Arber (2002)
by Body Shop

it's ok when you want something a little less feminine. smells clean and definately male without being overly pungent. doesn't linger in my clothes which is great. guys tend to notice when i wear this... not sure why...

30th October, 2011.

Not all that great...but not terrible. I was lured in by the price. It was something insane like 1.50 euros. The part of me that likes Mitchum men's deoderants likes this... it makes me feel like a very young drag king -- on the one hand a very fake constructed Male perfume without any there there, but... it makes me feel happy and nostalgic. I don't really like any body shop perfumes, but somehow they can make me feel that way...

Anyway -- my conclusion is that this is for the very young folks only (I'm 24 and I feel a bit too old for this), and only for daywear -- not for dates under any circumstances. Just no.

2nd April, 2010.

I like this for casual daytime wear. It reminds me of a scent that I wore in high school, almost identical, that was discontinued. Don't remember the name of it. But this reminds me of that fragrance more than anything else, and that one got me a lot of complements. I don't wear this one often, but now and then it's nice and reminds me of my youth.

24th March, 2010.

A decent version of the fruity amber fragrances that proliferate the market at the present time. It's a one note wonder, but it holds its quality for long enough to maintain your interest for several hours. This is very much in keeping with its simplistic packaging and mininimalistic bottle design. There is scant competition, but this is one of the better Body Shop offerings, and it may be particularly well suited to layering with the variety of other Arber products.

10th October, 2009.

A young, attractive Body Shop employee sprayed Arber all over herself and invited me to sniff. Perhaps an unfair sales tactic, but I bought it. I enjoy it, especially after the pungent top notes burn off, but for me it remains a secondary fragrance for casual times after Tommy Hilfiger's Athletics (now sadly discontinued).

I'm intrigued by Carlos' statement that this is a "carbon copy" of Floris Santal (minus the pepper), which I am about to buy for the first time. I hope it's not. Let's compare ingredients:

Arber
Top notes: Lime, orange, geranium
Mid notes: Coriander, mint, watermelon
Base notes: Sandalwood, vetiver, tonka bean

Floris Santal
Top notes: Bergamot, black pepper, cardamon, green grass, lemon
Mid notes: Clove bud, lavender, nutmug
Base notes: Amber, cedar wood, frankinsense, musk, sandalwood, vanilla, vetiver

Overall, Arber is OK, but I wouldn't buy it again.

17th August, 2009.

In my opinion, extremely spicy, leaving a quite sharp overall impression. The olfactory sensation might seem assaulted, at first, by a variety of peppery notes, as other reviewers correctly remarked, followed by a warm and quite sweet dry- down. Pleasant and quite good value for money, but not something I would wear every day and, also, not enough to become my signature scent.

15th February, 2009.