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Paco Rabanne: one trick pony?

post #1 of 35
9/26/08 at 4:48pm
Thread Starter 
I absolutely LOVE Paco Rabanne Pour Homme. It is unbelievably good.....and makes almost any other green/fresh/oakmoss fragrances look feeble in comparison, IMO.

however, having tried nearly everything else Paco Rabanne has made in terms of men's fragrances----i've come to believe that this company can't really make much else that lives up to the glory of the original solution.

Today, i tried out Paco Rabanne's "Eau" men's fragrance from 2002. They had a bottle in the mall in San Diego.....and quite frankly it just sucks. I have some on my hand right now---i keep smelling it to see if it has magically transformed from it's miserable girly, nauseating, synthetic self into something glorious----but it never does. It sucks.

All the other PR scents i've tried, XS, Black XS, Ultraviolet, Tenere -----they were all uninspiring and bland to me. the original XS wasn't a bad scent, but never really a great scent either. It's just sort of blah.

I still have one scent, which i KNOW is in stock at a shop back in NYC-----which is the Paco Rabanne Sport. I've tried this before, but i think my nose was saturated that day after trying too many fragrances. So as a final attempt to bring further glory to the PR name----it better be good.

From all the early reviews of 1 Million, the latest Paco Rabanne scent-----it seems that this one might be a total flop as well. *sigh*
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post #2 of 35
9/26/08 at 5:20pm
One of these days, I think I'm actually going to wear Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, outside my house.
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post #3 of 35
9/26/08 at 5:35pm
I used to wear Paco Rabanne pour Homme all of the time. So I sprayed some on myself at the mall the other day. It did not make me want to wear it again.

However, I do think that Tenere is a fantastic fragrance!
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post #4 of 35
9/26/08 at 5:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by petruccijc View Post

I used to wear Paco Rabanne pour Homme all of the time. So I sprayed some on myself at the mall the other day. It did not make me want to wear it again.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron199 View Post

One of these days, I think I'm actually going to wear Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, outside my house.

are you guys serious? i think this is one of the most universally sexy and appeallable scents ever...i get complimented on it nearly everywhere i wear it. in my wardrobe, it's probably the KING of compliments.
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post #5 of 35
9/26/08 at 6:45pm
Paco Rabanne is very beautiful in all its aspects. I also find that XS is well made. Nowhere near the class of the original PR anyway. Another scent that is similar to PR is Bogart PH (signature - not the new one). I've also heard of the older Sport de Paco Rabanne being a great fragrance. I think its discontinued now, perhaps someone with more experience can chime in.
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post #6 of 35
9/26/08 at 7:28pm
I use Eau for work at least once or twice a week during the hot summer months here and will likely do so for years to come. I find it a far more wearable citrus than the older, more established and quite stodgy Eau Sauvage. I would wear XS just as often but for the woeful lack of longevity and with it on one arm and Himalaya on the other can see why so many compare the two to one another. Tenere was just flat ahead of it's time in the same way we're talking about Yatagan a few threads over. If you have it and don't like it then you probably have a bottle long past its prime.
Haven't tried the gold ingot yet but reading the reviews leaves me with the impression that at least as many liked it as those who didn't.
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post #7 of 35
9/26/08 at 7:39pm
Though I don't dislike the other Paco fragrances as much as you, everso, I think the original and Tenere are the best. I've read (on older Basenotes threads) that the original has been reformulated. Though, at first, I didn't detect a reformulation, my new bottle does smell very different from earlier bottles. Almost *too* powdery. Years ago, it seemed less powdery and seemed to have a more prominent honey note. I have been using it currently only for the honey.

