Fragrance Reviews by GAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR

I'll leave the eloquent descriptions of this fragrance to the other reviewers, many of whom have already done a great job describing this little gem.

All you really need to know is that this smells exactly like the inside of an oak dresser drawer. Not everyone's idea of perfume, but it's captured beautifully and I do love it!

How can you go wrong with this? Soap and Leather, classy and masculine, gentle.

There is kind of a cheap bitter chemicals aspect to it if you pay attention, but it only costs $10, and most people just notice how nice it is.

Since it's so inexpensive, I like to use it to freshen up my pillows and bedsheets. It would make a wonderful shaving cream as it immediately brings that to mind, along with an old fashioned shaving brush.

Don't be too snobby to enjoy this one!

This seems to behave quite differently depending on the weather. In hot humid weather it gives the wearer a beautiful warm, golden melony glow which garners awestruck compliments. Absolutely lovely.

In any other kind of weather it seems frail and somewheat dirty and has no longevity whatsoever. Strange.

But when it's on, it's right on. Gorgeous.

Mmmm. Vetiver wrapped in a suede blanket.

I can't really recognize any of the notes in here aside from ther vetiver, so I can't make any intelligent comments, but some of the other popular vetiver's like Guerlain's or Creed's "original" vetiver which accentuate the crisp and fresh aspect of the grass, Vetiver Oriental's vetiver is muted, and soft, bringing out the earthier aspects of it.

I don't particularly see what's "Oriental" about it - no strong spices here, and it's not the usualy Lutens fruitcake, not being particularly sweet. All the notes are muted and it's a very fuzzy and warm "comfort" aroma. As such it does not project very much, and has only a minor "aura" sillage.

If not for the name and the note pyramid, I would have thought this was a leather with a strong vetiver component.

In any case it's quite wonderful.

Head: Sap notes, Padilla iris, undergrowth notes

Heart: Vetiver root, gaiac wood, woody-accord, chocolate

Base: Musk, ambered mosses, sandalwood, rockrose labdanum

Quite wonderful, and very safe. Has the typical creed base, and an interesting and lovely devellopment. Starts out like a crisp white cloud,sweet and a little fruity, then soon warms up into a round glowy fuzzy pink fluffy center, ( bit like the second stage of Original Santal) and then these two aspects synthesize into a wonderfully balanced and pleasant aroma which stays stable for the rest of the journey.

The first stage is reminiscant of other colognes (I think it gets compared to XS alot) but it changes over time, and it doesn't reek like chemicals.

It really, really mixes well with a little salty sweat. It really comes alive in a whole new way! If it's the summer and a bit hot, put some on in the morning *before* you shower to see what I mean. You'll want to stay that way all day!

This is one of the rare Lutens where I like the opening less than later stages. Most of my other favourite Lutens (Ambre SUltan, Fumerie Turque, Bois Oriental, Cedre, Arabie), start out with an explosion of heavenly, sweet, wet and fleeting topnotes that last only for a few minutes, then settle into something warm and lovely, and eventually leave a base that is nice but missing all of the addictive flavours - usually just musty Cedar with a couple of decarative complimentary notes are left, (or else beeswax with Fumerie Turque) which is nice but the beauty is all gone.

WIth Chergui it's the opposite - it starts off with some strong powdery notes and one in particular which I can't pinpoint and which I don't particularly like - some kind of herb spice we use in foods - and isn't particularly sweet or wet. Then after a half hour to an hour it gets sweet and has a perfect balance. It does capture a bit of the feel of a hot wind.

Lovely!

Oh waow - this is different, and quite special. When I first tried it, what my mind kept noticing is the mossy quasi-vegetable aspect of it - someone mentioned celeri, and indeed something in here reminds me of celeri salt - probably the mix of amber with thyme, pine needles and moss.

However, once my mind has "gotten over" that strange chord, eery time I wear it what really stands out is that it smells like a hard candy version of cherry jello. I frankly have no idea what fragrance oils from the pyramid were used to conjure that up!

And then once I got used to that, it all "clicked" - red candy with a little dirty salty sweaty spice.

I really love this. I imagine this won't work on everyone's skin, but if you do try it, give it a few chances before you decide what you think.

Interesting - starts out very white floral, and devellops into spicy coca cola. Lots of sillage. Not like the Lutens' I'm used to (Arabie, Cedre, Fumerie Turque, Bois Oriental, Chergui, Ambre Sultan etc.

What a good idea - a Joop that's wearable and excellent and doesn't smell like a hideous toxic swamp!

