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My thoughts on Fendi Uomo (new bottle?).

post #1 of 22
4/14/11 at 3:04pm
Thread Starter 
I had a sample but I don't know which version it was. I recently acquired a spray bottle of the new design (horizontal "stripes"), and gave it a full wearing yesterday. This reminded me a bit of Jacomo de Jacomo, in that there was strong spice for quite a while, and then when that subsided you get a "manly" base. In this case, the base is more of a group effort, though the vetiver is clearly present. In fact, I would call it "tamed" vetiver, which is the only kind I like. JdJ, by contrast, is more about oakmoss in the base. The big difference, other than this, is the naturalness of the Fendi. JdJ smelled really synthetic to me, especially up close, and I'm guess they can afford to sell it so cheaply because it was reformulated significantly at some point. As others have said, the Fendi is a "refined" 80s "power frag," but it has plenty of dynamism and complexity. In particular, it came across as a more formal version of Vetiver de Puig. This is a good one to wear in non-hot weather if you want Old School without being viewed as "cologne guy." The original version is supposedly considerably stronger, so I think I'm glad I have this newer one, because it is plenty strong for me.

EDIT: Apparently, the 100 ml spray bottle with horizontal "stripes" can be the new or the old formulation. Read the rest of this thread to find out more.
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post #2 of 22
4/14/11 at 6:14pm
Post a pic? I'm only familiar with the older version.
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post #3 of 22
4/14/11 at 6:49pm
Thread Starter 
If you search for Fendi Uomo on ebay you will find about 95% of the kind of bottle I have and maybe 5% of the original (vertical 'stripes").
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post #4 of 22
4/14/11 at 7:41pm
I believe the ones you are referring to as horizontal and vertical are the spray (horizontal) and Splash (vertical).
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post #5 of 22
4/14/11 at 7:44pm
Thread Starter 
If you do a BN search there is a thread that contains this information and I think pics were posted.
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post #6 of 22
4/14/11 at 7:48pm
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who smells the similarity to Vetiver de Puig. The Puig smells like a watered down, poorly blended version of Fendi Uomo.

I have the last formulation, and it smells pretty damn strong to me too. I remember the original, and it was a little bit richer, warmer and stronger, but not by much. Fendi did a good job reformulating it.
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post #7 of 22
4/14/11 at 7:54pm
I'm not sure I'm convinced a reformulation even took place. The Splash came in vertical column and the spray in horizontal column. Why does everyone think the horizontal column spray rendition is a reformulation?
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post #8 of 22
4/14/11 at 8:13pm
I've read posts by other guys who wore Fendi back in the 80s/early 90s, and they smell a difference. I wasn't a big Fendi fan back then, but I do remember a roommate of mine who had it back then, and I do remember it smelling a little bit heavier than the stuff in the bottle with the horizontal lines. But then again, I'm going by memory... Even so, it doesn't matter too much to me since the stuff I have now is still nice and strong.
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post #9 of 22
4/14/11 at 8:21pm
Thread Starter 
I can see VdP being viewed as poorly blended relative to FU, especially if one doesn't like the "rougher" frags, but the VdP I have is quite strong. I wonder if VdP was reformulated, because I have a round, plain looking tester bottle that looks nothing like the pic in the BN directory.
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post #10 of 22
4/14/11 at 8:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamu1 View Post

I've read posts by other guys who wore Fendi back in the 80s/early 90s, and they smell a difference. I wasn't a big Fendi fan back then, but I do remember a roommate of mine who had it back then, and I do remember it smelling a little bit heavier than the stuff in the bottle with the horizontal lines. But then again, I'm going by memory... Even so, it doesn't matter too much to me since the stuff I have now is still nice and strong.

Cool. I have no idea if it's ever been reformulated or not. I assumed the splash and spray came in the different bottles to distinguish themselves one from another.

I wear the Splash and have had this EDT for a few years. I think it's a terrific, classical frag best suited for cool temps. It's "powerhouse" not in volume to me, but in construction ( if that makes any sense). It has excellent longevity (6+ hours), but the volume is very acceptable.
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post #11 of 22
4/15/11 at 6:51am
To clear things up a bit...I helped to launch Fendi in the 80's. It was launched with a spray EDT with the glass window in the horizontal position and a splash EDT with a vertical window. The after-shave also had a vertical window and a beige colored plastic housing.