But, a fellow Basenoter introduced me to Giorgio for Men only yesterday. I think I will be using Giorgio for my "honey fix" because I don't know that I can stand Paco's current powder-like effect.
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post #8 of 35
9/26/08 at 8:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bossanova_boy View Post

Though I don't dislike the other Paco fragrances as much as you, everso, I think the original and Tenere are the best. I've read (on older Basenotes threads) that the original has been reformulated. Though, at first, I didn't detect a reformulation, my new bottle does smell very different from earlier bottles. Almost *too* powdery. Years ago, it seemed less powdery and seemed to have a more prominent honey note. I have been using it currently only for the honey.

i don't really smell ANY powder in paco rabanne PH. I have an old small bottle AND a new one i bought 6 months ago...they are pretty much identical. the older one is slightly spicier, but that's about it.....i think alot of the time, people think the new bottles are reformulated, when in actually time and aging actually changes fragrances making the older ones different.

then again, i don't detect Honey in PR PH either....so maybe it's just a fundamental difference in noses!
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post #9 of 35
9/28/08 at 3:53am
I like PR but it I certainly wouldn't go as far as saying its the one that brings all others to there knees .
As there are many other green/fresh/oakmoss fragrances that are just as grand & bold & most of all different enough to warrant living alongside one's shelf in rotation with Paco R .
Variety is the spice of life .... & sometimes to much of anything can be a bad thing .
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post #10 of 35
9/28/08 at 5:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by everso View Post

are you guys serious? i think this is one of the most universally sexy and appeallable scents ever...i get complimented on it nearly everywhere i wear it. in my wardrobe, it's probably the KING of compliments.

If I get a compliment on a fragrance, that is great. But it is not the first/main reason why I purchase or wear a fragrance.
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post #11 of 35
9/28/08 at 5:55am
I am an 80's fragrance guy and just love 'powerhouse' fragrances.

My bottle of Paco Rabanne Pour Homme predates Basenotes by twenty years. I loved it at one time but cannot stand it anymore. It dwells at the bottom of my wardrobe alongside Brut and Drakkar Noir.

Silverbullet introduced me to XS months ago. I liked it enough to buy a bottle.
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post #12 of 35
9/28/08 at 6:04am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by petruccijc View Post

If I get a compliment on a fragrance, that is great. But it is not the first/main reason why I purchase or wear a fragrance.

well my point wasn't that i wear it because of compliments!

my point was that getting compliments is additive to the point that this stuff is still very modern, very wearable----and still has the capability withstand the pressures of my modern lifestyle.
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post #13 of 35
9/28/08 at 8:02am
I bought PH recently and am debating whether to keep it or not. The topnotes are great, so invigorating. But then it dries down to something I am not sure I like. Will have to give it a full day wearing I guess.
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post #14 of 35
9/28/08 at 8:11am
I remember smelling Paco Rabanne Pour Homme on my uncle years ago and stealing a little spray on my hand in his bathroom, as a kid. It's in the vein of Aramis, Brut, Grey Flannel. Fragrances that don't fu*k around. Kind of like my uncle.

Ever since I joined Basenotes, I have realized that many guys still love it. And many don't also.

What made me take notice of PR again, was a mention of it in Perfumes The Guide. In the review of Fou d' Absinthe by L'Artisan, he called FdA a 'cheerful Paco Rabanne Pour Homme'. I absolutely fell in love with FdA the first time I smelled it, and I plan on owning a bottle, one of these days. But I never made the connection between these two scents.

Then Ruggles started wearing PRPH a lot, and mentioned the honey note he gets from it, which made me sit up and take notice, since I love well done honey notes in mens fragrances (Moss Breches by Tom Ford uses it to excellent effect).

So, now I'm wanting to smell this again. Not sure if it's wearable, but I'm willing to try it.
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post #15 of 35
9/28/08 at 8:37am
Mike, it is so wearable. The honey note is still there, but it never veers towards the gourmand. I'm lucky enough not to have any memories associated with PR because somehow I managed to completely miss it up until a year or so, ago.
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post #16 of 35
9/28/08 at 10:55am
Paco Rabanne pour Homme and Kouros are equally unwearable to me. I do force myself from time to time because the sillage is so good, but it remains difficult. Also, I can't spray either higher than the abdomen. Same goes for Grey Flannel.

