Fragrance Reviews by Sporenburg

Basically, the way American 15-year girls smelled in the 80's. This, one could say, is a good thing. But of course no self-respecting woman should wear this bubblegum water. The name is utter crap too.

Its official name should be changed to The Much Maligned Noir. The French lesbians, the phallic ads (“La douce violence d’un parfum d’homme”), the bottle that looks like your average shampoo, the silly name, the gateway scent of 80s youth. Actually I quite understand why some don’t like it anymore; I won’t wear Fahrenheit or Cool Water because I wore them as a teenager (although I don’t disown them.) But…I never wore Drakkar Noir, so without the weight of memories it’s basically a new fragrance. And it is of course a pivotal scent and (together with the beautiful Azzaro and Paco Rabanne PH) a baseline with which other scents of the 70s and 80s are measured.

It must have been very popular because it does indeed produce flashes of the eighties although I immediately smell it as a collection of (loud mouthed) rip-offs that Drakkar Noir has set in motion. The most flattering I know of, as some have commented before, Gucci Nobile (on paper a more unflattering example: one of the Axe’s at the end of the same decade.) But what I do find surprising is the fact that, contrary to its fame as 80’s powerhouse, Drakkar Noir is a quiet scent, probably the reason it got over applied by plebeian and youthful fools. “Soft violence” does indeed cover it as Drakkar Noir reminds me sometimes of an introverted, sweeter cousin of Quorum (from the same year.) When used correctly it possesses beautiful whispering sillage although longevity is rather average (beware though: I have a skin type that can absorb the most potent brews.) So from the outside something of a prole but inside hides the soul of a fine gentleman.

Typical product in "the current style" of the last 15 years or so, in other words: crap. An uninteresting take on androgyny, death by melon water, with a bunch of flowers and a cucumber to finish the job. The last in an endless line of depressing airport fragrances.

Another scent I know from childhood! I distinctly remember a friend of my parents wearing this, a typical haute bourgeois lady: smart, affable and stylish. In short, not a fragrance for young women (maybe with exception of the ones who know what they are doing.)

Peach is pivotal in Y but with a slightly weird note giving it an intriguing unnatural aspect. The peach is also the main reason why I disagree with those who see in Y a potential unisex (it also has “that Perfume smell” of traditional female fragrances, although not as prominent as some but you’ll never mistake it for something that came out last week.) Sillage is good and longevity as with nearly all YSL scents is outstanding.

Y possesses a modern spirit, not as it’s often misused on Basenotes (new, dictated by current fashions…and bogus) but as a promise of optimism, wide-eyed intelligence, sleekness. So it makes total sense as the first Yves Saint Laurent fragrance. Good office scent and apparently not well-known.

I bought this for my wife when it came out, mainly because I was curious what Gucci, in the middle of a creative rebirth, was doing in the area of fragrance. Well, they created a classic. Such a beautiful fragrance and one that for once deserves the description “modern” (most of the time a word mistaken with “current fashion”, and most new fragrances don't deserve to be called modern.) This truly is a stylish fragrance for women that, once and for all, ends the tradition of musty, female perfume. This is crisp, green, sharp but unmistakably female. Undeniably great (too bad the male version wasn’t any good.)

Got a bottle for my birthday. Went to buy it with my mother (pretty clever move because I was a bit afraid she would accidentally buy Kouros Sport or something). “Ah there it is!” And I watched in terror as she grabbed the tester. “Nooo, she’ll turn into the Great White Devil himself” or at least say something like “what is this piss?” But no, “Mmm, fresh!” I don’t know if I was actually disappointed with that comment (“So Basenotes went off the rails again and Kouros is quite acceptable.”) At home I finally tried it on paper since I already was wearing something else and I have to admit that on paper it is a dead ringer for Paco Rabanne Pour Homme. Another Calandre – Rive Gauche case? On skin it’s a different story, what they do have in common is the soapy blast which in Kouros stays for a long time. Rabanne famously goes into dank green territory, whereas Kouros is more woody-sweet.

