the sales lady at Macy's. I'm not sure if she was talking about the bottle, or the scent, regardless though, it is awesome! It is very light to the nose, so you can spray it, it sticks around, but it doesn't make me sneeze.

The way it lingers and welcomes people into the room is really nice... A man at my work was wearing it one day--I was not--and I walked into the room and just wanted to get closer to him to smell him. It's that good.

I've had all positive feedback on this scent... a good friend of mine was with me out on the town one evening and asked what I was wearing... after I told her she said, "It's making me weak in the knees, I can't stop smelling you [with her nose pinned to my neck]"

Get this. My mom purchased this for me after her knowing a man who wore it religiously. I thought, "well, if my mom is suggesting it then I should go the opposite direction", but that's where I was wrong... this stuff is amazing and I will always have a bottle of it close by.

Perhaps it is because this was the first fragrance I ever purchased, or perhaps it is the fact that while wearing this the last 9 years I have received more compliments that I can count, or maybe it is the amazing sillage and longevity which causes the whole laundry basket to emanate of vanilla and amber for days after I have put in it a shirt with a modest application of Le Male. It is hard for me to be concise when praising this fragrance, because while going through 3 bottles, I do not have only one reason why I love JPG Le Male, but at any given time I can give at least a dozen different ones.

I have also heard the criticism, with terms such as "chemical meltdown" and "overwhelmingly cloying” often going around. I disregard these critiques, because in the end of the day, 12 to 14 hours after initial application, an aura of warmth and sweetness is still prominent and heads turn regardless, and if it is a synthetic sweetness that causes this effect, well then so be it. Perhaps time has come where a well-done synthetic can compete and hold its own with the all-natural offerings out there.

I will gladly go out on a limb and reserve Le Male's place among the venerated classics. Decades later, we shall speak of it in the same breath as Guerlain Vetiver, Grey Flannel and Dunhill Edition. Not because it shares their notes or themes, but because it shares the qualities of a classic: amazing versatility, breakthrough combination of notes, remarkable progression and development, and the sillage and longevity of a thoroughbred. I just do not know of any fragrance that was released in the 90s that better captures the essence of the decade and has even two of these characteristics let alone all four.

A thumbs up for the ages.

This fragrance is so unique. It is soft but spicy in the same time. My Swiss exboyfriend was wearing it and anytime i smell it reminds me of him. He was sexy, charismatic, charming, sometimes tender and sometimes wild, exactly as this fragrance.
Last time i smeled it few days ago on one Italian man...when i looked at him i thought hmm, he is handsome but when i smell the cologne i thought oh...he is soooo sexy.
I understand the girl in Critic´s review...this fragrance also turns me on:-)

Smells like toothpaste in the top!

Though, it has a nice vanilla base but the middle notes is awful.

It was around 3 pm, about 7 hours after I had sprayed it and I was just socialising with some friends. Then it got very windy and a gale force proportion gust of wind burst through the window and swept my shirt. Suddenly a girl uttered " Who's wearing Joop? It turns me on". She followed the trail and finally decided I was the source. She then realised it wasn't Joop! Before she could correct herself on being so insulting, I smiled and said "Le Male.. Jean Paul Gaultier"

ATTRACTIVE!

"Le Male" is really a wonderful and exceptional scent. It is sweet, spicy, flowery and very feminine but at the same time also very strong and masculine.
I can't imagine of any scent that smells similar to this one.
The main notes of Le Male are mint, lavender and vanilla, but somehow Le Male is so overpowering, that it is really difficult for me to smell one of those ingredients.

The best time to use Le Male seems to be cool weather or evening.

The worst thing with Le Male is the fact, that so many people use it (and use it wrong) even when it does not seem to fit them very well. That keeps me from using this one.
If you should like Le Male (like I do) then PLEASE apply it sparingly! That will make a far better impression.

this is a classic & i c why it is still popular after 13 yrs..altho im going 2 go out on a limb & say that I would prefer the FLEUR DU MALE over this! why? bcause i like DIFFRENCE & FLEUR DU MALE IS IT!

