Versace l'Homme (1984)
by Versace

Versace l'Homme is an old classic that, even in its modern version is a rich ginger oriental of Aramis like demeanour; not in detail but they have the same kind of wood panel finish.
Although most reviewers like it, l'Homme divides opinion - between smells great and smells like cologne guy - so I think it should have a sign on the back saying Warning! Not Advised for the Under Fifties. That should deal with the negative reviews.
Good, but old fashioned.

3*

Modern FB

Definitely a must have! The batch I have is manufactured by Giver SA. That's the vintage scent. It starts out lemony, spicy with a slight ting of ginger, petitgrain. It then goes in a cedar, sandalwood type scent, mixing well in the drydown with the leather, oakmoss and labdanum. It's classy. Lasted 8 hours on me with decent sillage, definitely a cooler weather scent. Very, very nice.

A gorgeous spicy, creamy, yet seductive barbershop scent...if you can remain patient for the dry down to occur. I admit the initial blast of Versace L'Homme is odd. It opens up with lemon, musk, and a coarse green collision of moss roughed up in passing through the lemon and musk. It will remind one of something lemon scented that you associate with a restroom cleaner. A yellow/lemon scented urinal screen or the spray disinfectant called Glybet.

Once this dries this fragrance transforms into a nice mix of dusty sandalwood and cinnamon. Vanilla concealing some patchouli inside thickens the scent giving a little sweetness and shaving cream tones with a little help from the musk. Old leather coming off in light hints. The lemon and moss perform a disappearing act to my nose. This is another conservative men's scent from the 80's that was done really well with a odd first impression. I can tolerate the intro of Versace L' Homme...Kouros I can't. Go light on this in warm weather if you must wear it, this is a thick and heavy scent.

Before there was Eros (2013), or even The Dreamer (1996) and Blue Jeans (1994), there was Versace l'Homme strumming away confidently in 1984. It's an interesting thing really, for such a masculine to come out at such a time as it did. Rival Italian fashion house Armani also released it's debut masculine the same year, which took a much safer eau de cologne-meets-Italian-barbershop route to be more along the lines of discretion, but Versace was never known much for being discrete, and made his debut masculine bold and macho. It shouldn't be said that Versace l'Homme is particularly virile or animalic, even if it contains an animalic, as it's not exactly -that- kind of masculine, not in the vein of Jacques Bogart One Man Show (1980) or Yves Saint Laurent Kouros (1981), but more in the train of thought that created many of the biggest disco scents for men from the previous decade, just with the power of the 80's. Versace L'Homme shares DNA with some of the 70's citrus-powered orientals such as Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur (1972) or Jovan Sex Appeal (1976), but dials down the rich and sweet base notes those scents have in favor of the construction of a classic men's chypre circa the 1950's or 1960's. In particular, I feel l'Homme marries the aforementioned Jovan scent with a huge heap of petitgrain and lemon borrowed from Chanel Pour Monsieur (1955) and Yves Saint Laurent Pour Homme (1971), respectively. It kind of makes sense to take this direction since YSL had just released the "Haute Concentration" version of their original masculine a year before the release of this juice, so maybe it was a bit of oneupmanship on Versace's part to roll in some classy mid-century vibes on top of the strong lemon and herb undercurrents, then beef it up to barrel-chested levels with the animalic base notes. I'm not entirely sure of the thinking here, but the result is a collage of "classic" elements from different decades all in one scent that was not even slightly modern even for 1984, and an added punch.

Versace l'Homme opens with that lemon pledge note that YSL gets criticized for having, but soon integrates the sharp powdery petitgrain which instantly recalls the Chanel in the top. Basil and pimento round out the exposition before the middle of cinnamon, Cedar, patchouli, and sandalwood start recalling the 70's disco oriental vibes with spice, creamy woods, and the thick pasty green of patch. All the pectoral flaring and thrusted pelvises come under control by the finish however, as vanilla soothes the savage beast. Leather, labadnum, civet, and oakmoss bring home the chypre finish here that declares l'Homme as a scent with primal energy and the class to know when to flaunt it, and when not. Overall, this kind of thing would continue to get tamed further and become increasingly anachronistic with successive efforts in the same vein, including Chanel Pour Monsieur EdT Concentree (1989), and Guerlain Heritage (1992). The latter of these two actually banked on the fact that it was a very traditional theme being repackaged as something classy and above the din of the new synthetics of the decade, but when Versace L'Homme was doing it, the idea was less about evoking the past and more about being loud like the 80's competition but in a more mature and distinguished way. Same means, different ends, but it's undeniable that Versace l'Homme presaged many of the late 80's and early 90's semi-orientals, most of which were discontinued while this beast still stalks the Earth, and sells for peanuts. At the end of the wear, this one dries down very close to Chanel Pour Monsieur EdT Concentree, with the petitgrain, vanilla, and sandalwood swimming around on skin and shirt collar. By the time this one is done, the only thing really still connecting it to the 70's is that remaining patchouli, which becoming something of an apparition that floats between everything else and sticks behind in the final phases of the wear.

Versace l'Homme will appeal to anyone who likes the above fragrances I mentioned. It's the biggest fit for lovers of the Chanel and Guerlain examples, but folks who dig oriental spice and patchouli or just an overall "classic masculine" feel will probably do well to sample this, or even just blind buy it for the silly-low prices it sells for. I'm astonished Versace keeps this around, but it's probably more to do with global sales figures as old-school masculines tend to stay popular longer in places that value tradition or just aren't exposed as much to the machinations of the ever-revolving fashion world, which is why so many old school frags live on in places like South America, India, The Middle East, and Eastern Europe, which is probably where this stuffs sells most. If you're American or just an English-speaking person from anywhere else in the west, you're likely to read most of this review as "oh it sounds like something my Dad wore" if you're not deliberately looking for older scents or just were around back when this was new, and that's okay. The beauty of Versace l'Homme is it didn't try to hide it's old-school flavor then, and still doesn't now, even if the packaging has been updated to make it appear contemporary, but who's that really fooling? Vintage with thin script has the most moss, while middle-production (which this review is based on) is a little stronger in the top, and the newest versions made by Eurotalia are thinner yet but still pleasant according to popular consensus. If anything, the newest formulation may be the most manageable for folks on the fence about powdery lemon spice masculines, but for guys who want the unadulterated chest hair, the original is best.

The first proper designer perfume I ever owned in 1988-89 and when I first smelt it it was a WOW!
A strong unusual citrus smell with decent longevity and projection. I used to wear it in buckets until the late 90s
I bought it again in 2017 (my perfume nostalgia year as I bought over 30 fragrances in 2017) and it lost some WOW factor as today there are so many amazing smells.
Thumbs up for this classic
8/10