Now maybe, Bourdon is a blunt conceptualist and thought: “I’ll make something that smells of piss and the stuff that masks it. Brilliant!” But I don’t buy it (although I love Rex’s theory on why Kouros is so big in Europe and the scent quite successfully does play on opposites, it is for instance both soft and powerful, macho and feminine, dirty and clean.) Besides I’m not familiar with urinal cakes that smell this way (they’re not exactly my area of expertise as they seemingly are for others but the ones I know of are far sharper and pine-like.) There is at times a hint of something animalic but the honey and soap is far stronger to me. Staying power is unparalleled, it truly works all day; sillage in general is something I have a hard time commenting on as most fragrances stay close to me but it is undeniable that it possesses quite some.

Over the years I don’t have any regrets regarding fragrances but one: that I didn’t run into Kouros when I was 20. Another victim of wrong connotations (it always made me think of Greek kitsch or hairy and obnoxious men.) This is indeed a classic that I strangely haven’t smelled on others here in The Netherlands, Home of Mellon Water. I have a premonition it will stay in my wardrobe for quite some time.

I got a bottle together with Yatagan, to at least have something wearable this summer in case Yatagan scared me (or everybody around me.) A combination of two projects: one the huge male scents of the 70s-80s, the other an exploration of the YSL line (which I, for unknown reasons, never got into up till now.) Might as well start with the first fragrance which is as old as I am and was curious about for certain historical reasons: if I’m not mistaken the first designer as superstar/author fragrance helped by the legendary ad campaign.

As many have noted this has a lovely opening, instant wakefulness at morning. The first time I sprayed it on that citric burst made me very happy with my purchase. But it’s followed by an awkward moment of transition in the heart which might be associated with the “old people smell” (although of course it isn’t really like that), reminds me a bit of the love/hate opening of Azzaro PH (although that’s far richer.) Edgy and the fragrance needs this moment. At first I didn’t like the transition at all but there’s something about it that is quite fascinating, even horny, maybe a better case of the bathroom-that-can’t-be-fully-cleaned than is claimed for Jules, Kouros, etc. and it did grow on me.

After that it moves into a discreet but pleasurable dry down when the salty smell of my skin seems to offset the sourness of the lemon which in YSL PH can be both refreshing and oppressive (I don’t detect any civet here and remain unsure if I should be happy or not about that loss.)

The problem with Pour Homme is that it’s not a very powerful fragrance or perhaps on my skin it seems unbalanced. The opening and heart are explosive while the dry down is too discreet (but perfect for work.) The solution is to reapply after 4-5 hours so the layers gain something approaching modest sillage.

I noticed that it is still very expensive in department stores, which I suspect tells us something about the target group (bit older, successful, into French style). Not without reason, it can’t be considered a totally safe fragrance and a bit of personality is needed to carry off the weird heart. I don’t know if it’s worth that price tag especially when you can buy it online together with another quality bottle and still have some spare change. In the end it’s a fascinating fragrance, interesting for historical reasons and nice to have around as a useful, classy, understated daytime scent (with a twist.)

Somehow like (almost) everything the Kings of Eurotrash do this is isn’t any good. On release Pour Homme was immediately hailed as a classic by people in the know so I had to at least give it a chance. There is something in this fragrance that really pushes me the wrong way and overseeing the notes I can’t identify the culprit (the basenotes for instance look like personal favorites) but on me it smelled like burnt chocolate. Really annoying and obviously unwearable.

Undoubtedly someone has thought of this before: but one of the pleasures of the 70s-80s powerhouses for me is to wear the fragrances against psychological type. I have read it repeatedly on Basenotes, something like “you need brass balls to wear this.” That’s when I’m getting interested these days (if it’s called outdated, even better.) As an introvert the perfect scent for me is Prada Amber –soft and intimate- but it also becomes a predictable choice. The thing is the extravert power boost of something like Quorum is totally against psychological expectations and works like a charm.

Enter Yatagan. First impression: “I know this!” A very confusing moment until I realize it doesn’t remind me of a fragrance but of a landscape. Many below have had similar associations and it does indeed remind me of Mediterranean forests in summer heat (pine and brown, dry earth.) I adore that smell, but do I want to smell like it? That’s the big question with Yatagan, the opening is an inhuman smell which is so rich that it almost gave me an indigestion. On paper.

