Fragrance Reviews by shamu1

It took me a while to get into Jaipur, but the patience paid off. Definitely not a cologne to just throw on before playing football with the guys - this is a dressed up, powdery oriental that oozes formality "class" and confidence. The interesting thing about Jaipur is that while it's austere and formal, it also has a very exotic feel - it has a spicy undertones which bring to mind far off lands in the East. I like this "split personality" of Jaipur a lot. I like both the EDP and EDT versions; I own the EDP and have sampled the EDT, and personally I don't find a huge difference betweeen the two, except that the EDP is a bit warmer and a little heavier. I don't agree that this is solely a cold weather scent. Spray it on lightly in the summer, and it's still great. A great fragrance also for a guy who wants to exude confidence, Jaipur will deliver the goods. Two thumbs up for Jaipur Homme.

I'm kind of so-so on Sybaris. After a nice strong, spicy and bitter opening, Sybaris mellows into a somewhat sharp smelling fougere or chypre (it has qualities of both genres to my nose), with a slight animalic feel to it. Its middle accord does remind me a lot of Lauder For Men, a scent which I do not like, and unfortunately it smells a bit cheap and thin to me. I guess I was expecting something a bit more mutifaceted and natural smelling in the heart accord, but it just smells a bit flat. What I do like, however, is that Sybaris does have a subtle sweaty, animalic feel underlying the sharpness. I doubt there are any actual animalic ingredients here like civet or castoreum, so I assume this is some sort of olfactory illusion. The drydown is pretty good by maintaining that slight animalic feel with some spiciness.

Overall, Sybaris is a pretty good, masculine smelling fragrance, very bold by today's standards. But I can't fully endorse it, due to its relatively dull and somewhat cheap smelling middle accord. The drydown is pretty good, but not quite good enough to give this a full thumbs up. I'm on the fence with Sybaris

I just bought this blind a couple of weeks ago, and boy am I glad I did. This is one beautiful fragrance. Be patient with this one - it seems a bit subdued or even diluted when you first spray it on, but within an hour or two, the fragrance really starts to evolve from intensely sweet and floral, to bitter green, and drying down to a nice combination of sweet vanilla and bitter green moss. If I were to compare it to another fragrance, I'd say it smells like a less powerful version of Fendi Uomo. Definitely smells like an 80s power fragrance, but not at all outdated or tacky. I'm really happy to have discovered Giorgio For Men because I feel like I've finally found a replacement to my beloved Eau de Monsieur, Annick Goutal's amazing mossy scent which is sadly now discontinued and whose bottle I have almost emptied. Two thumbs way up on this one. Fans of scents that are heavy, aromatic and sweet like Bel-Ami, Azzaro Pour Homme, Escada Pour Homme or Fendi Uomo will love this.

Absolutely awful. I was enthusiastic about sampling this one, considering I always liked its counterpart, Halston Z-14. So I was shocked when I smelled a sour, heady, green floral that reminded me of some ghastly Avon perfume my grandmother wore back in the 1970s. I can't imagine anyone wanting to smell like this, even my grandmother.

To me, SFPH is not a "gourmand" fragrance at all, but rather a vetiver fragrance with some fig to round off the vetiver's sharp edges. Although I tend to prefer bold and bitter vetivers, I like this one because it replicates the overall feel of the many inexpensive light vetiver eaux de colognes you find in drug stores in France, but more concentrated and with far better longevity and greater radiance. I've always loved the Mediterranean feel classic vetiver eaux de colognes, but have always wished they were a bit stronger and more long-lasting. SFPH fulfills that wish. I also really like the slightly smoky cedar in the drydown, which blends very well with the vetiver.

I am impressed that a designer firm like Ferragamo released something classic like this in 1999, rather than just cranking out yet another boring acquatic scent or Cool Water ripoff. This is really very good.

My tastes in colognes go through phases: I'll wear fougeres for a few months, then move on to "powerhouse" scents for another few months, then move on to sweet oriental fragrances, and so on. But deep down, I am, and always have been, a classic scent guy, because time after time I always end up going back to the classics - Equipage, Eau Sauvage, Bel Ami, Habit Rouge, Monsieur de Givenchy, etc..

Moustache is that kind of French-styled classic scent that I truly love, and which I know I will always turn back to, after all the aoud fragrances, acquatics, niche scents, etc. have come and gone out of fashion. I absolutely love this fragrance. It has a timeless lime and orange citrus blast that I can still smell for a good hour or two after application, which morphs into a slightly powdery and leathery drydown. This scent is extremely well constructed because even after the citrus notes from the opening accord have faded, I can still remember and sense their presence in the drydown, simply by the masterful way this scent was constructed. My only complaint with Moustache (I'm reviewing their Concentree version in the beautiful ribbed bottle) is that I wish it had better longevity - I only get about 5 hours out of this, which I suppose isn't bad for a primarily citrus-based scent.

I'm disappointed to hear rumors that Rochas has already discontinued Moustache. This is really a shame, because Moustache will always smell great, will always survive the ebbs and flows of fashion and fragrance trends, and will always be relevant. There will always be a market for timeless, high quality classic scents like Moustache.

I cannot overstate how great this is.

KL Homme is a beautiful, smouldering, and mysterious oriental fragrance which exudes an amazing sense of warmth that is hard to adequately describe in words. I smell a lot of similarities to Habit Rouge in this, but without the bitterness or powderiness of Habit Rouge - this scent is unbelievably smooth. Whereas Habit Rouge is a refined, well-mannered aristocrat, KL Homme is a sly, restrained sexual animal on the prowl. It has a beautiful orange-tinged woody opening and middle accord, which morphs into an exotic, spicy vanillic drydown.

Although I don't quite consider this a "powerhouse" - it's just too damn smooth and silky to qualify - it has very good longevity and radiance. If I were to describe the overall feel of this fragrance, I'd say it's heat. Sexual heat. Unlike many of the masculine scents from this era, KL Homme doesn't kill you with harsh spiciness - rather, it slowly entices you, drawing you in with its deep, rich, hazy warmth.

Many thanks to AromiErotici for sending me a sample of this beauty.

Just this week I decided to revisit Bijan Men in earnest, and bought a small bottle at Marshalls for $12. Just a few months ago, I wrote a review here completely trashing this fragrance. It was a sincere review at the time, but since then I've had some opportunities to retry it using lighter sprays.

No other fragrance I've ever tried is as temperamental as Bijan Men - one spritz too many can be the difference between it smelling like a smoky but elegant woody chypre and smelling like a can of Raid. It is probably the loudest, most potent fragrance I have ever worn, surpassing even Kouros and Oscar de la Renta Pour Lui in its sheer power. It has 24-hour longevity, and the word "sillage" does not adequately describe its radiance - we're talking nuclear fallout here. This stuff is scary strong.

That being said, if this is worn sparingly, Bijan Men is a unique, elegant and very virile woody chypre. It's dense and complex (very 80s), and devoid of sweetness. It has a dark and extremely bitter oakmoss and patchouli base, which is quite prominent and is what I like most about this scent. This dark green, bitter base creates a drydown that is reminiscent of the drydowns in scents like Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme, Balenciaga Pour Homme, and Lapidus Pour Homme, though it doesn't really smell like those fragrances.

So overall, I've had a big change of heart with Bijan Men. I now realize that if you spray this on lightly, it's an excellent fragrance. On the other hand, I still believe that it's perhaps the most vile, impenetrable stench I've ever smelled if overapplied. Few other scents teeter on a mere spritz like Bijan Men does.

