Apparition Homme (2005)
by Ungaro

Genre: Fougère

Apparition Homme's lavender and citrus opening is both sweet and soapy, though also a bit chemical and crude in its execution. The instantly recognizable cucumber-melon flavor of Calone comes forward after a few minutes, but it is not conspicuous enough to impart an aquatic character to the composition. Instead what evolves is a pleasant, if ordinary, tangy-sweet fruity fougère accord in the Green Irish Tweed/Cool Water mold. It's neither better nor worse than any of its countless peers, so whether you buy it over another is just a matter of how much you prefer its bottle.

From Ungaro II to this...

Thought this was going to be a good one after the huge dose of mandarin orange and all the interesting notes in this. Unfortunately none of the other notes show up and basically what your left with is an extremely boring skin scent that lasts for a couple of hours.

It's almost as if evil little razorblades with fly's wings are invading my nostrils and scraping the inside of my nose. Awful to the point of being painful. You can emulate the smell of Apparition Homme by dousing your body in the cleaning fluids you'd find in the cabinet under the sink. Simply putrid.

This fragrance, while not being an infamous or particularly mediocre creation , exudes lack of complexity or better absence of real distinction in a way it pales in comparison with its great predecessors, in particular Ungaro l and Ungaro lll. I find it youthful and sparkling in a way it reminds me a bit the taste of some vermouths or some italian light liquors. I basically detect a fresh aromatic green-woody scent with a common woodsy masculine base and a sort of aquatic and fruity tart initial temperament which lasts for less than an half part of the development. The initial blast is very fruity, citrusy and kind of lavender veined with its aquatic link of mandarin-cucumber-tea soon flavoured by a touch of aromatic and mentholated anice. This kind of opening is a bit too crude and synthetic in my opinion. The link of rhubarb, anice, black pepper and licorice wood creates a sort of herbal-liquorous aroma conjuring me the taste of several digestive liqueurs and sets immediately an aromatic gummy-tarry barrage for the advancement of the aquatic feel which is too faint to resist at clash. As well as the initial fruity-watery aromatic beat starts fading and the influence of the tea note and prickly liquor plays its role, the watery feel slows down and the masculine touch of cedar, wood and vetiver envelops the elements. The aromatic taste of anice and licorice, turned out prickly and sparkling by the note of black pepper, influences broadly each stage of the trip. The dry down is somewhat common since being a light remembrance of the final development of several renowned classic aromatic fougeres or chypre. I catch the association with GIT by Creed and Cool Water but with a less aquatic temperament and an addition of bitter-sweet liquor. Well balanced. Longevity and sillage are in the average.

Somewhat dissapointed with this fragrance, I expected a lot more from Ungaro and Polge. Not a bad fragrance but less than expected.
It is fresh but doesn't qualify as aquatic either, the opening is very fruity with the tart rhubarb and mandarin but soon the anise takes command with the peppery background to end in a somewhat pleasant vetiver note.
Again, not a bad fragrance by any means, but not good enough for my thumbs up either, my wife loves it so maybe your spouse/partner will too.