Basenotes - Reviews by Big

United States

Showing 1 to 9 of 9.

Acqua di Giò pour Homme by Giorgio Armani

Wow... this smells like every bottle of body wash on the market. I know... it came first so it isn't to blame.

I chuckled when I read that it has a persimmon note. My guess is that they were just hoping few people had encountered a persimmon frequently enough to distinguish it's scent (they are not common in America, I don't know about the rest of the world). It smells like "water," watermelon, and an afterthought of mild soap.

It smells fine. I am certainly not sent into raptures by it's scent, but it is not offensive. This is an extremely light and boring fragrance, with weak longevity and decent sillage (assuming you spray enough so other people recognize that they aren't just smelling body wash).

The scent of generic body wash for 50 times the price.

28th October, 2008.

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Caron Pour Un Homme by Caron

Ah! I love this stuff. Starts off with bracing lavender and a bit of some sort of charred wood that I'm too green to identify. Maybe cedar. The lavender slowly loses it's edge, and some herbs push the charred wood to the back. It stays as lavender with herbs for perhaps 30 minutes (but sometimes it seems to get stuck here on me for hours, much to my annoyance).

I get varied results at this point depending on the day. On the days that it gets stuck in lavender mode like I mentioned a second ago, I don't get much vanilla out of it, and it stays as a warm, round lavender for ages. On the days that the lavender lets up a bit, vanilla with a bit of cinnamon come forward and make themselves known.

On it's good days, it is my favorite fragrance. When the lavender refuses to give way, it becomes a little tiresome and boring. Time to toss the dice!

25th September, 2008.

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Burberry London for Men by Burberry

This is a nice one. The majority is correct: boozy, woodsy, and sweet. One thing I certainly didn't get from the other reviews is just how mellow of a scent this is. With boozy and sweet in practically every review, I was half expecting it to smell like I poured vanilla rum all over myself. It is a very balanced scent, with none of the characteristics being overly dominant. It is hard for me to imagine someone who would have a strong negative reaction to this, and it is equally hard for me to conjure up a situation in my mind in which this scent would be inappropriate. Warm, comforting, mellow, refined, and just straight pleasant.

I may be the only one to mention this (didn't read all the reviews) but to my nose, it bears some resemblance to l'anarchiste by Caron, but with everything toned way down. There is no metal, blood, or oranges. The spices and woods are what I find to be similar, but the edge has been taken off. The spices are toned WAY down, I should add.

A hearty thumbs up!

13rd August, 2008.

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Jungle pour Homme by Kenzo

Well, I really liked this one at first. I had a pretty favorable review posted, but I had better edit it since my opinion changed somewhat. Turns out that a little goes a long way, and I have grown quite tired of it. Sweet, powdery nutmeg from start to finish.

No real reason not to give it a shot, though. Be a good boy and finish your sample before buying a bottle! You might decide you don't need more.

12nd July, 2008. (Last Edited: 15th August, 2009.)

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Jazz by Yves Saint Laurent

I have an unfortunate olfactory association with Jazz. I think it has something to do with how the spices were handled, and how they mix with a sort of acidic kick that comes from god knows where.

Have you ever smelled an old metal rail? A sort of acrid, spicy scent mingles with the tangy metal smell after years of use. This is what Jazz smells like to me. Perhaps if I could disentangle the notes better I could free myself from the association, but as it stands now, Jazz is wholly unusable for me. I really wanted to like this one. Darn.

Neutral rating because my bad association shouldn't scare others from trying it. Unless, of course, you were beaten with an old metal railing as a child, in which case this scent might cost you thousands in therapy.

12nd July, 2008.

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Paco by Paco Rabanne

I ordered a sample of Paco Rabanne Pour Homme and received this by mistake. Imagine my surprise. I expected rich fougere, and found synthetic citrus. It sort of reminded me of Live Jazz, with anything remotely interesting taken out of it. My first thumbs down.

7th July, 2008.

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Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent

I can appreciate this scent as imaginative, intriguing, and complex but as far as personal fragrances are concerned, I think one would be better suited by hanging 4-5 of those pine tree shaped air fresheners around your neck.

This is a beautiful refinement of the smell of a urinal cake, and if that is what YSL was trying for it was a remarkable success. Kouros gets a neutral rating for being of excellent quality, but having no real use as a personal fragrance. IMHO.

1st July, 2008.

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Live Jazz by Yves Saint Laurent

Used to like it, but I enjoy the topnotes less and less with each use. I like the herbal character, but I'm not a fan of the grapefruit (I rarely like citrus), and there is some sort of warmth from a spice or something that doesn't seem quite right with the coolness of the other notes. Still quite nice when it dries down for 30 minutes though.

15th May, 2008. (Last Edited: 15th October, 2009.)

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L'Anarchiste by Caron

One of my favorites. It is sweet, but not too sweet for me (and I am extremely picky about sweetness). Mostly orange, strong clove, and a bit of mint in the opening. As it dries down, it loses the mint and citrus in favor of apple, musk, woods and the ever-present clove. Very nice. Maybe too much clove for some people, but probably worth a sample for anyone who doesn't despise clove. My girlfriend liked it so much she bought her own bottle and she wears it more than I do.

If I felt any particular need to conjure up poetry for a bottle of smelly chemicals, it would probably be for l'anarchiste. Don't hold your breath though.

Edit: I'm picky. I didn't like my original review.

15th May, 2008. (Last Edited: 14th November, 2009.)

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