Thumbs up now.

Amendment to my 9/9/09 review:

Now that I've had some more time with Krizia Uomo, I think it now deserves a thumbs up. I find this scent to be much more enjoyable in the colder weather. Even though it's a scent that seems composed of almost exclusively top notes (i.e., woody notes), it really comes alive in the cold weather. For some reason, there are notes that seem suppressed in warm weather and seem to come to life in cold weather. I also find its opening and middle accord extremely uplifting and invigorating, rather than grating. Thumbs up now.

My 9/9/0 review:

Pino Silvestre on steroids. Krizia Uomo's opening accord of pine, lavender, citrus, mint, ginger and wood hits you with shocking astringency, slamming into your sinuses like a plane crash. I like scents with strong openings, but this is like nails on a chalkboard for me. Like in Tsar and Rocabar, Krizia's complex opening accord has an irritating, heady soapiness which I believe I've finally figured out is cedar.. I will say however that this accord is intensely green and natural-smelling, which is a plus. It's just too much for me. This olfactory overkill makes it seem like Krizia has no heart, instead shifting from top notes (which last about an hour on my skin) directly to the base notes. Thankfully the drydown is superb, providing a nice respite from the chaos. It's a spicy blend of clove, rose, vetiver, oakmoss and pine, quite unique and very long lasting.

If I were to compare this to another fragrance, I would say it's kind of like a very green Yatagan. If you removed the caustic ginger and citrus notes in the opening, added a large dose of castoreum to give it some sweaty, animalic grit, you'd have Yatagan. I much prefer Yatagan, however.

I really don't know whether I love this or hate this. I'm at first inclined to give this a thumbs up because I love the drydown. However, I can't do it because you still have to suffer through the opening accord to get to the drydown. Although I find the top notes strident and unpleasant, I applaud its boldness. This is a fragrance with real teeth. I also have to respect a guy that can actually pull off wearing this with panache. I'm hoping that more exposure to this very unique fragrance will warm me to it more.

On principle, I rarely judge a fragrance by its price. But Portugal is such a total ripoff, it's offensive, and deserves a major league thumbs down. Does the world really need yet another boring Jean-Marie Farina clone, only less long-lasting and a lot more expensive? If this were only $15 or so, I'd leave it alone because this isn't a bad smelling or poorly made scent. But charging $65 for a completely unoriginal, yawn-inspiring eau de cologne that has been done hundreds of times before and has the longevity of a TV commercial is simply insulting. Booooooo!!!

This is an excellent sandalwood fragrance. I think it's best described as a crude Egoiste, and that's not a bad thing, though it isn't exactly the most unique fragrance I've ever worn. It lacks the polish of Chanel, but it's obvious that it's made of quality materials. It's a sweet, slightly spicy sandalwood with a vanillic base. I actually like this better than Egoiste because of its relative simplicity and its excellent, colorful drydown, which itself is reminiscent of Egoiste's drydown. It also has a subtle soapiness and a slight Habit Rouge-like orange peel note during the first hour, which makes Trumper's Sandalwood smell cleaner than Egoiste. Finally, I am happy to say that this fragrance has excellent longevity; on my skin, I can still smell this about 12 hours after application. Sandalwood is a winner.

My wife used to wear this about 15 years ago, and I remember it smelling a lot different that the version I just sampled. I remember the top and middle accords being extremely peppery and spicy, to the point of almost smelling like a room fragrance. The recent version is much woodier, and in fact to my nose smells almost like a pure sandalwood fragrance. That being said, I have to say that I prefer the current formulation. The original, though an admirable and unique work of art, was not something I was comfortable wearing. The current formulation, on the other hand, is something I can see myself wearing. It's a bit less complex, but the prominence of the sandalwood gives it a very nice clean but spicy feel that I really enjoy. The drydown, to my nose, is the same as the original - a soft, sweet, colorful, almost kaleidescopic remnant of the sandalwood that dominated in the earlier stages. I'm encouraged that Chanel didn't water Egoiste down - it is still a very strong and long-lasting scent. I'm glad to see that Egoiste is still a very impressive work, and is more wearable than the original. Thumbs up.

I'm only giving Jivago 24K Men a neutral simply because it's not a particularly bad fragrance. It is, however, a completely unoriginal and uncreative scent. To put it in a nutshell, it smells as if Caswell-Massey's Newport were thrown in a blender with Cool Water, only ten times more powerful than either of them. Jivago is loud as hell, projecting a good ten to twenty feet for about twenty minutes after application, then diminishing to about a five to ten foot sillage radius. This isn't the kind of smell I'd want to broadcast, and I doubt it's one others would want inflicted on them either. It also has 24 hour longevity, which I think is kind of ridiculous for this kind of scent. If you like sweet, classic British style masculines, there's a chance you might like Jivago, but its oppressive sillage and intensity is not suitable for this kind of scent - the scent itself has a certain gentlemanly formality, but its brutality will clear out any ballroom or conference room you're in. The gold specks in the juice are also kind of silly.

I don't know what everyone is talking about - this doesn't smell like maple syrup. It's called "Sables", not "Sirop d'Erable". I smell a heavy, thick amber on the bottom, with a bit of dried fenugreek up top (that's probably the immortelle I'm smelling). Unlike most orientals, Sables is not a sweet scent, but a very rich and exotic scent. A few sprays will last a good 8 to 10 hours, so you can enjoy it all day long. The heavy, rich nature of Sables makes it great to wear in cold weather, but it's also suitable in warm weather because it really does exude the essence of sun-baked sand. If you're looking for a really unique scent and are sick of all the endless Cool Water clone fragrances, Sables is for you. My only complaint is that sometimes it can be hard to wear - the tail end of its drydown can be a bit harsh in that it has a sharp and very dry wood smell at the very end that can be a little unpleasant. Otherwise, Sables is an excellent men's fragrance.

I'm giving Eucris a neutral rating because I can tell it's made of high quality materials and it is a well-crafted scent. However, personally I hate this kind of stuff. I tend to like dark and spicy scents, but I like them to be bold and daring. Though dark and spicy, Eucris does not smell bold at all, but rather simply dreary and depressing, as well as stodgy and uptight. I think it's the moss in the base that ruins Eucris for me, because it gives the whole scent a moldy smell. The moss just smells way too prominent to my nose, and completely out of place in this fragrance. This, plus an inherent dandified powderiness eliminates any chance of my enjoying this. I love the individual notes contained in Eucris, but I hate this combination of them. This scent strikes me the same way Knize Ten does - as depressingly funereal and not at all appealing.

Caswell-Massey has produced a very good, straightforward patchouli here, though it's a bit lacking in longevity. I really can't tell what the other notes are in this, other than patchouli, but I suspect that there is more than just patchouli and alcohol here because this isn't a totally earthy, raw patchouli scent that I'd expect from a linear, pure patchouli scent. This is actually a rather clean and smooth patchouli, very similar to the new reformulated version of Givenchy Gentleman, but more subtle. It's definitely got the sharp bite so characteristic of patchouli, but its rough edges are smoothed out a bit, probably by a musk in the base that I can't smell. Like Caswell-Massey's excellent Jockey Club, Aura of Patchouli has a great, manly old-time barbershop feel to it, like there's a bit of talcum powder thrown in with the patchouli. I really like how this scent combines the exotic earthiness of patchouli with the clean, freshly-shaven feel of good, old-fashioned personal grooming. I also like how the scent stays close to the skin, which just adds to its overall clean barbershop vibe. Although this would be a good scent to use for layering, Aura of Patchouli just complex and interesting enough to wear by itself. This would be a great scent to base an entire line of grooming products around (e.g., shampoo, shaving cream, deodorant, etc.).

