Reviews of Armani Mania (2002)
by Giorgio Armani

The first time I tried this on a card I wasn't impressed at all. But I've noticed that after being initially put off by a fragrance the first time I smell it, I can sometimes come back a short while later and get a completely different experience. I guess my nose just takes a little longer to warm up to some scents. With that in mind I dug out the sample vial I had been given and I decided to try it again - this time on my skin. I was actually pleasantly surprised.

On second take Mania is nice light, woody fragrence. It almost almost reminds me of pencil shavings (in a good way) on first spray. Dries down into a soft, warm, almost mellow scent with just a hint of sweetness; not at all unpleasant. It won't knock anyone's socks off, but a good daytime fragrance for when you just want to smell like something or want people to notice you're wearing a scent. Perfect for around the office or lounging at home.

After trying Attitude, Code and now Mania, I can definitely say Mania is the one I most prefer.

Awesome fragrance one of my favorites! The opening is a bit synthetic but completely bearable and then drifts into a smooth musky drydown. A little boring and nothing really special but never fails to get compliments when i wear it! Armani's best!

PUAJJJ!! I HATE THIS FRAG, IT SMELLS LIKE GUM SOMETHING SINTHETIC, REALLY DISSAPOINTED! YES, LIJE SWEAT TOES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

I think it's trying to be sophisticated but fails spectacularly, so I guess you could call it the chav of perfumes. It's linear, non-descript and seemingly worn by a billion people regardless of whether it suits them or not.

I wouldn't call it completely hideous, but I think it's desceptively difficult to wear. It does smell quite nice on a very few people, but I got very little out of it other than a desire to wash it off as soon as possible.

I like this stuff. It's well balanced and not too complicated, and the saffron lifts it above the glut of "blah" designer frags. Having said that, there's not enough to back up the saffron opening. By the time you get to the drydown, it does become somewhat formulaic. Still a thumbs up for definitely my favourite Armani frag.

This is a very peppery herbal musk. NO sweetness from the amber at all. I get a lot of the cedar and the musk in the drydown. Fairly straightforward. At first I was wondering why this was called "mania" other than a clever pun/almost-anagramed-palindrome of "Armani". I suppose it synth-mania. Sits lightly on my skin. Reaction to this is: "yyeeeeahhh....um nooooo...blah"

This is a great fragrance! Light and suitable for all occasions. It isn't the most unique scent out there, but it isn't cookie-cutter by any means either. On my skin, the initial spray smells identical to the dry-down, which is to say the top note smells identical to the base note. This smells like cedar and white pepper blended into a light musk scent. It's not very complex to my nose but I love the way it smells.

The other scent of Chicago, along with Code. The saffron makes this the star in my book and is its one redeeming quality as I love the scent and don't smell it to terribly often. As for the rest, likeable, but nothing to exciting.

Woman seem to like this on me alot and it always brings compliments and queries. Therefore, I can definitely see the appeal for most guys.

A thumbs up for the use of saffron and a thumbs down for mediocrity gives this a neutral.

One of my favorites. I agree with many that it varies with skin. On me I think it smells wonderful and I get many compliments. The amber and musk at the drydown has a nice sweetness on me that isn't what I would call powdery. It still is masculine. I actually get a 7-8 hor longevity on this one. I love it. My favorite Armani.

The performance of this perfume varies greatly with skin chemistry. The perfume while nice to wear at night, could have used a bit more weight as I find it a bit too light.

Love it especially after the first 10 minutes or so this one will always have a spot in my collection. works very well with my chemistry everyone loves this when I have it on especially the women they love to come in close and sniff my neck .

The Tangerine leaves come through the most to my nose, which kind of put me off from this fragrance. Women liked this one, but they had to be really close, almost in a friendly way to smell it. Too feminine a scent for my liking, and it wasn't especially long lasting on my skin - 5hours maybe. I wouldn't recommend it as an everyday type of scent, but it's nice to have in your collection, because ladies leaving your bed in the morning can easily get away with using it, and many of them will.

I agree that it is not a stand out fragrance. The scent softens after the first impact to become a warm and subtle. It is not awful, but unfortunately there is nothing striking and intriguing about it either.

This was my all time favorite for a while, but I now see the light. It still smells good to me, but from what was once my reserved for 'night out on the town' fragrance, it is now my 'office' fragrance. The light that was shed is simply a host of other fragrances that smell more intriguing and sexy. Mania is good, and has a nice warm, musky, woody smell to it once the lemony/fresh top notes disappear, its just not powerful enough to be an evening fragrance. Stays too close to the skin and a bit boring. This is certainly a no offensive fragrance, and perfect for Dad's and Son's, just don't expect the ladies to be drooling over you with this.

