Il Mondo di Odore

My first sample wearing of vintage DNA for Men resulted in the commonplace feeling of " Okay......where have I smelled this before?" feeling. Regardless of some basenote members who disagreed with me on this, Bijan DNA for Men is B*Men Lite. The listed notes are very different but the end result is very similar to what a Sport version of B*Men would smell like to me. Do a side by side comparison and you will see what I'm referring to. There's no "Rhubarb" here, but I do not get that note in B*Men either like others claim to. DNA is a leathery, woody- fougere in totality and a lighter wear than the Mugler. The opening is a tart,citric accord with a green slant to it. There's cumin here along with an anise vibe that arrives within a few minutes. The cumin is restrained and simply gives an edginess to the topnotes. The heart accord continues the masculine direction with geranium, bay, a listed fir note which I don't claim to detect and a deft touc...

I am reviewing the original Paco Rabanne Pour Homme ( circa 1973 ) thanks to a generous basenoter who sent it to me recently in a swap. He also sent me the current formulation in order for me to do a side by side comparison. The side by side resulted in what I had already imagined would be the case. Not that the newer formula is terrible by any means. The original version simply is better by being deeper and a bit more masculine. No......you shouldn't go to ebay searching for the vintage formula and paying stupid prices. It's simply a notch or two better than the current and noticeable by comparing the two in real time. Rabanne Pour Homme opens with a slight shimmer in conjunction with lavender, spices and a subtle woodiness. It's an old school introduction, however a good one. The lavender takes about 5 minutes to raise its volume and evolve into a soapy rendition. I dislike when a boatload of soapy lavender takes over a composition, but here it doesn't go over t...

Could this be happening? A Lutens that actually works on me? This is my 4th wearing of Chene because I had to be sure. I have been rather frustrated with this house for quite some time ( with the exception of Borneo ) and I assume the law of averages is working its magic. Oak baby. Yes.....this is a different type of woody, but very wearable. Granted, it doesn't wear like my other more conventional woodies, but there's nothing conventional about this house. Anytime I sample-wear a Lutens, I normally use the entire vial via multiple wearings. I do this because the first wearing is usually off putting to me and I need to see if I can come around and have a change of mind and heart. One must give a scent a fighting chance if you're going to be fair about it. The initial sampling of Chene left me undecided and rather unimpressed.........however, I was not put off by any means. Oak is a wood note not very prominent in the releases I've tried or purchased. Cedar, Rosewood a...

Have you ever encountered a particular house that numerous people love and all that house has ever done for you ( with an occasional exception ) was bust your chops? Ah yes.........Serge Lutens......Eccentricities personified and creator of some flat-out weird juice. There's something about the house notes and/or accords that almost always come off (to my nose)  as a hairspray accord. I find it EXTREMELY annoying and I'm quite certain the problem is on my end. I guess I'll just never love anything from this house. For the record, I find Borneo a very good release and on par with the likes of Coromandel. That aside, Serge Noire is yet another strange brew with the patented hairspray aura. It's very linear and the clash of cinnamon against black woods is ....well.....disjointed, but somehow it has me smelling my wrist repeatedly. It's like these 2 notes are forced against their will to be joined together. There's patchouli in here as well, but it's buried...

When I initially applied Nicolai Pour Homme, I kept thinking "where have I smelled this before"? As the wearing continued, that line of thought continued and in subsequent wearings as well. I still haven't put my finger on it, but I have worn another masculine that is very similar. I simply cannot recall what it was. No matter. This house is one that, for some reason or another, I never explored like I would have wanted to. There is just so much out there that a person in this hobby cannot possibly keep up with the releases regardless of whether or not they are new or old. I find it numerically and economically impossible. Overall, Nicolai Pour Homme is a pleasing masculine scent. There's nothing groundbreaking here. It's on the dense side and very smooth. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a heavy scent, but it's on the cusp of being one. NPH opens with a listed Galbanum, Mint and Lentisc. The galbanum and mint is a well done rendition. It doesn...

