Reviews of Mat; Male (2002)
by Masakï Matsushïma

Minimalist herbs. It's cool but warms up after a while. Lightly salted and mint. The drydown is good. It's a very clean, herbal feel to it. That's the part I like. Very hesitant thumbs up as the opening really distracts me from the rest of the fragrance.

flowery and green.very cheap . good scent but i am not a fan of the earthy,fresh,floral types. plus paul smith the original does it better.

I have to agree with a previous reviewer... After a couple of hours, the base of green, sappy wood - bamboo, I suppose - with some dusty, fruity florals hanging on in there, is really, really good.

But the shrill opening, like an animated, brightly coloured confectionery counter, commandeered by some frightening ninja lychees and a samurai watermelon, attacking your olfactory organ with lots of sharp little citrus swords and badly-aimed berry nunchucks, is enjoyably strange but not particularly pleasant.

It's a fresh, sensual and vibrant scent. There is little competition out there, Versace Eau Fraiche having a similar scent but with a younger appeal. It's not strong but does strike that great accord between green, floral and musky without being too feminine.

I am a fan of mat;male, but only felt it pungent when I first wore it. After a few more tries, however, I began to appreciate its concept of contradiction. While its flowery sweetness is warm, inviting, and really feminine sometimes, sharp lines are drawn by the spicy notes of juniper berry and white leather, which make the scent tender and stern at the same time. A very unique blend indeed.

Fresh, citrusy, fruity, green, a little spicy — none of the notes overbalancing the others. To my nose, the grapefruit, bay leaves, mint, and parsley come though nicely in the opening, in a citrus / green accord that is pleasant but not really anything special. The middle notes are dominated by the watermelon with a strong rose note supporting it. And the base provides primarily white cedar and leather with a bit of musk — I feel there’s something missing in the base. It’s a nice fragrance and I’ve worn it several times but never really got into it. There is nothing in it that I dislike, but there is nothing in it that really grabs me, either.

I got this fragrance as a gift, this is one that I hate and love. I love the dry down, but I just can't stand the top notes. Call me crazy, but the top notes smell like piss. Even though I love the dry down (aromatic/green/ spicy), I just can't stand the top notes, therefore I can't really use it.

It starts out with a fresher, cooler, lighter, less sweet version of the licorice in Very Male. More like traditional men's cologne anise, but not quite. I don't know where I get the licorice/anise from and in the drydown it disappears, turning into a more fennel-like scent. Green and spicy/herbal/aromatic, a quite classic masculine scent.

Fresh. Summery. Average.

I had a bottle of this, wore it fairly often, and then "lost" the bottle (along with all my other fragrances) when I moved. Sorry, had to get that off my chest... As you can see from the reviews, this one is tough to classify. I always found that it was an in-between fragrance. What I mean is that it was a little too musky to be feminine, but too sweet, soft, and floral to be truly masculine. When wearing it I felt it was a tad too pungent for the summer, but too light and, again, sweet and floral, for the winter. I never got into a groove with this one, but still liked it. One reviewer said this reminded them of the color white. I say it is light purple. I'm not sure why, but the floral and sweet notes take the heavier notes down and notch, and for some reason I always felt this one was a light pastel purple scent (compared to Mat Very Male, which is a dark purple scent - more masculine, more musky, but still kicking out that one signature sweet floral sort of note). Maybe it is "purple" because of the combination of watermelon, rose, and black currant. There is a distinctive sweet note that sits on top, which is probably the result of those three scents combining. Overall, I like it for its distinctiveness, but always felt I could not find the right time, place, or weather to wear this one.

very clean and "white", I would describe it as white suede. interesting smell, some people will compliment it other people have a worried look on their face when they smell me. those are usually not usefull people anyways so thumbs up!

I thought it couldn't be done but someone invented a cologne worse than CK Contradiction and Puig's Quorum. Burn a bamboo forest, sprinkle the ashes and--well, you get the idea. Same lavender stuff you smell all the time in the 2000's. Boring! boring! boring! Get a real cologne and don't buy this.

I think this is a potentially great one, unfortunately the rose accord ruins it for me, making it to girlie. Mat; Male is the one fragrance best capturing the real aroma of both watermelon and parsley - 2 very cool notes that unfortunately haven't been used well before. What a pity that they added those florals to...

Mat Male is a great summer based fragrance. I hated it for the longest time, but realized I had a bad bottle. I usually hate citrus, but there is something wonderful about the smell of lime. This is a sharp and invigorating fragrance that evolves wonderfully on the skin. This is also much more interesting and multifaceted than most other citrus fragrances. It’s a shame I swapped it away.

the smell reminded me a bit of Dolce&Gabbana at first, and then settles nicely into a fresher and floral scent. Top notch.

A green scent...by that I mean this smells like: cut grass, hay, green tea, etc. It changes, of course, over time, but that is the general scent description. I think Chaleur d'Animale pour Homme (2000) is similar.

I first sampled this almost a year ago, along Yohji. I don't recall what I ended up purchasing (Givenchy Pour Homme, perhaps), but I never forgot the impression Mat;Male left.
Recently, I began looking for a soft "white" fragrance that would do the trick for me in the summer. Immediately, Mat;Male came to mind, and I stopped by the store to sample again. I returned with a gift set including a small bottle of EDT, and a larger bottle of ASB, which dispenses through a spray mechanism as well.
The fragrance itself is a complete joy: from it's opening notes of Water Melon and Grapefruit, to the middle notes of various roses, and the base of white leather, it's a very soft and sensual fragrance that wears close to the skin after a while. If you're a fan of scents with floral notes such as 212, or like Sung's latest Hei with its bamboo note, Mat;Male should be on your list. A big thumbs up!