I
was suffering from ADD-oid symptoms long before the advent of the
internet, so I cannot really get anything done unless there is some
sort of structure in place. Having just completed an enormous
project, I see liberty looming before me and have decided that it is
time to return to this wonderful venue to post regularly along with a
couple of my best fragrant friends, Aromi Erotici and Couture Guru! I
am delighted that Couture Guru has decided to join this site as a
regular contributor, and I know that everyone has already been
enjoying his splendid reviews, myself naturally included.
A
Warm Welcome to You, Couture Guru!
(sorry I'm a bit late on this, but you know me...)
(sorry I'm a bit late on this, but you know me...)
I
was thinking about starting a new series here, “Tons of Tuberose,”
specifically in honor of Couture Guru, the world's foremost tuberose
enthusiast, and I may do that in the future, but I have to confess
that of late I have become overwhelmed with the sheer number of
tuberose perfume launches. Where to begin? Do we really need anything
but Robert Piguet Fracas? These and other questions continue
to plague my mind, so I have decided instead to satisfy another
desire of mine, which is to comply with a promise I made a while back
to Bryan Ross at From Pyrgos and Christos at Memory of Scent: to
start reviewing more men's fragrances.
It
occurred to me a couple of days ago that it might be fun to do a “His
or Hers?” series, reviewing the made-for-men and made-for-women versions of same-named perfumes. One reason why this idea appeals to
me is that many of us have been singing a refrain according to which
all fragrances are more or less unisex. Is it really true? Why not
put this little adage to the sniffing test?
A
“His or Hers?” series would also be a great way for me to work
through the mountain of men's fragrance samples which I have somehow
managed to amass, while also providing me with the sort of
structure I need in order to be able to get anything done! Without
further ado, I present the first entry of His
or Hers?
Dolce
& Gabbana Light Blue
Now
that Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue has been exalted by The
Curator as a masterpiece of olfactory art, I decided that I'd better
give it another sniff. I have never owned a bottle, but apparently
this fragrance is wildly popular, and its popularity is bound to
surge once again, allowing it to rise like a marketing phoenix as a
result of the current exhibition—coinciding, I might add, with high
holiday shopping season—at the Museum of Arts and Design. Talk
about an ingenious marketing scheme... Bravo to the masterminds at
P&G!
I've
seen several reviewers compare this composition to Bond no 9 Scent
of Peace, and I must say that in the opening seconds there is a
definite overlap. One clear distinction between the two is the
centrality of black currant from start to finish in Scent of Peace. Black currant is entirely
absent from Light Blue. Moreover, once the bright and shiny
SSRI opening has subsided, Light Blue—at least in its
current formulation—dives immediately into a now tired iso-E-super
plus ambroxan drydown in near ubiquity among men's colognes (somewhat
ironic, given the explicitly targeted gender). So Light Blue is no longer original, if it once was. Was the trend begun
by Light Blue? Or was Light Blue reformulated to
conform with the trend? Qui peut savoir?
In
the end, if this is what Light Blue always was, then I don't
believe that I missed out on a great fragrance, pace The
Curator. If this is only what Light Blue has become, then I
must say that it is misleading to vaunt this current version as a
masterpiece of anything but marketing.
Perfumer: Oliver Cresp
Notes (according to Parfumo.net): apple, cedar, bamboo, jasmine, rose, amber, musk, lemon tree
Perfumer: Oliver Cresp
Notes (according to Parfumo.net): apple, cedar, bamboo, jasmine, rose, amber, musk, lemon tree
Light
Blue pour homme is not nearly so citric as its feminine
counterpart (again, ironically, given our stereotypes), and it also
is quite a bit more complex, offering light green and herbal elements
up to and including moss—both evernia prunastri (oak moss) and
evernia furfuracea (tree moss) are listed among the ingredients on my
manufacturer's carded sample—which together give the overall
composition a much more sophisticated demeanor, to my nose.