Joop was one of the first fragrances that I ever tried, given to me as a present. I thought it was loud and obnoxious and generally hideous, but there was still something special about it - those wonderful spices - and I found myself wishing that someone could come up with a more natural and civilized version, one that would devellop, and not break down into hazmat over time. Well, this is it.

It starts with a blast that's remarkably similar to Joop. After about 5 minutes that takes a back seat to a familliar moist Creed chord, that musky ambergis, very similar I find to the base of Himalaya, and also to Millesime Imperial. The Sandalwood is blends in with that chord to form the heart of it, making it round and lovely.

Eventually, after some time this recedes only to reveal that the joop is still there.

Just lovely.

Wow - this is not your typical in your face Lutens spice-candy explosion. It's uncharacteristically subtle and extraordinarily warm and subdued. It makes me think of roasting nuts on a fire with hot chocolate, only lightly sweetened.

The base is cedar but where I find cedar to be somewhat unpleasant on it's own, particularly when the top and middle notes have said their goodbyes, this cedar is wrapped in other warm notes which don't disappear.

According to Bois de Jasmin the notes are violet, peach, plum, rose, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, musk, Atlas cedarwood, and vanilla, but the notes are all low key and blended together so that all I notice is chocolate!

It's great it all weather, and you can't really wear too much of it as none of the notes are overpowering. If it weren't so rare I'd be drinking it.

Rahat Loukoum is the Turkish name for the confection known in english as "Turkish Delight". As such this is aptly named.

Like many Lutens, it starts off with a wet blast of mainly one note, in this case almond/marzipan, one of my favourite smells and tastes. It settles in to a very sweet, yet mellow almond turkish delight fragrance, and as time goes by it becomes more "civilized". I can't recognize all the notes, but it really does bring to mind the feel of Turkish delight, the powdered sugar, the nuts mixed in.

A little goes a long way with this one. it is quite strong, and lasts a long time, and thus must be applied discriminately. That works for me given how expensive and rare it is.

Failure to comply with the above warning will result you will smelling like you took a shower in amaretto syrup, and hordes of bees will follow you around all day.

Wonderful!

I saw reference to this on Basenotes several times, and when I saw it sitting there in my friend's bathroom while relieving myself of excess toxins in fluid form, I just had to give it a little geschpritzdt.

Many fragrances which I find unpleasant or offensive, like Dali PH, Joop, Davidoff or Bvlgari Black tend to create sensory experiences which like being in battle or running for one's life, are terrifying, yet at the same time stimulating, interesting and give pause for reflection and thought on what just happened.

Jaipur however, is remarkable in that it is both unpleasant and completely boring.

However, what it does have in common with many unpleasant fragrances it lasts a long time, and is very difficult to wash off.

Fascinating!

Not the thick, dark, sticky sweet licorice confection that I was expecting, but rather a gentle and peppery anise - gentle but long lasting, and although anise is the prodominant note, the peppers and spices keep it interesting throughout its duration so that you want to keep breathing it in to percieve them all.

Universally liked by all who had the good fortune to be around me, including most importantly myself.

Did you ever fall in love and spend seemingly weeks on end doing nothing but having sex five times a day, eating and sleeping? Well if you didn't shower in all that time, this is what it would smell like.

There are several bang on (pun not originally intended, but it does work!) reviews below along these lines, among which Ayala's is probably the best and most eloquent.

Basically this is a fragrance restricted for meetings with your lover, an evening out at the roman orgy/bachanalia, or a good bout of being alone and imagining that you're with your lover or at a roman orgy.

Enjoy!

I'm surprised there are so many bad reviews of this one. It's one of my favourites. Like many Lutens it starts of with a ten second wet burst - in this case a flower which I don't recognize, but all the reviews say is tuberose. Then it transforms into something rich, dark, warm, round, sweet and balanced. The cedar is quite prominent, and I'm normally not a big fan of it (and thus didn't expect to like this one at all) but here the blend with the tuberose is perfect.

I'd say it's easier for a woman to pull off, but it suits me perfectly.

If anyone is familliar with the sparkling and loud Xeryus Rouge 9which I also love), this to me is a warmer, calmer, smoother relative of it.

The heavenly opening reminds me *alot* of Opium Pour Homme EDP, even if it dries into something more civilized and refined, and amber oriented of course.

Like many Lutens, is dries down into lovely spices, but just too dry and powdery for my taste.

It seems like it somewhere in between Opium EDP and Lutens' Arabie.

Very nice, but with Arabie and Opium EDP I've already got what I need!