There's something about MPG fragrances that I like and find comforting. The years from 1988 to 1991 seem prolific for releases and of course quite a few have been reformulated since then. I have recently been able to sample Centaure ( Jean Laporte 1991) and naturally perused some reviews before trying it. The opinions seem to range from great to mediocre. I am compelled to throw my review into the ring as well since I am fond of this house. Take note however that, despite my favoritism, I have come across a few from MPG that I will never like or wear. I didn't know what to expect from Centaure. The complaints were " too much lavender" or "too much mint" or " too much of both". I say nonsense. The opening is a smooth accord of citric mint with a woody undertone. In about 5 minutes, a soft lavender mingled with jasmin start rearing their heads. Centaure, at this point, seems fairly linear, but well executed and pleasant smelling. I am already thi...

Even if I don't wear dominant patchouli scents very frequently, I still consider myself a patch lover. Montale's Patchouli leaves has been around for a minute or two, but I never was incited enough to sample it. The reason isn't because I believed I wouldn't like it. I have Mazzolari, Reminiscence, Givenchy Gentleman and Bois 1920 for my patch fix and they cover all the bases. They are mainly cold weather fragrances for me, but occasionally I will don the patch in warm temps. Patchouli Leaves is closer to Bois 1920 Real Patchouly than I ever expected due to the woodiness. Luckyscent has oak listed along with patchouli, yet I cannot discern oak in and of itself. I can, however, recognize a woody-patch accord when I smell one..........and this one is pretty well done. The listed notes are as follows : Patchouli, Oak, Vanilla, Amber, White Musk & Cystus Ladaniferus. For quite some time, the opening continues and ( on me ) it is a woody patch with an undercurrent...

One mans oldie but goody is to another man mediocrity. Yes, I said it. Pour Un Homme, to this classic aficionado, is nothing more than okay. I guess I prefer my lavender more integrated, but that's just preference. Pour Un Homme is simplistic and while finding nothing wrong with a direct approach, I find it "too" old school for my tastes. Certain masculines implementing lavender and vanilla as partners in crime have been known to be deal breakers for me. I assume that this is where Un Homme truly loses me. First, does it smell good?  It smells fine and I can't help but think the over 40 crowd would have no problem rocking this. It simply doesn't move me at all. I need to be stirred in some direction and Pour Un Homme does for me what numerous other well made masculines in my wardrobe do. It's just "there" boring me after 10 minutes and like the others, this would get hardly any wearings. Pour Un Homme feels to me to be a citric-woody oriental. ...

For nearly a year now, I have been wanting to not only try these 2 Surrati releases, but to purchase Oudy Woody blind. I tried online more than once and each time something went haywire with checkout. Allow me to say I am extremely grateful for small favors such as this. My basenote friend ( DULLAH ) and I recently did a sample swap and he was kind enough to include Tom Oudh along with Oudy Woody. Imagine my surprise that, after wearing Oudy Woody ( and disliking it ), I wore and thoroughly enjoyed the Tom Oudh which was included in my packet at the last minute. Anyway, let's get back to the Oudy Woody that I had wanted so bad. The oud note in this is on the crude side and regardless of what other note implementations are present, it evolves ( rather quickly ) into a body odor aroma. To me, it smelled like armpit that needs some hygiene attention. To make certain it wasn't my imagination, I naturally took my aromatic self into the other room where Mrs. Aromi was relaxing. Lik...

This past week, I have had the opportunity to samples numerous scents that I hadn't gotten around to, in spite of wanting to for some time. Unfortunately, a few of them were surprisingly unpleasant and I can count Spazio Uomo among them. The combination of neroli and violet in the opening is off putting to me. I am not offended by bitter accords per se, but this duo is nose cringing. Within minutes, I am left with a cauterized rubber aroma.....and that's enough to ruin the rest of the wear for me. There's numerous floral components to Spazio, but none can salvage this for me. To be fair, this is simply preference and others seem to hold this masculine in high regard. I actually enjoyed the very first minute of the opening, but then all the notes started to unfold and Spazio came off as disjointed. The opening is a sharp citric with green attributes. "Jagged" may be too strong a term, but I recall Krizia Moods having this same type of effect on me. The openings...

