Reviews by Poboijosh

Lancetti Uomo by Lancetti

From the paper insert...

THE FRAGRANCE:

'Fresh initial aroma based on a pleasant citrus, lavender (galbanum) aromatic (clary, artemesia, white thyme, nutmeg, absinth) combination.

Mint citrate accentuate the freshness and diffusion of the initial aroma.

The body aroma is slightly flowery with a jasmine, mossy tang (genuine tree moss).

The foundation aroma is animalized with a leather nuance and a touch of amber (grey amber and "labdano" cyst) boisée (sandalwood, cedar-wood and patchouli).'

EAU DE PARFUM:

Elegant, refined, persistent.

EAU DE TOILETTE:

Fresh and sporty for the modern man.

I dunno what in the hell everyone is talking about here that Lancetti Uomo is weak because this perfume is anything but!

This is an absurdly powerful perfume from open to close, especially for a toilette. If this was an 80's powerhouse for the books then my God. It just radiates off of the skin with huge sillage for endless hours but the sillage on this is glorious, 'glorious'!

This is a huge, ginormous black and I mean black rose centric scent. Apparently the only floral in this is jasmine flower but I swear this smells exactly like roses. It is over the top soapy clean, talcum strong, talcum powder focused but dark as night. You will feel incredibly to the 10th power clean and shower fresh for the entire time while wearing this. There's this mild old lady powder vibe olfactory illusion like straight up dandy perfume smell but it's so awesome smelling that you just wanna wear this. Really, this is a 'killer' and original scent. It's like a cross between Pierre Cardin Monsieur minus the disgusting mustiness with Aramis 900 but really super complex, strong and full on rosy talcum after the bath powder and very dark, animalic, patchouli based but really overall super potent black rosy powdery, soapy and naeuseatingly strong after shower clean sillage trails. Like this is an extrait kinda strong thick wall of rosiness, like a pure perfume. I really can't get any more specific than that but this is powerful strong stuff my God.

The far dry down will reward you with a softly warm ambery but still definitely rosy perfume with a nice suede note, a noticeable and earthy patch, creamy oakmoss and a silky musk accord. There's a woodiness to this as well.

I've tested the eau de toilette and am currently awaiting the eau de parfum version which is in the mail as we speak but this eau de toilette version is on steroids.

A part of this comes across as a really super nice after bath powder for Men that strongly resembles Shower to Shower in the light blue plastic bottle and then another part of me smells strong ripe red roses bathed in soap and vetiver, incense and amber, a very complex affair. It's a super duper soapy and clean scent, really top notch and is a total hidden gem of a perfume. Very rosy, very middle eastern, very strong and masculine. Really very strong with a huge penetrating sillage that lasts for hours and hours. This is an 18+ hours kinda scent. My review for the parfum will be coming soon but my final... approve highly, just wow with this. Mainly due to the sheer strength of this stuff, what a wild perfume...

Sybaris by Antonio Puig

I personally have an extremely high praise for this scent that took me many wearings to fully appreciate 'and' to understand this composition. Sybaris is very well constructed with quality ingredients, extremely well in fact. So much so that iI'm going to state that this perfume is a hidden masterpiece. You can tell that this is from the same house as Quorum as it has that 'Puig' smell to it. It's the jasmine/patchouli combo that hooks me in this and once you catch it, you'll be in love as well. This cinnamon accord pulls everything together while the incense note in this is amazing.

Sybaris is deceiving so understand this before wearing some. This is actually a 'very' strong scent with a considerable amount of sillage and projection that lasts forever on the skin. I was wearing a few tiny spritzes of this the other day, as in not even full on sprays and my co-worker had inquired as to what I was wearing while she was standing at least 6 feet away and this was well past 4 hours after applying. She loved it but couldn't explain it.

This is a sweetened, ambered, spiced, soapy, slightly floral and woody patchouli affair supported by a deep clove note. It's a complex pyramid that waxes and wanes from powdery, to soapy, to aromatic, balmy, clean and even to dirty and animalic at times. Sometimes it's dusty and cloudy and other times what you're perceiving is clean, clear and fresh. Honestly this is a very complex scent that's hard to grasp but totally enjoyable.

It's very warm and comforting, strong on the oakmoss. There's also an animalic 'something' in this, I swear. It smells like civet or maybe even castoreum especially when first sprayed but whatever it is, it's definitely animalic in feel. I really like this a lot, it's a complicated and pleasurable smell with some beautiful sillage, very masculine. Super fun to wear because you're always smelling something new. The soapiness in this from the jasmine flower is just awesome and the strength of this stuff is killer. Sybaris is a definite 80's powerhouse.

This review is based on an original formula splash flacon with a pre-barcode box from 1986 that's been decanted into an atomizer.

Opium pour Homme by Yves Saint Laurent

This was one of my very first loves way back in the 90's when I started my perfume journey and knew nothing about perfumes. Recently I had picked up a Sanofi mini to relive the dream and now to my nose, this is a naeuseatingly strong vanilla to the maximum synth bomb. The opening 30 minutes is incredibly textured and full bodied until it very quickly morphs into a one note wonder of straight up, nuclear strong synthesized vanilla for endless hours. Seriously, vanilla should be the very first voted note, not black currant. I cannot believe how synthetic and plasticky this smells now. I decanted this into an atomizer, applied 4 good sprays and it was making me feel sick to my stomach, so much so that I had to reshower and even then I could still smell it. The sillage on this is relentless. I'm sorry to all of the lovers of this but Opium Pour Homme totally turns my stomach inside out. This is a very poorly constructed scent that has absolutely zero to do with the original Opium Pour Femme.

Nino Cerruti by Cerruti

I had picked up a mini of this that's an original composition. It came in this promotional 'book' from Sears of all places which included 4 other minis. It was a janky coffret meant to resemble a book that was covered in a silk screened white and brown hounds tooth and when you opened it, all of the minis were displayed. It had included a Lanvin for Men, Kouros, Equipage, YSL Pour Homme and this. On the back of the faux cardboard book there was printed a 1982 so bonus for the full Kouros, but this review is all about this masterpiece of a perfume...

I've worn that sample down to smithereens, bought an original formula full flacon and here's me thoughts.

This perfume is awesome, ridiculous awesome to be exact, in fact so awesome that I'm going to state that this is by far one of the most classy perfumes for Men that I've encountered to date. It opens with what it smells like to walk through the Bellagio gardens here in Vegas for the first 10 minutes, with all of those hundreds of thousands of beautiful and freshly picked flowers, man do I wish that lasted, it's that insanely good. Nino Cerruti quickly dies down to a fairly linear scent that consists of an incredibly smoky and resinuous jasmine flower that's just a smidgen dirty but, this scent is all about resins and jasmine and an incense accord that'll blow that mind. It's really difficult to describe this but it's by far the most masculine jasmine perfume I've ever had the pleasure of smelling and wearing, this is a full on dopamine experience. Not once did I ever feel uncomfortable wearing this, I felt like a man.

It's a yellow smelling perfume with close sillage that's within your personal space, intimate, sexy and the best part, professional. There's this waxy texture to this that just smells so damn good. The jasmine in this is muted quite a bit so it's not a piercing jasmine flower. It's being smothered to death in all of these incense resins and oakmoss which in my opinion is the best part by far. This is a very smoky and resinuous perfume.

I've worn this for a whole week straight that included a full wearing today with suit and tie and my conclusion is that this smell is so far beyond 1979 it's ridiculous. It's the epitome of smelling professional and dressed up. It's a perfume with manners that needs to be worn lavishly as this composition is extremely well behaved. This is an absolutely wearable perfume to the fullest extent that's way beyond it's time. It rides close to the skin with minimal sillage which is a huge plus here so spraying a few sprays onto the neck area and wrists is acceptable. The longevity is fantastic at 18 hours. Nino Cerruti Pour Homme is class to the fullest extent of the perfume law. I approve of this 1000%. Bravo to this, what an awesome smell...

Oud Wood by Tom Ford

Smells exactly like Comet cleanser, the powdered disinfectant scrub in the green cylindrical cardboard tube that does wonders on stainless steel sinks and porcelain shower tubs, amongst other non-porous surfaces. Once you make this connection like I did, you'll never wear this again. When I used to frequent the Tom Ford counter at my local Nieman's, the sales rep lady and I use to joke about this connection, honest. I even did a comparison for amusement purposes by spraying a little on my arm and sniffing the top of the Comet container, the similarities are uncanny, still can't even believe it. An original formula of Oud Wood in the brown flacon is just a strong smelling spray version of Comet cleanser.