Flint, and orange scented gunsmoke. It's arid and works better when there is some humidity in the air, regardless of season, otherwise it's too inorganic and unhuman. I don't smoke, but when you wear this you smell like a smoker who smells of orange peel. It's really shines nice when it mixes with a little sweat.

When you inhale this you can *see* the leather, and the sweet cherry tobacco pipe smoke.

This is probably *the* most wonderful thing that comes in a bottle that I can remember breathing in.

Along with A La Nuit where you can see the jasmine flowers, so complete and full bodied is the scent, this is my favourite fragrance.

Oooh - this is one that I have to keep going back to over and over to smell and ponder.

I tested this one because of how much I love Xeryus Rouge. I remember being quite surprised, both at the strange fragrance, and at how it bears no resemblance whatsoever to Rouge.

On the one hand, it's round, smooth, mysterious - it's all yellows, golds and ambers and it brings to mind yellow on black. As it settles into the skin it becomes more bitter. It's the kind of thing you wear with your black turtleneck.

It's quite special and not like anything else in my wardrobe, but the only problem with it is that I'm sure that some bathroom handsoap company based their fragrance on this and it's hard to get away from that association.

Still, I like it more each time I wear it. Night time only!

A total masterpiece. Perfect and pure jasmine, heady, thick, and fresh, like earing a full bouquet of jasmine flowers around your neck.

Spice-o-rama. This is a very dry fragrance, that smells very much like a spice merchant's booth in the souk, or the spice section of your local arab or pakistani grocery. The predominant note to me is nutmeg, and some dried fruits, figs, orange peel, etc. I like it alot but I think you need to be alot more burly than me to wear this. Definitely for rrrrreal mans. I suspect it works best in humid weather, not because it isn't long lasting (it's quite strong, has major sillage and last a long time) but because it's so arid.

Very close to the original, but (as the name implies) fresher. I'd guess there's more tangerine.

I'm normally a fan of heavier scents, but I prefer this one to the original.

One of my favourites.

This is great stuff. The stuff of Men. Classy french 60's type men. A vetiver with some lemon. Can't go wrong with this stuff.

This is something quite unusual, and special. This is one of those fragrances where I ended up with the deodorant, aftershave, and shower gel, each of which smells quite different as if emphasizing a different aspect of the cologne.

It's a "broad spectrum" fragrance with a range from sharp high end smokey down to sweet fruity and warm nutty. It's quite overwhelming and smells very different on different days.

It gets awestruck compliments from some and choking disgust from others. It all depends on whether the sweet or sour is coming out of it that day.

It smells it's best on clothes, particularly a turtleneck collar, wool scarf or fur lining, which bring out the sweetness of it.

Smells great on women too.

There an interesting and in depth article on this at http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050314fa_fact?050314fa_fact

Although I do agree with the reviews below that it's quite green and fresh, contrary to what everyone seems to say about it being sweet I find there is a predominant and strong note or combination of notes which make brings to mind bitter citronella.

It's interesting, and for some reason since I tried layering it with Body Kouros a couple of times as an experiment, I've come to enjoy it more on it's own and I'm beginning to apreciate it more and more.

Although I like to wear it to bed sometimes, I as of yet don't feel comfortable in it, and when I do wear it out, it has yet to evoke any compliments. Most comments are negative or neutral.

I much prefer Un Jardin en Méditerranée, which I find to be heavenly.

Nevermind any what anybody says about this. It smells like warm cotton candy. It's warm, full bodied, and very smooth and creamy, as one might imagine cotton candy froth to be. It also brings to mind the flavour of half a dozen large marshmallows melted into a foam in some hot chocolate. If you like that you'll love this.

I must admit that after initially being very disappointed with it as a blind buy, I am starting to like it. Lately I've been wearing it every day, but I still seem to be in a testing phase as I don't think I wear it very well. I think this would do quite well as a women's fragrance, and I'm surprised that it isn't at least unisex. If you're going to divide up fragrances into male and female, I really don't think this fits in the male side of things.

This is soooooo good. I get compliments on it all the time. I bought it blind after finding a used 3.3 oz bottle for like $10 and since then I must have wasted a quarter of it spraying myself around the house and before bed.

It's kind a spicy, cactusy candy scent. Quite sweet but not atrocious like Joop, or COtton Candy like BOdy Kouros. It actually manages to be sweet and still have alot of class and depth. Hard to describe.

It doesn't last that long on me, which is why I've also got the aftershave and shower gel and will be picking up the deodorant. The shower gel makes the best notes in it last longer and gives it more body somehow.

When you first apply it it's quite sharp and gritty and not altogether pleasant, and it actually took me a little while to appreciate it. But once it settles it's quite lovely.

