Reviews of John Varvatos (2004)
by John Varvatos

Look out! Here comes the John Varvatos party pooper!

John Varvatos opens with a standard-issue modern men's fragrance fruit accord that's made somewhat intriguing by a hint of something dusky and animalic deep in the background. Unfortunately, the animalic note is quickly overwhelmed by what I've come to think of as the "Jolly Rancher" accord: cheap, artificially fruit-flavored hard candy. Like the candy, the fragrances that use this sort of concoction all wind up tasting the same to me, no matter what color they are. So for all its exotic medjool date, tamarind, and ajowan notes, John Varvatos winds up smelling crassly sweet and commonplace to me.

Part of the problem may be that even true, fresh tamarind can have a steely, artificial edge to it. On top of that, the date, which is a very flat note under any circumstances, comes across as particularly synthetic and two-dimensional here. The very sweet, powdery synthetic amber in the foundation does nothing to improve matters.

The fruit accord rests on a bed of very smooth woods and sweet vanilla, softened by the powdery amber, and I have to say that the result is oddly redolent of high-end tanning lotion. For something that's so fruity, John Varvatos is potent stuff. The projection and sillage are both exceptional. More in line with the bulk of fruity fragrances, John Varvatos enters its drydown very quickly, perhaps even within an hour. The listed leather note only appears very deep into the drydown, and even then it's almost too anemic to matter. The sendoff is the same vanilla, soft woods, and sweet powdery amber accord that supports the scent's heart. The John Varvatos fragrance pyramid lists eaglewood (a.k.a. agarwood, oudh), but the folks at Quest International must have just waved the closed vial of oudh over the mixing vat, because its presence is entirely undetectable. A few hours into the drydown, and the interesting animalic note from the opening finally reappears, but it's too late and too little to get me excited.

Though my evaluation may seem harsh, John Varvatos is by no means a "bad" scent. It's just disappointingly ordinary for something that's been so highly praised.

John Varvatos

The finest moment of JV is the opening with the delicious creamy date smell. I love it. Overall a sweet fragrance which I quickly learned does not last very long on my dry skin. Perhaps 2 hours at most. Yes, JV can last on fabric for 24 hours (clothing, bag, coat...etc, but on my skin it is very fleeting. I find this frustrating as I do prefer to apply fragrances on my skin. After I had initially dismissed my bottle as a "mistake" purchase, I began testing JV on different fabrics. On my carry-on bag, JV allows the creamy date smell to linger and it lasts over 24 hours on it. On my baseball cap and winter coat, the vanilla and leather seems to come out very well on those fabrics as well..

Usually for daily wear I spray my inner shirt below my neck and the elbows of my shirt. When sprayed as such, JV does get tiring and very sweet. The sweetness is not really restrained, although not over the top as some other masculine’s ( Allure Homme). I believe JV works well on thicker fabrics, not soft and thin t-shirts.

Anyways, JV is not a fragrance I would consider strong at all. When I first sprayed this, I was very apprehensive. It was a blind buy. Anytime I spray a fragrance for the first time, it catches me off guard no matter what. Initially I did not like it. That was over one year ago. But quickly I took a liking to JV. Top notes are fantastic. Unfortunately on my skin, the dry down does not reveal the black leather.

It is difficult to recommend a fragrance that does not wear well on (my) skin. That is unless, however, like my self, you learn to live with applying JV to your coat, shirts, and carry-on bags. That way it smells nice, lasts very well, although I am not sure how bad this is for your clothing.

The bottle is very cool looking with the color and faux leather around the bottle. The sprayer does not release a lot of juice. About half as much as some bottles I have.

If JV works well on your skin and gives you good longevity, then this is a good fragrance. I am gonna go neutral on this one. JV could use some restraint in the sweetness; as well have more pronounced leather and more lingering date note.

sweet oriental

Mainstream sweet-almondy-sandalwood oriental. Certainly not the wost in its class, but lacks character. Likable by many, I suppose.

It’s not that bad but to my nose almost disturbingly sweet. Fresh, fruity and very very sweet.

Very gimmicky pyramid release to my mind….I think this is far more simple and unoriginal creation that note list may suggest.

Dried fruits covered in massive piles of sugar, very small hint of suede and lots of that Minotaure-Roma Uomo- like amber. That sums up JV quite nicely, doesn’t it (?)