A naked sweaty muscle bod's dirty musk that's like crack for some women. it says I'm a bad boy who loves sex...must be the lavender and vanilla

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 have a vial of this. At first, it made my eyes roll back in my head. I thought maybe I got some marine diesel by accident. But. After the initial punch, it dried to a great and sexy, and I mean SEXY scent. Uh....be SURE to use it lightly or with a gas mask at first. I am ordering a bottle to add to my lineup.

A great sexy cologne, but way and i mean way too over used. Not unique. Go with body kouros which smells similar, but better, and you will be the only one wearing 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.

Not fresh enough but by far the longest lasting perfume ever.On my clothes,after a wash and a week it is still smellable.


Its oil smell like oil but whatever,it works ;)


A bit heavier then light and a bit lighter than heavy.A heavy fresh fragrance but alright.Girls will love it I think ;)


8/10.The longest lasting perfume in my collection.

As a woman I can assure that this is a very sensual scent on a man. It is just so inviting I can't tell you!! This is the only scent that makes me want to keep nuzzling the wearer - could encourage stalkers.

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.

Quite nice. A well-blened one. These notes work well to balance each other off. The sweetest men's frag that I wear.

Smooth, sweet, spicey, vanillic, woody, and sexy.

This is about as sweet as I can go (Opium, both men and women, not withstanding), but I still enjoy wearing it.

The good thing is, that it seems to be declining in popularity, which will make it a little less over-used.

A contemporary power-house perfume.

To be used with jurisprudence: If you can smell it as you walk backwards, re-tracing your steps, the you've used too much, and it only intensifies as your body heat rises. Please, no more than six squirts, under any circumstances!

I've recently rediscovered Le Male after a period of absence.
Yes, to be blunt it seemed "common as muck" a few years ago, perhaps emphasised by the strong sillage.
But to my mind, that shouldn't detract from the fact that it is, in my opinion, an original and well composed fragrance.
It can be a trifle overpowering at first unless used sparingly, but I find the coumarin and sandalwood notes of the drydown very relaxing.

If worn lightly...smells like cool minty vanilla with a slight powdery babershop twist to it ;-) Great Addition to your weekend aresenal!

Strong vanilla base.... for my taste not elegant,enough said...!

Im going to keep it short:
Brilliant..
exotic..
WOMEN LOVE IT!
lasts FOREVER!!
dries beautifully...

One of THE BEST fragrances EVER made!!

Screw the thumbs, id raise every finger if i could!

I received this as a gift in 1995 from a friend in France. I used to love it, but since 1999 I seem to drown in the sillage left by pierced teenagers wearing fur-lined hooded jackets in almost every damned mall in America. But, this is not the fault of JPG.
It is warm right out of the bottle, and the vanilla/tonka bean lasts until you bathe the next morning. It is worthy of a purchase, just avoid malls on Friday nights.

This has to be the most nauseating concoction on the market. I'm sorry to all those who like it, but it smells very much like the artificial flavours in fairy floss (cotton-candy for the americans).

It's sweet beyond the point of cloying, and really does not offer a great deal of complexity. A good fragrance smells pleasant. A great fragrance takes you away to another world. This is not good enough to even fall under mediocre.

Sorry, I can't be moderate about this perfume. It's really horrible. Too much synth sweetness and no personality in it. At the beginning, when it was launched, it was nice... a new kind of stuff for men, but today all men who want to seem modern or "metrosxual" use it. And it's really disgusting, specially in a perfume that lasts sooo looooooooong... I don't get why girls like it so much...; I had many compliments of them...

Obviously, this fragrance has been reviewed to "death". So I will keep it short...good smell, nice sillage.

This love it or hate it stuff. I hate it.

This scent is an affirmation that there is still magic yet to be discovered in this world...

It's a trip to a strange place, to find new things you've never experianced before. It's calm, relaxing, and yet, there is a livelyness that sparkles just above the surface.

The initial spraying is a bit soapy or almost "fizzy"...it kind of reminded me of opening up a Sprite or something...but it quickly mellows out, and warms up just a bit...it takes on a powdery scent as the day progresses. Very clean and crisp...

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.

