Habit Rouge Sport (2009)
by Guerlain

A nice, light, sweet leather and vanilla. Also rose. It has some similarities to its namesake but it really is a scent of its own.
Ignore the name, I don't know why "Sport" is here other than the fact it is a light scent.
A dry, spicy drydown ensues with more vanilla.

3rd January, 2012.

First of all the name, may be i'm a bit conservative but  placing the word sport beside the notorious, respectful and lofty name Habit Rouge is simply  appalling.  Habit Rouge is the epitome of the baroque decadence and the modern olfactory concept of sport is out of place and offensive for one of the greatest masterpiece of all times. Admitted  that the fragrance, while being itself  not so bad, is miles far from the height of its predecessor. Habit Rouge Sport is a contemporary watery concoction in which the main elements of earlier EDT version (i mean vanilla, smoke, incense, balsams, leather, woodsy musky amber, angular and botanic hesperides)are subdued and diluted in a splash of hesperidic water and in sinks of  liquid bamboo, watery jasmine, may be ginger and fluidy orange. This far less complex fragrance is utterly different from the original, is more floral (rose, jasmine), more citrusy (here the citrus are watery and not earthy-angular and baroque), subdued in each element, deprived of others and for sheer "modern" reasons lacking of smoke, leather, rootiness, vanillic  viscosity, retro hesperidic and initial barbershop temperament, orangy powderiness, aristocratic romanticism, cozy whisky, incensey and patchouli boldness, nocturnal decadence, boise' uniqueness. In the sport version doesn't exist the contrast of juiced hesperidic elements and oriental woody-vanillic factors. Possibly the new owners of the glorious Guerlain had made better to call this " normal " fragrance with another name.

16th November, 2011. (Last Edited: 22nd December, 2011.)

Habit Rouge Sport is a beautiful floral oriental (i think: i am not to good at categorising scents). It starts off with a citrus burst, with spices joining the chorus quite soon after. The definite jasmine notes also arise in the first few minutes of application. I really don't know what bamboo would smell like in a frag and i am sure i am missing it here. HRS is mainly floral, IMO. And a beautiful floral it is. I tried to sniff out any indolic or animalic accents, even taking a walk in the heat. I did not get any (sadly). HRS settles into a base of subtle leather and light vanilla. It certainly is not a powdery dry-down. More like the dry-down of Coriolan, feel-wise. Why the "Sport" appellation? Goodness knows.

I write this review exactly 12.5 hours after application and i still catch wafts of HRS rising from my chest, so HRS has no longevity issues on my skin. I applied HRS a tad liberally, but did not bathe in it. I know the sillage of HRS is good. Not a room-clearer though.

My only complaint about Habit Rouge Sport is the name, and Guerlain's making it a flanker of the successful Habit Rouge, rather than a stand-alone release. This will naturally cause people seeking after HR references, finding little, feeling disappointed and thereby missing the bigger picture. I believe HRS should be judged on its own merits and not with reference to the other Habit Rouges.HRS is a new direction for Guerlain. A direction towards a new demographic of user, which i think one should welcome since one cannot avoid the constancy of change. There are Guelain frags for Guerlainistas. Then there are (mostly new) Guerlains for those who just like nice-smelling scents. HRS may not be to the satisfaction of the purists, but it is a very good scent which i intend to enjoy for a long time.

I like! Thumbs up.

12nd July, 2010.

Great fragrance!
Some of the original Habit Rouge aficionados will always be disappointed with this version. Stop living in the past! We are in 2010 not in the 1970's anymore
Habit Rouge Sport is one of the best modern perfumes on the market

19th April, 2010. (Last Edited: 21st April, 2010.)

I like this. I smell it and I imagine some bizarre collaboration where Guerlain allowed Comme des Garçons reinterpret Habit Rouge. it has bits and pieces of the original Habit Rouge, but it's very peppery, cool metallic, floral and somewhat green with the bamboo.

It's like there are two separate scent "genies" living inside the same bottle. You have the original Habit Rouge whose name is on the lease, sleeps in the master bedroom and pays most of the bills; then you have the sporty, rooster-haired transient young rake who sleeps on the couch, answers the door and chips in for the cable. Odd couple or symbiosis? You decide.

The only downside for me is sometimes that cold steely note amidst the spices brings me back to painful memories of my Cinnabar wearing mom plowing a metal comb through my hair in an effort to make me look presentable before church. OUCH!

15th April, 2010.

I don't know what about this fragrance is "Sport." It seems actually a bit more floral (jasmine and rose). The jasmine gives the composition a bit of a sour note that I found quite off-putting upon my first several wearings. There is also a metalic element that I found quite foul. I really hated this one at first.

However, the more time I spent with HRS, the more I warmed to it. It didn't hurt either that this is one of the few fragrances I wear that actually garners many compliments. It is a floral, somewhat harsh, slightly woody interpretation of Habit Rouge with a nice peppery note. It really is the floral elements of HRS which I find quite attractive.

EDIT: I have turned around on this one. My rating has gone from neutral to thumbs up. Each time I wear HRS I like it more. It's actually quite good.

5th February, 2010. (Last Edited: 21st November, 2011.)