Fragrance Reviews by Tonyprince

At first, I dismissed this one until my partner (who likes very few fragrances) took a distinct liking to it and wanted a bottle of it, which is very unusual for him, as he owns very few fragrances. He says that it smells like being in the forest at the mouth of a cave and smelling the cold, earthy cave smell emanating from the cave. In fact, he doesn't call it "Patchouli." If I ask him what he's wearing and it's this one, he says, "Cave." That pretty much says it all.

I love this one. The freshness of the herbal citrus top notes weaving in and out between the anise and tea is refreshing, but then there is that incense and tobacco complicating matters in the best possible way. It reminds me of acting in an old theatre in my childhood. The dressing rooms smelled a bit like this.

I can understand what people mean when they call this scent pornographic and also when they say things like it smells like an overcrowded men's room. it does have a sleazy "hanging out in the men's room for illicit purposes" quality. Several people have noted the combination of male body fluid smells and whatever scent some companies use to scent urinals. Both of those are definitely there to my nose, but there is also quite a dose of incense, which complicates matters. Yves must have gotten quite a kick out of this fragrance getting so popular. It's pretty subversive really. Kudos to him for that. I have a bottle, but I wear it selectively. Also, it's potent, so apply sparingly and the longevity is forever. You'll still smell it you on the subway after a long night. This one's a sleazy guilty pleasure for sure.

This is the description Lorenzo Villoresi offers of Yerbamate: "A boundless greenland touching the sky. The scent of grass, of new-mown hay, of countles herbs and flowers scattered in the fields, stirred by the wind and warmed by the sun. A lonely fire in the meadows, the quiet ritual of tea and mate a gentle veil of smoke, rising and embracing." Amazingly enough, this is exactly what it smells like! A female friend of mine at work said that I smelled like "nudes dancing in fields of flowers" when I wore it. While that might not sound very manly, the smokiness in the background butches things up enough to make Yerbamate genuinely unisex. This is one extraordinary scent.

This is a scent that I always keep around even though it's not particularly complex or sexy. It's simply a nice green, powdery barber shop scent. If you don't consider "powdery" and "barber shop" insults, you'll love this scent. It's longevity and sillage on me is pretty good, too. If you're ready to move up from drug store fragrances but are not yet ready to spend mucho dinero on stuff that might offend your less educated co-workers, this might be a good choice for you, but even if you're an expert in this area, you still might like it. It's a bit like Lorenzo Villoresi's Musk if you stripped it of the rose and added a green note instead.

Lately I find myself often reaching for this cologne over my much more expensive fragrances. It has a warm, masculine, comforting "old school" quality I really enjoy. This is what everybody's dad would smell like in an ideal universe. It's not a "pure" bay rum like St. Johns. It has more complexity than that and, although it doesn't transform very much on the drydown, varied spice notes remain detectable. The longevity is several hours on me. I would say that this is a must try for anyone who likes bay rum scents and even those who don't might want to give this one a whiff.

Being a fan of both Yerbamate and Piper Nigrum, I thought I'd give several other Villoresis a try. I was expecting to favor either Spetzie or Incensi, but I surprised myself by being blown away by the Vetiver! It is much manlier than any other Villoresi. It's like being in the woods on an autumn night and lying face down in the mossy dirt and dying leaves while smelling someone's campfire burning off in the distance. The multiple wood notes in this really elevate it in my mind over MPG's Route du Vetiver. I'm currently hoarding the reminder of my sample for occasional sniffs and trying to wait until fall to purchase ... but it won't be easy. If Bois du Portugal is the ultimate civilized man's fragrance, LV Vetiver is the ultimate one for a man's less civilized side, and as such, I bet it would smell prety damn sexy under formal wear.

Recently I asked six friends (three male, three female) to rate nine fragrance samples on me (mostly Creeds). This was their overall favorite. Does anyone besides me think it smells like violets?