Men's scents don't get any more old-school than this. I usually don't care for powdery scents, but the 1800s barbershop vibe is so strong with Jockey Club, I just can't resist. It's a barbershop talc bomb with a touch of floral notes and a strong green soapiness. Think warm, lime-scented shaving cream, with a brushing of talc on your neck, and you've got a pretty good idea of what Jockey Club is like. If I were to compare this to another scent, I'd describe it as a green Royal Copenhagen. Jockey Club goes hand-in-hand with handlebar moustaches, suspenders, bowties, leather vests, etc. No worries about the overuse of the term "classic" here, because this is surely a scent that, while old-fashioned, will always smell good and relevant. Despite the silly name, I can just see Sam Elliott wearing this after getting a shave and a haircut in a scene from one of his Westerns. This is very good.

This fragrance has gotten some attention recently in the men's forum, and one member referred to it as "a subdued powerhouse". I think that describes GF Man very well. It's got the citrus/leather chypre vibe that was so common back in the 1980s, but it doesn't have the face-melting intensity of many of the muscle colognes from back in the day. It has a beautiful green, mossy, sweet and leathery drydown.

The recent discussion on the boards inspired me to brush the dust off this one, not having worn it in a while. I always liked GF Man but thought it was a little too outdated the last time I wore it. Smelling it today, however, made me think again. Although the strong oakmoss and leather base does remind me of the 80s (it also has one of the most hideous bottles I've ever seen), GF Man's bright citrus opening, the beauty of its drydown, and the interesting way the various stages evolve make it seem not so dated now, and closer to timeless classic status. On a personal note, what makes me most happy about "re-discovering" GF Man is that I think I've found a true replacement for the glorious but sadly discontinued Eau de Monsieur (Annick Goutal). If that's not enough reason to give this a thumbs up, then I don't know what is!

When I wear cologne, I don't want to smell like cookies, cake, chocolate, fruit pies, etc.. Versace Man starts off promising with a spicy-sweet accord that smells like tobacco, amber and citrus. I thought I was going to really like Versace Man at first. Within 15 minutes, however, it turns into this dreadful "gourmand" fragrance, and for the next 6 hours, I'm suffering through the smell of blueberry cobbler and vanilla ice cream on my skin. Maybe fans of dessert colognes might like this, but not me.

Miss the fiery tobacco smell of Aramis' Havana? Then you have to score a bottle of Cuba Red, which is hands-down the bargain of the century. Although it lacks the complexity and longevity of Havana, it has the same vibe - it's a rich, spicy, slightly sweet, smokin' tobacco scent that has hot blood running through its veins. Whereas Creed's classic Tabarome brings to mind the image of an aristocrat somberly smoking a pipe in his personal library on a rainy day, Cuba Red brings to mind mariachi bands, tequila shots and loud partying and hell-raising in the night. Cuba Red just smells like Latin passion, raw and unbridled.

The most amazing thing is that can you get 1.1 oz. of this great juice in an incredibly cool, cigar-shaped bottle, for a mere four dollars!

Tabarome is a very good tobacco fragrance, though I wouldn't sell my soul for it. It has a warm, woody, but a little musty-smelling, tobacco accord for the first two hours, which is pretty enjoyable, though nothing amazing. Although it's a masculine scent, unlike other reviewers I don't find Tabarome to be a bold scent at all; I find it warm, mild and rather "comfy" smelling, to put it bluntly. Like with Creed's Bois du Portugal, I find Tabarome to be very aristocratic and formal. This is no powerhouse, nor was it meant to be.

With regard to the actual tobacco accord, the smell reminds me more of unsmoked cigarette tobacco than pipe tobacco, i.e. a light tobacco scent. Being a former smoker I can say that there is a difference in smell between tobaccos used in cigarettes and that meant for pipes. What makes Tabarome for me is the drydown - by hour three, the tobacco accord turns sweet, making Tabarome smell almost like a tobacco-tinged oriental fragrance. It's very nice. Longevity is good for me too, about 6 to 8 hours.

Overall, I think Tabarome is quite good, and is one of Creed's better scents, but I don't think it lives up to all the hype and worship it gets (I think the whole hoopla by Creed about Winston Churchill wearing it is a bunch of baloney). If you love tobacco scents, then this is definitely worth seeking out if you can actually still find a bottle anymore.

Jacomo de Jacomo is a very dark, dry, ashen-smelling aromatic fougere in the style of the 1970s. Though the sharp intensity of the opening clove and lavender blast diminishes after five or so minutes, the accord itself does not disappear - it merely softens an lasts into the drydown, which is reminiscent of the smell of a very dark leather jacket and smoke.

JdJ is definitely an extremely masculine scent, and it maintains an unusual but interesting feel of being dark, smoky, and soapy at the same time, throughout its duration. It makes me think of cold smoke. It also has absolutely no sweetness whatsoever. The jet-black and gray metal bottle is very appropriate; this is a very "black" fragrance.

To give you another idea of what this smells like, imagine Jaipur without the sweetness and vanilla base, with a little less powder, and more clove, and you've got something similar to Jacomo de Jacomo. Unlike Jaipur, however, JdJ does not strike me as an oriental fragrance, but rather a fougere, due to the prominence of lavender, a slight note of barbershop talc in the background, JdJ's dryness and its complete lack of sweetness. The patchouli and oakmoss are very subtle, and in fact I don't even detect them until several hours after application (longevity is very good on my skin or to my nose), where they seem to join with the enduring clove note to create the "black leather" note I smell in the drydown. I doubt leather is an actual ingredient here, so I have to think it's an olfactory illusion created by the clove, patchouli and oakmoss. This is a very well constructed fragrance.

My only problem with JdJ is that, I hate to say it, it does smell a bit outdated today. When I smell it, it reminds me of my growing up in the 1970s, when I remember smelling this scent (or something similar to it) on men in shopping malls, in waiting rooms, etc.. I remember my pediatrician wearing something like this. These aren't really images I want to think of when I wear a fragrance. JdJ is an excellent scent, but I'm not sure it's relevant these days. It doesn't quite have the timeless quality that a true classic fragrance has. However, because there is real quality here and I do like this, I have a feeling that more exposure to this will make JdJ seem not so outdated.

Kouros is the raging bull of the 1980s - the powerhouse to crush all powerhouses. It's an aromatic fougere on amphetamines, cocaine AND steroids. Awesomely powerful and animalic, it takes a delicate hand and lot of confidence to pull off wearing this beast. That being said, if worn correctly, Kouros is an absolutely beautiful scent that brilliantly blends floral notes, citrus, civet and patchouli. It's my favorite powerhouse scent, and one I would bring with me on a deserted island. It's not for everyone, but it's truly one of the all-time greats. 10/10!

This is not an awful fragrance, and yes it certainly does resemble Eau Sauvage. But it lacks Eau Sauvage's beauty, subtlety and elegance. It is also far less citrusy than Eau Sauvage. As Sir Slarty notes, lavender seems to run the show here in place of the citrus, and unfortunately it gives the fragrance a bit of a loud, vinegary smell. The vinegar lasts for a good hour or more. The drydown is pretty good, like a stronger but "flatter" or less complex than Eau Sauvage's drydown. If you're unhappy with Eau Sauvage's weak sillage and poor longevity, Extreme is worth a try, but don't expect the refinement and elegance of Eau Sauvage.