Opening like a fresher, cleaner, lighter Code, one feels the Armani family link in this fragrance as well, a slightly spicy but velvety, insensy foundation. Where Code is opaque, Mania is translucent, but still beautiful. The base, after two hours, is a present, sweet, incense (with the hint of softness of a drier sheet) that's just simply... nice. Mania? no... it doesn't impress me that much, like Code does, but I can imagine why someone would want to buy this. It simply smells good without making much of a statement, and retaining a character different from the rest of the offerings flooding the department store shelves.

Poor longetivity and nothing superior or unique about this scent. Although it is pleasant it doesn't project well and doesn't stand out so it's a diappointing buy.

Very reminiscent of Minotaure by Poloma Picasso which was a popular 90's scent. Better constructed than Minotaure with a more complex scent that wears longer. Buy it in a small bottle..... Its a bit powdery and can get boring after a few months.

Disappointing top notes that are rescued by a smooth suede drydown that is subtle enough for any occasion. Neither as collegiate as Acqua Di Gio, nor as distinguished as Code, but it has a 30-year old appeal that is worth a try.

Very good opening—a bright, fresh green and spicy accord in the top notes, with cedar (and maybe vetiver) from the middle detectable right from the start. Doesn’t really seem like Armani because, even though it is nicely smooth and blended as is normal for Armani, it has a lot of vigor and some potency in it, which hasn’t been my usual experience with the later Armani fragrances. Its longevity on my skin is fairly good—at least in the top two levels of the pyramid—they last about three hours. I don’t get much of the base notes All things considered, Armani Mania is a nice attempt at supplying an interesting fragrance; it has Armani’s typical good ingredients and excellent blending; but it doesn’t have enough longevity—especially in the base, and it lacks edge—it is too linear and its linearity is not very compelling—it isn’t interesting enough to form the basis of the entire fragrance. It’s a nice fresh scent—but not as nice as many other designer greens. One can do much better for less money.

My girl just got this for me. Ive had previous samplings with Mania. In retrospect, I figure if I had not bought it by now, it left something to be desired. Of course, I cant tell my girl that. Besides, Im happy to add another bottle to my modest collection. What can I say about this? It is fresh, but I dont get watery or marine from this. Not that type of fresh. Someone said this is supposed to smell like an Armani suit. I can go for that. Smells like something freshly pressed. To be more exact, it smells like "Faultless" spray starch, but not as lemony. Thats not a bad thing. I think the saffron captures my attention in this. It is an unusual note for me. I like to see this used more often in fragrances. The oil content in it is plenty according to my simple test, but the top notes do seem to fade rapidly. As mentioned previously, I think this may be one of those that is still there after you cant detect it. More experimentation is needed. For me, this is something for the office, which I dont work in. I require more character. All said in done, its a different and nice addition to my collection.

Very long lasting fragrance that i love. I love this for the spring and summer months. The only scent from Armani that i hate is Armani Eau Pour HOmme. but everything else i adore, this is a must have for any armani cologne fan!

Preety unoriginal, a less soapy CITY Glam though, but nothing impressing. If you wish to feel clean, wear it.But if you want to have a touch of class, please choose something else.

I really like the top notes of this one. I love it for like, 5 minutes. Then, the great smell completely disappears. Split. Gone. No more. What's left is a VERY VERY VERY faint musky scent. It's really barely detectable. It's pretty disappointing, I really would wear this a lot if that great smell would just stick around.

Well, It's a nice casual woody fragrance, with that common aquatic/fresh note. I notice this note in a lot of other Armani fragrances, as City Glam and Emporio He. The woody character is very, very similar to the one I found in City Glam. When It dries down, a hint of sweetness appears but It still mantains its woody and sharp smell. I prefer City Glam, although Mania seems to be longer lasting.

Now THIS is the juice! I absolutely love this one, and definitely prefer it over Code, which seems to get more favorable reviews. Not quite sure what it is about it specifically that grabs me...I just know that it is very, very sexy. My man prefers Code, and I'm so disappointed!!

This is my main scent right now. This is one of the best I tried in a long time. I love cedar so I really like how thisw fragerance smells, and so does my wife. It works well with my chemistry and lasts a really long time, about 10-12 hours.

FANTASTIC SCENT. I wore it to work once, only to have one of my female coworkers CONSTANTLY smelling me and telling me how good I smelt, and she went and made every other girl in the place to come smell me because she loved it so much!
Could it get any better than that?

