DKNY Red Delicious Men (2006)
by Donna Karan

This is, quite possibly, the only scent I've purchased/been given, where I've simply had to give away.
I got it for Christmas a few years back, and tried several times over a couple of years, and simply couldn't get away with it.

Initially it smelt ok, but quickly developed a warm, dry, cloying feel to it, that try as I might to brave through, I just couldn't. I think it's the spicy booze that's the culprit here. Like sloshing on weeks old Christmas punch.
And the dry down, on my skin, was repulsive. At least to my nose. Other's told me I smelt lovely and I got compliments galore, but I simply couldn't take having the fetid stench around me all day.

It's almost certainly the reaction it had with my skin. I was out with a lady friend, one freezing cold night, and she had it on, but on her it smelt pretty damn good! Sadly my experiences in the past jaded my opinion of it even on her lovely self. Had I not had a prior experience, it may well have been a different matter!

And for that reason (because I'm not totally convinced).. I'm wussing out and giving it a Neutral rating. I hated it (on me)! But everyone else seemed to like it. Aaand it smells fairly decent on others too.

9th July, 2011.

DKNY Red Delicious is deliciously boozy.

This fragrance had the potential to be fresh and Summery, especially with the presence of apple and bergamot, however I'm rather glad that this fragrance is the complete opposite of fresh.

Red Delicious is rich, spicy and warm. This is the scent for a wild man, something that really appeals to me. The booziness originates from the rum and cognac notes, yet the spicyness from the patchouli, saffron and cardamom balances the scent out nicely.

Added notes of coffee and floral components such as iris, orchid and mandarin blossom makes for one very unique fragrance. This is certainly masculine however a daring woman wearing this fragrance is not out of the question.

I only half-heartedly agree that this is an aquatic, it does have slight watery notes, but it is nowhere near as fresh as most aquatic fragrances. The best seasons for DKNY Red Delicious would be Autumn and Spring and perhaps even Winter.

26th June, 2011.

My husband and I tested this in the store as an option for him, and I HATED it. I admit, we did not wait for the drydown, but the intial smell was soooooo horrible that I DID NOT CARE if the drydown was nice. I'm not sure if anyone else smelled the same thing, but all I could smell was cherry flavored Robitussin cough syrup . . . YUCK!

5th December, 2010.

An aptly named fragrance. Like soaking yourself in white rum infused with freshly pressed sharp cox apple juice - an attribute that may not sound favourable, but it certainly works. Women adore this fragrance, perhaps a little too much - on numerous occasions a compliment has evolved into a request to borrow the spray! If you're big enough to overcome such emasculating requests, it is a beautifully fresh and subtle fragrance.

The only slight qualm is the poor longevity - I seem to eat through 100ml bottles.

21st July, 2010.

Okay now, this sat as a sample only used 3 or 4 times for years. When I started exploring 100s of fragrances in the last month, I rediscovered and evaluated this.

The glory in Red Delicious is the blatant unapologetic delicious boozy spicy sweet gourmand action with enough of a masculine leaning to allow me to get away with it. It's impressive to me on its own, but may not be the biggest hit with females since it can steal the show. And it can tend to lack a more masculine side.

So, the big discovery was in mixing it with darker fragrances to push it in the masculine area. I can mix it to be intense like like A*Men, B*Men etc, but I can scale it back. I made up a decant of this in a roller ball to limit how much I use in a mix. I prefer a Red Delicious infused mix way more than A*Men/B*Men.

6th March, 2010.

The apple, the coffee, and the extensive list of liquors don’t come through for me. About all I get are some screechy synthetic notes that do not bare a resemblance to any smell I know of in the natural world or the virtual world for that matter. Sillage is poor and longevity is poorer. Not a very good scent IMO.

1st February, 2010.