Fragrance Reviews by Agent Zero

Clearly what the world needs is another insight into Gucci pour Homme. Well, here's my go at it.

I really wanted to like this. Trust me, I really did. I like Tom Ford's work, I like other male Gucci scents, I even like the bottle. Hell, I LOVE the bottle. The juice just leaves me a little flat. It's not that it's a bad scent, I just don't especially care for the way it smells. It's wood, incense, and pencil shavings plus some pepper and leather in the dry down. Nothing there to hate except for the pencil shavings, which are far too prominent and drive me away. For my money, CDG's Kyoto gives me all the incense and wood I'll ever need.

Then again, I'm merely a college student. This isn't the kind of scent that can easily be pulled off by someone of my age. Perhaps when I'm older, I will discover this one's true beauty.

Notes:

Head: Lemon Leaf Oil, Verbena, Tarragon, Bergamot
Heart: Orange Blossom, Neroli, Geranium
Base: Beeswax, Cedarwood, White Musk

Wow! This was pretty much love at first sniff for me. The opening reminds me of Eau d'Orange Verte by Hermes. Both share a bright, citrus opening that's heavy on the orange. After a couple hours is where they really start to distinguish themselves. Namely, I can still smell L'Eau de Neroli. Orange Verte has almost no longevity on me, and even though I find it to be a lovely scent, I could never purchase a bottle because of the terrible lasting power. Not to say Neroli is a powerhouse because it isn't by any means (with a good spraying I could maybe get 5 hours out of this on a good day, probably closer to 4) but it's an EdC, so I ended up being rather pleased it could last this long. It settles nicely into a very nice orange blossom smell with a little creaminess thanks to the beeswax. This would be a perfect scent for summer. My only complaint is that it's not available in a smaller amount. 200ml is a lot to have of anything, even an EdC. Nevertheless, I feel like I a bottle of this could be in my near future.

Navegar opens for me with a huge blast of cucumber. After a minute or so, it falls to the background along with some wood and lime takes center stage. It's a great smelling lime, pure, crisp and refreshing. As time goes on, the lime becomes a little less pronounced and the fragrance gets a little more spicy. Quite a nice scent overall, it strikes me like it would be best worn in the spring/summer. Unfortunately, Navegar suffers from some serious sillage and longevity issues. As others have noted, the scent stays close to the skin, and not for very long I might add. I get about 3 hours out of it, which is much too short for a scent this pricy. It's a pity, because when you can detect this, it's a real winner.

From reading all the reviews here, I thought i would be greeted with a beautiful blend of hazelnuts and honey behind a woody backdrop, which sounds great to me. I DO get these notes, but it's hard to distinguish them most of the time because a black licorice accord keeps beating me over the head without mercy. This might be good for some; personally, I can only take anise in very small, controlled doses (and it helps when it's being overpowered by a series of other notes). It's a shame, because in the brief moments where the licorice gives me some olfactory fatigue, the true beauty of this scent shines though. If the licorice was gone, or even controlled, this would be worth of picking up a bottle. As it stands, I'll give it a neutral because as far as I can tell, I'm the only one to ever experience this excessive licorice phenomena. Plus, even with its faults, it doesn't smell *bad*. Just not my cup of tea.

What is this? A "safe" offering from L'Artisan? Say it aint so! This scent is fresh and completely inoffensive, and frankly, doesn't really show the typical cunning that the rest of L'Artisan's offerings do. Most of what I get is a lemony-soap smell and grass. It's nice, but is it really worth niche money? Considering there are better scents in the same family, namely Mugler Cologne, I submit that it is not.

Bulgari Black was walking along one day, but it was the weekend, so instead of stopping at its usual destination of the tire fire, it decided to go to the circus. There, it was covered in light fur and a leather saddle was thrown upon its back and it was thrust into the proceedings. It's smokey vanilla sweetness is better suited here anyways.

Boy, I hate to be the turd in the proverbial punch bowl, but after sampling this, I'm afraid I cannot give it anything but the dreaded "thumbs down". I can pinpoint exactly what I dislike about this scent. It might be a total shocker so you should probably sit down for this one... the OUD! I just cant deal with it. In small, more discrete amounts, such as in M7, it's fine. But this is a full on oud-smack to the face. It comes strong and hard in the opening and even after several hours, it still rears its ugly head every so often. As for the actual "Black" part of Black Aoud, well it's very reminiscent of Czech & Speake's No. 88. It's dark, smooth, and handled well. At least the longevity is amazing, so if you do like it, you can enjoy it all day. For me, there are enough rose scents I absolutely love (the aforementioned No. 88, Le Labo's Rose 31, and L'Artisan's Voleur de Roses) that I won't lose any sleep over this one.

Try before you buy is something that's preached regularly around here, but I'm not sure I can stress it enough with this scent. Clearly, it has many, many people who adore it. It's pretty pricey, so there's no reason not to get a ML before you take the plunge.

And forget about that "unisex" label it has. This is hands-down a masculine scent. One of my worst nightmares is showing up on a date, only to find her wearing Black Aoud. I just don't think I could do it.

Wow, an extremely interesting and highly satisfying scent. I get the woods (cypress and pine) and the turpentine in abundance, especially at the beginning. Robin at NowSmellThis offers a very accurate description of this smell, saying "this is the smell of your father's woodshop, assuming you had a father with a woodshop." Well, my father had a woodshop (or at least the garage of our house where he would do work) and I can vouch for this description. At the same time, I find this to be very natural smelling. There's a trail where I enjoy riding my bike through a grove of trees. Every so often, I catch a whiff of something that smells exactly like Hinoki in the air. Either way, it evokes good memories for me. It's not the kind of thing I would wear all the time, but the second my bottle runs dry, I will be sure to get a new one. I find comfort and a unique harmony in its seeming cacophonous notes.

PS. This does not smell unisex to me at all. At all. In fact, the combination of woods and turpentine makes it, I think, one of the most masculine scents I own. Ladies, please don't wear this one. If my girlfriend wore this, I would most likely steal her bottle so she could never wear it again (and so I'd have more).

An astoundingly good recreation of smoky, spiced tea. This was designed to smell like tea and it absolutely delivers in that regard. I guess this could be considered the British version of Mugler's Pure Coffee. It also has surprisingly good longevity. It's really a lovely scent.

But...

Do you really want to walk around smelling like a fresh cup of tea? I'm not so sure I do. I feel as though the standard reaction people would give you is not "oh, you smell nice", but rather "who's making tea?" This could smell amazing on the right person, but I think it would be better off as a scent for the room (L'Artisan actually makes something close to this as a candle/room scent called The Et Pain D'Epices).

Tea plus rose is an accurate description of this. Actually, it's more like rose plus tea. In the beginning, I get them in about equal parts; a bright vibrant rose and smoky black tea (think L'Artisan's Tea for Two with rose). If only it could stay this nice. As the the scent evolves, the tea dies down and the rose remains. I use the word "evolves" loosely in this instance, as the rose stays pretty much the same throughout the life of the scent, and pretty much nothing else shows up. The rose is bright and bold, it reminds me a little of Frederic Malle's "Lipstick Rose" minus the lipstick (thank god, that lipstick smell killed me). Longevity is average. While this is listed as unisex, I feel like it falls a little more towards the female side of the spectrum. Not so female that a man couldn't wear it; I just find the pure rose accord to be a decidedly more feminine smell.