Looking for a heady Jasmine fragrance that a man could get away with, I took a chance on this when I found an excellent deal on a used bottle of this. I must say it's excquisite. It's soft and lush and all flowers. Unfortunately it doesn't suit me at all. It's heavy on rose, which I don't wear well, and is just too feminine.

It ended up as a much appreciated present for a wonderful little girl.

In the end I found Yasmin by Ayala Moriel which is a jasmine soliflore and suits me quite nicely.

This smells *exactly* like regular Kouros, except a little less strong, and with a barely detectable synthetic freh citrus note. It's good, but if you have one you have the other. Maybe this one is a little better if you want a little less "sweat" in your Kouros.

Nevermind what anybody says. This smells exactly like Froot Loops. Richer, warmer, healthier Froot Loops. Mmmm, love those froot loops!

This is heavenly - I can't comment with any intelligence on the flower combinations, but they're certainly the right ones! The scent of orange blossoms, but lighter and a little sweeter at the same time. It has a real calmative effect as you just relax and inhale.

Mmmm - this is niiiiice. When you wear this you don't want to stop inhaling. Makes me feel calm and happy.

Hey, it smells just like orange peels. Goes on and stays on sweet. When you spray it smells just like opening up a tangerine. Not the most interesting or complex thing in the world, but hey - orange peels smell nice!

Top notes: Sicilian orange and mandarin, bergamot, grapefruit, and lemon.

Heart notes: petit grain, mate leaves, and cardamom.
Base notes: musk and caramel.

Hmmm - smells like "Opium Dark" Similar to the EDT except thicker, and heavier on the deep sweet notes, while lighter on the sparkles and peppers. It starts out especially dark, and the fresher notes and spices reveal themselves after 10 minutes or so. I like the EDT better, since my favourite notes, the fresh and peppery ones are alot more prominent.

Unfortunately, I find that the wonderful spices, peppers, anise, etc of both versions disappear too soon, leaving a dead wood smell which leaves a film in my mouth.

One tiny spray from the 50ml EDP lasts about as long as two full sprays of teh 100ml EDT.

THe bottles are actually almost the same size, except that inside the blue plastic of the EDP which is the same size as the EDT bottle, there is a small 50ml bottle.

Contrary to the previous reviewer, I find that this version gives me a headache on the wrong days, versus the EDT.

I don't see how this is such a revolutionary or original scent. It's quite nice and classy. Makes me think of a more subtle Paco Rabanne. However it does smell kind of like slightly fermented pee pee if you put too much on, which is very easy to do. It's a sweet urine smell, as if you've just eaten a box of Cap'n Crunch before filling up the bottle, but still, I prefer my literal eau de toilette notes to stay in my bol de toilette. The spray mechanism makes it hard to control how much you use, so I find I have to wipe some off after spraying - or use one spray and spread it around. If I do that it's "safe" for every day use.

*WOW* THis is completely beautiful. Having it on made me happy the whole day. At first it smells quite feminine, very sweet and syrupy, so that I was a little embarrassed walking around with it. However, let it settle and it's just heaven. Fig and Orange heaven.

I went swimming for about 2hrs after having sampled it, and there were still traces of it on me afterwards! Therefore I assume it has staying power.

Smells like Cool Water's aquatic base with a predominant lemon Froot Loops, but in a smooth, good way. It's very fresh, clean and pleasant, and has no "sharp" or "sparkly" notes, but it doesn't last very long. Lovely packaging too.

Recently I was at my parents and I noticed this in the bathroom. I gave myslef a little schpritz and I just could not stop smelling myslelf.

A thousand questions rushed through my mind: Is this for real, or did someone urinate in the bottle as a joke? Could this really be so disgusting? Is this fancy insect repellent? Is my skin going to peel off? Should I call 911?

Aaah! Also, Mmmmmm!

Female feedback rating on this, %100.

I bought 125mL of this blind since it was at a ridiculously low price on ebay. I love most Davidoff's, and this one was discontinued, so I'd probably never get to try it otherwise. Yikes!

This is one of those rare one that I can't even bear to smell in the bottle. My female friend who's a men's fragrance demo seemed to enjoy it, but I can't even bear to try it after the first time, which was a real shower inducer. I think I lasted 8 minutes before the shower reflex became insurmountable. Each time I go to the cabinet, and think "hmm, I really should give this another try" I smell the bottle and shiver.

It's a very, very sharp mossy smell. I'd guess there's a lot of pine, but there doesn't seem to be any from the list above. A "mature man" kind of fragrance. It probably smells great to and on people who smoke Davidoff cigars, which is who I imagine it was made for. I can imgine it blendind really well with cigar smoke.