Oudesire by Ajmal

I used to own this last year but sold it off as I found the perfume itself in the end far too strong to be wearable and even received a comment that my scent was nuclear in strength with ginormous sillage and projection, in other words, it 'filled the room' and that was with 1 spray on my chest and a few dabs behind my ear and inner elbow. That horrified me and called for an immediate sale of Oudesire but to me when first testing this out, I found it as weak until I started testing tinier and tinier amounts right down to only a few drops, just then I had realized how powerful Oudesire really was. I was always unsure about this with mixed feelings anyways. Outside of this though, the agarwood used in this is quite barnyard like for the first few hours although it's being cleverly hidden behind a huge wall of waxy raspberries and soapy orange blossoms until the dry down begins. The dry down is when the perfume becomes manageable where there's one of the best, creamy musk and balmy amber accords I've ever smelled in a perfume.

When I first wore this I was completely naive to how strong this really is, especially the overtly strong oud accord that's front and center the whole time. You cannot atomizer this perfume or else it's instant olfacory fatigue where you will smell no oud or really much of anything else besides soapy, waxy raspberries. If you dab on tiny amounts and 'not' atomizer it, you can clearly smell the agarwood which smells like sweaty horses, not poopy, just barnyard sweaty horses and hay. The 'perfect' test which is what I did after having that realization that Oudesire is a beast on steroids is to dab a few drops of this on the top of your foot. Stand there in your room for a few minutes and you will definitely experience a strong sillage of barnyard agarwood. I kept a small sample with about 3mls in it and decided to pull this out tonight and give it a wear with a few dabs on my inside elbows and a little on my sternum and it's the same results, very strong oud. Horsey and hay like raspberries bathed in musk, amber and sandalwood. There's really not much else in the way of that scent pyramid besides the waxy, candle like raspberry accord smothered in oud, orange blossom, amber and musk. The list in the dry down will be oud, musk, raspberry, amber and sandalwood. The dry down is amazing in this which lasts forever but overall, it's an incredibly odd perfume in terms of smell.

Really super strong that leans towards the feminine. The dry down is amazing but it takes a good 3 hours to get there and for me personally is not really worth that wait or wearable around other people until the dry down hits because the oud in this is really stinky, and also for the simple fact that this perfume has some ridiculously intrusive sillage. Once again, it's not faecal in nature but honestly smells like a sweaty horse covered in orange blossoms, a raspberry candle burning near by and lots of creamy, silky smooth musk and amber. It's a weird perfume but makes you want to keep sniffing it and not because of the oud, but because it's just... really different, in a strange and moderately off putting way. Someone who's not accustomed to any form of agarwood would probably recoil in horror from this odor being created here. I'm more than familiar with oud and even this one makes me a little uncomfortable, even in my own home.

I don't believe that Oudesire was a hit or ever will be. It's an excellent concept to have a premium perfume in the W Series line up with fantastic packaging which is what Ajmal was going for but, I don't know. I think that Ajmal used the wrong kind of oud for this, it's too barnyardy and hay like that doesn't particularly mesh well with the chosen notes, not that it's out of balance because it's not, it's actually a balanced perfume with 3 distinct stages, the oud just seems out of place in this mix. It's far too strong that almost smothers everything. A decant would be fine to smell it and wear once in a great while but this is not a full flacon worthy perfume, at least here in the Western hemisphere.

273 Rodeo Drive for Men by Fred Hayman

This is a really intriguing perfume for men because it doesn't smell like the sum of it's parts. It's a very interesting odor that's being created here. I'd like to touch really quickly on two things.

There are two different formulas to this. I have an original formula that comes in a clear bottomed flacon with the still black plastic cap. This composition was produced by Parlux and it is an 80% by volume denatured alcohol content. A little info about Parlux now... Parlux had acquired the licensing to sell and produce Fred Hayman's perfume line in 1994 while it was still located in Pompano Beach, Florida until it was being so overwhelmed by demanding production that it had to relocate to a much larger facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1996. On the back of my box of 273 for men, the address lists Pompano Beach, Florida so my flacon was produced sometime between 94' and 96'.

Then there's the one pictured here that's an 86% by volume so there are two different formulas to this perfume and both are distinctly different. The one that I have is very strong, unabashedly floral and ambery with lots of cedarwood and musk. It smells like a less floral and more masculine version of Liz Claiborne by Liz Claiborne that had debuted in 1986. If you know this perfume then you'll know that it came in a pyramid shaped white flacon with either yellow, red or blue accents but they all contained the same kind of perfume.

The reformulated version pictured here is not as floral and focuses more on lavender, musk and cedarwood. I'm not sure who currently produces this version. I've smelled this version before and although I do like it, I prefer the original stuff. This is a really nice scent albeit moderately non-descript and really just outright difficult to put into words but it's definitely a pleasurable experience because the ingredient quality is natural and fairly decent taking strongly into consideration the price point, plus this is really strong in the sillage department and long lasting as well. I honestly believe that Fred Hayman has modeled this after the Liz Claiborne, the similarities are far too close smell wise and if you can smell both of these, you'll agree. The original formula compositions are leaning heavily on the feminine in my opinion which is why I believe there was a reformulation to this but honestly, both of these formulas smell really good and are totally wearable today.

Jazz by Yves Saint Laurent

It's a nice and well assembled composition that seriously lacks any form of character to set this perfume apart as being an individual so for this fact alone there's just nothing that I find exciting about this to warrant wearing Jazz. These observations are based on an original Parfums Corp flacon. Jazz to me is a very safe scent with an average longevity and minimal sillage, this perfume rides fairly close to the skin for it's entire duration. You'd have to literally bathe in this stuff to create a stronger sillage. This is something that you'd wear regularly to the office when you don't want to draw unwanted attention. I don't and cannot pick up on this off putting accord that I've read mentioned here numerous times as something faecal or discordant.

Jazz to me is a simple lavender and artemesia focused perfume that lies on a soft sandalwood, oakmoss and tobacco base with a mild floral bouquet of geraniums, that's basically it, pretty non-descript, flat and bone dry in my opinion with very little note separation. Even if I did find this odor as appealing, the dryness in this is far too much. That complicated scent pyramid would make you think that Jazz has depth and character but this is a simple scent, boring almost. It brings to mind a less complex and less strong version of Azzaro Pour Homme in the first hour. The comparisons to Van Cleef's Tsar are apt and are the closest smell wise. Tsar is a much better choice though, much stronger, more complex, much more character and far more exciting. I dunno, this just didn't move me in the least. The very far end of this perfumes life on your skin 'does' have something sleek going about in the base notes but it's so hard to smell and decipher at that point that I just don't see any reason to wear this when there are so many other exciting choices to choose from. Overall and the final conclusion being is that Jazz leaves me feeling cold and is something that I'd never wear.

Personally, I believe that when the Parfums Corp had re-established their perfume license from Charles of the Ritz, they neutered a lot of the original Yves' perfumes. Kouros was turned into a nasty musk bomb in lieu of civet, that penetrating musk that sucks the air out of you and opium pour femme was weakened considerably with it's signature Mysore sandalwood toned way down. I feel that this introduction of Jazz to their perfume line was an attempt to obviously play it safe and create something as inoffensive or unexciting as possible... they succeeded.

Kouros Fraîcheur by Yves Saint Laurent

I love the og Kouros dearly but find it as 'almost' unwearable. It's a wearable composition in tiny amounts but let's face it... there's so much civet in that perfume that the sillage trails literally smell like hot steamy dookie. I live very close to my folks house and had applied a few sprays of a first formula Charles of the Ritz Kouros, ran over to their house about 15 minutes later for a moment, hugged my Mom hello while their dogs were sitting at her feet and the first words out of her mouth after hugging me were, 'I think one of the dogs farted and has to go out to poop'. I almost died, true story. Ever since then I'm extremely weary about wearing Kouros. In fact, I almost never wear it more for that comment Mom had made, but it's still my favorite perfume ever regardless.

Now this Fraicheur version is awesome and completely removes the strong faecal aspect of Kouros although there is a healthy dose of civet in this as well that drys down to a mild powderiness, no poop odor. This is a great perfume but there's some things about this that I do not like. Not smell wise but the way that Fraicheur behaves. This perfume smells incredible. It's a soapy vetiver with a patchouli and amber backdrop and the far dry down is to die for but, this perfume behaves strangely.