Very contemporary, versatile and harmless subtle fragrance if I take it easy on the trigger. Larger amounts makes that sweetness hit in very unpleasant style.

Nice but also awfully average fragrance at the end of the day.

VERY sweet, I can't separate all the notes, I definately pick up the vanilla when I wear this frag, but very little, if any leather. Sometimes I can pick it up, other times I can't.

I am slightly disappointed with my (blind) purchase of John Varvatos.
I love the initial burst of meditteranean herbs and date fruit but when it dries down it becomes too sweet and cheap smelling. Doesn't last very long either. One woman at work described it as 'awful', however I wouldn't say it is that bad.....just try before you buy.

having liked it, loved it and hated it as some others have stated is true for me also. maybe too many notes, too much expiermental expiermenting. has a bit in common with black walnut by banana republic also. both are subtle with jv being more fruity.i made the mistake of buying the 4.2 oz bottle and winding up giving it to my brother. too short on lasting power but a decent scent to say the least.

This fragrance is strong and lasts a long time. The dry down in definitely better than the initial spray but it's still a bit overpowering in my tastes. I can see this fragrance making some people nauseous because of its overpowering vanilla smell in the drydown. If you're going to buy this, please don't overspray. A few sprays is definitely enough for this fragrance. I was going to buy this fragrance blindly but I am now glad that I was able to test this one before buying. This one is not for me but I can see many people liking it. There are times that I like the smell but then it turns me off at the same time. Again, do not overspray this one. People will smell you even after the first spray.

I'm way too young for this, and i prefer fresher, more simple fragrances, you might want to bear that in mind. There is no doubt that this smells nice, sophisticated and relatively mascauline, no one is going to hate it, but there's something a little too dark and fruity in a dry, sweet way for me. Very leathery too.

Ebay provides an excellent opportunity to try out many fragrances, that one would probably not buy otherwise, J. Varvatos is one of these! I have not found Varvatos on sale here in Europe, but got interested after reading about it here, and finally I have my own 4.2 bottle to smell from. Personally I have come to the conclusion that this is not the fragrance for me… It is not that I don’t like it, it actually smells pretty nice…but it is just something about it that I don’t like and I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it is the somewhat too soothing vanilla note or maybe the concoction of exotic notes that together with leather notes, makes J. Varvatos smell a little strange and intrusive according to me. My girlfriend adores this scent, so I guess it can’t be all that bad! But if I would choose a fragrance for going on a date with myself, this is not the fragrance I would wear to make a first impression. Grading this is hard, even if my girlfriend likes it, I still think that I stick to my own impression…

Overall a mix that works: starts off with a date/exotic fruit and ends up more fresh(aromatic) and oriental (warmth that everybody noted).

Problem is that it does not last that long to be considered a classic.

And for the asking price, there are other excellent frags that beat this one in sillage and longetivity and draw even on uniqueness. So, if you are getting a good deal, I would recommend it.

Varvatos is a great scent for winter and fall however for me personally I love the scent but find the longevity of it to be very short. Wish it was made in a parfum and maybe a bit stronger. For me it smells great for a few hours but fades quickly.. Try to wear it to work but it just doesnt last for me.. Nothing against the scent I really adore it just wish it had a kick..however maybe for someone else it may last longer..

John Varvatos is a middle of the road scent.I don't get much leather. I wouldn't call it a true leather scent as Knize Ten or even Cuiron is. There's something synthetic that reminds me of Nemo. Maybe it's the fruity topnote

I believe this to be over-rated. I dont remember the notes of it exactly, but its on sale for 49.99 at my local grocery store. I sprayed the tester and it didnt really stand out to me any more than the usual dept store frags. im neutral on this one

I'm in a constant battle with this one. Sometimes it's a wonderful sweet leather scent. Other times it has a weird orange note that sticks out like a sore thumb. It clashes with the rest of the notes IMO and takes away the balance. It's easy to wear as far as leather scents go. It doesn't seem like it's aimed at any specific age group. But ever since I've acquired Dzing, I seldom find myself reaching for this anymore.

i anticipated this fragrance would be "original" or "groundbreaking" because of the list of interesting ingredients-but when i tried it on it was a version of Le Dandy in a much sexier bottle. the similarity between the two was too close for me to make the purchase.