I thought I might like this "Original" Creed fragrance because I loved their Original Vetiver. This is just awful. It smells like synthetic sandalwood and Dentyne cinnamon gum.

I have to say I'm a little disappointed with Ho Hang Club. My first exposure to it was smelling a really old, skunked bottle that had that sharp, biting smell characteristic of perfume gone bad, but it still had a wonderfully spicy patchouli smell to it. I thought that if a stale bottle smelled this good, a fresh bottle must smell amazing.

I recently bought a sealed bottle of this discontinued scent, and it doesn't smell amazing. It's kind of like a poor man's Bois du Portugal - it's definitely a formal scent that smells appropriate for a night on the town, but it lacks the richness, strength and complexity of BdP. I don't like the opening accord - a somewhat ascerbic lavender and coriander accord that is very heady and quite irritating. It just obliterates the patchouli. Fortunately, the middle accord and base accord are excellent; it's a slightly sweet and spicy patchouli-based accord that I enjoy very much. Only problem is that two hours into this fragrance, when the base notes start to emerge, Ho Hang Club dies on the vine, in terms of sillage and potency. It's like it almost disappears after T-minus 120 minutes, becoming a "skin" scent where you can only detect it if you ram your nose into the crook of your arm. If it weren't for HHC running out of gas so quickly, I would have given it a thumbs up.

For fans of the original Ho Hang, this is a very different scent, although there are similarities, mainly in the prominent use of patchouli in both. Ho Hang Club is heavier (well, for 120 minutes) and more formal than the original Ho Hang. I prefer the original Ho Hang.

Ho Hang Club is a decent fragrance that could have been great. If it were stronger and smelled more like that old stale bottle I smelled, I'd actually have liked it a lot more, believe it or not. Maybe I should throw my bottle in the microwave for 30 seconds and see what happens.

Why do people go ga-ga over this fragrance? I don't get it. Is it the nice gold-colored bottle? I'll confess that the bottle wooed me in my purchase of a 2.5 oz. bottle, my very first Creed purchase, 8 years ago. It smells like it doesn't know if it wants to be an acquatic or a fougere, like it's trying to be Green Irish Tweed, but with much less complexity and a loud, hammering rubbing alcohol/paint thinner note up top that never really goes away. It's not a terrible scent, but that acetone smell just flattens any other note that may be in the mix. It's like Cool Water on crack. I liked it when I first bought it years ago, but it was so loud and strident that I quickly got sick of wearing it and threw it in the trash.

Creed has many fragrances that are so much better than this. Stick with Green Irish Tweed, the real deal.

Although the original Opium for women is one of my most hated fragrances, I have to respect Opium PH for the mere fact that it stays true to the spirit of the original, which is a rarity in fragrances released under the same name for both women and men. It doesn't smell exactly like the original, but it does capture the blazing, spicy feel of the original Opium for women.

Therefore it almost goes without saying that Opium PH is an intense fragrance. To my nose or my skin, OPH smells almost like two different fragrances, depending on whether you're wearing it in hot or cold weather. In hot weather, it's simply overbearing; I bought my first bottle of this just recently, in the heat of summer, and wearing it felt like I was being shot in the eyeballs. It's just too heady for me to wear in hot weather. Now that the weather has cooled down significantly however, especially in the evening, I am finding OPH to be a lot more agreeable, and quite good.

I'm not particularly good in picking out individual notes in fragrances, and Opium PH presents an especially difficult challenge for me. Part of the reason I find OPH so intense is because there seems to be so much going on in this scent, so many spicy notes flying around in all directions. I really can't tell what's in this, except lots and lots of SPICY THINGS, to state it academically. This isn't to say that it's not a well-crafted scent, but rather that it's a challenging scent. It's exotic and extremely bold, never really evolving over time but rather simply calming down over time. I respect fragrances like this.

What I like most about Opium PH is that it truly embodies what I think of when I hear the words "exotic oriental fragrance". I don't think it's a great fragrance, but it's certainly a good one. It's not a scent I'll be wearing often, but during the right time of year and in the right situations, I'll put this on to make a bold impression.

Outdated, loud, cheap, vulgar, tacky, depressing: these are just some of the words I can find to describe this fragrance. I never liked the vintage version (it was the type of 80s powerscent I DON'T like), but at least it was better constructed and had better materials than this foul mess. It's a typical bad 80s-styled powerhouse - a depressing mossy base with heavy, blaring spices and amber piled on top of it, perfect for clearing out whole city blocks. The phrase, "This smells like a household product" has been overused by critics, but it is very fitting here. I'm not a hater of powerscents, and in fact two of them (Kouros and Giorgio For Men) are on my top 10 all time favorite list. Oscar Pour Lui, however, brings back awful memories of 80s/early 90s horrors like Fendi Uomo, Fahrenheit, Bijan, etc. I wouldn't even use this as a bathroom scent for guests to use after they stink up the place.

Supplement to Review:

Though I remember not liking this very much when I first smelled it about 14 years ago, I recently decided to revisit the old formulation, due to all the attention and positive comments it's been getting recently on the discussion boards. I bought a .33 oz. mini of the old stuff for only $5.00. My tastes apparently have changed since then, because I am really enjoying this scent now. Although this scent just screams out "1980s" with a bullhorn, I find its intense spiciness, face-melting potency, and incredible complexity to be irresistable. I can now see why it's gotten the rave reviews by some members. Although I smell similarities with the new formulation, my opinion of the new version has not changed - it still smells messy, confused, cluttered and cheap to my nose, and I don't enjoy it at all. I do often get irritated hearing endless complaining about how reformulations aren't as good as "vintage" versions, but I have to agree with those observations about this fragrance. Big thumbs up for the old version.

Although I generally consider myself a classic scent guy, my tastes in fragrances are very broad - from raging muscle frags like Quorum and Kouros, to el-cheapo drugstore scents like Jade East, to discreet, timeless classics like Monsieur de Givenchy, all the way to borderline feminine scents like L'Instant Pour Homme and this one, IceMen. For 15 years or so, I'd been trying to identify a particularly beautiful fragrance note that gave any fragrance that contained it a certain light, dusty, and exotic feel. I'd smelled it not only in masculine scents like Ho Hang and Kouros, but in some of the feminine scents that my wife wore, particularly Cabaret, Miss Dior and Cleopatra (by Tocca). In fact, I found that this "note" was particularly intoxicating in the feminine scents, especially in Cleopatra. For years and years, I'd been banging my head against the wall trying to identify "the note", until a few months ago when reading reviews here on Basenotes, I was finally able to identify "the note": patchouli. This blew my mind because I had always associated patchouli with head shops and potheads, and I always thought of it as a spicy but dirty, unwashed smell that I hated in its pure form. I never knew that patchouli, if blended with other notes, could be so multi-faceted and beautiful.

