Red For Men

I have read over twenty reviews of Red For Men, and not one of them is able to adequately describe what it smells like.  That's not a criticism of the reviewers, but rather a commentary on the nature of this scent. When Red For Men was released in 1991, its claim to fame was that it contained over 600 ingredients.  Of course, such a thick stew renders it almost impossible for a person to identify its individual notes.  To further complicate things, I don't find that any of the traditional fragrance categories - fougere, oriental, chypre, leather, floral, etc. - apply to Red For Men. 

The two most prominent notes I smell in Red are leather and moss - everything else is a cement-like brew of spices, herbs, ambers, and wood notes, many of which are obviously synthetic. Two fragrances which are very similar to Red are Preferred Stock and Trussardi Uomo, though Red is not a dark scent and is less leathery than those two. It's a powerhouse for sure, in an 80s style, sort of.  It isn't dark like most 80s bombs, and it's also sweet and very spicy, which is also not typical of 80s fragrances.  What it does have is massive weight, with the transparency of a brick shithouse.

I like Red For Men, but it lacks something, and that's charisma. It doesn't have the brash swagger of a powerhouse like Quorum or Lapidus Pour Homme - sure it's loud, unrefined and crude, but it feels like it's a strong scent merely for the sake of being a strong scent. I think it's the heavily synthetic smell and the sheer volume of notes that blur Red's identity, thereby rendering it a somewhat confused scent.  Plus, it was released at a time - the early 90s - when powerscents were no longer in style.  Red For Men smells like it's trying to be part of the Fendi Uomo and Kouros crew, and it shares a lot in common with those guys, but it came too late to the party.  It's a powerscent that lacks a real identity, and comes off as somewhat characterless.

All in all, however, Red For Men is still a very good fragrance, and I like it.  It's strong, very masculine, has a lot of presence, and smells good, even if it does lack some character.  It has many diehard fans, so there are a lot of people who will strongly disagree with my criticisms.  It's a good fragrance that every power fan should check out.

MY RATING: 7.5/10