Reviews of Francesco Smalto pour Homme (1987)
by Francesco Smalto

Francesco Smalto Pour Homme opens on a fresh note — slightly green, somewhat citric, more aromatic than green-herbal: It’s a nice opening but I personally don’t care for the anise note that, to me, muddies up the freshness of the opening a bit. The opening is an interesting accord, though — it is rustic, masculine, and discreet – actually quite unique. In the heart notes, the aromatics grow somewhat stronger, moving into a true herbal / green — richer than the opening, but retaining discretion and centered in a soft smoky ambiance. The dry down is an example of a genuine rustic fougere: moss, hay and leather. I love the hay note, and although I usually don’t like leather in a fragrance, the leather here seems to work okay for me. This was once my favorite fragrance, and after all these years, I still find it interesting and I wear it once in a while. It is ultra-masculine, and it performs well on the skin with very good longevity. (Edit of 04 October 2005 review. Changed from a thumb’s up.)

I love this fragrance ..........I only discovered it about six months ago as a blind purchase on shopping TV of all places and have to say I was plesantly surprised ....................it has a lovely fresh opening which turns to a very plesant green fragrance ......not to strong but with great staying power ........ highly recomended buy if you can find it as it is unfortunatly discontinued

Decent woody fougere. It's a little more "fresh" and green than a typical fougere and it's also quite potent. Pleasant scent.

Smalto, you still make me weak!
(sigh!)
Discontinued - but fortunately it is still obtainable on eBay.

Insidious chimney smoke and sweet herbal combo which bears the unmistakable hallmarks of a kitchen fire.

Francesco Smalto comes on as a truckload of soapy lavender, eventually underpinned by cedar, anise, and bergamot. The note pyramid claims leather in the base, but it must be deeply buried under the heap of moss, residual lavender, and coumarin that leaves Smalto smelling like a classic, padded shoulders 1980s fougere. The coumarin note expands over time, so that Francesco Smalto sweetens substantially as it ages. (Unlike the reviewer.) The drydown of moss, amber, and woods is notable for not smelling as cheap or aggressively chemical as that of many recent fougere scents.

While it smells convincingly “natural,” Francesco Smalto is a loud scent, and a bit crude as well. I can’t deny that it makes an impact, but I don’t think it smells terribly original in comparison to the many other rugged fougeres of its decade. I certainly won’t put myself through contortions to obtain it now that it’s discontinued. If you like this sort of fragrance, I think Azzaro pour Homme and Lauder for Men perform the same act with more flair and finesse, and both have the advantage of being in production and available for relatively little money.

Holy 80's! One of the better offerings of the Drakkar Noir decade. Great woody/chypre. Makes The Third Man quite pedestrian by comparison. Quorum exorcised. A seemingly simple citrus that turns out to be quite complex. An underrated sleeper.

Bought it blind and couldn't be happier.

Full-strength 80s fougere in all its big, bold, masculine glory - pass the lavender and don't forget the moss, plus a little soapiness to add a sense of cleanliness to its impressive depth. A solid dose of leather and spices are also included, giving this some personality and dimension to hang with the other big boys from this era. There are still echoes of Azzaro, Tuscany, Drakkar Noir, etc. in here, but Smalto's no mere copycat - it only draws inspiration from the aforementioned before making its own magic, arguably besting some of these classics in the process. I'll never stop using Azzaro Pour Homme and Tuscany (Drakkar's a little overdone in my book), but this one could push its way to the front of the line easily.

With classics like this around, it's almost enough to make you think, "Who needs new releases?" Almost. There are plenty of juices du jour I wouldn't swear off but when I'm fed up with the smell of the status quo, it's nice to know I've got bottles like Smalto Pour Homme to go home to.