Powdery, musky and reminds me of male animal pheromones. It seems to be popular men from all ends of the spectrum and the colour and design of the bottle is just beautiful. There used to be a sailor shaped bubble bath when I was a little girl called 'Matey' with lovely blue liquid inside. come to think of it, 'Matey' would have suited the fragrance well. It's definitely a date fragrance and will impress most girls. Or maybe just me. It manages to be sexy but fun and lighthearted with nothing overpowering in there. Always picture younger lads who have graduated from their first sporty deodorants and are looking to get their first decent adult fragrance getting on with this. Nice memories attached, of someone I should have dated, but bottled out.

Le male is a fragance to have. Its young, fresh and long lasting. It smells pretty fresh because of the mint on it but it is also pretty sweet. In my personal opinion i like it very much but, i dont know even though that this is a fragance for men i guess it has a lil bit of a girly smell maybe because of the vanilla but i guess this has been some kind of advantage since girls compliment this fragance very much.

Le male is sexy and metrosexual. The opening notes are just perfect, mint and bergamot, it just couldn’t be better.
I think it’s a winter’s sense that reminds me Paris. There’s also something seductive about him (Le Male) , indeed it’s a popular sent, however who cares, it’s a great perfume and point!

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 finally decided to smell Le Male last week. I had been hesitant thinking it would be vastly too sweet for my taste, but I was quite surprised. It is of course all about vanilla, but not vanilla wafers or vanilla ice cream, more like vanilla extract straight out of the bottle. Combine this with a woody undertone and it is a very nice scent when worn sparingly... and I do mean sparingly. One thing about it though, it lasts forever. I applied it very lightly the morning of the first day I wore it and the next morning could still smell it quite easily.

I like quite a few sweet orientals, but not this one. It's undeniably potent, but the sugar avalanche that descends as soon as I open the bottle sends me running for shelter. Once the minty/synthetic-chemical topnotes disappear I'm left with nothing but a spilled jar of vanilla extract.

Not, admittedly, in the same ninth-circle-of-the-inferno league as A*Men, but not something I want to smell too often, either. Too bad for me, since every second guy you pass seems to be wearing it. In fact, Le Male is so overexposed I don't think I'd wear it even if I did like it. Not impressed with the gimmicky packaging either.

I'm wearin Le Male for the first time in about a year. I wore this fragrance from when i was 16 to when i was 18, it reminds me of lots of great times, summers with my friends before they went off to university, my ex boyfriend and a Madonna concert. It's very sentimental. The scent itself is very strong. The opening is very fresh (mint) and it stays quite fresh for a long time before it settles to a soft vanilla and musk drywown. Le Male lasts for ages, and like others have said needs to be applied sparingly. It's only downside imo is the fact that it's so popular, i like to be quite individual in the fragrances i wear, unfortunately you only need to go to any bar (gay or straight) in the UK and you'll find most of the boys drenched in it. For me, i think i'll wear this one on occasional summer days when i want to reminisce on my teenage years.

Le Male, is sensual, seductive,warm and certainly captivating...Le Male is not for any man to wear...it takes a certain something the works with the fragrace to create an ultimate...scent...some people love Le Male and swear by it...while others hate it...but certainly the fragrace can not be ignored...Women adore it...and it does get you many compliments...simply the fragrance...radiats sensuality...it is long lasting...Smells good from start to finish...Worth the price...Your getting great value for your money...some other fragrnaces that I have used in the past smelt good for a while and then went bad and did not last that long and need to apply constantly...Well with Le Male I dont have these issues...You can certainly depend on it...Truly Le Male

Good, I've perceived some coconut notes in it maybe due to overdose of haba tonka and vanilla, so it makes me think of suntan lotion. I'd wear it on a breezy vacation night in a tropical island.

Can't say that I going crazy over JPG as a designer, but this fragrance...my goodness...it is just as wonderful as it gets... It has a distinct signature, but yet intimate and intriguing... A little sad though, is that it is so main stream when it comes to market profiling...

An excellent fragrance, on of the best that I own. My only grief is that it gets old very quickly. I'm on the verge of running out and am not sure whether to buy another bottle or not.