The bottle is the most creative and artistic part about this.
The actul content is not bad, but it doesn't live up to the name of Armani. The first impression that i got was a very powdery feeling, closely resembling Roma Uomo and a verious range of Emporio male scents- strangely, even closer to Roma Uomo than to the Emporio scents, yet without Roma's lasting power, luxurious, conspicuously extravagant texture. The drydown brought a very easy to wear everyday scent, making it lighter than i first thought, even if, especially in male scents, the more powerful and heavy notes seem to last and to be remebered. However, as the powdery notes drew to a close, a very aquatic and clean smell lingered, not very exclusive, i might even say too casual to wear the name of Armani, much more similar to a pleasantly, yet commonly smelling cream based on Aloe Vera. At least it is not vile and synthetic, not as uselessly sweet, sporty and fruity like other easy-to-wear, casual underage wearer-type, "young" colognes like Aqua di Gio or Hugo. This one is a little more discreet and mature, less offensive, yet poor lasting power and far too neutral to have an attitude.

pretty good but nothing special. It's nice I guess, but if you want a dry wood, you can find much better, such as santa noble

I went to buy the original Armani for Men but could not find it and the salesman recommended this. I love anything with citrus and Vetiver so I liked this one. However, nothing could have prepared me for the female attention and compliments I got; even more than Xeryus Rouge (which is the champ of female compliments). Mania seemed a bit sharp at the beginning but it mellowed nicely. Smells classy, fresh and sexy. Seems to work by day at the office and at night for going out. Also, it does not seem like it lasts real long but I still get compliments at the very end of the day when I do not think I can smell it anymore. I think this is a keeper.

good..solid..soft..not too overpowering..its one of thise fragrances that you say is "nice"..nothing extraordinary but does the job..it was my last fragrance but i cant quite remember how it smelt, except that it was "nice"..

At first it smells rather ok! In warmer days it starts smellings like sweaty feets after a couple of hours!

I love this and is my fav Armani scent. I hope it stays in production forever! Mania excites me as much as my beloved Green Irish Tween does and I think I might even start to lean towrads this on certain days! WOW! Longevity is superb. One spray lasts all day one me. Huge thumbs up to Mr. Armani for t his one!

My brother bought me this in lieu of Donna Karan Chaos. It is siiimmmmilllar. But lacks the edge, for me. It seems a bit light and alcohol-y compared to DK and i think the body could be greatly improved. It feels a bit cheap. But thanks to my bro. I guess some people who aren't into punch but want something not floral will like it.

This is rank. I had to wash it off inmediately, i even thought it wouldn't wash out fast enough. Don't care about the bottle, yet another black/grey plain thing for men? Designers are running out of ideas or what? I'd much rather go for the amazing Emporio Armani Night for him, the bottle is so so but the scent is great...i think it's called mania cause only a mad, manic scientist could come up with this nasty smell. I didn't even find it elegant. Was it trying to be? Who knows anymore.

A really classy scent, absolutely great. But such poor longevity... It's almost like i need to bathe in the stuff just to get it to last the day.
A careful note: Be careful what soap you shower with before you put on this cologne. Using neutrogena, Fa sport or Boss Aqua soap works fantastic with this cologne. If you used a more floral soap, it can mix pretty badly.

One of the best scents I've ever worn.

Word of advice, don't eat chocolate 24 hours before wearing the scent (chocolate affects skin chemistry in a negative way for the scent) and always try to get a brand new bottle (production codes are at the bottom of the packaging, cross check them between different stores. My 2nd bottle was 3 years older than my first one :\ and it showed)

When worn right, the perfume smells like pure unadulterated luxury. A very attractive blend of Ambergris and Musk with a touch of vetiver, orange and saffron.

nothing special in this scent. longevity is not the best one. I´m not the biggest fan of armani scents

Smells great on my friend but vile on me. Perhaps cause I've been dissing its siblings for so long, hehe. This fact anyway prevents me from giving it a unanymous thumbs down, since it seems to be dependant on skin-chemistry to a higher extent than most other stuff. The fragrance itself is a subtle blend of saffron, woods and musk and the bottle is unarguably great looking recalling the twisted -spherical design of the Armani make-up products.

This is a firm classic smell...very clean and crisp. Lasts all day or night.

Great bottle and a nice scent. Very unisex in my mind, but sexy either way you go. Has that wonderful saffron note. A quick note, on paper it smells like cardboard boxes and dust. Definitely try this on. All the rich and warm ingredients blossom on a warm surface. Besides the original Armani, this one is my fave. It should be noted that a great perfumer crafted this one.

I get good responses from this one and like it myself. Supposed to smell like an Armani suit or jacket, it does indeed bring fine materials to mind. Musky and spicy scent.

It's quite fresh and also slightly spicy.
The top note felt quite mint like sweetness but it weakens down later and smells aromatic.

very simple smelling scent. Does not compare with any previous Armani scents in complexity or quality. The best way to describe it would be to say it simply smells like musky salt water.

A predominantly woody scent that is light but can be quite sharp, and which may not appeal to some. It softens a bit on the dry down but overall, quite a linear scent to me.

Simple equation. Thats makes this fragrance elegant. Prominent saffron notes. Its light but very much there. The only thing went wrong with this stuff is its name. People have high expectations that they would get something extra ordinary which makes them or other Maniac. May be It doesn't leave any impact initially but gradually reveals its secrets.

I was disappointed by this new Armani scent. It's a nice, fresh, and ordinary scent. Nothing distinctive or worth paying top dollar for. J. August 8/15/20