When, with some trepidation, I finally sprayed it on my skin a far subtler fragrance unfolded. Now don’t get me wrong I love reading these Basenotes pages on heavy controversial fragrances full of sweaty, horny horses bathing in urine, but Yatagan to my surprise is quite wearable and classy. Heavy, of course! Unusual? Indeed. Celery? No way! But with two sprays max you can’t go wrong, the pine isn’t that pronounced on skin but stays far into the heart while finally transforming into something warm and masculine (and with a weird burning accent which should be associated with flaming erotic power.) After the paper test I was convinced my bottle would last a lifetime but as I consider it a red-brown cousin of personal favorite Quorum, I imagine it forming a triangle with signature Azzaro PH which I will repeat for quite some years. I really can’t see why European men under the Nantes – Paris line shouldn’t love this. In short: total classic.

Got a 10 ml from Ebay. I am really getting into the idea of the animalistic/rude/sweaty fragrance and Jules is the real first step on a path that will eventually lead me to fork out the 110 e’s for Muscs Koublaï Khän.

Jules starts off rather mysteriously and classy, definitely a scent from a bygone era. Very, very French somehow and at times it seems to foreshadow Fahrenheit. Weird at first but pleasant and it gets better with the spicy middle. All those associations of woods, dead leaves are quite understandable. It’s definitely an autumn scent, should work well with brown clothes (something I’m quite partial to.) I can understand where those with the urinous angle come from, there’s just a hint of something “off”, a sweet/sour note that basically is very pleasant but doesn’t resemble any real toilet I know of. The only problem with Jules is the longevity which is a bit average.

I wouldn’t mind having a bigger bottle of this stuff, but at the moment it’s guaranteed I won’t run into someone wearing Jules so it has the attraction of a “little secret”. Maybe it will get reissued in the future when there’s a hype/comeback for Big Masculine Scents, but I won’t hold my breath. Dior probably will release something like Higher II Light instead.

It took Basenotes via its Azzaro Pour Homme page to hook me on Paco Rabanne Pour Homme. You see, Paco Rabanne always has been on the edge of my perception whenever I entered a perfume shop but with certain connotations of Latin kitsch I never wasted a thought on checking it out.

On first try I was taken aback by the opening: “oh, it’s what Spain smelled like in the seventies!” Totally ripped open a container of memories: visits to the barber, summer walks through the park, Iberia flights and drugstores.
The opening as previous reviewers have stated below is extremely clean and it took me some time to get used to (probably because it is so familiar.) The thing is I tried this on a paper card when I got home and after four hours the sweet soap was still there. To be honest I was disappointed, ready to give it a neutral mark (“historically important but not for me, at all!”) and pass it on to my father. Next morning on my skin it was a whole different story: the initial blast is almost immediately absorbed and what follows is a quite interesting and unique scent, green with a hint of sweet decay. Very good for spring and summer wear.

I was a bit afraid this would be too close to my signature Azzaro Pour Homme but personally I don’t see it, this has a classic Spanish soap feel, Azzaro to me feels more dirty, bodily and plain male whereas the honey note in PR gives it just a slight feminine touch. It’s a drugstore fragrance these days which I guess is a good sign too. We’re always complaining about guys smelling like a bunch of melons but Paco Rabanne Pour Homme must still be popular. I wonder who uses it though, a new wave of young retroheads or that mythical one-scent-for-life man?

Way below par. The opening, with pleasurable lime, makes it clear this is never going to be a radical departure. After five minutes it almost disappears, what remains is a light scent which reminds me a bit of Allure Homme. Probably wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t by Guerlain. To make matters worse the name is unimaginative and the bottle displays the same boring grayness as all the other boring gray scents that surrounds us.

Should be discontinued immediately.

