Paradox for Men Blue (1999)
by Jacomo

I've tried this a couple of times now and it just doesn't do it for me. I have this problem with a lot of Jacomo fragrances, even the semi-classic Jacomo de Jacomo in the black bottle. In fact, this one is kind of a light, warm weather version of J de J. Intellectually, this one is interesting...I sense it's trying to do a bit more than your usual fragrance du jour...but I have no idea what that is.
This house produces stuff that's always interesting, but never anything that grabs you and makes you want to wear it all the time. At least that's my experience. For a well known house, they really don't have much in the way of "all time classic".

14th May, 2011.

Different, and distinctive is Paradox Blue. I have tried a handful from the house of Jacomo, and have not been disappointed once.

Paradox Blue opens up with a deep and almost dark, inky, minty, green/citrus accord. As it dries, it becomes less intense, stays pretty linear, adds a bit of cardamom, and incorporates some light woodsy notes, as well as musk once it dries down.

A rather hard scent to describe in words, though it certainly fits these terms: citrus, dark, blue, inky, green, dewy, wet, minty/menthol, distinctive.

A must try for any fragrance lover. It's cheap, and a safe blind buy if you enjoy trying new and different things, that challenge your nose. It is quite versatile, and can also be worn in cold weather, which is awesome for a citrus fragrance. Although I would not recommend blind buying this fragrance if you are a noob. Because it is so complex.

As a personal note. I have the .17 oz mini bottle. I dab it on my arms every now and then, and it projects pretty well, and lasts long. I find though, if I were to wear this too often, I would not like it, because of its complexity, and being some what unorthodox.

8th April, 2011.

This smells like a summer version of Corduroy. The more I wear it the better it gets and it's not a WOW! scent, but it's versatile and pleasant. This is my 4th Jacomo fragrance and I'm really impressed at the quality and versatility of their fragrances. What I have noticed is that most of their fragrances have good sillage, but stay closer to the skin. Jacomo makes some impressive fragrances and as always their price is exceptional. I'd give this one a B overall.

8th March, 2011. (Last Edited: 25th July, 2011.)

If I had sampled this blindly, without knowing its name or that it's marketed for men, I would have said this was a fruity-floral fragrance for women. Maybe the melon-like smell I get in the top notes is actually the "mangosteen" and is what gives it the "oceanic" smell that scentimus refers to in his review. And what is "combava"?? According to Wikipedia, it's a lime. Overall, it's very candy-like! Good longevity as it lasted over 12 hours on my skin. I didn't think it had much sillage, but my husband walked into the room, and immediately smelled it from 15 feet away. So, I could be wrong.

It's a fruity fragrance. Good for fruity fragrance lovers, but not for me.

9th November, 2008.

Green and fruity, not too sweet, nicely counterpointed with pepper—not a bad opening, in fact, its quite edgy and attractive. It gets fairly close to giving off a synthetic sub-vibration, but it never quite crosses the line. As the fragrance moves to the heart notes, the emphasis on the fruity notes increases, and the peppery counterpoint is lost to the detriment of the fragrance, I think; but, of course, I’m not a big fan of tropical fruit notes in fragrances and I am also put off by the stronger synthetic vibrations that occur when the pepper is no longer contributing. I really don’t like the middle accord of Paradox, but persons who like fruity—specifically tropical fruity—notes may find it attractive. The drydown is a rather common one with the vanilla note taking prominence, to my nose. I get very little moss and, unfortunately, no vetiver, so the fragrance ends up being entirely too sweet for me. I originally thought Paradox was a terrible fragrance but I’ve changed my opinion. It deserves a neutral rather than a thumb’s down. It’s simply too bad that the fragrance didn’t keep going with the edgy and attractive opening.

31st August, 2006. (Last Edited: 9th December, 2010.)

Smells like a wet magazine. It really does---as if it was manufactured at a paper mill rather than a fragrance factory. Very suitable for writers.

22nd February, 2006.