Smalto, you make me weak!
Remember that one? The ad showed a Felliniesque female rolling in bedsheets as she bit her finger in either heightened anticipation or post coital afterglow. Clearly the house of Smalto was attempting to position this brew as a late '80's player, but the late 80's were a transitional period for fragrance...and just who exactly was Francesco Smalto, anyways? He sounded made up. And was Smalto a power fragrance or a new fresh face on the block? It couldn't seem to make up it's mind and neither could the perfume buying public.
A small bottle was given to me by a fragrance promoter and I immediately liked it, but hardly ever wore it. It became more of a high end air freshner sitting on my bureau.
Smalto hung around for a while, but he never really caught on big. He managed to fly under the radar...but then, he apparently crashed somewhere over the
Atlantic and was never seen again. Gone, but not forgotten. But was he DISCONTINUED?
There still seems to be no clear answer on that one, but he is available dirt cheap on many websites. And what a bargain he is. I revisited Francesco Smalto Pour Homme and not only was I pleasantly surprised, I was shocked at how good he actually was (I feel like I'm talking about a gigolo whose come out of retirement...
This is by far the best of what I call the "Purple" fragrances. They usually come in purple colored bottles and often feature lavender as a major component. Things like Xereus and Very Valentino and Ungaro III and Versace Man. Smalto trumps these and all others by actually being subtle. He was never a power fragrance at all, but a beautiful balance of strength and softness. A mixture of smoke, leather, and lavender it's sort of like riding side saddle through an Italian garden at dusk.
Smalto would be perfect for the office as he calls to mind a fine Italian suit or an evening out, because he likes to dance all night at the swingingest hot spots.
All corniness aside, I would put FSPH way up on the list of great fragrances...maybe even in the top ten. He's that good.

Unique and creative.. a thing of beauty wrapped in an outer shell which is almost unsavoury and harsh. And yet...after the initial blast of dark, almost rude and intrusive notes, the very incarnation of distinction unfolds on my skin. Something reminding of the grand old Drakkar Noir plus an extra Versace L'Homme botanical touch, the formal and somewhat authoritarian manhood of Aramis and Givenchy Gentleman too, while Smalto is a darker, but also more suave, elaborate and smooth cousin of these two.
It's clearly a scent i would wear in winter or during formal occasions, maybe in cold weather, anyway it gives me the sensation of a glamorous party while it's snowing outside, of impressionistic landscpae, of a certain herbaceous residual leathery note, mingled with hints of tobacco and moss.

Ahhh...we now reach my fairly recent signature scent, discontinued, but that turn of events was allowed only because FS himself is now relegated a "senior advisor" to the company he built and sold off some years ago...he thus could not stop the demise of his own namesake.
This mix of manly herbs and spices is the real deal...oozing an almost subliminal sex appeal, yet retaining a solid sense of refinement, transending its 80's origins in classical style.
Dry, dry, dry enough to balance its formidable potency, never reaching cloying/burdening no matter where, or how much you apply it (Within reason naturally).
Read Odysseusm below for an accurate account of this frag's progression and if you are not worried about smelling unmistakenly like a man, try some of this long lasting masterpiece soon, very soon...

I like Francesco Smalto pour Homme, if I carefully control its application. No doubt about it, this is an old-school 80’s power scent... it is BIG and not afraid to be that! I don’t usually like heavy fragrances, but this one works for me because it is dry, not sweet. It has a brisk opening of lavender and rosemary-mint. It quickly settles into a good green and mossy middle. There are some really intriguing smoky, herbal and woody scents here. Some people find herbs difficult in a scent, but I really like them. Like the middle, the aromatic leather base is quick to arrive. If FSpH is applied in small doses the leather is not obnoxious or ponderous. Finally, the whole settles into a lovely soapy scent, a fresh lightness that is surprising to see at this stage. Compared to Azzaro or Quorum this is classier, more complex and interesting. It is not sweet like Tuscany. In comparison, Aramis is lighter with more citrus. I’d say this is an evening scent, and suitable for cool weather.

I agree with a nice little sleeper, you bet. Unfortunately, it shares the dubious distinction (along with Lapidus and Photo) of actually "growing" on me when I wear it. That's right -- it actually seems to grow stronger on me after I put it on. That's fine for an hour or two, but annoying as hell by five o'clock that afternoon, ya know? This one definitely has its fans, and for good reason -- it's a great scent for a fair price, even discontinued. That said, it just doesn't mesh with my body chemistry, I'm afraid. Thumbs up, but not for me.