Excited with this newfound knowledge, my next goal was to find a masculine fragrance that captured the light but exotic beauty of Cleopatra, but which didn't smell too feminine for me to feel comfortable wearing. I finally found it in Ice Men. Perhaps my olfactory sense is deranged, but I don't smell any iced coffee or gourmand smells in Ice Men - Ice Men to me is an unbelievably smooth, transparent and beautiful patchouli scent. There is a mildly sharp cedar note and what smells like lavender in the opening and middle accords, but they can't hide the silky patchouli that is the lifesblood running through this fragrance. My favorite stage, of course, is the drydown because by then you're left with almost all patchouli. IceMen is a very light scent, and I have to doubt whether this would work in cold weather. For such a light scent, I am very impressed with its longevity, which is about eight hours on my skin. It is also one of the most feminine smelling masculines I've smelled in a long time, so much that I really can't find another masculine scent to compare it to. I do think there is similarity to both Cabaret and Cleopatra in its breezy lightness, but guys shouldn't let this comparison stop them from enjoying this. For me, I'm psyched that my search is over and I can now stop stealing my wife's bottle of Cleopatra.

Words cannot adequately describe how much I hate this fragrance. I like and wear many scents from the 80s, but this just smells horribly outdated now - like the Le Car, piano-key rep ties, and glam metal, Fahrenheit represents the '80's at its absolute worst. It is also probably the most chemical, cheap synthetic fragrance I have ever smelled, like one of those horrible cinnamon Yankee Candles dunked in a bucket of gasoline and Aqua Net hairspray, with a heavy emphasis on the hairspray. Literally. Also, its ghastly, spicy stench can be smelled for blocks. It is the pinnacle of bad taste and tackiness.

Wow, I almost forgot this one still existed, it's been so long since I last wore it. Amazing that you can easily score a jug of this juice for under $15 at a Marshall's or TJMaxx, because Z-14 is one rich, dense and complex scent, outdoing even many of today's ultra-expensive niche frags. It's got the sweet, ambery richness and weight of an oriental, the green mossy base of a chypre, and the sweet top notes of a citrus fragrance. On my skin, it has incredible all-day staying power and monster sillage - others may not agree, but I consider Z-14 a legitamite powerhouse.

I remember the magazine ad for this back in the 1980s, the one with a picture of a nude Cindy Crawford staring upward. The ad was appropriate because Z-14 just flat-out smells sexy and erotic.

Does Z-14 smell dated? A little. But outdated? No way. I don't wear Z-14 anymore, and probably never will again, but no one can deny that it is an exquisite and very well crafted fragrance whose quality far surpasses its low price. Don't be a snob - ignore its pricetag and the fact that Amouage doesn't make it, and get yourself a bottle of Z-14 if you're looking for a beautiful, rich, complex fragrance that will bring you many compliments.

Envy For Men seems to be almost ignored on the discussion boards here at Basenotes, and I don't understand why. Is it because it's not particularly complex? Is it because it's not expensive, or that it doesn't use the word "Aoudh" in its name? Is it because it's not discontinued yet? Is it because people feel they can't brag about owning a "vintage version"? I don't get it, because Envy, eleven years after its release, still distinguishes itself as a unique, beautiful, sexy and spicy oriental fragrance in a land of dull acquatics and the endless mind-numbing train of hyped-up, over-priced niche scents.

I agree with other reviewers that Envy doesn't really evolve, but rather it settles down and mellows out for its duration. It's as if it has various layers of notes which gradually peel off over time, each time revealing the notes below each layer: it's invigorating opening accord of ginger and spice fades and gives way to a heart of rich wood notes underneath it, which eventually fade and yield to a simple but rich spicy vanillic base. I don't agree with those who say that Envy is a serious fragrance for only formal occasions - Envy is a red-blooded scent, a scent with a wild side, which is apparent in its sweet spiciness. This isn't spicy in the somewhat stodgy manner of Bois du Portugal - Envy is a smooth but hot-blooded romantic.

My sole complaint is that its longevity is rather poor for such a spicy scent - about 5 hours on my skin. Also, sillage fades rather quickly. On first spray, it projects quite far, but within an hour, Envy becomes very much a "skin" scent. On the other hand, considering Envy's romantic feel, perhaps it is appropriate that this can be only smelled at close quarters...

Thumbs up for Envy For Men.

A musky, powdery oriental, with a huge emphasis on the powder. I don't like the orangey opening accord at all - it's too sharp and caustic for my tastes - but after a half hour, Lagerfeld really settles down into a comfortable, warm, relaxing scent. The drydown is very good, because by then Lagerfeld loses most of its powdery sweetness and it smells very leathery (even though leather isn't listed as a note), musky and masculine. The shower gel and after shave balm capture the muskiness of the drydown extremely well, so this is worth getting as a gift set.

If you hate powdery scents, this will probably not be for you. I'm not a huge fan of powdery fragrances, and I don't love Lagerfeld, but its drydown makes this worth trying, especially considering how inexpensive it is now. I find it an interesting fragrance to sample, but hard for me to wear except in the coldest weather.

Just wore this for the first time today. This reminds me a lot of Ice*Men. The patchouli in the drydown is prominent but delicate and slightly sweet, much like the patchouli in Ice Men, and I think this is why I'm enjoying Moods so much. It contains my favorite fragrance accord of all - rose and patchouli.

I'm surprised more reviewers haven't recognized Moods for what it really is: a rose chypre for men. The rose is prominent from the beginning (along with a great tobacco note), all the way into the drydown where it joins up with the patchouli. This is an accord I could smell all day, every day, and luckily it's right in the open in the drydown, which lasts a good 6 hours or so on my skin.

Moods is often referred to as an 80s powerhouse, but I think simply calling it that and nothing else overlooks its elegance. In terms of longevity, sillage and concentration, Moods earns powerhouse status, but it doesn't have the killer intensity of bombs like Oscar de la Renta Pour Lui or Kouros. It's a really beautiful scent. I find Moods Uomo very satisfying.

Van Cleef& Arpels Pour Homme is dark and melancholy. It is probably the most austere fragrance I have ever smelled. I love it. It's a multifaceted fragrance that has qualities of a chypre (bitter top notes and a mossy base), an aromatic fougere (it has a subtle talcum powder/barbershop smell in the background), and a powerhouse scent from the 1980s (strong moss base, major longevity and sillage). The strong, dark moss note in its base definitely reminds you that this scent was popular in the late 70s/1980s and does date it a little bit, and it has been referred to by some as a "powerhouse", but VCA's other qualities listed above make this a true classic. At first sniff, VCA smells rather traditional, but its dark, smouldering base (which is beautifully complemented by its elegant dark green bottle, I might add) sets this apart from other classic chypres like Equipage and Chanel Pour Monsieur. Not a casual fragrance you'd want to wear while downing beers with the guys, VCA has a somber formality to it that brings to my mind the image of a quiet, confident, mysterious man wearing a dark suit, lurking in the shadows off in the distance. If this is the kind of aura you want to exude, then I can't think of a better fragrance to wear than this.

