Samba Nova Homme by Perfumer's Workshop, 1993

Boring, repetitive, and flat out foul. Arguably related to Le Male, although this one came out first. It opens with a huge burst of alcohol that is hard not to take in and notice. I get a bitter and soapy and lavender. It pretty much dries down this way. Smells cheap. Pass

This is really nice, but not for the "newbie." As a newbie, I couldn't get a grasp on it. Sometimes it would even smell like curry to me. I stuck with it, because it was so interesting, wearing it about once a month. Now I can distinguish clearly the mint and rosewood, which predominate. It also has a "clean" smoke quality to it, and can be light or somewhat heavy, depending upon how much you apply. This is nicely blended, with no "rough" edges, and you can get for incredibly low prices, so there's no reason to pass this one up (if you are an aficionado) !

This fragrance was a great discovery for me. I find the woody drydown comforting and delightful. Its longevity is decent, too; here it easily beats many others comparably priced.

I bought two 50-ml bottles for $4.99 each on clearance, and am very pleased.

This male Samba comes in the same the weird shape as the other earlier ones, but the bottle is terra cota with a nice dry finish. The fragrance is ok, opens with strong mint and herbs. The drydown is like a mix of Biagiotti's Roma and Diesel Zero Plus, very woody and with vanilla + strong cinnamon.