First off, Fraicheur is one of those perfumes that's translucent and quite the deceiver. This is a super strong perfume with monstrous sillage that just 'begs' for you to spray and spray and spray but you cannot smell this on you, at all. Last summer I had applied 3 or 4 healthy sprays to the chest area which I thought wasn't even close, went out to run my errands and had received the comment from a perfect stranger after chatting with them of 'smell you later'. I died and cried a little, didn't wear Fraicheur for a long while after that one so, this perfume has huge sillage and projection. It's a thin and wispy composition, very difficult to explain but it's a total deceiver.

Fraicheur smells like a really dry and soapy version of the original formula but thinned out, removed, a hologram almost. It's not thick, penetrating and obnoxious like the original. Seriously I cannot explain this one bit. I really love this Fraicheur equally as the original but this perfume is near impossible to guage in it's application so be aware.

Courrèges Homme by Courrèges

I've tested this numerous times to only end up with an absurdly overpowering Johnson and Johnson's baby powder for hours until I had to scrub because it was making me feel nauseous, right along the lines of the kind of Johnson and Johnson's that comes in the pink container. It's way beyond me how that entire scent pyramid recreates the olfacory illusion of baby powder, perfectly. In fact, the perfume kinda smells like the color of a very light pink while all of this powderiness comes across as almost musky.

Now, underneath of those unnecessarily strong aldehydes and oakmoss is a very nice something that consists of patchouli, myrrh and sandalwood that is literally being smothered to smithereens by baby powder. Sandalwood and myrrh are powdery in their own rights so this just adds more fuel. There's really not much more that I could possibly say other than this whole ordeal smells like a super strong, freshly changed baby's didee. The notes are so overly blended that it's next to near impossible to try and decipher this composition and I've tried many times, trust me. The aldehydes and oakmoss dominate everything to the point that I can barely pick anything out of this. I can say though that that nice something albeit it faint, whatever it is that I'm detecting in the sillage trails is pleasurable but, this perfume reeks strongly of baby powder. I'm confident that this composition is intact as it in no way has that 'turned' odor. To solidify this further, the lemon and bergamot are noticeable for about 5 minutes in the opening until the monster sized dump truck load of baby powder takes control.

Very strong, very long lasting, very feminine that survives soap and water. This smells like a ladies perfume that I think a woman could very easily wear although I'm not recommending that, especially if she loves perfumes that smell 'exactly' like baby powder. I had paid too much for a flacon of this blindly which I regretted purchasing the moment I smelled it. I waited for months to find this perfume only to experience the worst case scenario possible as I'm in no way shape or form a fan of anything powdery, let alone baby powder smell. I tried for the longest time to resell this with no avail so, I gave up and decided to write my review. I really dislike this smell and came to the conclusion that I couldn't possibly let another poor soul experience what I had, the ultimate buyers remorse. I'm torn between keeping the flacon because it's so old and rare or just ending it's long lived life and throwing it in the bin, that's how much this perfume naeuseates me. Seriously, I could never ever picture this on a man, probably not even on a woman. This is just a really bad perfume that smells like diapers. To be frank, Courregēs Homme is offensive.

On the upside though, this composition has been assembled with quality oils but it stinks. This is definitely a total stinker, one of the worst I've ever experienced outside of Bijan Sport for men. I think that's the most that I've ever said baby powder in one review, ick.

Roma Uomo by Laura Biagiotti

I tested this recently and to me, this is a vanilla version of Chanel's Bleu eau de parfum. The grapefruit and benzoin combo recreates the incense/sweet amber/sour citrus illusion in Bleu while the patchouli accord ties these two perfumes together. It's nice, but I sense some Iso E Super going on here that to me makes this perfume very strong, the sillage is a considerable amount well past arms length although this in no way comes across as synthetic. I had dabbed on a copius amount in a concentrated area on the top of my foot and was catching a moderately strong sillage that was very enjoyable although pretty sweet in feel thanks to that healthy dose of benzoin. Seriously, these two perfumes are quite similar in their olfactory make up and how both compare in smell, the only difference is that Roma Uomo is more green as opposed to Bleu that's obviously blue in feel. This scent has been assembled well, there's a nice separation of notes with a distinct dry down and it's kind of a unique odor. I'm not a fan of anything vanilla so I can't wear this but, I can definitely see and appreciate what's been done here.

G-man by Gainsboro

I had just received two 5ml vintage minis of this perfume a few days ago which took almost a month to receive from Europe and well, it was worth the wait and it wasn't. The minis I have are original formula eau de cologne splash compositions with the 76° logo on the front, not the reformulation pictured here although both perfumes possess the same scent pyramid so keep in mind that this review is for the original stuff.

I've read all of the available reviews on this here at Basenotes which aren't really too nice and basically, in so many words, chock G-man up to the epitome of a 'very' old man scent which belongs on dudes in the realm of 90 years old. I've smelled far worse, trust me, way worse then this in terms of perfumes for older men. This is hardly an old man perfume, super duper dated yes, in a great way of course but hardly old man. This is actually a very pleasant scent once the dry down hits about 3 hours in, it's just that the first 3 hours are challenging, for me at least.

G-man pretty much smells like an even 'more' floral version of Robert Piguet's Bandit, believe it or not. Both perfumes black glass flacons are even similar in their shapes and overall dimensions. This strong association had instantaneously popped into my head right after the first sniff which led me to believe that G-man in some way had been modeled after Bandit, both perfumes olfactory similarities are far too uncanny. This is mainly a floral and musky affair for the first few hours, especially the floral aspects. It's an incredibly and absurdly so soapy orange blossom, lavender and geranium combination laid onto a strong base of musk that resembles a white musk, particularly a white musk from Jōvan, in fact for the first hour or so I thought I was smelling a Jōvan perfume for women. There is a dump truck load of aldehydes in this mix that lends that 'sparkle' olfacory feel within your mucous membranes. So, for the first three hours or so, you have an incredibly strong and soapy, floral white musk laid over sparkly aldehydes. The perfume at this point feels bright, soapy fresh and clean but horribly dated. You can clearly sense that this is from early 1970's.

After about there hours, a soft, velvety smooth oakmoss accord appears with a subdued smoky vetiver and a suede like leather but, the main players here are what was mentioned earlier. Soapy florals, soapy musk and soapy aldehydes. G-man is a 'clean' smelling perfume. I will say though that the far dry down of this is amazing smelling well after everything congeals and comes together as a whole. I wish I could explain it but alas, I cannot. The far dry down smells great though.

I'm torn with this one. Even when atomizing this the outcome is the same, a lot of feminine soapiness that smells like Bandit, but when atomized the sillage is big, really big. I like this quite a bit, it's a stellar composition. The perfume is considerably strong with big sillage and a ridiculous tenacity. I just don't know if it's wearable for myself as this whole ordeal is very floral in feel. It's a very neat smell though. Kudos to this perfume house for creating something of this caliber. I can almost guarantee you that if you're a fan of Bandit in it's vintage composition, you'll more than likely get down with G-man. I approve...

As a side note: you can see through the glass if you hold it up to a very bright light. The glass is dark purple, just like in Bandit flacons. Coincidental? I'm highly skeptical.

Salim Attar by Tabacora

This is one of the best attars that I've ever smelled in my life and I've smelled an absurd amount of concentrated perfume oils in my time, I won't even give you the number amount because it's stupid due to the amount of money I've wasted. This one right here is easily top three. I really can't even begin to describe this properly it's so unbelievably beautiful and I've worn this for almost a week straight just to get it down and even then, still moderately stumped.

First off, this attar is unnecessarily strong with some amazing sillage that blows well past the 24 hour mark and not even as a skin scent either, I mean with some ample sillage still well past 24 hours. This stuff only requires a teeny tiny application in two different pulse points and that's it. Over applying it becomes overwhelming where all you smell is a big ass rose/patchouli for a long time. The scent pyramid is accurate, what you get is oud, patchouli, rose, musk and amber. There's a little buttery iris and leathery saffron in the opening 10 minutes that burn away quickly to reveal what this perfume is all about. All of the other notes are basically filler.