When I was a kid I used to play with He-Man toys, and there was one ape-like man called "Moss-man" who was covered in a strange green synthetic moss, complete with mossy aroma. This is "Eau de Moss-Man" straight out of the package...

Smells like the ingredients. Lemon and freshly mowed lawn. It's light, on the sharp side in terms of spice, and "aquatic" which to me means it has that Cool Water type background.

It's a little feminine, but these days with Joop, and Pi, and Hugo Boss Rouge, and Davidoff Echo, and hundreds of others I haven't tried, what doesn't?

It's more girly on the first spray, but after 5 minutes it starts to blend in with one's skin, and if one should happen to be a male with male skin, it will turn more masculine.

Interestingly, I find that this smells quite wonderful on women. Meanwhile 212 for women is quite repulsive. They should just mark this as a unisex, and recall all the 212 for women, and set it all on fire, perhaps in a fragrant fireworks display.

Doesn't last super long, but these kinds of scents usually don't. Not my favourite, but still nice.

Ah, now here's a proper cologne. Doesn't really smell much like ol' reguler Cool Water. It's both deeper and "sharper", having more of a foundation on the bottom and spices on the top. Not too sweet like so many trendy things out there today. To me it smells like a spicy, manly cactus.

Everyone reacts well to it on me, including myself, and it's just a pleasant and comfortable scent. THe only reason I don't wear it every single day, is that it got me so interested and excited about colognes, that I started buying and trying all kinds of other things, but nothing measures up, and I'll soon be back to this as my staple.


It smells alot better on the skin than in the bottle, and a lovely bottle at that. It also lasts alot longer than the original. And it tastes great too! Ha - kidding of course.

Branching off into baking products was a really risky move for Givenchy, but in the end it their gamble paid off. Who would ever have imagined designer vanilla extract? I'm not sure why it's so popular though - although the bottle is lovely as is the name, it really made my cookies turn out quite bitter.

Very fresh and clean smell. A really nice bottle, though pretty expensive for fabric softner.

The great thing about this is that it really lasts all day. Even after a shower, there's still a hint of the vanilla on your skin. The bad thing is that it's an utterly disgusting stench, and I can't get rid it!

It smells really interesting in the bottle, and when you spray it on, there are all kinds of crazy spices in the air for a few seconds. Then as it settles, it's just this sickeningly sweet nastiness that haunts you and makes you feel like a drag queen all day long. At least it does on my skin. After an hour or more, when it really fades it becomes tolerable and even nice - a more "manly" and mysterious kind of aroma, but otherwise it's just very feminine.

It's a very good idea, very badly executed. I'm sure there's some other fragrance out there that is strong and spicy and wild like this, but in a good way...

Also I wasn't impressed with all the sodium benzoate and other preservatives and chemicals listed in the ingredients. Those things accumulate in your body if you wear cologne every day, and it's particularly bad if you put it on after shaving when it gets quickly into your blood.

Wow! A great name, a glorious pink-purple colour, and an utterly intolerable smell!

Have you ever tasted "Thrills" gum? The gum that you buy from a machine because you want something sweet, and then as you crunch into it your face contorst in disgust at the bizarre medicinal artificiality of what your tongue is being assaulted with? YOu know, the one that tastes like a cross between Jagermeister and cough syrup?

Joop smells alot like liquid Thrills. It smells ok when it's in the bottle, if you like pink chemicals, but on the skin - first of all it's impossible to get rid of. If you ever really, really need a headache badly to get out of work, or school this is the scent for you.

Whatever's nice about it while in the bottle, evaporate on contact with the skin, and the result smells like the natural salt and sweat of the body at war with some toxic chemicals.

On the other hand, my seven year old daughter loves it, and so I gave it to her. I sometimes borrow it to spray inside my shoes.

It's funny - contrary to just about what *everybody* seems to be saying, I find that this, the EDCm lasts alot longer than most EDT I've been wearing lately - those being Cool Water, Cool Water Deep, Cool Water Summer Fizz and Drakkar Noir. One spray seems to last about three hours, even on a hot humid day like today, whereas the Cool Waters is gone from my skin inside an hour (it stays alot longer on my shirt!).

It's very bitter and makes me think of strong grapefruit juice, though the only citrus listed seem to be lemon and mandarin. It starts off with a very sharp, old lady kind of scent, but then as it settles into the skin, it becomes warmer and alot manlier, though in a very different way than what I'm used to in cologne.

I just got it and have yet to see how a woman reacts to it, but I'm just dying to get close to myself...