I love this stuff. I'm not a fan of most male scents, I think they are musky and overpowering, and frankly don't smell good. However, I love this scent. My best freind owns it, and everytime he wears it I hug him more than usual just to smell it. Once I even sprayed it on myelf to smell it all day long.
It's deliciously metrosexual, and if worn correctly it can be a amazing sentual experiance *wink*.

JPG's Le Male is a soft, sweet & spicy fragrance that opens with a myriad of notes that evokes a somewhat casual youthfulness. It amazing, but if the color of blue of the bottle actually had a "smell", I think it would smell exactly like Le Male. I can see how others would find some scents in the drydown resembling some chemical tang, but for me it's a gorgeous scent with an amazing staying power. This is truly one of my signature scents that receives constant compliments, even after all these years on the market.

While it may be seriously ubiquitous (depending on the region you are in), I still enjoy this scent a lot. It is somewhere between oriental and gourmand, with a quite pleasing minty freshness to it, which may feel synthetic to some, but I am not sensitive to that. Very delicious if you like sweet scents, and a longevity/sillage that is amazing, so you get a lot for your money.

One Alternative should be mentioned: Javari by The Body Shop. It's quite similar, but cheaper and has a good dash of pepper, which may be good for those of you who find this here not manly enough. And it is also said to last as long. If I ever finish my bottle of Le Male, I'd probably get this.

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.

Masculine,sensual and very suitable for a metrosexual.She will definitely want him.I like this fragrance, it lasts and lasts, but it is not as special as Very Irresistible de Givenchy or Xeryus Rouge.

This is definitely one of my favourite scents. It just hits you with an aroma that is both dark and heavy as well as fresh at the same time.

The most noticeable characteristic for me upon first applying is the vanilla/little bit of mint/almost soapy kind of scent. As it progreses I can see how some are turned off by the kind of chemically scents in there but I think that for the most part that is an issue of overapplication. This scent is meant to be worn lightly. I spray once on the neck, once on the wrist and rub together. Any more and it is overpowering and plain gross, but lightly this is one of my favourites if not #1. Longevity is one of it's strong suits as well. Even a light application will last almost all day for you, no problems with that.

So all in all, this is a versatile cologne which you can wear during the day to school or work, and just as easily when you're going on a date, to the bar/club, or anything else. Remember the key is to go light on this one. It's a little played out but not as bad as your Armani/Lacoste colognes around where I live. Definitely worth a shot.

This is my most favorite male sent in the entire world.

I could not wear Le Male anywhere, and would not like to smell it on anyone else either. It horrifies me that anyone would willingly spend money on this atrocious concoction. What is it with Gaultier fragrances that they all have that depressing chemical tang? It's the fragrance equivalent of Diet Vanilla Coke or something, with dirty old paraffin mixed in for extra bitterness.

Dreadful.

Like some, I place sentimental value on it as it brings back fond memories from the late 90s. I have been considering another bottle just to relish in those carefree days when anything could have been posilbe. The trick is to spray conservatively which means only 1-2 sprays tops or it will beceome headachy.

This one works great as a roomspray. This might sounds like I disliked it but I dont. It is just not me anymore. Very well made with great sillage. Lasts forever but this days it is a little bit too sweet for me.
benb

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.

Doesn't suit me at all, this sweet vanilla perfume is just so strong and almost feminine. Such a strong presence can be created better and less obviously by other fragrances, my suggestion would be joop.

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.

Too intense for me. Top notes are OK, but it turns into a monster that that I wish I could shake off. This is not for a cool, subtle personality. Its for the one who feels comfortable being the one and only - 'le male'. Easy big fella..

This drys down to Versace Dreamer on me. Lasts OK on my skin. Dreamer lasts far longer for much less.

This is the Ultimate perfume. a little splash and everyone around will start sniffing you. awsome effect on gals.
My advice: apply after shower and the effect will be superb. the bottle seems a little fag.

Everyone's got a view on Le Male. I was much more enthusiastic about this scent when I first purchased it. It can either be EXTREMELY pleasing to the nose or quite annoying depending on application and mood. It's a warm and powdery scent, but at times can be irritatingly sweet. From my experience, girls have really enjoyed this fragrance on me. It is still one of my regulars, despite the fact that it seems that every third person wears it. Overall, still a good fragrance, just not the "touch of god" that I had thought about purchasing it.

