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Burr gives Polo Black by Ralph Lauren two stars

post #1 of 19
2/8/08 at 1:18pm
Thread Starter 
'Polo Black is a parfum gourmand, a culinary perfume where one least expects it. For its first 30 minutes, it is an idea of the delicate sweet smell of a still-warm pastry oven combined with pure, warm, clean mans skin. There is no cliché ashtray-in-a-frat-house-at-2 a.m. smoke, the usual (and boring) semaphore deployed to signal masculine perfume here! Mullarkey wisely eschewed this. That said, Polo Blacks main weakness is its, well, weakness...'

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post #2 of 19
2/8/08 at 2:13pm
hmmm... I think it's gourmand too but in a more mango cilantro way... still warm pastry oven? that is hard for me to see here. I also don't get pure warm clean man's skin in it. This is my guilty pleasure scent... that is, I can't help but like it, even though it's kinda mainstream.
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post #3 of 19
2/8/08 at 3:46pm
Its a decent fragrance, but why would one dedicate an entire review section to it ?

Also, criticizing Polo Black for its weak diffusive nature while praising Eau Sauvage and most Ellena fragrances to high heaven doesn't make much sense.
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post #4 of 19
2/9/08 at 5:06pm
amen to that (above)
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post #5 of 19
2/9/08 at 5:31pm
2 out of what? 4, 5?
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post #6 of 19
2/10/08 at 1:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ View Post

2 out of what? 4, 5?

Out of five ! If it consoles you, Kouros got the same two. But then - what do you expect from somebody who keeps repeating that fragrances for men have generally been made without inspiration, and at low budgets, and that he does not care for them at all!

Nevertheless, it might have been a nice service to his readers, if he had commented on Polo DB briefly. If guys are told that Black is weak, some might hope that Double Black is not. He should have told those the full story. Instead he wastes precious space to reflect on a French feminine perfume he finds chic, and to bash Polo which celebrates it's thirtieth birthday this year! This one looks back on a very successful history, also in Europe, and together with Kouros it's one of BN Outstanding Hundred (most reviewed).

What a venomous birthday cake this is ! "Polo Green... burned out its aesthetic viability in part because of its determined, semi-militaristic vision of what constitutes a male fragrance. ...stylistically it was [not is?] a sort of “eau de French military academy.”

Scent Notes 07-02-08
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post #7 of 19
2/10/08 at 3:02am
I don't understand general disappointment here - did not most people dislike Polo Black? And secondly, do many people really care about Burr's opinion?
All in all, I agree with him re "the value" of this frag, however, I don't like the language he uses and agree with Narcus re inappropriate bashing of Polo.
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post #8 of 19
2/10/08 at 6:00am
Polo Green is the the quintessential men's chypre to me. Not the best, too much popular, but it defines this genre, IMO.

Yes, it's a virile scent, what's wrong? So, in the 2000's, it's ok to a man to smell feminine (florals, fresh, gourmands, unisex, etc, etc), but being masculine became "cliché" and "boring" (his words)? That's sad.
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post #9 of 19
2/10/08 at 7:28am
Polo Black aside, I take Burr's opinion much the same as I do critics of any other genre: lightly. Whereas I do enjoy reading some of his writings, in the end I remind myself that this is simply his take on things; a take which has very little effect on my choices or preferences. Do I dislike a movie because Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs down? Do I rave over a record because Stephen Thomas Erlewine did so? Of course not.
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post #10 of 19
2/10/08 at 9:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by smeller View Post

Polo Green is the the quintessential men's chypre to me. Not the best, too much popular, but it defines this genre, IMO.

Yes, it's a virile scent, what's wrong? So, in the 2000's, it's ok to a man to smell feminine (florals, fresh, gourmands, unisex, etc, etc), but being masculine became "cliché" and "boring" (his words)? That's sad.

Id never wear polo green, but I agree with this statement 10000000%

I don't even know how to describe Burr, hes kind of a snob, but then other times hes more of a fanboy... hes like a half fanboy half snob
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post #11 of 19
2/10/08 at 12:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smeller View Post

Yes, it's a virile scent, what's wrong? So, in the 2000's, it's ok to a man to smell feminine (florals, fresh, gourmands, unisex, etc, etc), but being masculine became "cliché" and "boring" (his words)? That's sad.

