Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur (1972)
by Pierre Cardin

I dare say PIERRE CARDIN POUR MONSIEUR opens much better than the similarly styled original Gucci Pour Homme from 1976, with a sharp citrus top made greener by basil, and a hint of sweet lavender to add an intriguing facet of contrast. Towards the middle I get a powdery leather-sandalwood blend, with geranium and vanilla coming to the fore, and it continues pleasantly in the same affable manner to an ambery leather drydown which resembles that of Heeley's Cuir Pleine Fleur. What can I say? I'm sold. The price may be cheap but the scent is anything but. To budding perfumistos and cologneuseurs, I feel this 1972 release has to be a 'must-try'. But you'd better hurry 'cuz I'm about to stockpile.

Unexpectedly nice for a masculine on the cheap side. Rounded, citrus top notes leading to a soft, powdery drydown ( the ambery-sweet base notes somewhat remind me of Shalimar - go figure ). The longevity is disappointingly poor, however.

My ONLY negative about Pierre Cardin is that it isn't strong enough on my skin. It's completely gone after heavy sprays in 45 minutes and after 20 minutes it's so close my nose has to be on my skin to smell it.

EDC concentration aside, this is a classic, well articulated scent that is well deserved of the positive reviews. Love the spicy,citric opening and floral/leather mids.

Nice bang for the buck.

****I am tacking on an amending edit note that I have recently worn a heavy application of this in hot weather while exerting myself for hours and it seemed to give "life" to this scent. It lasted much longer from body heat than it did in normal conditions. Go figure........*****

Another Old Spice? Not quite. It's spicy, with what I assumed to be clove or nutmeg, but minus a lot of the sweetness of Old Spice or many designer brands. It's like I've taken whole spices with a little orange peel and vanilla and smashed them onto myself without sweetening them much, so that I could detect their dry bitterness underneath. It seems to me like all the notes are right there at the surface, but that doesn't make it shallow to me, just easy to appreciate. After trying many others, this old juice remains very close to what my ideal cologne would smell like, and it goes to show that you only need so much sweetness to make an excellent concoction. It's colored more darkly than it needs to be, so it leaves yellowness behind on cloth, and forgive me, but the bottle looks like something that a single lady would buy batteries for on a lonely night! I'm sure she's reminiscing about a man she once knew who wore Pierre Cardin and smelled dashing.

Suspended somewhere between an antiseptic dental rinse and cloying low budget perfume lies the bewildering aroma of Pierre Cardin pour homme.

Its not bad. It doesn’t have any irritating accords like I have found in many other scents of this kind and time. Smooth and classy oriental scent, quite unique and easily recognizable.

Has kept time well.


Here in Finland this is still popular, and people associate it with older/mature me just like they do with Fahrenheit and Lagerfeld Classic, for instance.
Kind of shame.