This agarwood used here is really, phenomenal. One of the very few I've smelled and worn that's user friendly. It is definitely sans of the funk and barnyard thank God and is quite difficult to describe. It's a very dark wood, oily, complex and wet and is blended so ridiculously well with the rose and patchouli that's it's breathtaking as all three of these accords simultaneously play off of each other for the long and drawn out duration as one, and sometimes as individuals. This attar had been masterfully blended. If you've ever sampled Abdul Samad Al Qurashi's Black Incense then you're about right there, but where Black Incense is an out of balance hot mess, although it 'does' smell great, Salim has been refined to perfection.

The rose in this is strong but tempered by any equally as strong patchouli. These two notes here are intoxicating together while the oud is always behind these and sometimes in the forefront. The oud after the first hour begins to emit those indescribable sillage trails which lasts for hours until the dry down really starts, then it's all about a balmy amber and musk with the other three notes falling slightly into the background. I'd like to mention that the amber is very difficult to pick out unless you apply a micro dot way far away from your nose so I'm guessing that this is more than likely killer on someone from a distance as amber is one of my favorite notes in perfumery. It's a tricky material in that the wearer can never smell due to the ginormous trailing that a decent amber can do. I'm not particular keen on the musk note in this, my only dislike to this cpo. It gets kind of sour like in the far dry down, I can definitely deal with it though as everything else in this completely trumps this minor downfall.

Overall, I approve of this 100%. It's strong, alluring, mysterious, dark, sexy as all hell and is completely wearable by both men and ladies alike. I'm one that becomes uncomfortable with any floral but here, my goodness, I could smell this all day, it won a few awards too and is absolutely worth the asking price. This perfume makes me proud to be Polish, what an accomplishment this perfume is, stellar.

Monsieur Jovan by Jovan

Do you enjoy floral perfumes for Men? If you do, you'll like this very much because the ingredient quality is top notch. For me though, it's not the jasmine flower that kills it for me for Monsieur, it's that this scent is ridiculously soapy and bright in feel on top of the floral aspect. It smells like the olfacory color of yellow and as mentioned prior, this is a very floral and strongly soapy perfume for Men that makes you feel like a walking bar of flowery soap but, there's another caveat...

My Mom loves vintage Jovan perfumes. I found her an 8ml pure perfume of Jovan's Mistletoe that's nearly impossible to come by, this particular perfume is virtually non-existent so I was excited to find this for her. I did a sample testing of it on my wrist prior to wrapping it up for Christmas and couldn't place what was hitting me so hard in the throat until I wore Monsieur for a test the other evening, thankfully at home. The coriander seed here in Monsieur is very strong. Obviously I do not care for coriander in perfumes, it irritates my throat for some reason and I'm definitely not allergic to cilantro so I can't figure that one out, one of the main reasons I couldn't get down with Jacomo de Jacomo. The coriander in this smells harsh and out of balance so what you get is an herbal/floral/woody/soapy affair that's super strong. Monsieur Jovan has a really strong sillage for many hours and lasts easily for 24. I had applied 2 'normal' sprays onto my chest and was kinda choking for the first few hours from the sillage. In fact, as I'm writing this, I can still barely smell this as a skin scent and I applied this yesterday afternoon and even showered last night. It's a unique scent that has an incense feel to it overall which I like. There's a really good sandalwood and oakmoss accord in this with a touch of civet.

I like this odor but can't wear this. I would've never thought that Monsieur would end up being so bright, soapy and floral. I enjoy soapy scents but the jasmine in this pushes the envelope too far past my comfort level and the coriander is too much as well. It's an excellent composition otherwise and definitely unique in smell. I just wished I enjoyed this smell but alas, I don't. I will say though that this is one of the best Jovan's I've smelled to date.

Amber Ash Sheikh by Abdul Karim Al Faransi

The reformulation is way better then what I had originally received as a sample a few years ago when this perfume house first debuted which was basically a paste and was so incredibly strong that it was virtually unwearable and could barely be applied to the skin due to the viscosity simulating cold Karo syrup. This newer batch is far more palatable and user friendly... mine is from last year but still ridiculously awesome.

This blend is a labdanum bomb to the extreme and is what this perfume is focused around. The labdanum used here is from an absolute which is why the oil is so black and still heavy as labdanum absolute at room temperature has the consistency of crystallized honey. It needs to be warmed in a hot water bath to do anything with it and even then you only have a few seconds to work with it until it pretty much returns back to a solid. The agarwood in this is amazing, is very woody, cleaned of funk and not really noticeable until the dry down starts a few hours in. This attar is definitely challenging due to the earthy notes in the opening 2 hours but once those subside, this perfume is actually stellar smelling and quite wearable as long as you're cautious with the application as in a few micro dots onto your pulse points... probably best applied with a toothpick. What you end up with is a simplistic blend of quality ingredients which consist of labdanum, amber, and oud with a hint of saffron and musk, really amazing in character and is the epitome of masculinity. In the far dry down you will be rewarded with the creamiest oud and most balmy amber accord that lasts well past 24 hours.

I wore this last night in the comfort of my own home for one of the first times since I've owned this and was thoroughly entertained for hours only to awake this morning to oud and amber heaven. It's a strong blend but not blow the doors off strong, I've experienced stronger attars then this. After a couple of hours the sillage tames down nicely to a wearable perfume as long as you apply a teeny tiny amount or else it's overwhelming and will make you feel nauseous. This stuff is black as night and will satisfy any amber/oud head. From an artistic standpoint, this perfume deserves an award, it's truly that cool and just so far out there in terms of being unique. This sells out instantly as soon as it's back in stock so grab this while you can and be blown away, in fact, just get this to have in your perfume wardrobe regardless if you'll never wear it. There's absolutely nothing else out there like it and it's neat to wear. I'm wearing this again tonight because it's that awesome and very rarely do I wear the same perfume two days in a row. The agarwood in this is killer and that's why I'm craving to wear this again.

If you love Norma Kamali's Incense or would enjoy smelling something very close to it but maxed out on some serious steroids with a phenomenal oud note, get this. From having the pleasure of wearing both of these, Amber Ash-Sheikh is miles better, far more wearable and just more fun. In my honest opinion, this stuff right here is the holy grail of incense.

Bijan for Men by Bijan

I am only familiar with the original formula and 'can' tell you that this whole concoction is an incredibly overpowering, strong musk and oakmoss bomb where musk is the dominant note. It's a super pongy animalic BO musk, followed by a moderately strong soapy floral accord where the final outcome as a whole is that of a super powerful old lady perfume with a strong olfactory illusion of bad breath floating around in the background. The bad breath olfactory illusion is from the clove/patchouli/honey combination which is highly noticeable in the monster sillage.

This scent smells amazing for the first 30 minutes until it dries down to a complete nightmare. I'm stressing strongly that old lady vibe as it's here in spades to the 10th power. My best friend growing up as a teenager had this grandma who would wear something that smelled exactly like this, although I think she wore Poison but just never bathed. It always came across as really greasy week old body odor, and that funky bad breath accord in this is a real stomach churner. I had once upon a time experienced this scent on a really old man and my God was it bad with a wall of strong sillage but that bad breath olfactory illusion is really something else. It smells exactly like halitosis that's attempting to be covered up with perfume, as if someone with some atrociously vile breath sprayed a bunch of old lady perfume on their neck area, and when they speak to you the wave of funk from their mouth catches the wafts of perfume to combine and it hits your nose hard. I have deemed Bijan Men as unwearable unless you enjoy a lot of unwanted bad attention and want to smell like an old woman who never bathes or soaks her dentures because this is exactly what you'll smell of, not even kidding. This is a seriously offensive perfume that's unnecessarily strong to boot.

Exotic Amber by Ajmal

I've had this for about 2 years and I've just never found the words to properly describe this until right now.

First, a teeny back story: I've smelled a ridiculous amount of Arabian perfumes, took 2 whole years to sample quite a bit and frankly, found almost everything as either way too strong or just too funkville. Ajmal's perfumes I like but for me they're way too strong to wear except... these Western Oil Series fit the bill perfectly. Ajmal has kept the Westerner in mind with these as they're wearable and not all agarwood bombs to the extreme so the name Western Oil Series is appropriate.