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!

Its really deep, rich playful fragrence.Its great as an eveing wear!!And its quite a hit with the ladies!!

I totally hate this scent. I can't see why it's so popular. And worse thing is, the people who use this one generally spray a lot of it on them.Very peppery ,very minty , and very very long lasting. Even the basenotes feel harsh. Unforgettable, but i wouldn't like to smell it again. Please not again!Unique packing.

Suprised nobody's mentioned it, but this is clearly Gaultier's version of a French Vanilla scent. Not very original but... it's rather good though. And well executed too. A female friend used to wear French Vanilla by Dana and when I sampled this at Ulta, that's what it reminded me of. When I first bought it, I couldn't figure out how to open the tin can so I got out the can opener! The scent is pure unalterated vanilla. The sweetness is almost overpowering if applied too much. But just a little bit will lead you to vanilla heaven. The vanilla note pretty much kills the other notes but so what. Cedar? Amber? Cumin? Don't think so. It would be interesting if they would tone down the vanilla note and let the other notes perk up for a follow-up scent. Instead we have the awful Gaultier 2!

I don't know what it is about Le Male, but it just reminds me of Aqua Net Hairpsray. Not entirely awful, but overwhelming and unwearable.

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.

I have never worn this, not because of its ubiquity, but because of its cloying, sickly intensity, from head notes to dry down. It's one of my all-time least liked fragrances and for me, indicates something of a perfume wrong turn in the mid-90s. I don't like the metrosexual smell thing I guess.

This stuff is gross, and I find the bottle very tacky. I don't think that the cinnoman and lavender go good together at all.

Very good one, masculine with orange-like top notes (top note stays more time than an average parfum) and vanilla wood base notes. Easy to recognize... but due to department stores (at least in Chile) it tends to be a bit common.

Oh I hate this stuff, I smell it everywhere in London, it smells like burnt rubber and acids, Yuck!

Smells like toothpaste. Doesn't last as long as I expected, but in this case that's a blessing.

I admit I've grown tired of it over the years. Lately, I've started to notice a dirty grittiness in it that's never been there before. It's like burnt lavender. However, I'll give it a thumbs up due to the sentimental value it has. I'll never forget those carefree nights of clubbing and being irresponsible (it was also the first scent I smelled upon waking up the next morning hung over). This scent has a "who cares" type of feel to it. It's potent and lasts long as well.

I think when I´m seventy years old and dying, then smell in the room will resemble this scent. this cologne is awful

yum! its all i want in a scent sumthing to slap all in the the face who come nr me!

I've always been a big fan of Le Male since it was release in 1996 on local market and still using it today. It really last a whole day with only a few spritz. I'm gonna stay loyal to this fragrance. Mr. Armani pls stop trying to imitate this fragrance.

nice staying power , sexy, and cool . it isn't a fragrance you will find every one wearing it or it's copy

Really sweet and really vanilla like, which I tend to love in fragrances. But try it first, especially with all this controversy. But it may be a bit too popular for those looking for something different. Le Male isn't for those who want an everyday scent.

An extremely potent scent that I used to like but have developed an aversion to it due to the number of sickly-sweet cloying oversprayed college students wearing this scent in the full heat of summer. It is very unfortunate as it is a great scent when lightly applied.

Interesting. This is a very modern and chic take on lavender and oriental fragrances. I can’t but feel a lot of inspiration was taken from Caron Pour un Homme. While Pour un Homme is much different from Le Male, they are both built around vanilla and lavender. Either way, Le Male is interesting, but has become so popular that wearing it makes me feel like a bit of a lemming. Also, like Pour un Homme, Le Male is pretty easy to get tired of.

