Reviews of Yohji Homme (1999)
by Yohji Yamamoto

Bittersweet lavender with a hint of soft leather and sandalwood. Sillage and longevity is as weak as a newborn baby, one of the weakest I have ever sampled. Which is a real shame as YOHJI HOMME smells fabulous! So don't be afraid and shower yourself in this, and spray some on your clothes. My 50ml tester will probably finish in two weeks; that's why this is strictly on rotation, for those special occasions only. I have to give this one a 'thumbs up' for the scent, but a 'neutral' if you factor in its miserly sillage and 'shortivity'.

I have to wholeheartedly agree with Vibert’s review below. I’d also like to add that I found it a little too harsh and synthetic for my tastes, hence my unsympathetic rating.

But hey, it’s one less fragrance to worry about…

[Original submission date: 25 May 2008]

This scent is so overrated and overpriced I cannot believe it. For $80 - 100 a bottle, I would think this would be something that would definately make the the ladies go mmmmm. Instead, this is a scent that makes the ladies hold their noses and say "Damn he stinks". It's that thick overbearing type of smell where you say to yourself, "I'll bet that guy thinks he actually smells good" and he would be wrong. I guess I am just not crazy about the strong alcohol smokey wood smelling perfumes. Now something inexpensive like Aqua Di Gio definately makes women say "Mmmmm" and you don't have to break the bank.

Aside from the unique bottle, you're not missing too much by this scent being discontinued.

It starts off strong, astringent and alcohol driven like vibert said... which to me didn't make for a great first impression. I like strong wake-up openings that are marked with citrus, violet (grey flannel) or sweet (lempicka au masculin) notes but Yohji's opening was without personality for me, I found it disappointingly un-interesting and equally fleeting.

When I got to the middle of the scent, although I experience VERY faint notes of coffee, cinnamon or anise, I never would've thought of it as a gourmand. The amount of subtlety of it all was a real turn off, the notes ended up combining into something that I fellt was muddled and confusing. I didn't really experience the sweetness I enjoy in other gourmands like Pure Coffee or Lempicka. Near the end of the progression I guess I can sense the rhum note but... so what?? Again it fails to do anything interesting to the fragrance... the most I get from this is very short smooth wood base.

No silage, no projection. And as a close-to-skin scent I didn't like it because it stayed harsh to my nose until it dissipated two hours later. No longevity. It's not a bad scent by far. I totally understand why some would like it but I personally don't feel it good enough to offset the fragrance's mediocre preformance.

It's unsurprising that this was discontinued. I worked my way through a bottle a few years ago. Got a compliment or two, but otherwise it never grabbed me. Just too flat. Rochas Man shares some notes with Yohji, but there at least the lavender picks things up a bit, not like champagne without the bubbles which is what Yohji was to me.

Yohji has a fascinating bittersweet opening, alcoholic and aldehyde(?) driven. I can't recall anything like it. It quickly tones down to a woody sweet accord with well-blended overtones of coffee, spice, and anise: a lot like a balsawood dowel soaked in coffee with sambuca.

Yohji continues in this vein for some time, though the dry woods grow more and more prominent. Eventually the woods come so far forward that Yohji veers away from gourmand and into dry leather. The coffee floats in and out, but never re-takes the helm.

I suspect anosmia here, because inside a hour Yohji disappears on me, without showing any further development. What I can percieve is very promising, but the quick exit leaves me unfulfilled.

A gourmand scent. Think licorice, chocolate, coffee, cinnamon -- all resting on a base of sandalwood and leather. This should typically be a winter scent, but it is not too strong and dries down to a semi-sweet comfy alluring skin scent. Pair it with a Versace or Cavalli shirt, and a skin pants from Dior Homme and a Tods loafers
-- it'll give you that "I'm so hot!" feeling.

Along with Helmut Lang's Cuiron and CN Scent Intense, Yohji Homme is my favorite designer scent. It is soft, subtle, and very warm. It IS a gourmand, but not in the extreme... wearing it won't make anybody think you're wearing hot chocolate or coffee. Nevertheless, it has definite food hints in it, something like a softer, more versatile Bond no. 9 New Haarlem. Definitely worth a try if you can find a bottle.

I don`t know what to think about this.

It is very confusing to me that most of the people consider this as an Gourmand scent.
I don`t think so at all: To me this is subtle, refined Fougere scent.

It has some tasty notes in it, and it has some edible notes mixed...But still; This is just sweet, aromatic Fougere. Not a Gourmand scent, imo.

Starts out like toned down sugared Jazz, continues to create this refined, smooth woody scent. Just a slight touch of anis, coffee and soft leather.

Rhum?? I really don`t think so.

I don`t honesty undertand people who compare this to Lolita Lempicka, A*Men or Rochas Man...I really don`t understand that.
Still, a wonderful and unique Fougere blend - very refined and classy aroma.

But but but...Yes, it`s a bit too weak. Sensual for sure, but still too weak.
It doesn`t last long either, and I suppose these problems with strenght/longevity could be part of the discontinuance. I wouldn`t wonder.

Great scent, made with high talent, but...

This a great scent. Sweet with hints of pepper, licorice and rum. Damn thing is just sexy with great sillage. Very rich, but lighter than A*Men. Also, its SIMILAR to A*Men but it is NOT the same. I think they compliment each other.

This is gourmand with extra class and craftsmanship. The first stage is very quiet and quite smoothed out by the creamy lavender. The anise / licorice are not very prominent and last only about an hour, but they bend the top notes significantly enough to create the gourmand aura—an ingenious subtlety. The mid notes are just a trifle stronger and, as far as I’m concerned, very classic—rosewood and cinnamon for depth and richness, geranium and carnation for the higher vibes and for liveliness. The coffee note appears faintly in the background. At this point I lose the fragrance. It just disappears, but this is only temporary. After about fifteen minutes the base appears out of nowhere. It’s excellent—cedar and rum are what I mainly get out of it. Yohji Homme is a beautifully designed and crafted scent, but…it is too translucent and subtle for my taste—it just doesn’t project enough and I’m NOT one who likes more than a bare minimun of sillage. Still, it is the most elegant of the gourmands that I have tried.

Yohji Homme is amazing. It’s probably one of my favorite designer gourmands, right up there with Angel. Anise makes this boozy gourmand very interesting; in fact, I’ll go as far as saying that this is what Lolita Lempicka should have been. A very dynamic fragrance that is truly unique.

it's a nice sweet-ambery-leathery fragrance. it's not long lasting on my skin. but I like a lot.

Apparently many favourite ingredients (ie.liquorice,rum etc.) but a very bland result (I ended up giving it away to a friend)!

Perfect for chilly autumn days and a match made in heaven with a dark brown leather jacket! Makes me feel like sitting in a library room by a fireplace curled up in a comfy armchair with a worn brown leather upholstery, sipping dark rum and coffee, nibbling chocolate and liquorice, reading some dusty volume...

This scent took a few days of me wearing it, to really notice it subtle beauty!! Really, Its so well made and you can detect so many individual notes as well as the total blend! A richness of light fresh coffee, rum, and licorice, cinnamon to sweeten, and a warm sandalwood and ambery leather mix.mmmmm

I just added Yohji Homme to my collection yesterday. That coffee-rum thing really got me going...not my everday scent, but definitely for those days that I feel that "I'm too sexy for my shirt" feeling coming on