This particular cpo is so incredibly unique in terms of odor that it's literally impossible to explain. This is a geranium dominant perfume that's been blended with oud which is why I like this so much because this combo is basically unheard of. Geraniums are rosy like but not full on jammy red roses that I 'do' like but find as very lady like so, this combination here is stellar. The oud used is soft and unlike the usual Ajmal manner of full on horse pucky for any Ajmal agarwood oil, this one is totally wearable with mild sillage but incredible lasting power of an easily 24. It's a pristine and very clean wood. The use of geranium and amber recreates this balmy soapiness with a creamy woody backdrop. The musk in this is killer and is very smooth. I wish I had the words to explain this properly but what I can tell you is that I'm extremely picky about oud and never wear it except on rare occasions and the oud used here is super nice. Zero funk or barnyard ickyness, just a bonafide creamy blond wood with just a 'hint' of animalic, just enough to keep your nose interested and entertained.

The viscosity of the oil itself is moderate, not light but not thick so application is a cinch. 1 full on drop spread out in various pulse points and it's this amazing smelling sillage within your personal space for hours and hours. This perfume recreates that 'bubble' effect from oud but mind you, this is just enough, it never tips the scale into unwearable. It's entirely a highly pleasant odor, super alluring, unique and definitely, 'exotic'. I forgot to mention that the amber in this is very warm and toffy like but never goes into that sweet zone. I seriously love this attar, very very much. This is an amazing smell, you gotta get your nose on this one, the drydown is to die for.

This is Him! by Zadig & Voltaire

I had received a sample of this along with a vintage perfume that I ordered from Spain and although it smells 'tolerable', and by that I mean on another individual other then myself preferably from far away, This Is Him is incredibly cheap and synthetic to the core. I would hate to have to work beside someone who wears this on the regular because this stuff is unnecessarily strong with some monster projection. Outside of the fact that this odor naeuseates me, the aroma chemicals implemented into this composition are of the lowest grade imaginable. Seriously, there was next to no effort or money put into this. The whole ordeal is sloppy and it smells outright bad.

This Is Him is basically an Iso E Super nuke laid over synthesized vanilla and a really cheap 'cedary' accord. This is not a sandalwood aroma chemical in the least as even fake sandalwood doesn't smell like pencil shavings, more along the lines of creamy coconuts. Synthesized cedarwood smells like pencil shavings and I'm detecting a lot of that here. I get zero incense in this even if it is an aroma chemical, no incense, none, zip. No 'churchy', no bokhoor, no smoke, none of that and I'm well aware of what different forms of incense smell like including frankincense, copal, myrrh and resins of that nature, none of that here, zero. Just a bucket full of Iso E Super and fake vanilla over fake woods with maybe some ambroxan as a fixative, in that exact order. Personally, I'm highly sensitive to Iso E Super and can pick it out of any perfume from a mile away and sensed it in this as soon as I had sprayed it on, and also any form of aroma chemical as they project like crazy for endless hours right up my nose that feels like 40 grit sandpaper so naturally I hate this composition with a passion. In so many words, this is a chemical soup. It's too simple, the balance is off and I don't like it anyways because it's a handful of aroma chemicals blended poorly, 'and' I'm also a hater of vanilla so this is double no. Moderately feminine smelling which belongs on a woman. If I smelled this trailing from a dude, I'd think to myself that he's wearing a vanilla perfume for women because that's what this smells like, cheap vanilla.

My conclusion is that this is a 100% fake vanilla perfume with nothing in the way of incense. There are far better scents out there in this price range if vanilla is your bag. I think This Is Him is total garbage, great for beginners though who are entirely new to the world of perfume and haven't really sniffed much but, for a seasoned nose, this stuff is atrocious. The only thing natural about this is that glass flacon. People should go and smell some other stuff, particularly some natural compounds and then come back to this and you'll agree, this is terrible, and it hurts your mucus membranes too. On the upside though, forever sillage, lasts for eternity on the skin in the usual synthesized perfume fashion, even after numerous vigorous scrubbings. I allowed this to sit on my skin for a few hours to dissect it until I just couldn't hack it anymore and had to scrub. Believe it or not but I could still detect a soft sillage from this well over 24 hours later after a shower as well and those vigorous scrubbings which made me hate it that much more so kudos to those fixatives, my goodness. Goooo aroma chemicals!

Oleg Cassini for Men by Oleg Cassini

This is actually a ridiculously awesome scent and composition, dated as all hell yes but very well constructed and still wearable, in small amounts though because this is a pretty powerful scent. I really still cannot find the words to properly explain Oleg Cassini but what I can tell you is that I personally do not find anything about this that I dislike. This scent stumps me as it's complex and just hard to explain. You have to love patchouli though to get on with this as this is a patchouli dominant creation.

It's the patchouli/hay/musk combination in this that makes it very unique to the nose. The hay makes the patchouli musty and stale like but in the best way imaginable. This is a musky scent. There's a soapiness from the jasmine flower that runs throughout and it's also a very resinuous scent as well thanks to a healthy slug of labdanum and amber. It's cold and smells like the colors of dark green and grey. There's this wetness to this as well and also a subtle sweetness from the vanilla in the drydown which counteracts all of that bitterness as well as a mild incense effect. There's also a woodiness from the vetiver and the honey note in this comes and goes that smells really awesome. It's very noticeable upon the initial application when atomized. Once again, I'm having a difficult time explaining the way that this smells but it's a super awesome odor, really. Very dated, very 70's and 'out there' but really pleasurable, especially if you love patchouli, in fact you gotta love patchouli or else you're going to hate this. Also, this is a 'real' perfume in the sense that there's absolutely nothing transparent here. This is a full bodied composition, one of those creations that completely fills up your nose. It's heavy and bold, thick and robust but never over the top. Oleg Cassini definitely lives up the 80's powerhouse genre without that obnoxious attitude that usually proceeds.

The ingredient quality in this mix is great, you can smell it and feel it when you're wearing it. I had written to Jōvan and inquired about what the concentration of oils were in this scent and never received a response, figures. I'm aware that Jōvan has changed hands numerous times since the production of Oleg Cassini so that's probably why but still, they could've at least had some couth and messaged me back. I'm guessing that this has got to be somewhere around 75% or maybe even higher or so as this is really strong and long lasting and also because after you spray it on, even from far away, this stuff is very oily and leaves you skin shiny for a long time. It is also 'sticky' where you apply it and you really cannot wash this off. I have several flacons of this, both splash and atomized, and all of them are the same, a very dense and oily composition. I easily get 12+ hours out of this with moderate sillage. I've detected this as a skin scent at 18 hours before.

My conclusion, I approve, highly. This is a killer scent that's been assembled with skill and time, you can just feel it. I think the 'only' downfall, albeit minor, is that this smell is a wee bit out of place although this is still very wearable as compared to other scents from this decade where I feel on edge wearing due to them showing their true age. The whole crutch is going to be if you like the way that this smells. I can tell you that if you love patchouli, more then likely you're really going to like this.

These Oleg Cassini's for Men usually get pretty pricey on eBay and in my honest opinion, they're worth it, especially if you love patchouli, vintage perfumes as well with quality ingredients and a dynamic scent pyramid, you really cannot lose with this one. This is a quality scent with excellent note separation. The scent pyramid is balanced, everything smells natural and the ingredients used are fantastic. There's also a nice leathery castoreum accord in this which it's very real 'and' slightly animalic. I love the flacon, the packaging, the soaps, the shaving cream and deodorant. I really wish that I was around back then when this was around so I could bathe in it. Awesome scent, especially if you love patchouli and vintages for men.

As a side note: Only vintage, pre-barcode flacons from the late 70's-80's will have frosted glass, for the men's and women's both. It seems that the ones that date to the 90's as I'm unaware when Oleg Cassini was discontinued have clear glass for the flacons, even for the women's. I'm not sure if there was a reformulation to this in the clear glass ones or not, but just something to take note of. The ones that I've seen with clear glass usually have a barcode on the bottom of the box and if you look closely on the back of the box near the bottom, the '1978' insignia next to the Jōvan logo is missing.

Jovan Sport Scent for Men by Jovan

This is a 'like', not a love. I don't dislike it but I'm just not crazy about it. There's some caveats to Jōvan's Sport Scent. It smells 'alright', especially the opening but, this is almost a translucent scent that does some weird stuff. It's quite strong and long lasting but thin feeling and in no way complex. Very 'green' and grass like that smells exactly like the color of lime green but simple and that's the downfall as there's only a small handful of notes playing off of each other here.