I own both the vintage stuff and I bought several bottles of the reformulated stuff from an Ebay supplier when I saw bottles were getting scarce. I'm pretty sure the reformulated version only comes in a spray (horizontal window) since most fragrances stopped making splash bottles sometimes in the 90's.

The vintage juice was actually "made in U.S.A and distributed by a company called "Bethco'. The reformulated version is "made in Italy". The is definitely a difference in the two. The reformulation's topnotes are very soapy and not as rich as the original. The sillage and longevity are less because the fragrance oil portion of the juice has been reduced.
The original had "alcohol, fragrance, water,... and the reformulation has "alcohol, water, fragrance...." It seems like most fragrance manufacturers followed the trend of lightening up fragrances of 80's classics by just weakening the fragrance portion. Most of my vintage bottles of fragrances list "fragrance" as the second item in the formulation thus really making them almost an "eau de Parfum". Later bottles of the same stuff have "fragrance" as the third item in the ingredients. I hate this trend and thats why most fragrances just don't last anymore.
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post #12 of 22
4/15/11 at 6:56am
Thanks for the post ! Now I know to only keep the splash bottles !
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post #13 of 22
4/15/11 at 7:00am
What's amusing to me is that I also have the Aftershave splash and it smells exactly like the EDT with the ONLY exception being that it dissipates faster than the EDT.

With that said, the Aftershave rendition in the splash bottle is actually stronger than most current EDT's.
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post #14 of 22
4/15/11 at 7:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ObsessionForMen View Post

To clear things up a bit.....

This is such an education!
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post #15 of 22
4/15/11 at 2:00pm
Thread Starter 
I don't have a box for mine. The label on the bottom says Bethco Fragrances and there is also New York, New York. So do I have the original formulation then? I don't get much soapiness at all, at any point in the development.
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post #16 of 22
4/15/11 at 2:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigsly View Post

I don't have a box for mine. The label on the bottom says Bethco Fragrances and there is also New York, New York. So do I have the original formulation then? I don't get much soapiness at all, at any point in the development.

You have the original formulation my friend!!!! Enjoy every drop.
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post #17 of 22
4/15/11 at 3:08pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks. You provided some great information. I'll add some. I spoke to someone who worked in the industry back then, and this is what she said: "I worked in the fragrance dept at Arden. I always loved this perfume (KL Homme). This oil was very expensive for the company to buy. It was nearly $100/lb. Most of the fine fragrances today are very cheap, without the expensive natural raw materials $10/lb."
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post #18 of 22
4/15/11 at 5:58pm
The splash is definitely the vintage.

I have six back-up bottles of it.

It is the only fragrance which I wear formally.
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post #19 of 22
12/1/11 at 12:28pm
Received my bottle today from a lovely friend.
Fantastic Stuff, the leather reminds me Antaeus vintage quite a bit.
Unfortunatly my bottle is spray made in Italy. Any chance it be vintage?
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post #20 of 22
12/1/11 at 1:03pm
The version with horizontally striped bottle is still very potent too my nose, it got me quite unpleasant comments for being too heavy, overpowering, smoky, sweaty, antiquated, loud and pungent
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post #21 of 22
12/1/11 at 1:51pm
I have the reformulation which is VERY strong at the top, but drys down kinda swiftly. Some days this is gone within 4 hours, but if I spray liberally I can detect it all day.
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post #22 of 22
4/9/12 at 5:15pm
I just bought a 25 ml bottle of Fendi Uomo Made in Italy. There was also a larger 100 ml bottle Made in France. The design of the smaller box seemed sightly more detailed. Also 25 ml would be quite unusual for a recent release, the smaller sizes usually being 30 ml or 15.

I also noticed that there was more Italian writing than either French or English. There is an Italian sentence which has not been translated in either of those languages: NON DISPERDERE IL CONTENITORE NELL'AMBIENTE DOPO L'USO.

I think it's reasonable to suppose that it was produced for an Italian market more so than for an international one, and also that it is more vintage than the Made in USA version mentioned above - or at least from the same period but made for different markets... I'm not sure.

It's just that I don't see why a very Italian brand like Fendi would have their fragrances produced across the ocean when they can make them in their own country or in France which is basically next door and both of which have highly developed fragrance industries. An early advertisement for the splash bottle with vertical stripes writes Fendi Roma right at the bottom.

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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › My thoughts on Fendi Uomo (new bottle?).