Aromachemicals are fine as a booster, but when they take over a
fragrance completely, as in Light Blue for women, then I just
find them boring and hackneyed.
I am convinced that Light Blue pour homme is fully unisex. I am
surprised, in fact, that hardly any women appear to have taken to
this scent—at least judging by the reviews I've seen. I would
definitely consider acquiring a bottle of this creation for
hot-weather wear. I enjoy this combination of rosemary, moss, and
juniper in a light woody base, and I do not find it aquatic in the
least—good news for all aquatic/calone phobes. This composition
seems to me obviously to be an aromatic, not an aquatic or citrus
cologne. I am baffled, frankly, as to the comparisons I've seen of
this fragrance to Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio, although I am
not entirely sure whether I have tried the made-for-men version of
that fragrance. There must be a sample of that somewhere around
here—let's see if I can find it...
As
usual, there seems to be a fair amount of divergence of opinion
between “the experts” on these fragrances. I did notice in
someone else's review that Light Blue pour homme won a FIFI in
2008, and I must say that I do not disagree with that award. For a
mainstream designer fragrance, this is quite nice, and much better
than the entire D&G Anthology series, in my opinion. (I know, I
know: faint praise...)
Perfumer: ???
Notes (according to Parfumo.net, with juniper added from Fragrantica.com): bergamot, grapefruit, mandarin, pepper, juniper, rosewood, rosemary, oakmoss, musky wood, frankincense
Perfumer: ???
Notes (according to Parfumo.net, with juniper added from Fragrantica.com): bergamot, grapefruit, mandarin, pepper, juniper, rosewood, rosemary, oakmoss, musky wood, frankincense
Concluding
Assessment: His or Hers?
I do not believe that I was unduly influenced by the lagoon advertisements, but in the end my choice is His in this case! I seem to be in the minority on the D&G Light Blue duo, finding the made-for-men version quite a bit more appealing than the lemon juice + loud aromachemicals that is Light Blue for women. Oh well, this won't be the first time that I have been a bell-curve outlier. What are bell curves for, after all, if not to exceed?
Thanks for the lovely, warm welcome Sherapop :) ... great to see you here!! Yep ... the 'Tons of Tuberose' idea certainly seems daunting ... perhaps we should tackle it as a team!! Time will tell ... but for now I am completely enthralled by your idea of 'his and hers' reviews!! AWESOME!! I look forward to the next installment!!
ReplyDeleteI am really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on masculine scents Shera :)
ReplyDeleteYesterday I had to the chance to smell for the first time Diorella (the current version) and Aromatic's Elixir Perfumer's Reserve. No one can convince me that those two are not fit for men. Especially AEPR which to my nose smells even more masculine than Aramis
Comrades Couture Guru and Christos:
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the encouragement on this little project of mine. You'll have to bear with me because I am something of a neophyte when it comes to the men's line-up, but I'll do my best! I do own several made-for-men's fragrances, so I'll definitely intersperse reviews of those ones along with selections from my sample queue... (-;
Nice comparison! It doesn't surprise me that you favor the men's version, although I don't think I've ever smelled it. I have smelled the feminine version and found it to be light, fresh, citrusy, and fairly forgettable. I'm not sure why they feel they must make these fragrances for any specific gender, since "fresh" is universal - don't slap the same name on the labels, just make more fragrances with different titles and a broader range to their individual scent profiles.
DeleteGreetings, Bryan! Thank you so much for your comment and compliment.
DeleteYes, you are so right: fresh is fresh! I read your review, and see that we were equally unimpressed. lol... But apparently the market speaks otherwise, as I've noticed that Light Blue continues to command near MSRP even at discounters, more than a decade after its launch! Of course, the house of Clean seems to be flourishing as well.
I recall that you have made remarks about the American hygiene obsession in the past. Has it by now been globalized? Oh well, better that the subway be filled with people smelling clean and fresh than rank and skanky! (-;