The green notes and lavender are the most prominent where the green notes smell like bergamot. There's a slight soapiness to this overall. The caveats are that the cardamom becomes foodie like in the heart notes that's slightly off putting and feels out of place. This also gets a wee bit sour in the drydown which is where I don't like this too much. Almost smells like body odor in a way, as if the wearer hasn't bathed in a while where their pits have 'gone off' but still has a good hygiene regimen and that's where the cardamom fails. I own 3 different flacons of this, 2 splash and 1 atomized. They all smell exactly the same and they all do the same things. The sour olfactory illusion in the far drydown also resembles cheap musk in a way which I believe there's a tiny amount of in this as a fixative and it's not really too pleasant smelling in the end. The oakmoss is kind of dirty but light. No tobacco or sage to my nose with just a teeny tiny bit of patchouli in the drydown but quite removed, you really gotta search for it to find it. So basically you have a strong green note (bergamot) laid over lavender and oakmoss with a pinch of patch.

My conclusion is that Sport Scent opens pretty nicely and stays that way for a while. It's strong with a considerable sillage that lasts for an easy 12 hours but it falls apart in the drydown and we all know that the drydown is where it's supposed to be. I like the smell for the first few hours but don't love it. It's hard to explain but this kind of smells like what a 'green' body wash or deodorant would smell like. Not heavy or thick though, light in feel. The name Sport is appropriate. I dunno, this odor is difficult to explain. I don't think this is worth those obscene asking prices though. My flacons I had found on the cheap so there's no remorse there but for what is delivered in the end, I'm not moved and find myself rarely wearing this if at all and there's nothing really that exciting in this composition anyways to keep me coming back. This scent pyramid seems incomplete. It's missing a lot, some heft. I'll keep it around due to it's rarity but overall it's more of a novelty item because those flacons are super cool and strange. You can take them apart. All of the plastic pieces separate and the atomizer gushes out a ridiculous amount.

Lapidus pour Homme by Ted Lapidus

I love this and cannot wait for the cold weather to wear it, that's the downfall to Lapidus, it's very limited in what kind of climate you can wear it in. This really truly requires bitter cold air to enjoy it's sillage, that and if you apply more then 2 sprays, it's overwhelming, for endless hours. Anything over 60 degrees and it's a nauseating powder bomb but in cold weather, it's this awesome patchouli and oakmoss combo that's creamy in feel.

I had a love affair with this stuff all last winter and wore it quite a bit so I know this scent like the back of my hand. I have a first edition flacon with the blue printed batch code on the bottom and it's the best formula. Lots of note separation with a fat and sweet amber note bathed in incense. I don't really get too much in the way of pineapple or honey in this. The best part for me is the soapy red rose in the heart notes which unfortunately only lasts for about an hour. The drydown is good but not really my favorite. This stuff dries down to a boat load of oakmoss and patchouli and if you accidentally over apply which is very easy to do, the sillage is choking and super powdery that never lets up. 2 sprays from really far away is all that this stuff needs, the walk through approach. It's kind of an intimidating scent to wear as the sillage is over the top ridiculous, absurd actually and kind of unnecessary. I mean, who really needs perfume that's this strong? Was this Ted Lapidus' intentions or was that just the outcome? If you over apply it's a horrid experience where the really long lasting grand finale is patchouli and oakmoss for days that continually projects, it never really let's up where the impression becomes musty like but when applied very lightly, Lapidus produces a fabulous smell. I firmly believe that if this mix was an 80° concentration and not 85° it wouldn't project as aggressively. I know that sounds like it doesn't make sense but the oils in perfume will volatilize faster when the alcohol concentration is higher, and at a slower rate when there's more oil which amounts to less 'sillage'. The one thing I learned from wearing Lapidus Pour Homme is how to properly apply a nuclear strong perfume that took a lot of trial and error.

I gave a 30ml vintage flacon to my boss once upon a time because he loved it on me. I made it a point to stress how strong this is and to apply it with caution. He said he would spray some into his hand after a shower and rub it all over his neck, chest and shoulders really quickly like. The sillage that wafted from him was nice and smelled nothing like it does when you sniff Lapidus up close, at least to me. Believe it or not but I always perceived the overall smell as a fuzzy kind of patchouli scented fabric softener, soapy like that was the olfactory color of dark teal and dark green, more dark teal though. Weird I know but it was pleasant, maybe this is because he applied very little over a spread out area. As an FYI for any guy who's interested in trying this out, the reformulation is not even close and is a sad sad shell of what Lapidus is supposed to be. You need to grab a flacon with the '85% VOL' logo that's embossed onto the front right hand bottom corner. Please don't waste your time with the reformulation. That was the first formula that I had ever tried of Lapidus until I got my hands on a vintage flacon and was blown away. I will say that the reformulation of this is atrocious.

MCM Success by MCM

This is a really incredible smell, fell in love with it from the very first whiff, totally unique with loads of character that completely fills your entire nose up, never smelled anything even remotely close to compare it to. Excellent note separation with 3 distinct stages, a difficult feat that not too many perfumers can pull off successfully, no pun of course. MCM Success is basically a boozy, alcoholic, honeyed musk with tobacco, patchouli and rose as supporting roles that lies on a bed of dirty oakmoss and amber, a very thick, robust, penetrating, rich and heavy perfume. There's an olfactory illusion of brown liquor in this that's been achieved perfectly, if this is what the perfumer(s) were going for then they've succeeded successfully. The overall impression is that of extravagance that's pushing the envelope directly into the gawdy realm that never really gets there which is perfect. It's that right on the cusp thing of almost being too much where the liquid is at the brim, 'almost' ready to spill over, almost too much of a good thing, almost. Success is complex and overtly flamboyant but totally wearable. It's kind of dark in feel and unnecessarily strong but keep in mind that you really gotta love musk as the drydown on this is musk for days, a strong, heavy musk that survives showers and reappears again underneath of your next perfume that you're wearing but don't worry, this musk is fantastic smelling, it's not that really bad 1980's musk, it's creamy and thick, very heavy that trails forever.

I really cannot find the words to describe this smell but it's highly pleasurable and cozy. A little bit powdery, just a bit, slightly floral, woody, warm, aromatic, kind of animalic, a little sweet, super duper musky, full bodied and wears like a pure parfum, seriously this stuff is that rich! This is definitely a man's smell and if you love 80's powerhouses and musk, you'll probably like this a lot, I know I do. The name and color of the perfume are 100% appropriate, couldn't have been any better.

As a side note... this perfume requires very little as in 2 sprays maximum which I feel is still too much due to the relentless projection and sillage. This stuff is a beastoid and lasts forever, days, literally. Lovers of Kouros (like myself) will more then likely fall hard for this that's virtually the same concept with this one which, believe it or not, is just a hairs width more baroque and tacky in feel. Honestly, MCM's Success is definitely a 'success' and by far one of the most intriguing scents I've worn to date. There's this satisfaction aspect that's accomplished here in spades, exactly like what Kouros delivers for endless hours, same thing here. I would've never thought in a million years that I'd come across another perfume that's as absurdly over the top like Kouros, wow, I really love this perfume...

Horizon by Guy Laroche

It's not a bad scent but Horizon is definitely not original in it's make up. This is far closer to Wings than to Cool Water. Wings debuted in 1992 so I'm a firm believer that Horizon is strongly modeled after Wings. I even did a side by side for comparison purposes and next to Wings, you can really smell the syrupy sweet amber in Wings that wouldn't be noticeable otherwise but overall, these two perfumes are quite similar in smell although I prefer this just a smidgen more.

This is a lavender perfume, just like in Drakkar Noir but here the lavender is sweetened considerably by a healthy dose of amber. It's apparent that Guy Laroche wanted to keep the same theme going for Horizon as he did in Drakkar Noir but took the lavender accord down a completely different path. Here the lavender is supported by jasmine, oakmoss, patchouli, cyclamen, sandalwood, cedarwood, amber and musk. Seriously, this is incredibly close to Wings smell wise so if you like that, you'll like this and if you've smelled that, then you've smelled this.

One Man Show by Jacques Bogart

I grabbed a vintage flacon of this and was prepared for something vile and guess what, not even close! This is actually a very pleasurable scent and quite wearable mind you that turned out to be far better then what I was even expecting but, there's a few minor let downs to One Man Show for me personally although they're not the big deal at all, really.

The formula that I'm referring to is a first formula with the '85°' on the front of the flacon, not '85 % VOL' which is a second edition formula and 'certainly' not that reformulation with the '87% VOL', don't even waste my time with those as those are all mere shadows and shouldn't even be considered for anything of comparison purposes, ever. These are my observations, pay close attention because my observations are accurate.