The saying that one should never judge a book by its cover applies equally to fragrances: never judge a perfume by its top notes. I were to judge every scent by its opening accord, I'd be missing out on gems like Lapidus Pour Homme. Many of the other reviewers have said that the pineapple note in LpH is barely noticeable. lost in a cloud of patchouli and leather, To my nose, however, the pineapple is very prominent, if not strident, right out of the atomizer. The only other fragrance I've smelled that uses pineapple as a note is Polo Sport, and it suited that fragrance very well. In LpH however it is irritating and totally out of place, like it's trying so hard to make this dark, dusky fragrance smell like a classic sweet, dandified British scent. Luckily the pineapple fades and disappears within an hour, and that's when the magic begins. Black magic that is. If your experience in the world of fragrance is limited mainly to what has been popular for the past ten or fifteen years, Lapidus Pour Homme is going to smell like it's from another universe. At its heart, LpH is a strange, mysterious, dark and dusky chypre.fragrance. Chypres typically have a mossy, green-smelling base, but LpH is no typical chypre. Sure, it has a green, mossy base, but this base is a cold, dark green moss, with plenty of earthy patchouli and what smells like dark leather to make the whole effect even duskier. The whole feel of this fragrance is stark, brooding and earthy. I found this fragrance absolutely fascinating. I give Lapidus Pour Homme two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Released in 1978, Azzaro Pour Homme is the beast that set the stage for the "powerhouse era" of fragrance that was right around the corner in the 1980s. Today, APH may not smell particularly original anymore (if you've worn Tuscany you'll know what this smells like), probably because countless imposters since then have tried to emulate its brilliance. No matter - what APS has that lesser mortals don't have is BALANCE, and that is its greatest quality. Azzaro is clean, rich, warm, woody and spicy all at once, and it blends these qualities together perfectly - this is one smooth scent. Though it's nowhere near as crude or raw as Quorum, Azzaro Pour Homme is a very manly fragrance, while simultaneously exuding an aura of level-headed, James Bond-like self-assuredness. One thing I cannot stress enough, however, is that this is a hard fragrance to sample because it is one that must be WORN in order to be judged fairly - do not judge this by simply spraying it on your wrist and cramming your nose into it all day. Like other powerscents such as Giorgio For Men and Kouros, Azzaro's magic comes from its radiance - you need to allow its scent to envelop you. Another word of caution: this is also a scent that is very easy to overapply; because of its deep, warm richness, you might not notice how strong this fragrance is on yourself, but I can assure you that if this is overapplied people around you will definitely be calling you "Cologne Guy" behind your back.

It is one of greatest masculine fragrances of all time, and is the epitome of what constitutes a classic scent.

Years ago I couldn't stand Quorum because it made me feel like Disco Stu. But time away from something will often change my opinion for the better, and this is the case with Quorum. Quorum is unquestionably a no-bullshit macho man fragrance, and it represents old school powerhouse at its crudest. This is not to say it's a bad scent - quite the opposite actually. To my nose, it smells a lot like Paco Rabanne PH with the added leathery richness of Bel Ami. In other words, it represents the best qualities of both the 70s and 80s masculine frags - a 70s styled aromatic fougere with a large dollop of rich 80s oriental powerhouse. I particularly like the dry, stark and harsh opening notes of lavender and coumarin, offset by what smells like a slightly sweet leather and citrus (see Fendi Per Uomo, e.g.). I also love the slightly dirty feel of the sandalwood drydown. One thing I must note is that despite the low price of this fragrance, Quorum smells like it is made of mostly natural ingredients - no chemical lab smells here - and I am impressed with this. There's really nothing pretty at all about Quorum, and it is definitely a polarizing scent that can very easily be overapplied, but it is very well constructed and has a crude charm to it. It's a love it or hate it scent, no doubt.

Spray it on and for the first five minutes, Rocabar smells like the most elegant, complex and sophisticated men's fragrance ever made. It's sweet and very woody, very reminiscent of Tsar. In fact, I used to wear Rocabar quite often about 10 years ago solely because I loved the top notes. However, after those first five incredible minutes, Rocabar falls apart, and its "heart" turns sour, cheap and kind of nasty. This lasts for a good hour or two, but it then settles back down to a sweet, somewhat powdery drydown, which is not terrible, but is pretty dull and uncreative. It seems like Hermes put all their cash into the top notes, hoping people will spray it on in a store and buy it on impulse. I really expect better from Hermes. (Edited from March 2009 review)

This is an interesting take on the traditional aromatic fougere – instead of lavender and coumarin being center stage, we have a green woodiness providing a spicy edge. For me, Tsar is all about the top notes and the drydown. The top notes are spicy, woody and invigorating, giving the fragrance some bite. The heart, however, has an irritating, sour soapiness that I have never been able to get used to (it’s similar to the sour note I smell in Rocabar), but luckily it’s gone after an hour or so, leaving its excellent drydown to enjoy. I love the drydown because it’s basically a warm, subdued shadow of the excellent top notes, creating a sort of clean, greenish haze. Tsar may be spicy, but it is also a very clean-smelling scent. I don't detect any patchouli in this. Overall, Tsar is a fairly traditional fragrance, one I think truly qualifies as being timeless and a classic, but at the same time a fragrance with a bit of an edge. This is excellent.

Rather than waste everyone's time writing a long review about a formulation that no longer exists, let me just get this out of the way: yes, I used to wear the vintage GG years ago, and no, the new formulation is not as good as the vintage version, I know. That being out of the way, the new GG deserves to be reviewed on its own merits, and I'm happy to say that it is a very good fragrance. Formerly a woody oriental, the new GG is now more of a woody chypre, and It is a rather linear scent, not veering too far away from it's patchouli core. The woody notes really take a backseat to the patchouli here, and if it's a mildly spicy and formal patchouli scent you want, look no further. Patchouli fragrances are often either rich and heavy, or earthy and dirty - the new GG is clean and smooth, but the patchouli is still very much in the forefront and providing some nice mild spiciness. This is not headshop patchouli, this is more of a "club" scent for a mature man. What I like better about the new GG is the fact that it's not weighed down with amber and civet (although I did like those notes in the old version), and is therefore light enough to wear all year round. I've been wearing this all this summer (I'm wearing it as I write this in August), enjoying it the whole time, and I look forward to wearing it for the fall and winter. Sillage is perfect for my tastes - it radiates about a foot away, no further. Longevity, however, could be better, as I can only detect it for about 6 hours.

Perhaps Givenchy should have given this fragrance a different name, since there is very little resemblance to the vintage Givenchy Gentleman. Maybe if they did that, we wouldn't have to wade through countless complaints about how Givenchy "ruined" Gentleman. This new formulation is almost a completely different fragrance from the original, but it is a very good one in its own right.

It's a shame this fragrance is so hard to find now, because it's the best vetiver fragrance I've ever smelled. People have complained about other vetivers that don't really smell like vetiver, but with AG's, there is no question at all that this is vetiver! Raw, sharp, and earthy best describe this vetiver, which is exactly the way vetiver is supposed to smell. No buried vetiver notes here. The reason I like this vetiver better than all others is its subtle salty feel, which reminds me of inhaling the beautiful salt air near the ocean. Get yourself a bottle of Vetiver now while you still can, spray it all over and just breathe in deeply. You won't regret it.

I've never understood why so many people fail to call Polo what it really is - a superb patchouli fragrance. Sure, I can smell pine, leather and lavender in Polo, but the one note that is constantly present throughout its duration, and becomes more and more prominent over time, is patchouli. Smell your shirt the morning after wearing Polo, and what do you smell? Patchouli! It's also the note that prevents Polo from being a dull, stodgy, overly traditional fragrance, and gives it a bit of a raw, exotic feel. Polo is patchouli done right. I love Polo because it is all things in masculine perfumery - warm, crisp, cool, bright, rich, classic, manly, formal, casual, anything you want it to be, during any time of year, in any kind of weather, for any type of man. Let us all raise our glasses and offer a toast to Polo, that it will continue to live a long and healthy life as a benchmark in masculine perfumery.