I refuse to disown this although I haven’t worn it since 1996. cK One is a pleasant fragrance: somehow intelligent, breezy, yet not inconsequential (the nutmeg for me always gave it that very needed sting.) A scent for technoheads. Obviously it got too popular for its own good, but that was the goal after all. Hard to separate from the beauty of the minimal bottle and the ad campaigns that were omnipresent around 1995 which tried to readjust to idea of male and female beauty yet resulted in something quite sexless (a gathering of friends without bodily attraction, just talk, talk, talking.) Which probably was the point too and as the clever observer Klein had noted, a sign of the times. As you can get cK One fairly cheap nowadays I’ve toyed with the idea of trying it again just as a summer fragrance to conclude that I have outgrown it and besides have set my controls for the opulent heart of the seventies which has no place for cK One. Even so, lasts long and if you are young and feel a bit shy of standing out in a crowd not a bad choice at all (as a starting point.)

I was 24 when I wore this. Loved it at the time (and the Kate Moss ads were flat out amazing.) It was complex enough and its use of spices mysterious. Excellent on my skin and it lasted a long time. I agree that it is a typical autumn/winter scent.

The problem is its sweetness which in the long run saturates. I remember being relieved when I finally finished the bottle, convinced I would never use it again. Obsession is a good gateway fragrance for young men because it’s easily available and stylish. Obviously not an outsider fragrance though.

Ah yes, Fahrenheit. Bless my mother who gave me this when I was 19. Loved it, a real man fragrance I thought at the time, and it indeed marked a point of no return for me: after that no more Mickey Mouse scents. I have a problem writing something clear-cut from memory, I remember Fahrenheit being spicy and complex, I associate it with autumn. For the longest time I wandered around with the idea of getting another bottle in a sort of don’t-fix-what-isn’t-broken idea but always got derailed. Now its moment for me has passed, it’s too popular, I’m moving in another direction and not unimportant my wife hates Fahrenheit.

My wife’s skin possesses a sublime scent. Something so beautiful that most fragrances are not worthy of her. She’s settled into a steady relation with Chanel Allure which I understand but she needed something new just as a break with routine. I never tried Infusion, reading the comments here I was certain that Infusion d’Iris would be an interesting choice. Even so I watched with some trepidation when she applied it for the first time. My fear was baseless, this is a match made in heaven. Infusion d’Iris settles on her as if one of those Botticellian flower spirits has touched her with a breath. What glorious interplay! The result is amazingly classy and subtle, but with staying power (at least 8-10 hours).

So Prada delivers again. Personally they are the only house I trust nowadays, dedicated to perfume against the tide. And because their brand is so strong they know people will buy it anyway so why not make these subtle scents? Let’s hope they don’t start to overproduce.

For awhile very popular with some friends of mine. Many times I have been close to purchasing a bottle for myself but somehow I always pull back at the last moment (once because my wife dissed it as “a grandmother smell”.) Let’s say it’s a fragrance I admire but that just doesn’t fit me (I'm a Héritage man myself.) The tobacco note is the guilty party I think; suppressing like the smell of decaying plants (a bit like the lagoon they once used in the ad for the fragrance.) A classic nonetheless.

Glorious opening, unique (as far as I can tell), complex and strange. After trying it I needed a bottle just to have that opening experience again and again. Always gave me associations of ancient French (candy) stores that I have never visited. The opening alone deserves the thumbs up mark. But Le Mâle is a fragrance with problems. It is overly artificial and eventually wears you down. At the moment I can’t imagine me ever revisiting this (maybe in 30 years in a “man, the nineties were surely weird” move, like some are doing right now with seventies fragrances.)

Also, for me, Le Mâle somehow is a “downer”, the dry down emits a certain sadness I can’t put my finger on. And the eternal problem: it got too popular for its own good. Although that is a fascinating fact in itself, it must be doing something right other than be presented in an interesting bottle.

My mother must have given me this when it came out and as a teenager I really liked it. It was a good gateway scent but I distinctly remember getting fed up with it after a while and there being one note that really started to grate on me (the peppermint I suspect from memory). Cool Water probably spearheaded a trend that turned into the aquatic dictatorship we now live under. From an economic point of view its unthinkable of course but it should be retired.

I would never have thought of buying this myself, Boucheron is just one of those brands that is off my radar. Got it as a gift and used it as a rotation scent because it is light and inoffensive, easily wearable on different occasions. Classy, very French, but not my style. I am surprised that it was launched in 1991 because it smells way older (I would have dated it as early sixties, even fifties.) Slightly feminine and stale...not recommended for younger men (I would say strictly 50+).

