Colognes with good Top Notes but Cheap smelling Drydowns

[MarquisdeSod]

I ocassionally wear Nautica Voyage, A*Men, And AdG, 212; but these four among others I find have cheap garish drydowns, it's either fabric softener, a confection stand at the movies, or rotting soda...I think alot of these fragrances gain popularity because they're all flash on the top notes that make for great testers for sales associates to move product; but wearing them in the course of the day makes you appreciate the need for a classy drydown; especially if youre a professional or out on a date. Nothing worse than realizing in a business meeting that you smell like a downy dryer sheet or a cheap bar of soap!

On the other hand Expensive drydowns I own include:

Joop! This one has the opposite problem, top notes smell cheap and garish but drydown is money!

La Nuit de L'Homme: dunno how YSL does it but they made a virtual acquatic that doesn't smell like a teen deodourant stick on the drydown.

Contradiction: I've mentioned it before but the drydown on this one is very classy and well done.

Silver Mountain Water: sadly you get to the drydown 15 mintes in...but it's amazing while it lasts!

Any others that are either quality from top to base notes or at least in the long mid-to-basenotes?

[HackerX]

I wouldn't say it's a cheap drydown. But I'm one of those that highly prefer the top notes of Pure Malt.

[hednic]

Nuit de Sens has very vibrant top notes IMO and the drydown is subdued but not cheap smelling.

[cpp214]

Cartier Roadster
Kenzo Power

[dollars&scents]

Black by Kenneth Cole - spicy, mandarin opening, boring, musk base ...

[WildThingy]

Hermes - Terre D'Hermes

Its not so popular to write things off on basenotes. But this fragrance was the first ever to make me seriously nauseous. Its not sharp or alarming. The problem with this is an overpowering nondescript drydown which makes the air around me unbreathable. It seems to be thickened by gelantine. I couldn't smell something specific, its 'transparent' but renders my breathing poisonous.

The top-notes are so and so, green orange and all that fancy, but the drydown with the Iso E Super plus vetiver is an assault not only to the taste - like buried alive, I HATE it.

<edit> this morning I gave it a new try because I suspected similarities of its vetiver to that in Yosh - Sombre Negra. How could I forget?!? My skull is crackling. TdH is darn chemical warfare. I have to shower again and the heal my wounds with ELdO - Rien, boy!

[Vince23heat]

nautica voyage smells cheap throughout honestly but its still one of my favs.

[MonkeyBars]

Many, many cheapos and knockoffs have this going on. But I assume you mean otherwise respected frags:

Celine Fever: Not so much cheap as woefully underdosed. If it were super cheap like Lomani pH, which has the same problem, I wouldn't mind spraying 10-15 sprays. But at that price I should be able to get away with 5. Nope, gone in 45 minutes.

Since I find birch tar to smell unbearably cheap, that puts almost every powerhouse leathery fougere in this category for me: Quorum, Bogart, One Man Show, Antaeus, Azzaro, etc.

[neo_angel]

1 million by paco rabbane is awful in the dry down

[Pipsta]

I think that it's the trend in designer frags for makers. They know the average people buy frags based on top notes so they make the dry downs as generic as possible so as not to offend. It winds up as being a market full of interesting openings and boring dry downs.