This is not a strong scent to begin with, pretty mild actually and I'm an individual who's very sensitive to how strong my sillage and projection is, I feel very uncomfortable wearing things that are 'beastly'. One Man Show opens with a waxy candle like texture and smell that really cannot be picked apart but it smells good, there's no other way I could possibly explain this. The overall olfactory color of this through out is pale green and gray which matches the color of the flacon and box perfectly. The blending is a tad too much for my own personal preferences as there's not really any particular note that sticks out per se until the far drydown. The heart notes have a mild and tolerable slightly bathroomy carnation accord followed by a soapy and subdued rose with some incense where everything feels like a tamed down Van Cleef & Arpels Tsar at this point. Once the drydown hits I kid you not, One Man Show turns directly into a Rochas Macassar 'light', and when I say light I mean very light, about 75% there. Where Macassar is truly a heavy duty perfume for endless hours, One Man Show is completely wearable at any stage and frankly, very light with okay lasting power as a skin scent at the 12 hour point with arms length sillage for the first few.

The far drydown of One Man Show is a suede like leather followed by jasmine, patchouli, amber and castoreum, very awesome smelling but like I've stressed prior, light, not heavy or beastly at all, honest. This is not a pine scentric perfume at all, it's a leather, jasmine and patchouli perfume with castoreum and amber as supporting roles that smells 'exactly' like a neutered version of Rochas' Macassar but toned way down, not that this is a bad thing at all. It is for me because I already own lots of Macassar and wear it on the regular so I'm more then familiar with that stuff which I love to death. Also, both of these perfumes just happened to have debuted in 1980 so I get that One Man Show is a much less expensive and blatant copy of Macassar, the similarities at least on my skin or so uncanny and ridiculously obvious at the drydown point that after I wore this a few times I laughed when the association clicked and it was as clear as day. Jacques Bogart is not a high end perfume house to begin with although his perfumes are all great but One Man Show is a total spin off of Macassar that's been done with respect and panache so kudos to this perfume house for accomplishing this giant feat very well.

There's also a tiny bit of Furyo lurking around in this, I can smell it, but where Furyo is a civet, cinnamon and overtly flowery dandy bomb, One Man Show is quite classy and completely 100% wearable at any point in it's development. Seriously, nobody, and I mean no one should at any time feel intimidated to adorn this, extremely pleasurable scent that completely took me by surprise. If you like this, go and try some Macassar that'll really blow that head clean off, now that stuff is truly a beast of a perfume that lives up to the 'powerhouse' genre.

Drakkar Noir by Guy Laroche

I have an original formula flacon of this that dates the batch code to 1985. This is by far one of my favorite perfumes for men for a number of reasons. It's complex with 3 distinct stages, strong, beautiful handsome sillage, long lasting and a sheer pleasure to wear with a drydown that's to die for. This stuff lasts on my skin for well over 18 hours with a moderate application.

There's something mildly animalic funky which hits your nose just right in the heart and basenotes of Drakkar Noir that lasts until the very end. I cannot explain what this deep funk is at all but it smells super awesome. This scent is definitely 'noir' in feel with a phenomenal amber accord that runs throughout that recreates a cozy warmth once the drydown hits. The jasmine accord in the heart notes creates this soft and intoxicating soapiness. It's not easy to decipher this composition or even to pick out individual notes. Some notes seem to come and go randomly only to pop up again and again, it's a really awesome experience overall. I'm not particularly fond of the first opening 30 minutes as the complexity of this scent is hard to grasp at first and comes across as a tad 'off' when first sprayed if that makes sense, but after that first half hour it's bliss all the way. This could possibly be due to the age of my flacon.

Opens as a cold scent that becomes warm and comforting. I have 2 gripes about Drakkar, one is about the atomizer, it's incredibly cheap and crappy. It sprays out a really fine mist in little itty bitty tiny quantities so it's very difficult to guage how much you're applying that leads you to naturally over spray. I think that's why guys used to bathe in this stuff due to the horrible atomizers. My second gripe is that this smell is very heavy and complex in nature which limits it's wearing abilities to cool or colder weather only, and don't even think about wearing this during the daytime, it doesn't work, this is for sure a nighttime only scent.

My personal opinion according to my bitchy and seasoned nose that likes very little is that Drakkar Noir has been assembled ridiculously well. It is a striking composition that demands presence and has loads of sex appeal. I'm not fibbing one bit when I say that wearing this stuff makes you feel sexy and fantastic. You can always feel and sense this wafting sporadically around you while adorning it and due to that complex scent pyramid there's zero olfactory fatigue whatsoever for the entire long and drawn out duration. I'm telling you, the drydown on this stuff is a killer dopamine inducer. I can understand thoroughly why people say Drakkar Noir 'drops the panties', not that I live by that term in this wonderful art of perfumery that I think is absurdly stupid to read but that term applies to Drakkar Noir 100%. This is a very sexy scent. I would love to smell the sillage from this on someone other then myself to see what I'm missing out on...

Edit: I sacrificed my vintage flacon today with a pair of needle nose pliers by prying off the metal factory sealed ring that holds the atomizer in place to get to the amazing liquid inside. I decanted everything into 2 new atomizers and now this stuff is a beast with 2 sprays, my goodness! These atomizers produce big, full on sprays. This is what this perfume needed, it's literally night and day as compared to what I was experiencing before with those miniature ultra fine mist sprays, those were probably the equivalent of 4 of those to one of these new full on sprays. The sillage on this stuff is huge now! My God I love this smell, it's phenomenal!

Lanvin for Men by Lanvin

I love civet to pieces and decided to buy a mini flacon of this blind. I did a few dab samplings at home and liked it quite a bit as there was a very deep woodiness to the scent overall, smelled fantastic. I was completely oblivious to the nuclear strong roses in this when I was dabbing it. I decided to pour it into an atomizer, gave Lanvin for Men a proper wearing and was horrified!

This is an extremely powerful rose perfume that overwhelms everything for the entire time, even worse is that the rose implemented into this mix is a big huge jammy, fruity, somewhat sweet and juicy red rose with a moderately strong indolic and slightly pissy jasmine accord behind it, so the overall feel is absurdly floral in nature, especially for a man to wear. After a few hours the florals tame a 'bit' to reveal a lovely civet note that's fuzzy, moderately animalic, poopy like and warm which is laid onto a base of smoky, dry and woody vetiver with a resiny and deep labdanum, but keep in mind that this is a 100% rose focused composition.

I love roses, just not on me. To be totally honest and as awesome as this smells, I felt like I was wearing a women's perfume the whole entire time, it's that overtly floral. My final verdict is that Lanvin for Men uses high quality ingredients, you can feel them when wearing it but, this is a super strong rose perfume with oodles of sillage and projection for hours and hours that lasts forever and this has a denatured alcohol content of 90% so go figure. I did a heavy application one night at home to feel the far drydown in the morning after sleeping and was literally choking myself out from the overwhelming amount of bright red roses in this. This stuff outlasted 2 whole showers that I could still catch traces of underneath of my other scent that I was wearing the following day, it's that strong, I would say easily 24+ hours on the skin. I will confidently say that Lanvin for Men is a bonafide 'fill the room' with sillage kinda perfume.

Very rare and very difficult to get. You seriously gotta love roses to get down with this, if you do and love civet then you're really going to like this one because it has been assembled incredibly well.

There's a concentrated perfume oil named Jakarta from the United Kingdom perfume house of Abdul Karim al Faransi that's eerily similar in smell and overall feel to Lanvin for Men, albeit a wee bit cleaner. Both of these perfumes could be kissing cousins. If you like this, try that, same monster performance as well.

Bleu de Chanel Eau de Parfum by Chanel

I smelled this trailing off of a younger guy in the establishment that I work in and it smelled really super nice! I'm a perfume snob to the bone and hadn't the slightest clue that this perfume he was wearing was going to be Chanel's Bleu of all the scents in the world, to be totally honest, I could've sworn to a T that he was wearing Al Haramain's Midnight Musk from their Exclusive Collection, it smelled almost exactly like it which is an awesome perfume in and of itself.

