Cuba Blue by Cuba Paris

Cuba Blue, like the rest of its Cuba stablemates, relies more on its novelty elements thanks to its cheap but creative packaging that combines several disparaging and contradictory elements. A Cuban cigar body with the face of an American inventor and statesman from Pennsylvania raised in a world of Quakers and German immigrants, Benjamin Franklin, manufactured in France and given a name referencing pastoral tranquility? Maybe Thomas Jefferson and images of Tobacco fields would have been more fitting for the entire affair, but for its embracing of pure tackiness, Cuba fragrances are synonymous with fun. The opening is a burst of lavender and alcohol that calms down quickly into a familiar CK One aquatic/floral, but reaching higher into the floral qualities. The middle notes are when the metallic elements of Azzaro Chrome surface, but they last only a few flashing moments before the nondescript dry down of lavender, musk and vanilla take over. Cuba Blue smells astonishingly good and well-blended and the most natural of all the Cuba releases, despite being a wholly synthetic creation. Not exactly Chrome, leans more towards Calvin Klein's CK One but with far lower projection and silage and about a quarter of the lifespan. A fresh scent with a touch of floral, musk and moss that is far less cloying than Cuba's original release Gold. Hard to pick off the skin, works to its advantage in that the lavender doesn't ever overwhelm. The major downfall of Blue is two-fold. It simply clings too tightly to the skin and lasts only about an hour before becoming quite faint and unrecognizable. Blue is a light, earthy aquatic and lavender fragrance better suited for the heat. Nothing particularly distinguishing, but the most natural smelling of the Cuba line. Completely and purely unoriginal in all but the packaging, Cuba Blue is pathetically light and weak, short-lived and cheap, but oh so fun and unique, all the same. Only for those with a sense of humor and an appreciation of camp and pure tackiness.