Fuel For Life pour Homme (2007)
by Diesel

Notes:
Top: Anise, Grapefruit
Middle: Lavender, Raspberry
Base: Heliotrope, Wood notes

Fuel for life homme (FLH), an aromatic-fougere by Firmenich wizards Annick Menardo and Jacques Cavallier, may boast a somewhat attractive whisky-flask bottle with a rough military skin but contains a surprisingly juicy and cheery juice which would make metrosexuals everywhere giddy with delight. This disconnect hints at something ...that FLH is only the latest vehicle to transport the latest Firmenich aromachemical to the masses, the aromachemical in this case being Frambinone(R) which has a fruity-raspberry-musky aroma profile (hence the 'raspberry' in the pyramid).

FLH opens with a pleasant and clear grapefruit and anise combo, the tangy sweetness of anise eradicating any possible acidic tones of the grapefruit. From there FLH reveals more depth in the form of a lavender note which immediately ushers your nose to Frambinone, errr, the musky raspberry note. Frambinone is not your garden variety uber sweet raspberry..rather it has an interesting balsamic base (so to speak) which results in a fruity-spiced woods effect. Nice, but not nice enough to be the showcase note with a 3rd rate supporting cast. And then the show ends with 'generic woods' as in many other fragrances flooding the market (is it Saffraliene(R)?), with little to no heliotrope sweetness to prevent FLH from descending into the mundane tier. But its too late: the attractive bottle has lured you in and the dichotomy of the army-cool and raspberry-happy juice stumped you long enough for you to fork over your hard earned cash to the cashier. And off go the Firmenich scientists to invent another aromachemical. The cycle repeats again...

Rating: 6.00/10.00

I tested this again recently, but my impression of it still remains unchanged. This is candied and fruity, and definitely not for me, I could hardly detect the lavender on skin. I can see how this can be popular, it is pleasant to the nose, but not something I want to smell of.

Too many people complaining about this frag. I get the most compliments from this than any of my niche fragrances which cost 5 times as much. Its masculine but has somewhat of a seductive smell to it as well. Someone said its smells of "Italian" I guess I see what they mean but this is a perfect frag for 20s age group and doesn't cost a whole lot either. Staying power is decent for an EdT

It opens with a somewhat fresh citrus and anise (mercifully light on the synthetic anise) accord. The opening presents something interesting at first… it’s a little different and quite pleasant… until it begins to get a rather strong synthetic feel to it. Then I think that it becomes another one of the dozens of tedious synthetic openings. As usual, the lavender in the citrus / sweet spicy accord interferes with my appreciation of it – It’s ok, but I just don’t care very much for the combination and would like it better sans lavender. The mid accord is mainly a sweet floral extension of the opening... Again, I feel neutral about it. The ambry base improves the movement of the fragrance somewhat, but doesn’t offer much longevity on my skin. The base is the element of the fragrance that I prefer the most… it has a little more substance to it via the wood, even though it is similar to the accords that preceded it.

Diesel Fuel for Life comes across to me as pretty much a repeat of several other sweet, fruity fragrances out there. It is not unique, but it has some good points to it and should be tested out by a person who likes fruity-sweet fragrances.

If you like Body Kouros, and Lolita Lempicka Au Masculin, whick are all Annic Menardo’s creations this is definetely the one that you will like, too. Diesel Fuel For Life is an exceptionally long lasting fragrance with pretty much sillage. It is more fruity and fresher than the other two.

Whilst i'm fond of Anise there's something very wrong here. After 20 minutes this becomes so overly sweet and cloying that I just wanted to wash it off. This fragrance lacks development and has something of an imature feel about it. Over 18's need not apply!