Paco Rabanne Eau works well on me. Not half as pushy as its uncle, but with good longevity and freshness nevertheless. Unique enough and never irritating although the coriander note is quite pronounced to my nose.
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post #17 of 35
9/28/08 at 11:01am
OK, so I tried it again today. I don't know - there is just something about it that is not thrilling me. Maybe the tester bottle at Macys is bad, and I need to try a different bottle.

I have been re-visiting a lot of my old favorites and have purchased or am considering purchasing some. Right now, Paco Rabanne is not on my list.
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post #18 of 35
9/28/08 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeperez23 View Post

I remember smelling Paco Rabanne Pour Homme on my uncle years ago and stealing a little spray on my hand in his bathroom, as a kid. It's in the vein of Aramis, Brut, Grey Flannel. Fragrances that don't fu*k around. Kind of like my uncle.

Ever since I joined Basenotes, I have realized that many guys still love it. And many don't also.

What made me take notice of PR again, was a mention of it in Perfumes The Guide. In the review of Fou d' Absinthe by L'Artisan, he called FdA a 'cheerful Paco Rabanne Pour Homme'. I absolutely fell in love with FdA the first time I smelled it, and I plan on owning a bottle, one of these days. But I never made the connection between these two scents.

Then Ruggles started wearing PRPH a lot, and mentioned the honey note he gets from it, which made me sit up and take notice, since I love well done honey notes in mens fragrances (Moss Breches by Tom Ford uses it to excellent effect).

So, now I'm wanting to smell this again. Not sure if it's wearable, but I'm willing to try it.

I also don't see any similarity between Paco Rabanne and Fou d'Absinthe.
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post #19 of 35
9/28/08 at 2:42pm
Azzarro pour homme stole Paco Rabanne pour homme's thunder a while ago.

Sure the Ultraviolet series is mostly god-awful, but PR as a house hasn't quite yet disintegrated into a mass commercial mess .. XS pour homme (1993) was cool, Black XS (a 2005 release by nose O. Cresp) was hip and innovative in its use of praline and Calandre ('69) pleasures noses by its aldehydic greenness even in its reformulated guise.
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post #20 of 35
9/28/08 at 3:14pm
Excellent fragance, but some problem here.....I live in Chile and they sell it EVERYWHERE, in pharmacies, supermarket. everywhere....That s why I dont use it......When I choose a fragance I buy an experience, to feel unique and a VIP....With Paco Rabanne , I cant
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post #21 of 35
9/28/08 at 4:43pm
All of Paco Rabanne's fragrances make me vomit. I have not tried UltraRed or 1 Million but the rest, from Pour Homme to PACO to XS to UltraViolet are loud, gross, puke inducing aromas.

Cheers,
Al
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post #22 of 35
9/29/08 at 2:22am
PRpH is a classic that has held up well, I believe. Ténéré is brilliant, if you can find an uspoiled bottle. I think the XSs are OK in a contemporary designer context, while Ultraviolet and Paco were awful. Million won't be be joining my collection any time soon, either.Sport is a very nice aromatic citrus, no more no less. I enjoy the aftershave.
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post #23 of 35
9/29/08 at 2:55am
XS was nice but gave me a headache most days. Black XS is great, but no way could I wear it in public (smells way too feminine IMO). Haven't tried the original on my skin so I can't comment, but from what I know, its not my kind of thing.
Also, UV was crap. Enough said.
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post #24 of 35
9/29/08 at 7:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by renperd View Post

Paco Rabanne pour Homme and Kouros are equally unwearable to me. I do force myself from time to time because the sillage is so good, but it remains difficult. Also, I can't spray either higher than the abdomen. Same goes for Grey Flannel.

i really don't see any similarities in Kouros and Paco Rabanne when it comes to wearability. Paco Rabanne is a much fresher scent than Kouros is....Kouros has a very dated staleness which is very prominent even on initial sprayings. Paco Rabanne has a bombastic freshness and green upon initial blast.