The opening of Héritage is hands-down the best I know. Beautiful and unique. I never can shake off the association of being transported to the middle of a sawmill. It slowly transforms into a warm scent that gives one easy confidence. And thankfully the vanilla remains somewhat hidden. For me it is an obvious autumn scent that can be worn on all occasions. I am surprised though that it was launched in 1992 because it just oozes old-fashioned class, in that sense Guerlain pulled off quite a feat (and also found the perfect name for the scent.) I am convinced that men who wear Héritage can be trusted, maybe not blindly but at the very least in aesthetic choices. It is the thinking man’s scent.

I have become resigned to the fact that I’ll be wearing Azarro Pour Homme for the rest of my life. I usually don’t repeat scents but I am already on my third ApH bottle. The staying power for me is to be found in the mystery of the opening which I can’t get a grip on after all these years…one day it smells brutal and unpleasant, the next day its freshness immediately lifts me up. What cannot be questioned is the dry down which is amazing: warm, erotic and just clinging to the skin (and on me it lasts forever.)

An important factor is my wife who on numerous occasions has described this as the only true aphrodisiac. She also thinks it possesses a trashy glamour but I can’t see it for myself. Azzaro Pour Homme is a stylish, complex scent which incidentally can be purchased at great prices (I have a gift set combo of EDT & Aftershave which I got for a bargain.) All out classic.

The opening is just plain rude. I despaired on my first application because the first five minutes I smelled like a Spanish church. After that it gets interesting, really interesting. It evolves into an almost scarily male scent that makes me want to seduce myself. For awhile there’s some oscillation with the church notes after which you’re pushed on an opulent bed of moss.
Now, for me it’s obvious that Quorum could only have come out of Spain and I am almost certain I know the scent from before (I’ll have to ask my dad if he ever wore it.) That’s why I’m not sure if it can really appeal beyond Spain (although obviously there are some fans on Basenotes) or men who have strong feelings for a certain bygone age (mid 70s to mid 80s).
Younger men certainly must learn to love it, because one wears it “against the times”; most men aren’t used to these sorts of weird but manly scents. Chances are pretty slim you’ll be running into someone wearing Quorum.

Something of a personal defeat. As a concept it’s genius (although Opium did it first), the plastic block package is really clever…how could this go wrong? After the success of Envy I bought a gift set for my wife when this came out, just on faith. She wore it twice before succumbing to social pressure. Everybody hated it and told her so in no uncertain terms.
True to its concept, it is a chemical rush, but excessively sweet, as if Cherry Coke was used as a top note. And yet there is a type of woman that can pull this off (tall, lots of character, into dance music) if she knows her limits, this is one Rush you can easily overdose on.

A disaster on my skin. One of the few scents that I’ve reacted badly to. The aforementioned bug spray comes close as a description.

Beautiful and strange. I normally gravitate towards overly male scents but I've already decided to make Prada Amber one of the pillars of my collection. It’s a soft smell bordering on the feminine and it makes me wonder why it can be so popular because there aren’t that many men that can really pull it off (in a sense it is the perfect scent for the dreamy Prada techno boy). When I tested I was quite unsure about it when suddenly I felt my wife digging her head in my neck like I had been transformed into a perfectly made-up bed with extra fluffy pillows (it just produces associations with old houses, linen closets, see Bachelards Poetics of Space.) Can’t argue with that effect. Beautiful bottle and on me it lasts all day. A classic in the making.

I bought this in 1999 simply because it was by Chanel. Not quite a disappointment, it works as a default daytime scent but it is so inoffensive, one would say characterless when compared with other Chanel scents. And yet, I can access the basenotes from memory without any trouble, so it isn’t entirely forgettable. I just can't see the fun of it, there's no tension.

This is a fresh and fairly uncomplicated Vétiver. Perfect for summer wear. It also is very Spanish. Personally it’s anchored in memories of Old Spain, strolls in warm evenings, the scent of certain shops. I would almost state that it shouldn’t travel outside of Spain, but it probably is a scent that can be used around the Mediterranean.