I got this with a romantic notion that if witty naed nitram liked its quiet disinction and another reviewer called it "manhood in a bottle" and cause it only cost $8 or something that maybe I would become more refined or turned on even and like it

Well, I guess it's great for what it is but to me it smells like... manhood chained behind a desk at the bank. The smell of "Will I get a good rate on the auto loan?" or "Will he reverse the penalty charges on that overdraft?"

And it's really hard to wash off!

I was introduced to this one around 2001- I think it might have already been discontinued at that point. As others have said, its 80's all the way- very much in bed with Polo, Drakkar Noir, and Sung Homme. Its can be jarring and a little herby for the first 30 minutes. Let the heart notes come through abnd you see what a gem it is. I have been singing FS's praises since the day I bought it, and I still love it. On an additional note, some of my horded bottles are by different manuafacturers. A couple of these boxes have 2004 printed on the bottom, so we may not be enjoying a discontinued scent after all. A real sleeper that I'll wear regardless of the current trends.

I saw this on sale at my local TJ Maxx, and saw it had quite a few positive reviews. I picked it up and put it on... and truthfully I wasn't very impressed. It sort of smelled like a cheap aftershave or something from when I was a kid. But I didn't give up on it- within minutes, I started to notice the fragrances subtle nuances, and realized that it wasn't as simple as I first noted. It's really quite complex and deep, though a bit "green" for my tastes. For the price, it's really a quality scent.

I bought this one blind based on reviews, and it worked out very well for me. As so many others have mentioned, Smalto Pour Homme is a classic, 80's style scent. It somehow manages to be fresh and clean without being aquatic, fruity, or floral at all. It's very masculine - dry, woodsy, and mossy, with an herbal quality that lasts throughout the dry down. The only off-putting note at all was in the topnotes. For the first 30 minutes or so there was a strong kitchen herb smell - maybe the rosemary - that put me off a bit. But that faded, the middle and basenotes took over, and the whole thing came together very nicely. I can envision wearing this in many different settings and weather conditions. This one is a good choice for a blind buy.

Well, if you need a reference, it smells like a crossover between Rush by Gucci and Dupont by S.T. Dupont. It's woody, sweet, leathery, smoky, refreshing and sort of soapy but it smells very good.... about as good as it gets -- so much better than many much less appealing, but more recognizable D & G's, Burberrys, Armanis and Laurens, although virtually unknown in the United States. Very masculine and assertive typical of scents brewed in the mid '80s. Don't be a brand snob and try it!

This is a wonderful fragrance...always brings a compliment. Clean, fresh, and passionate.
Discontinued, though...sadly. If you can still find it, BUY IT...you won't regret it!

When I first bought this fragrance, it was very "smoky" smelling. It was nice at first, but then a half hour later, a very masculine, almost sweat-like scent started to emerge. I know it couldn't have been me because I had just showered prior to applying the fragrance. It wasn't a bad-smelling sweat-like scent, but, in fact, a rather masculine and "manly" smell, I suppose something that would turn on women, and most likely some men, too. I definitely would buy this fragrance again, as I place it in my top 20 fragrances. Too bad this "man juice" has been discontinued. It's manhood in a bottle.

My new favorite in the Jazz/Tsar/Drakkar Noir line!
Manly, subtle, refined, the perfect blend of florals, spices and mossy woods.
A real winner.

C'mon, gentlemen, admit it, we all have one less renowned fragrance in our arsenal that gets more compliments than any of our Creeds, Guerlains, Carons and Chanels. Smalto's original, which was my signature scent for most of the '90s, is mine. A complex and smooth blend of citrus, spices and leather, it is suitable for office or romance and can be used year 'round. A damn shame it has been discontinued, though it is still reasonable easy to find.

Reticent woods filled with gentlemen strollers. Hints of lavender and maybe mint on the breeze. A quiet pool, a quiet distinction.