I'd like to comment on the sillage of this scent as the voting scale shows that Bleu is kinda weak, I beg to differ. The building that I work in is a large restaurant and all of the a/c intake areas are located in the back, so whenever someone is sitting near the entrance to the back of the house, the HVAC units will pull a nice trail of anyone's scent that's seated near the entrances. Well, I could smell this trailing from way far away in the dish pit which is a ways off although when I was near his table, his scent was not bathed in per se so, it was mild and pleasurable, not 'projecting' if that makes sense, Chanel's Bleu eau de parfum has an incredible sillage, a long one. It's very incensy with lots of amber, really warm smelling, the sillage that is. I loved it to pieces so much that I bought a sample for myself to try out.

My opinion from an outside nose is that this is actually a strong scent which I believe is one of those perfumes that you can never smell on yourself while wearing, thoroughly impressed me.

Edit: Funny story and this is the truth... I had ordered a vintage 80's scent from a seller in Italy of all places and when I had received the package, there was a sample of Bleu eau de parfum in it! I couldn't believe it and had to laugh as I'm kinda floored with this perfume. I have officially given Bleu a few proper wearings and although this scent is completely out of my genre that I usually like to wear, I truly enjoy this scent through and through. It's super smoky, sour and sweet but, these 3 different sensations do not clash, they work together in perfect harmony. Even though this scent 'does' smell blue, I seriously like this a lot.

As another word of caution, Blue eau de parfum is absurdly strong and long lasting so totally disregard that sillage scale up top there as this scent has some serious throw that projects continually at the same exact volume. I believe it is due to a moderate use of Iso E Super which is designed to push out heart and base notes continually which I'm sensitive to, but here it is used correctly and it's just enough that I can handle it unlike in Versace's Eau Fraicheur that's an Iso E Super bomb that Bleu eau de parfum just happens to resemble, 'slightly'. This could be as to why I find this scent über strong and others don't. Some people can sense Iso E Super and some cannot, the ones who cannot tend to find those perfumes that use this particular aroma chemical as weak and for the people who are hyper sensitive to Iso always perceive it as nuclear. Seriously, this is a killer scent but super powerful so apply lightly with maybe 1 spray or else it's instant olfactory fatigue. I feel strongly that over appliers of this kinda perfume will recreate a ghastly sillage, I'm talking to you 3+ sprays kinda guys. I literally wore 1 spray on my chest and it was an experience, I felt like I was almost choking myself for hours, this would probably be way better dabbed then atomized because as mentioned before, Bleu eau de parfum is super potent for endless hours.

Also, this perfume smells like 2 entirely different odors when sniffed up close and from afar. Up close it smells blue, from afar, the sillage that is, it's very warm, lots of amber and smoke which almost smells like a super smooth musk accord with the olfactory color of orange. Do this little test... spray some onto the top of your foot when you're at home and walk around a little, then stand there for a bit and walk around some more. You'll clearly smell the sillage that an outside nose is experiencing. Or better yet, spray some on a card, leave the room for a half hour and go back to that room and you'll experience the amber note in this. Synthetic yes but these are some of the best quality aroma chemicals being used here that have been blended properly. I'm not one to like or even love any kind of synthesized perfume but I'll tell ya, I really do love this scent. It just smells great and has been assembled with skill, nothing was skimped here as far as a designer scent goes. Sometimes I crave this odor, this is truly a fabulous perfume.

Andron for Men by Jovan

I've had Andron on my perfume radar for a ridiculously long time now and decided to break my long standing rule of 'no blind buying'. I always know exactly where it's going to end up if I blind buy and yep, once again, the good ol' gut is 100% correct. I just knew deep down that once I pissed my money away on this that Andron was going to be a total stinker.

Outside of that awesome looking flacon, I for the life of me cannot figure out what in the hell is the hype behind this extremely hard to get scent from Jovan! Nostalgia more then likely, I think I do though, for the most part. I 'will' tell you that the asking prices for this lazy perfume are absolutely absurd because what is delivered in correlation to the asking price is a joke.

To start, this really isn't a very pleasing smell overall to begin with, it's definitely overtly musky with tons of white musk which is the main note followed by a soft sandalwood accord and a tiny bit of patchouli. There's nearly nothing in the way of animalics like castoreum, or civet, or even lovely salty ambergris and if there are, they're being used in such tiny quantities as to only provide a very mild supporting base because I sure can't smell them. To my seasoned nose this composition consists of a drug store grade white musk, a low grade sandalwood and a teeny tiny bit of headshop patch which I'm using loosely and that's it, zero animalics, just a wall of cheap musk. Taking strongly into consideration this perfume's original asking price, I'm more then confident that there's next to no castoreum, civet 'or' ambergris in this as those essential oils are very expensive. I'm more then familiar with those notes in their natural isolated states so I know what I'm talking about here.

The overall 'odor' created is cheap, soapy and nothing that's even appealing to me in the least, I'm not even exaggerating one bit. This 'is' a drug store scent to begin with and not even a good one. Andron dries down to that 80's 'forever musk' that's harsh on the nose which trails forever even after numerous, vigorous scrubbings and that's about it. Powdery musk, a tad soapy and abrasive, mildly woody with a hint of aromatics. This is an incredibly boring and simplistic scent with virtually nil development that starts out as super strong laundry soapy white musk that dries down to a somewhat soft, non-descript 'woodiness' musky kind of blob, thing. Very difficult to describe due to it's strangeness and frankly, not that good smelling in the least. I've smelled a boat load of perfumes in my time and can't find anything even relatively close to compare this to so kudos for that fact alone. Man, I just can't even begin to describe this smell, it's just... odd, in a bad and off putting way. I want you to understand that I love musk, not this one though. For some reason I picture this scent on a sweaty fat dude that has greasy hair, stained up clothing and bad hygiene. I had this vivid and perfect picture formed in my head when I was smelling this.

My take is that this stuff is so hard to get and so way over the top hyped now due to it's rarity that it's just one of those perfumes that hardcore perfume heads have to have in their life. The pheremone marketing I think is where guys are after this stuff hardcore in the sense that it's going to help them with the grabbin' of the women, well, sorry to say but there's no scent in this world that's going to do that for you. You either got it or you don't. Funny thing, this stuff flies the coop as soon as it hits the auction block on eBay. In my personal observations of Andron, the one and only thing that this concoction has going for it is some nuclear strength and days long longevity.

The box that my 30ml splash flacon came in has a price tag sticker of $8.00 on it and that's right about the price point that Andron smells like, that's approximately the equivalent of a $30-40 scent nowadays and we all know what a $40 perfume smells like. This is officially my most disappointing blind buy ever that I'm extremely annoyed about. My final opinion? Andron is garbage. I cannot believe that I spent money on this crap that I find zero anything appealing about. The silver lining to this whole review though is that I put that mess right back on eBay and guess what, it sold in 1 day, not even kidding...

Japon Noir by Tom Ford

I had a 4ml mini of this for the longest time as in years and couldn't place why this scent was so familiar to me when doing some dab samplings until I finally broke down and wore it to work a few days ago for kicks to break up my usual rotation. That was my first proper wearing of this scent. When I had gotten to work, my co-worker asked me if I was wearing Calvin Klein's Obsession for Men, no kidding. After he had asked and commented, I scrubbed immediately which I could still smell this mess afterwards. That sample went directly into the trash as soon as I had gotten home. Enough said...

Zino Davidoff by Davidoff

I've tested the vintage version a few times with some proper wearings and this is what I think of Zino...

Nuclear strong with some monster sillage that lasts forever. Far more feminine then everyone portrays thanks to that huge floral heart that dominates and the moderately overpowering vanilla which takes the cake in the drydown which is why you see women reviewing this scent, because they're wearing it as well. An amazingly dirty patchouli that's being smothered to death in well, flowers and vanilla. Vanilla should be followed by patch because there's a ton of it in here. I can't stand vanilla so it sticks out in this composition like a giant sore thumb. Me personally, I find this scent nauseating, it's just strange smelling and really not anything that's 'that' masculine. I think everyone reads far too much into the reviews, I did until I started wearing this thing and was bombarded with vanilla and patch on top of vanilla, kinda grodyville.

Edit: I've 'finally' nailed the 'weirdness' factor about this perfume! It smells strange like musty rot, stale air and maybe even an olfactory illusion of a rotting corpse drenched in flowers and vanilla, yumm, just like a mausoleum. This odor that Zino emits is disturbing and turns my stomach. I can't believe that guys actually put this on their skin and think it smells great. My final conclusion, smells like dead people and is nauseatingly strong, I hate this... how appealing.

Here's the definition per Wiki: A mausoleuma is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb, or the tomb may be considered to be within the mausoleum.