The sillage and longetivity is 2nd to none, IMO.......but the difference between Kouros and Paco Rabanne, in my honest opinion-----is that Paco Rabanne still smells ultra modern..and ahead of its time....Kouros is trapped in the 80s.
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post #25 of 35
10/1/08 at 10:47am
Wearability, to me, is compromised when the perfume is so sharp that it gets right up one's nose and on one's nerves when sprayed on the chest or higher. If two products are equally challenged in the wearability department, it of course doesn't mean they have to smell alike. The following products IMO are hard to wear with any comfort, unless right down into the basenotes: Havana, Kouros, Paco Rabanne pour Homme, Grey Flannel, Boucheron EDT pour Homme.
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post #26 of 35
10/12/08 at 8:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by everso View Post

are you guys serious? i think this is one of the most universally sexy and appeallable scents ever...i get complimented on it nearly everywhere i wear it. in my wardrobe, it's probably the KING of compliments.

Ugh! Are Sure! I sampled this today at Ultra and this stuff is very dated right down to the citrus lime opening the herbal leather down dry. It reeks 1970 for it so basic.

Even Drakkar Noir at least has a twist to it that makes it even wearable in this era.

To top it off no girls my age would ever complement me on that stuff - bleck. Sorry I don't see the need to add this to my wardrobe.
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post #27 of 35
10/12/08 at 9:07pm
There's something very appealing about PBph that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's the way the sprayer makes a loud, hissing noise which precludes its loud stature. Or maybe it's the cloves that offset the heavy lavender opening salvo and lead to the delicious the honey-tobacco notes.
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post #28 of 35
10/13/08 at 6:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by scentimus View Post

Ugh! Are Sure! I sampled this today at Ultra and this stuff is very dated right down to the citrus lime opening the herbal leather down dry. It reeks 1970 for it so basic.

Even Drakkar Noir at least has a twist to it that makes it even wearable in this era.

To top it off no girls my age would ever complement me on that stuff - bleck. Sorry I don't see the need to add this to my wardrobe.

Drakkar Noir is nowhere near as modern, interesting, or complex as Paco Rabanne PH.....i play music in a band, and go out alot in NYC...and i'm a doctor---and i get plenty of compliments on Paco Rabanne....it is a masculin scent, but not that 80s spicy kinda thing...a very fresh, 70s rock and roll star sort of masculine...

made for men...REAL MEN...not just princesses
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post #29 of 35
10/13/08 at 7:14am
Paco Rabanne PH was a popular one amongst English football fans in the 80s along with Polo, Kouros and Antaeus.

It is a nice masculine scent.

I really liked Tenere when it came out - very unusual - but can't find it anywhere now.
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post #30 of 35
10/13/08 at 7:43am
The more dated the better. 10 years ago it was old, now it is very dated and in another 10 years it will be a timeless classic. Can't believe people see dated as a negative thing.
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post #31 of 35
10/13/08 at 7:52am
I cant believe Paco PH got some not so nice reviews, it is great in my opinion, there is always a bottle of it in my wardrobe. Along with Polo Classic Paco is man´s essence. Love it every bit of it.
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post #32 of 35
10/14/08 at 9:34am
Got a bottle of PR yesterday (blind buy). I had tested it some ten years when i didn't have any experience in fragrances but had no memory how it smelled. All i remember is that i quite liked it.

So, yesterday when i tried PR the first thing that came to my mind was that it smells VERY similar to Jacques Bogart. Not as good as Bogart ( i just find it more classy and timeless) but still excellent.
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post #33 of 35
10/14/08 at 11:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by joe mcclaine View Post

Paco Rabanne PH was a popular one amongst English football fans in the 80s along with Polo, Kouros and Antaeus.

Funny, I thought Brut was the frag of choice for the average punter!
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post #34 of 35
10/14/08 at 11:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by manicboy View Post

Funny, I thought Brut was the frag of choice for the average punter!

Brut would be very much out of place - they were usually wearing £1,000 of designer gear.
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post #35 of 35
10/14/08 at 11:16am
I admire PRPH and have liked it since the 80s but not enough to ever buy a bottle. I wouldn't say it brings all others to their knees. Polo begs to differ and is the real powerhouse of this genre.
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