Basenotes - Reviews by Oldspice

United States

Showing 1 to 14 of 14.

Zino Davidoff by Davidoff

Awesome! Opens with a big blast of lavender. A smooth, mellow, sweet rose scent. The woods in the base are slightly earthy and reminiscent of dried leaves in fall. A romantic wear, nighttime fragrance. Potency/sillage are on the weaker side but longevity is good.

I'm a late-comer to this one and am surprised it's being discontinued.

25th June, 2010.

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Herrera for Men by Carolina Herrera

A weird hybrid of Paco Rabanne XS base with a big dollop of sweet, oatmeal raisin cookie gourmand on top. Not a fan.

Light projection. Can't comment on longevity.

24th June, 2010.

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Visit by Azzaro

This fragrance is just okay. I'm kind of tiring of woody/amber/spicy scents. It doesn't seem synthetic to me but there isn't anything unique about this. Has a lot of cedar. Quite similar to Gucci PH.

Longevity and sillage are good. My only complaint has to do with the juice. The sprayer on the bottle "squirts" instead of mists and if it gets on my clothes it leaves an obvious spot.

19th June, 2010.

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Havana by Aramis

I bought a bottle of the re-release based on the praise I read here. This is a brash fragrance. I imagine this is what the dos equis spokesman would wear. Upon application you get assaulted with a mess of notes - spicy boozy rum, wood and tobacco. After a half an hour or so it settles down on my skin and becomes more smooth. It's still a sharp, dry, in your face fragrance.

I can see how this has gained a following but it's not for me. Something in the base bothers me that reminds me of Versace L'homme. Labdanum maybe? I don't get much sweetness or vanilla from this.

14th June, 2010.

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Kouros Cologne Sport by Yves Saint Laurent

A very light version of the original. Kouros is there down below the layer of "fresh" notes. The fresh notes in this could not be interpreted as urinal puck-like as with the original. The tangerine citrus topnotes don't stick around long for me. Sillage is much less than the original, it wears pretty close to the skin. I could see this working in very hot, muggy weather when others would be too much.

Those who are interested in Kouros but who find it challenging to wear due to its strength or controversial notes will enjoy Kouros Cologne Sport. Those who really enjoy the original will likely find this too light and subdued as do I.

13rd June, 2010.

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Black Aoud by Montale

I was expecting this to be medicinal, earthy and hypermasculine but this turned out to be quite different. The rose note is quite prominant in all stages of development. I didn't hate this fragrance, I would just rather wear M7 or another aoud without the rose component. Silliage is very good as well as longevity. One to be applied sparingly for sure.

12nd March, 2010.

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Rive Gauche pour Homme by Yves Saint Laurent

I was excited about this one, I remembered the smell of Barbasol shaving cream from my childhood and it does smell just like it. Sometimes I liked wearing this and sometimes it bothered me. It's pretty strong stuff. I put on 3 sprays one day and headed into work and had a coworker tell me he could smell me coming before I was even in the room, from a mile away. I never got a positive comment from this one, only negatives so I sold it. I think I'm developing a dislike of anise notes in fragrances as well.

I may give Rive Gauche Light a try if I come across it some day, probably not though.

17th January, 2010.

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Touch for Men by Burberry

When I bought this blind and tried it I instantly recognized the scent - 'outdoor fresh' scented RAID ant and roach spray. I'm not sure how I would have felt about this if I didn't have the association to pesticide fumes, probably still would not have enjoyed it. I'm still grossed out when I smell someone with this on.

16th January, 2010.

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The Dreamer by Versace

This dream became a nightmare.

I started out not minding wearing this one but grew to really dislike it before the first 1/4 of the bottle was used. The tobacco note is interesting - there is the unmistakable smell of a freshly opened pack of cigarettes. Tobacco base aside, this is a loud, obnoxious, chemical smelling fragrance even during the drydown. Nothing about this strikes me as being particularly masculine. In fact I see this as being something suited to a teenage girl.

I got a single enthusiastic compliment on this one from an older, chain-smoking woman no doubt just subconsciously excited about the smell of a new pack of marlboros.

15th January, 2010.

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Hugo XY by Hugo Boss

Fruity, synthetic, generic. After it settles it is almost identical to Aqua Di Gio.

13rd January, 2010.

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Azzaro pour Homme by Azzaro

I bought this blind after reading several reviews claiming that Azzaro PH is a copy of Paco Rabanne PH but more complex and improved. To my nose there are no similarities between the two at all.

I found Azzaro to be a caustic, dark, slightly sweet powerhouse with strong anise on top and a base of macho woods. Paco Rabanne on the other hand is bright, herbal, and slightly soapy clean/fresh (almost the polar opposite of Azzaro in my opinion).

Azzaro was a little nausiating to me. I think it's the anise in it, I've grown to dislike anise in fragrances. To my nose it reminds me of Lolita Lempicka and YSL Opium and I'm not too crazy about either one. I'm giving this a neutral though because I can see how others would find the appeal in it but it's not for me. The strength is pretty outrageous also, I could detect it on my skin faintly still after showering.

12nd January, 2010.

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XS pour Homme by Paco Rabanne

I tried this one because of the comparison to Platinum Egoiste, which I enjoy.

This is one I will keep in my rotation. It's not especially complex. My untrained nose does not detect the mint topnote that others describe. Overall it's a clean, fresh scent that I don't tire of. Longevity is good on me, 6-8 hours. Sillage is also good - its presence is detectable but I don't see this offending anyone with a sensitive nose so it's a safe fragrance for office/daytime wear. I never regret putting this on. The bargain price tag is also a plus.

10th January, 2010.

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Polo by Ralph Lauren

I never thought I would even try this one but I've been exploring more classic fragrances lately and thought I would give it a go after seeing all the praise for it.

It certainly is an in-your-face, aggressive, silliage monster type - I would stick to 1 or maybe 2 sprays. I thought the pine and foresty top notes were nice but they didn't stick around long at all. What I was left with smelled very similar to Dior Fahrenheit to me. Fahrenheit, to me, smells like cheap, manly soap mixed with the strange gasoline/motor oil notes and Polo feels the same to me with less of the petroleum suggestion.

Loud, obnoxious, overtly masculine. I didn't find it to be offensive but it's not for me.

10th January, 2010.

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Opium pour Homme by Yves Saint Laurent

This sillage bomb is not one of my favorites but isn't bad. There is a sort of cheap, synthetic freshness to it built on top of a sweet fruity oriental base, sort of a weird combination. The basenotes remind me of the smell of baking oatmeal raisin cookies - not a bad smell but not exactly sensual in my opinion, something M7 is much more suited for.

13rd December, 2007.

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Showing 1 to 14 of 14.