Arpège pour Homme (2005)
by Lanvin

Arpege Pour Homme is seduction in a bottle. The bright opening of pink pepper, citrus, and brilliant florals beckons you closer, exhorts you to press your nose against skin and take in the sensuality of vanilla and the warmth of sandalwood. The smoothness of Arpege is so, so good. I’m no synesthete, but the overwhelming sensation of this fragrance is that of a deep, royal blue, perhaps with a fringe of rich cream, the shade of jasmine blossoms bathed in starlight. It is soothing but intoxicating; elegant, but in the most thoughtless way possible; rich, but restrained. This is probably one of the best blind buys I’ve ever made. From the first sniff I was totally in love. This is an oriental, floral gourmand par excellence, masculine but definitely on the metro side and could feasibly be pulled off on a woman. It’s such a shame that this is discontinued, because I would, personally, pay $100+ for a 100 ml. But for the price point it’s at now, it’s definitely a steal. I got the 50 ml for around $20 with a coupon, though you can easily find bottles for around $30 on Ebay. Get this sleeper before everyone else wakes up.

9/10, if it lasted longer it'd be a 9.5

I had high expectations for this from the many good reviews, but the arsh synth woods killed it for me in a hurry, I have very little tolerance for them, I'm part of a minority in that regard (otherwise they wouldn't infest just about everything nowadays).
The dry down is pretty good. For that sweet vanilla masculine of that time I go for L'instant which is truly great

An impressively smooth composition. Iris and vanilla are prominent, supported by sandalwood amongst others. The sweetness is checked by a subtle spiciness which prevents this from entering the "bubble-gum" territory of some modern offerings. With its harnessing of woods, Arpege Pour Homme even allows the wearer slight glimpses into the previous two decades prior to its release. All this while maintaining a very pleasant modernity, never overly-done but with strong performance.

A little too mature and macho-like cologne smell at the beginning, but the drydown isn't half bad. Once this settles down it becomes a soft, spiced-woody-vanilla that's quite interesting.

I can't think of anything similar but it's somewhere in there with the creamy, spicy, woody vanilla scents.

Projection is good in the opening but the drydown is only a skin scent. Lasts all day.

Stardate 20170410:


Iris,spice,vanilla,sandalwood goodness. Had to be discontinued cause it is good.

I someone asks me what is THE Oriental fragrance I would point to this. Not Shalimar.

This is Shalimar Pour Homme but better.I am surprised it was released this century. No wonder it flopped.

Try to get it while you still can.