I sampled Knize Ten for the first time about a month ago. Being a fan of classic fragrances, I looked forward to trying it and I really expected to love Knize Ten. Besides, there seems to be a view amongst some critics and enthusiasts that "If you're a true perfume aficionado, you gotta love Knize Ten". Well, I don't. I hate it. I have to believe all the hoopla is really over the fact that it's such an old scent and that it was out of stock for such a long time, because this is one overrated fragrance. Knize Ten is a perfect lesson that just because something has been around for a long time doesn't necessarily mean it's a classic. Knize Ten smells old and way outdated, plain and simple. It smells like an old, musty can of shoe polish dropped in a cardboard box full of talcum powder and moth balls. I don't smell any leather or smokiness - I smell death. It makes me think of being at a wake, standing next to the open casket and smelling everyone's shoe polish. Perhaps I'll develop a liking for it later in life, but for now Knize Ten is uptight and fussy, and just plain awful.

I can definitely smell the similarities to Yatagan, though it's nowhere near as daring or animalic. It's very woody like Yatagan, but floral notes and I believe a little mint and citrus add some sweetness and a Mediterranean feel to Mazzolari. I like this scent a lot (it took me a few wearings to get into it), but it doesn't strike me as very unique, as it smells a lot like an 80s style fragrance I wore a long time ago but can't quite put my finger on now (Portos? Gucci Nobile?). Mazzolari is a very good pick if you like Yatagan's aromatic qualities but not its iconoclastic boldness.

Like a rabid dog trying to break loose from its chain, Mazzolari Lui goes for the throat, foaming at the mouth with teeth bared, right out of the bottle. That dog just wants to take a bite out of you - growling, snorting, he's so close you can see and smell its breath. This is Mazzolari Lui - perfumery's rawest and most dangerous example of animalic testosterone in a bottle. This is like raw hide just ripped off an animal's body, left next to a smouldering fire for hours, allowing the animal's blood, sweat and body oils to dry, And finally, to prevent insects from making a meal out of that flesh, the whole thing is wrapped in patchouli leaves, just as the ancient silk traders used to do centuries ago with the fabric they brought back home from the East. Mazzolari Lui is dark, filthy, manly, exotic, spicy, exciting and just plain dangerous.

Looking for the most virile scent on earth? Your search is over.

This is really excellent. I hate gourmand fragrances and I hate A*Men. B*Men, though similar to A*Men, however doesn't have the awful chocolate pudding accord that bogged down AMen, and it's a hell of a lot more masculine smelling than AMen. Although it has a slight cherry pie-like gourmand feel to it, there is a dry sharpness to it that makes me want to call BMen a "fruity fougere". That's right, BMen to me smells a lot like Rive Gauche PH with a gourmand touch. In conclusion, AMen haters shouldn't be afraid to sample (and like) BMen. It's a truly unique, quality fragrance.

BdP is obviously made of quality ingredients, and yes, it's really spicy, boozy, manly, etc, etc.. I even bought a small 1 oz. bottle of it recently. However, unfortunately I'm finding it's hard for me to wear this because it makes me feel like I should be wearing an ascot. I can't smell this without thinking of a prissy, uptight dandy from the 18th century. I can't totally pan BdP because it's obviously very well constructed, and it has an amazing warmth, richness and complexity. It's just a bit too stodgy and stuffy for me to wear except in cold weather. Even though it's not really my style, I have to give Bois du Portugal a thumbs up. Fans of classic British masculine fragrances will drool over this.

This is a classic, very old-school, British-styled fragrance, plain and simple. Although leather is not listed as a note, wearing this constantly brings to mind images of leather saddles, the interior of an old Bentley, leather-bound chairs, country clubs, old libraries, etc.. Although it's not as powdery as most scents that are labelled as "dandified", I would have to say that this qualifies as a very formal and dandified fragrance. It is very spicy and woody, though not in a wild, hot-blooded manner (see Yatagan or Mazzolari Lui for that), but rather in a very gentlemanly, formal and a bit stodgy way. It's made of good quality ingredients from what I can tell and is inexpensive so is definitely worth buying if you're looking for a very proper, formal fragrance. Fans of Bois du Portugal would probably like this, though it isn't as complex, warm or rich as it. This is a good scent, but it isn't my style at all.

I miss Balenciaga Pour Homme terribly and I pray that they consider re-issuing it. I wore this a lot during the mid-1990s and I regret not buying backup bottles. It's one of the most potent fragrances I've ever experienced, as well as the most unique and strange. The initial patchouli blast attacks you with face-punching brutality right out of the atomizer and dries down to what I consider a bizarre and almost moldy-smelling green moss accord. Basically, Balenciaga Pour Homme is a green, mossy patchouli sledgehammer with unbelieveable longevity and sillage. Hard to believe you could buy a big bottle of this masterpiece for like $15 at Marshalls just a few years ago. Two huge thumbs up for Balenciaga Pour Homme.

This smells like corned beef and cabbage boiled in urine

Being a big fan of the original Polo, I really wanted to like this, but no dice. The opening is peppery and quite promising, kind of like a milder Egoiste. But within minutes, things fall apart, and it's reduced to a dull, sweet, and very generic scent, smelling like hundreds of other boring men's fragrances that designer firms have been releasing for the past ten years. Its drydown is even worse, and smells exactly like one of those pine tree air fresheners for cars you'd buy at a gas station.

Polo Sport is the antithesis of the type of fragrance I would buy. I hate acquatic and sports fragrances. But I really like Polo Sport. What sets this fragrance apart from all the other dreck containing the words "Sport", "Blue", "Fresh" or "Energy" is what I assume is the "seaweed" note. If I'm correct, it gives the rather mainstream Cool Water-like accord a warm but salty and earthy tinge, and it smooths and rounds out the sharper edges of the accord much in the same way a musk or deep amber would. It is quite unusual and very interesting. Luckily, this seaweed note lasts into the drydown. Don't be a snob, ignore the word "sport" in the name and the blue bottle, and give Polo Sport a try. It's really very good.

This is a very good patchouli fragrance. Unlike most patchouli-based scents, Fifty has a distinctively Mediterranean feel to it, which comes from the strong presence of bergamot and mandarin orange. These citrus notes seem to last well into the heart and drydown, probably due to the patchouli and other base ingredients acting as fixatives. Though not an oriental, Fifty reminds me a bit of some classic woody orientals like Creed's Bois du Portugal and de Nicolai's New York, though it's not as formal or stodgy as those. Fifty smells a lot more exotic than those, due to the prominence of the patchouli. My only complaint is that it has almost no radiance. I tend to like scents that stay close to the skin, but Fifty's sillage is pitiful. Longevity is average at best, about 5 or 6 hours on my skin. Overall however, Fifty is a very good citrus patchouli scent that is worth picking up.

Don't be put off by the lame "Fresh" label here. This is NOT some wussy "sport" or "fresh" fragrance you'd buy at Macy's. "Light" or "Fresh" versions of heavy, powerful fragrance are almost always garbage and inferior to the original, but this one works amazingly well. Basically, it's what the label says - it smells just like the original Kouros, but isn't as heavy, and has stronger top notes than the original. I think the difference from the original is that Fraicheur has more citrus and less civet. The civet is still there (it's what makes Kouros, Kouros), but it's not as in your face as in the original. My wife bought me this about 12 years ago, and I'm happy to see that YSL is still making Kouros Fraicheur. This is great stuff.