I agree. The original Polo will always have a place in my wardrobe. I also own Black and enjoy it. I am a man and I enjoy smelling like one.
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post #12 of 19
2/10/08 at 2:47pm
Thread Starter 
I don't like Polo Black. I think it deserves two stars. Just my opinion guys, no disrespect to it's admirers.

I however think that Polo original is the best Ralph Lauren scent. However, I don't own it. Yes I have said here on Basenotes before that Ralph Lauren fragrances has not released a fragrance since Polo original, that I like. Nonetheless, it is a sharp, heavy and ultra rigid-of-a-scent and I take Burr's comments on Polo not as an insult but as a wonderful way of describing something that I've always felt about Polo. I think he should have expounded more on Polo's strengths (like many have already mentioned in this thread - it's a wonderful representation of a chypre / fougere scent) and perhaps gave some advice on application (Polo should NOT be overapplied), but the review was not for Polo original but for Polo Black.
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post #13 of 19
2/10/08 at 3:07pm
Mr Burr sounds like a bit of a pretentious pompous old fart, and he ascribes to the groups old-timers who like to nostaligically reflect upon a rose-coloured glorious past.

Kind of like the old twats who carry on about Woodstock who were neither there or were too whacked to remember any of it. The kind who in Rolling Stone magazine always rave on about the Beatles and Bob Dylan in universal adulation, and don't dare anyone contradict them.
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post #14 of 19
2/11/08 at 10:55am
On the contrary, he tends to dislike most older male fragrances. He has admitted that he hates lavender and bergamot, which is kind of like a food critic who categorically hates seafood. On the other hand, he does have an open mind when it comes to men's frags that, even twenty years ago, would have been considered too feminine. I do enjoy reading him (and share his admiration for Ellena), but think that his anti trad male scent prejudices should be taken into account.
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post #15 of 19
2/11/08 at 11:11am
I happen to agree with Burr on Black. I think a better review will be forthcoming for Double Black which is a way more interesting frag than Black.
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post #16 of 19
2/11/08 at 12:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by snifferdog View Post

Mr Burr sounds like a bit of a pretentious pompous old fart, and he ascribes to the groups old-timers who like to nostaligically reflect upon a rose-coloured glorious past.

Kind of like the old twats who carry on about Woodstock who were neither there or were too whacked to remember any of it. The kind who in Rolling Stone magazine always rave on about the Beatles and Bob Dylan in universal adulation, and don't dare anyone contradict them.

Agreed. I've heard of this Burr guy many times over the past two years of being a Basenoter, and I've never found anything he's said to be of any value to me. Who the hell cares what HE likes? Figure out what YOU like!
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post #17 of 19
2/11/08 at 2:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scentronic View Post

Agreed. I've heard of this Burr guy many times over the past two years of being a Basenoter, and I've never found anything he's said to be of any value to me. Who the hell cares what HE likes? Figure out what YOU like!

That was laugh out loud funny and so very true.
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post #18 of 19
2/11/08 at 3:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scentronic View Post

Agreed. I've heard of this Burr guy many times over the past two years of being a Basenoter, and I've never found anything he's said to be of any value to me. Who the hell cares what HE likes? Figure out what YOU like!

Absolutely, funny and true. The best combinations are, usually.
Now, here's the deal … for me, I actually like his reviews.

So there you go, one man's meat is another's poison. Still, the point is correct: figure out what YOU like.
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post #19 of 19
2/12/08 at 4:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fool View Post

On the contrary, he tends to dislike most older male fragrances. He has admitted that he hates lavender and bergamot, which is kind of like a food critic who categorically hates seafood.

He also hates vetiver, and neither woods nor leather notes belong to his favorites. The question is: how long will it take before his readers realize that Chandler Burr isn't feeling a true passion for perfume.
He just chose to write about it.
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Burr gives Polo Black by Ralph Lauren two stars