I really enjoy Le Male on myself but not on others. For this reason, I only wear it around the house-- as I assume others would like it only on themselves, not on me. I especially love the mint vs. the lavender and vanilla. SENSUAL is the word for Le Male, sensitive perhaps. I find the sweetness to much at times, though. Le Male is addicting, I did not like it at first, and then I just began craving it. I wore it straight for like a month, I had a chair that smelled more of Le Male than I. I think it is an ideal choice for a hip, 17-21 year-old man,

It's very simple: Just don't overdo Le Male and it will be perfect. Every who has once encountered this Gaultier knows its uncanny potency. Therefore 2-3 spritzes should please even the most hardcore wearers. Much of this fragrance's bad rep stems from the fact that many guys just go bananas on the trigger, creating a thick, nauseating cloud for anyone close by. It is however a brilliant blend and I feel it's also very contradictory. In the sense that the overall impression feels extremely modern while the composition and notes definitely are inspired by and pay hommage to classic french perfumery. I mean how many modern best sellers have a lavender note this prominent? Also the seductive, heavy vanilla in the base reminds me of the old Guerlains like Shalimar.
As most of us know, Le Male has been a mega-bestseller in Europe since it's creation, and this goes to show that being creative and original does pay off in the long run. Le Male should be a lesson to all the companies trying to make a quick buck on all these seasonal launches, re:editions and hollow new gimmicky releases. -Put some real effort in and you will be rewarded!
With that being said I think Le Male should be a part in every mans wardrobe, unless you can't stand orientals that is =).

For the past what, 10 years, that this fragrance has been around, I have avoided it - I have no idea why. I tried it on this past weekend at a store and really liked it. It will be too sweet for some, however, I just happen to like the smell of baby powder and this is kind of what it is like, except that it's definitely not for a baby. It has great staying power too. To me, this cologne would depend on my mood and probably the season (probably better in fall/winter cool rainy days). Not one I would wear everyday, but good one to have.

The ultimate "body" scent. Very loud, but undeniably sexy. Makes you want to get naked and dance. Crazy. I love the vanilla dry down, and the musk is a very loud but sexy one. A great blend. The only downside is that too many people wear it.

You cant deny how innovative this fragrance is, but that doesn't mean it is wearable. This is a truly atomic strength fragrance destroying everything in its path with sickly sweetness. God save us!!!

A friend of mine gave me this one as a birthday gift and I didn't like it at first.
I thought it was too sweet and feminine. But after wearing a few more times and in rainy/colder days I started to like it. There's a sour vanilla smell that seduced me and makes a good mix with the sweet notes!
Now, I like it a lot, although It's not one of my favourites...

At first, I admit that I hated it, likening it to a sinister plastic scent. But it grew on me the second time that I had tested it. It has a very, very long-lasting and virile touch to it that explains its popularity. Being a vanilla scent freak, I like that part of Le Male, too. :-p Easily recognizable, and worthy enough (I guess) to be copied by Britto. :-D Bravo, JPG!

I'd rather smell of cat wee than this. Easily the most god awful smell on the marked. Sour vanilla or something. I felt ill.

When I first smelled it I liked it a little, although to me it smells very strange--a little vanillic, a little synthetic leathery, very chemical. Then everyone started wearing it, and it became less appealing. Now some people STILL wear it, and it's completely lost its appeal. It's air pollution, this stuff: you always know when someone has it on, because they scent everything in their path for miles! It's just too strong, and I thought I'd never say that about a fragrance! But it's just too much. I wish it would go away.

This is a definite stink! I got a chance to spray some on my skin to check what its all about. But to my disappointment, what i got was a headache. When i got home and my girlfriend came over, she noticed a disgusting smell on me and said she didn't like that smell. I said it was nothing but still she took a sniff at my neck just to check. Luckily, she just smelled the scent i wore that morning which was Quorum (how about that for scent longevity, huh!) and she forgot about the Le Male i sprayed at the back of my hand. I got away with that one.... whew! From now on, i'll just stay away from this scent as much as possible.

Never taken to this one ... tried it .. but it's one of those that has something musty about it ( for me at least anyway ) ... It has always reminded me of something .. i think it's that kids stuff .. " Play Dough "?

From the brief exposure I've had to Le Male, I liked it. I took a sample spray on the arm at Sephora, and was immediately taken by it's uniqueness. There's a definite powdery character and I seem to remember an omnipresent minty vanilla note. Not the heaviest oriental scent I've experienced but no slacker. Nice for a cooler/cold day or evening. Going one spray to many would not be difficult. I'd also enjoy getting more feedback on this scent. Like others, it receives alternating praises and slams so it's all but impossible to get a direction.