Every now and then i'll get inspired to post my thoughts on a fragrance, and today i'm wearing Givenchy Pi. Pi is one of those fragrances that fall into the strange category of being incredible...but incredibly unwearable. I first heard about this from a few youtube reviewers, and as i began to find my own tastes of fragrances, this kept seeming appealing. I had sampled it back when i was wearing Vurt (lol) and i didn't know what the hell it was and totally wrote it off. I tried it at Macy's a few months later and liked it. Few months later, and some more sniffin' under (or in?) my nose, and really started to like it. Considering i was in my "must buy everything" phase of fragrances, i bought it (1.7oz, $40 at Sears).
My note-tacular experience: It's actually pretty linear, but it's...my metaphor for this one is that it's like peeling back layers. It opens up with tangerine, but there is ironwood and bezoin lurking just behind. a few minutes later the tangerine get's kicked overboard and the ironwood takes over, of course with bezoin ultimately pulling the strings. After about 20 minutes, the benzoin takes charge and ironwood becomes the background...and it stays this way the rest of the time. The non-note smell (when you just smell it and don't analyze it) is marshmallows, hence why it's a gourmand and why i like it.
The shortest lasting time has been about 8 hours, more than enough to me. However, this is the longest lasting fragrance on me to date: around 30 hours....well JOOP! Homme can do better but this is about Pi, and JOOP! isn't a normal fragrance.
Now for the controversial wearability....this fragrance is unique by all means. It's sweet as hell and smells like marshmallows, but remains elegant, smooth, subtle, not a fragrant-banshee like Joop! Homme or (to everyone BUT me) A*Men. I think that's why i have trouble wearing it, its a quiet gourmand. Another quiet gourmand is Rochas Man, but i find that more casual, Pi is classy. It's hard to describe exactly as it's so subjective, but i'd say its a "classy gourmand". Gourmands have a reputation for being "kiddish, casual" or "for clubbing", but this one breaks that trend. If you wore this in a club, yeah it might work for you, but to me, this requires the specialist of special occasions...or simply (like tonight) you feel like wearing it!
Would i recommend this to anyone to buy blind? HELL NO, unless you love extremely sweet fragrances. Definitely sample it, which should not be hard to do.
Verdict: An elegant, classy gourmand, incredibly sweet; smells of marshmallows with some woody notes/opens with a tangerine note. It's hard to find an occasion to wear it, but it really is a special occasion fragrance. I'd say its a 7/10 (its a 9/10 smell, but a 5/10 for wearability).
Wow, i somehow forgot to mention the bottle! This bottle is one of my absolute favorites. It looks incredible, it's detailed extremely well and i find the pi symbol to be simply really cool
My note-tacular experience: It's actually pretty linear, but it's...my metaphor for this one is that it's like peeling back layers. It opens up with tangerine, but there is ironwood and bezoin lurking just behind. a few minutes later the tangerine get's kicked overboard and the ironwood takes over, of course with bezoin ultimately pulling the strings. After about 20 minutes, the benzoin takes charge and ironwood becomes the background...and it stays this way the rest of the time. The non-note smell (when you just smell it and don't analyze it) is marshmallows, hence why it's a gourmand and why i like it.
The shortest lasting time has been about 8 hours, more than enough to me. However, this is the longest lasting fragrance on me to date: around 30 hours....well JOOP! Homme can do better but this is about Pi, and JOOP! isn't a normal fragrance.
Now for the controversial wearability....this fragrance is unique by all means. It's sweet as hell and smells like marshmallows, but remains elegant, smooth, subtle, not a fragrant-banshee like Joop! Homme or (to everyone BUT me) A*Men. I think that's why i have trouble wearing it, its a quiet gourmand. Another quiet gourmand is Rochas Man, but i find that more casual, Pi is classy. It's hard to describe exactly as it's so subjective, but i'd say its a "classy gourmand". Gourmands have a reputation for being "kiddish, casual" or "for clubbing", but this one breaks that trend. If you wore this in a club, yeah it might work for you, but to me, this requires the specialist of special occasions...or simply (like tonight) you feel like wearing it!
Would i recommend this to anyone to buy blind? HELL NO, unless you love extremely sweet fragrances. Definitely sample it, which should not be hard to do.
Verdict: An elegant, classy gourmand, incredibly sweet; smells of marshmallows with some woody notes/opens with a tangerine note. It's hard to find an occasion to wear it, but it really is a special occasion fragrance. I'd say its a 7/10 (its a 9/10 smell, but a 5/10 for wearability).
Wow, i somehow forgot to mention the bottle! This bottle is one of my absolute favorites. It looks incredible, it's detailed extremely well and i find the pi symbol to be simply really cool
It brings back those Pi memories. Maybe I'll bust it out for a wear sometime next week.....
