Basenotes - Reviews by acehimself

Showing 1 to 11 of 11.

Jaïpur Homme by Boucheron

This is definitely a well made and quality scent. It's so soft and and the vanilla, which is its most prominent note is very nice. However, what turns me off this scent personally is that I find it to be very feminine. It's so sweet and powdery that if I smelled this for the first time I'm convinced I'd expect it to be a woman's perfume. Certainly a quality scent, if you like powdery vanilla it's worth a try. If you want a scent that has an element to masculinity though, this isn't the one for you.

6th December, 2006.

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Rive Gauche pour Homme by Yves Saint Laurent

Not really impressive in the least. Starts off as a really, really dry woodsy aroma. Then as it dries down I start to get some very green notes. One thing that it made me think of, which for me fits perfectly, is the smell of green pea pods. In the summer whne you can get the peas in the pod, that's what Rive Gauche smells like as it dries down.
It isn't piss mixed with urinal cakes like Kouros which triggers my gag reflex, but to my nose it isn't the least bit pleasent.
Anything YSL puts out seems to get labeled as simply amazing on here - I have no idea why.

1st December, 2006.

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Envy for Men by Gucci

When I first smelled Gucci Envy, my opinion of it was similar to Zyreak77's below me. It was pleasent, but something about it just screamed "cheap drugstore cologne" at me. It bore a resemblance in my mind to the kinds of fragrances like Old Spice or English Leather which you find for ten dollars a bottle.
With time though, having sampled this stuff a few more times I've really grown to love it. I still find that association to the cheaper, classic colognes, but it has something more. To me it seems like the ultimate safe cologne. Those who dislike Gucci Envy almost all feel this way due to the fact that they find it boring or unoriginal. Very few people actively dislike the scent.
It now serves as one of my most frequently used day-to-day scents. Many say it serves best in the evening in more formal settings, but I have used it just about anywhere and found it to fit. The longevity is execellent on this, and it's also less expensive than many other designer fragrances.
It garners many compliments, regardless of whether it strikes you as "amazing", "intoxicating", or "uninspiring" almost everyone will find it to be pleasent. This one can function well in almost everyone's wardrobe.

6th November, 2006.

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H.M. by Hanae Mori

I found this to be very feminine smelling. Top notes are very fresh, green, fruity.
Once the depth starts to creep in, all I can get is very sweet vanilla - perhaps a hint of chocolate but not much.
Not an unpleasent scent, would make a nice women's perfume. Good luck rocking this if you're a guy though.

31st October, 2006.

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Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent

Well, if anything this scent follows in the tradition of standard classic masculine scents of the Old Spice/English Leather kind of tradition. It's very dry smelling. I find absolutely nothing special to it at all. I've heard people mentioned a "piss" kind of note to it, and I can kind of make out a strange sour tinge to the fragrance.
Overall my mind is boggled as to how this can be such a popular scent amongst people on here. To my nose this stuff seems best suited for only someone with several kids only a few years from retirement.
Pretty bad stuff in my opinion.

30th October, 2006.

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By Man by Dolce & Gabbana

I'm thinking of buying this one, was planning on blind buying based on the reviews here but I actually, unbelievably, found a tester of it someplace today. So here's my assessment.

Goes on slightly flowery smelling and the lavender is definitely strong, a quick smell might even force one to label this as a feminine scent. However, as it progresses and starts to dry down you can prominently detect the very masculine notes which form it's base. Woody notes, leather and amber are all easily detectable to me.

The descriptions of this fragrance including terms like "dirty, animalistic, even "it smells like sex"" I must say intrigued me somewhat in looking at this fragrance. And though I can't really describe how precisely, I'd say these descriptions fit D&G By Man quite well.

On top it's quite sweet, the lavender being highly prominent, but as it dries down the masculine elements shine through.

I'm quite impressed by it actually - rather unique, and quite nice - I might just go pick up a bottle.

13rd October, 2006.

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Geir by Geir Ness

Recently tried a decant of Geir. Overall, I was not very impressed. Upon initial application I found it to be quite flowery smelling and really downright feminine. Once it dries down a bit, we're supposed to get that scent which is described as the freshness of the mountains. I found it to be a very sweet vanilla type scent at this point emerging.

Longevity wise it is quite decent, not too intense either, not bad on that respect.

Overall though, I didn't find it to be anything very special at all and too sweet/feminine for my tastes.

3rd October, 2006.

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Pi by Givenchy

I've tried Pi out a fair bit lately and it makes me want to like it but I just can't. I can see how this warm fragrence would be ideal for close romantic type settings or a cold evening. In the top notes unfortunately I can smell nothing but what gives the impression of being pure vanilla extract, almost edible as many say. But as the time progresses it develops a bit more and there are woody notes for sure.

One of my main problems with this one though is that to me it has a very, very feminine touch to it. If I had never smelled it before I am sure I would guess that it was a female fragrance.

I can see how some might like it and it may have it's uses somewhere but I see it's application as very limited, certainly not enough to justify purchasing it.

4th September, 2006.

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Gaultier² by Jean Paul Gaultier

I recently tried this one out at the department store and I wasn't hugely impressed. It is very, very sweet smelling. To me it resembles Le Male a lot in that they basically just took the sweet elements out of that cologne and isolate them and the product was this.

It's nice and simple but way to sweet and doesn't have the masculine touch that Le Male posesses. The only plus about this one is that the 2 in one magnetic bottle is super cool. I won't be buying it though.

3rd September, 2006.

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Le Mâle by Jean Paul Gaultier

This is definitely one of my favourite scents. It just hits you with an aroma that is both dark and heavy as well as fresh at the same time.

The most noticeable characteristic for me upon first applying is the vanilla/little bit of mint/almost soapy kind of scent. As it progreses I can see how some are turned off by the kind of chemically scents in there but I think that for the most part that is an issue of overapplication. This scent is meant to be worn lightly. I spray once on the neck, once on the wrist and rub together. Any more and it is overpowering and plain gross, but lightly this is one of my favourites if not #1. Longevity is one of it's strong suits as well. Even a light application will last almost all day for you, no problems with that.

So all in all, this is a versatile cologne which you can wear during the day to school or work, and just as easily when you're going on a date, to the bar/club, or anything else. Remember the key is to go light on this one. It's a little played out but not as bad as your Armani/Lacoste colognes around where I live. Definitely worth a shot.

3rd September, 2006.

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Happy for Men by Clinique

I have very mixed feelings with respect to this one. It's a reletively inexpensive cologne so I guess you can't be super critical of it in comparison to the high end ones. I love the freshness of the scent with this one. Happy is a great name for this cologne, it's so fresh and optimistic (lol if you can use that term to label a cologen I'm not sure, but I will anyways). However the worst thing about this cologne is that you spray it on and without exageration, one hour later you can barely tell that you put it on at all. Terrible longevity, even for a citrus scent. It's almost too feminine as well. Any girl could use this fragrence easily if they wanted to.

All in all, kinda nice, inexpensive, but not very practical due to it's ultra short longevity.

3rd September, 2006.

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