Hhhhmmm........This is doing for me what Declaration Essence failed to do. I re-read my review of Essence from a few years ago and admit to appreciating it more now than I did when reviewing it. However, I still feel that while it's very good, it's also a bit too serious for most occasions. Declaration, on the other hand, is a transparent woody that's hard to pigeonhole. Jean Claude Ellena did a wonderful job on this. It has a watery texture, yet it finds a way to be much more than a casual wear. It's light and substantial at once with terrific longevity and perfect projection. I believe he pulled a coup creating this and only now can I fully appreciate this fragrance. It took coming back to this numerous times over the years. The initial transition is very good. The citrus of bergamot and mandarin with caraway seems to hang in there for an unreal length of time. The mandarin is slightly bitter and better done than the renditions ( of let's say ) the Jaguar seri...

Well now......an aromatic woody from 1980 that has escaped my clutches all these years. I am unfamiliar with this house other than reading some reviews and I am happy that foetidus was kind enough to include a generous sample of this in his recent package. This is pretty interesting for a 1980 release. I say that because I haven't run across a slew of spicy cedar frags from the days of big hair and boisterous perfumes. In this case, interesting is good enough and while not a great fragrance, it's a nice wear and seems like it would do well in the cool months due to the spices from the opening to the drydown. There's nutmeg and clove in this scent along with a nice bite from pepper. I don't claim to be a lover of these notes in masculines, because truth be told, I am not. However, I am not put off with what I smell in L'Eau du Gouverneur. The opening is citric with spices apparent immediately. Within a minute, I can detect the cedar in the base accord and the woo...

A masculine floral from 1993? In hindsight, that's a fairly daring undertaking. Enter Insense being released as the male companion to Amarige. As far as I know, it didn't go over like expected and as unfortunate as that may be, it does nothing to diminish this fragrance. It's one helluva masculine floral. I assume the male buying public 18 years ago wasn't exactly ready to accept a fragrance such as this. My opinion is that it would fare much better today since buyers have been indoctrinated with enough niche releases to ease the shock value of a scent like Insense. This smells niche, but since it's not, I shall call it a "nichigner". A friend and terrific reviewer by the name of foetidus would use the word "distaff" to describe Insense. I love that word, but won't use it since I would be stealing it from him. I usually go with "leans feminine", but in either case, it is a true assessment. Insense does lean feminine, but still r...

How much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? This, my friends, is a cedar-fest if there ever was one. If a fragrance could be compared to, let's say, a baseball team.......this squad would consist of basically one player covering every position. I like cedar ( I guess) as much as the next person and I can't think of a more appropriate frag to reach for when I have a jones for wood. The bottle is extremely nice. The aesthetics, feel and sprayer are commendable. However, if you like your woods in the company of other outspoken players, Tumulte will disappoint. This is in your face cedar that leans on the dry side. While it's a good rendition of the note due to 4 different cedar implementations, it tends to get monotonous rather quickly. There are a few other listed notes that I can only assume are included to augment the dominant wood, but they fail ( on me) to have any impression. At any rate, am I glad to have a bottle of Tumulte? Yes......I am...

Imagine my surprise when I tried this 1993 release from Jacques Bogart. I say surprise because everything I have tried ( or purchased) from this house has been set at volume 10. I wasn't about to let the name itself fool me. I figured Bogart would okey-doke me into believing this was actually a light scent ( due to the name of course) and then overwhelm me as soon as I applied it. WRONG. Very WRONG. It may not be "light" in the conventional sense, but it has a revitalizing quality to it and sort of reminds me of what Woodland Refreshing Body Spray accomplishes. Eau Fresh is a Fougere that maintains frivolity yet has enough substance to be taken seriously. I actually love the way it smells on my skin. I have quite a few classic fougere's that don't wear this well. Eau Fresh opens with a citric fruit that leans green from galbanum and implements a licorice quality from anise and tarragon. They seem to be well blended because I get a very harmonious accord with a...