I'm embarrassed to say that when I wrote my initial review of OV, I was mistaken. Stupidly, I bought my bottle of OV from eBay. Little did I know when I wrote my review that I had bought a fake. And not even a good one. I didn't realize I'd been stiffed until a couple of weeks later when I sampled the real thing at Neiman Marcus. Since then, I've bought a bottle of the real deal, and it is fabulous. A beautiful fresh and VERY GREEN scent that at first does seem like a ripoff of the TM Cologne. However, give it some time and you'll see the difference. Whereas the TM is a rather static, linear work, OV truly evolves beautifully over time, starting with a bright green, citrusy top note, then the vetiver slowly creeps in and lasts for a good three hours. After that, OV makes a 180 back to its initial green ways, drying down to a sweet musk. Beautiful work.

Below I've kept my initial review just for laughs and a lesson not to buy Creed from eBay!:

I just bought a bottle of OV blind on eBay, based purely on the positive reviews of it on this site. Am I smelling the same "Original Vetiver" that all of these rave reviewers smelled?! This now is tied with Pinaud's "Lilac Vegetal" as the nastiest, most foul "fragrance" I have ever smelled. All I smell is SOAP - a very LOUD Dial soap. The kind of soap that sucks out every drop of oil from your skin and dries it to a crisp. I don't smell the slightest bit of citrus, "cut grass", or even vetiver in this. This is a totally vile, single-note chemical floral so awful that if you ever wondered what a migraine headache feels like, all you'd need to do is take one whiff of this heinous stench. The Bush Administration could have used Original Vetiver on the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay rather than water-boarding - one spritz of this stuff will make a person confess to anything! If I'm not smelling the same fragrance everyone else on this site is raving about, then Creed needs to get with the program, improve their quality control and start pouring the right fragrances in the correct bottles. Why would anyone want to smell like this? To attract bees?

You want wood? You got it! Cypres Musc is the woodiest smelling fragrance I've ever smelled, hands down. Other than the hammering blast of lavender that punches you in the face on first spritz, all I smell is WOOD, WOOD, WOOD. The reviewers who say that Cypres Musc smells like the great outdoors are spot on. Wearing it feels like you're walking through a pine tree forest near the ocean. It's also extremely masculine and not what anyone would classify as a "light, casual" fragrance. Don't be turned off by the loud, dissonant, medicinal blast that hits you initially, because it mellows out after a couple of hours and just smells woody and manly. It reminds me of Yatagan, but without the raunchy, animalic base notes that Yatagan has. It's excellent!

"Dirty Lemon" is what I'd call Monsieur Balmain, and I mean it in a good way. Lemon scents, though they smell nice, always run the risk of being either boring or too fleeting, or both. MB is neither. Balmain added just enough fixatives (wood oils and I think musks) to make the lemon scent last for hours, which is very unusual and pleasantly surprising. The lemon hits you like a hammer at first, but then mellows out after an hour and blends beautifully with the sandalwood underlying it. The sandalwood and I think musk give this fragrance depth, as well as a certain "dirty" feel to it, kind of like the way the civet and musk give Kouros a subtly raunchy feel. It actually gives MB a somewhat erotic feel to it, which is very unusual for any citrus scent. Whatever you call it, I think it's excellent.

It has a nice bottle. Does the world really need more of these awful Aqui da Gio clones???

I cannot give Epicea a full thumbs up because of its complete lack of staying power. When I put Epicea on in the morning, I have to spray my entire upper body with around 16 spritzes just to be able to smell it on myself for a good five or six hours, and even with that, the scent is very faint and barely detectable. I know I'm going to blow through this bottle pretty quickly. Perhaps it's my skin, I don't know. That being said, however, Epicea is a truly excellent scent, putting aside its eau de cologne-like staying power and sillage. It's a delicious citrus fragrance with a beautiful, warm pine note - very unique. To hell with just wearing it in the winter, at night, during athletic events, etc., or that other nonsense - it smells great, I love it, and I wear it all times of the year, all times of the day!

Although this does not "smell like" the ocean, it definitely makes me think of the ocean and seebreezes when I wear it. This is a fragrance you really have to spend some time with to really appreciate fully. It did NOT impress me when I first smelled it on a smelling strip - even more than other Creed fragrances, Erolfa will attack you initially with a brutal blast of woody amber and what smells like nail polish remover. It's not pretty at first. But on skin, it's a lot better. After about 15 minutes of wearing it, it exudes a very breezy, relaxed air, which is what reminds me of the sea. Although Erolfa is strident, chemical and brutal at first, it really mellows out quickly and is rather subtle in the long stretch. In fact, I find it a little too mild, which is my only complaint. I really respect Luca Turin and enjoy his reviews in his book "Perfumes The Guide", and yes, Creed's claims to provide perfume to the world's monarchs sounds like complete B.S. and pretentious, but I think Turin is off the mark by calling Erolfa "nasty, messy and loud". This may describe it well for the first few minutes, but Erolfa really mellows out and it quite elegant. If you're looking for a clean, subtle and transparent fragrance that will remind you of being in the open sea, I would recommend Erolfa without hesitation.

I'll never understand why Guerlain doesn't market this as a "unisex" fragrance. Sure it smells great on a woman, but I enjoy wearing it too - I grab my wife's bottle all the time! It is the most refined, elegant fragrance ever created. To me, it smells like church insense, anise, bitter lemon and a little bit of smoke, all blended together perfectly. If you're the kind of guy who's too macho or insecure about any of your buddies finding out you're wearing a "chick's perfume", just tell them you're wearing Aramis - it smells like a more refined, stripped down version of it.

I hate fragrances like this: they're often referred to as "classic British masculines" and have a blaring sweet-floral-musk combinatiion that you could just picture some stuffed-shirt dandy wearing. It reminds me of all those awful loud masculine fragrances by Floris. Although I can't say it smells cheap, it just smells way too old-fashioned, and not in a good way (I'm a huge fan of classic fragrances). Smells almost exactly like Safari for Men, which is an awful fougere fragrance, but louder.

If anyone asked me to pick the perfect masculine oriental fragrance, I'd pick L'Instant in an instant (Ha! Get it?). It not only defines "oriental" in my mind, but it's the most beautiful example of a masculine oriental I've ever smelled. It's got the requisite sweet, caramellic amber basenotes, but has a great, rich lemony top note with a sort of dusty green and cinnamon-smelling heart. It actually smells a bit like a feminine fragrance (a woman could easily wear this) because of it's rich sweetness, but a sophisticated, self-assured guy can easily pull this off. Any guy wanting to try something new, unique and nothing like the same old boring schlock perpetually cranked out by Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Armani, Azzaro, etc., needs to give L'Instant a sniff. It's one of my top three all time favorite fragrances, along with Equipage by Hermes and Chanel Pour Monsieur.

This is perhaps the most sophisticated men's fragrance ever created. Being a chypre, it has a very green smell to it, but is very subtle and discreet. Kind of like a Mitsouko for men. Like other classics such as Equipage and Monsieur de Givenchy, it's the kind of fragrance that people nearby don't "smell", but merely sense is there. It's very transparent, so you won't be blasting people out of the room by wearing it. What I love most about CPM is that it is as far as you can get from all of those awful, stupid blue "sport" colognes and Cool Water ripoffs that have been jamming up department store counters for the past 15 years. Fans of "Polo Sport" and the like would probably think CPM as an "old man's cologne", but it's not - it's simply very elegant. A very relaxing scent, and it reminds me of walking along the shore on the French Mediterranean. Superb.