Gucci by Gucci pour Homme 
Gucci (2008)

Gucci by Gucci pour Homme (2008) came at a time when Gucci as a brand was transitioning away from the "Porno Chic" era under Tom Ford, which had sustained many of the 1980's Maurizio Gucci-era fragrances made by Scannon and added several of their own that continued a very retro-chic 70's/80's style for the house, replacing Gucci pour Homme (1976) with the rebooted Gucci pour Homme (2003) in the process. All of this came crashing to an end in 2004, when Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole took a walk to form Tom Ford International with backing from The Lauder Group, and while the contracts on the existing Ford-era fragrances were ongoing until about 2011, the new creative director Frida Giannini was trying to "ween" the house off Ford's designs by recycling them while toning them down over time until her new vision for the house could gradually phase in. We saw this with fragrances when Gucci pour Homme II (2007) saw release the preceding year, alongside Gucci by Gucci (2007) for women. Gucci pour Homme II was much fresher and more modern than anything Tom Ford had directed under the men's fragrance lines, utilizing tea notes and violet over a light tobacco base reminiscent of Dolce & Gabbana pour Homme (1994). Rumor had it that this fragrance here was originally meant to become "Gucci pour Homme III" but was changed into a men's version of Gucci by Gucci at the last minute since there were plans to let the contract run out on all the Ford-era Gucci scents anyway, so having something in a series started with a Ford-era scent not long for this world didn't make sense.

So to that end, this Aurelien Guichard-penned scent never made it into those thick, square bottles that house Gucci pour Homme and Gucci pour Homme II. and instead was dumped into the rectangle that houses it now, with a metal ring cap like a door knocker. The scent is very clearly inspired by Gucci pour Homme II, and may have even been a mod for it by Karine Dubreuil tinkered with later by Guichard. What I do know is this has some of the violet ionones from the opening of Gucci pour Homme II, and some of the tobacco in the base, but excises the tea notes and most of the other stuff in favor of stuff that might have read like "generic mall designer" to people used to things being bolder or more left-of-center with Gucci, particularly with the inclusion of ozonic cucumber/melon notes. Again, this was another transitional step towards what Giannini wanted for Gucci after the racy Ford era, and if Gucci pour Homme II was the first step in that direction for the men's perfume side of the business, this was clearly the second such step. Patchouli, elemi, incense, and amber are all claimed in the base, and I imagine some aspect or proxy of the pricier ingredients is probably there, with the only "real" one used here being some isolate of the patchouli, since that's very ubiquitous in the industry. As a sort of "blue" tobacco scent, which hadn't really been done before despite the half-step in that direction by Gucci pour Homme II, Gucci by Gucci pour Homme is nothing if not innovative in its combinations of off-the-shelf materials, although artistic it is not. Performance is moderate, and this could be a daily driver or signature scent if so inclined, having no rough edges or weaknesses to speak of, as it were.

I can see guys who discovered the house of Gucci through this perfume being particularly enamored of it and using it as a signature. Gleaning over at that big website which starts with an "F", where all the Andrew Tate-worshiping meatheads that see fragrance as a replacement for the pheromones nature failed to provide them during the weird mating ritual they make out of what otherwise should be normal dating, I see a great many waxing poetic about this scent because it was indeed a first love for them. I can get behind that, even if not much else that spews forth from those toxic and misogynist hellholes they call mouths, because if you still have the emotional intelligence of a 16 year-old at 30, you're going to remember the best of times in regards to the thing that helped you "score" when you first hit the ground running, and this was it for a lot of them. Under that auspice, I can appreciate and respect Gucci by Gucci pour Homme, the first real "normal" and "everyday" Gucci masculine since probably Gucci Nobile (1988), which although made in a different era with different olfactive values in mind, was much the same meant to just be a general spray-and-go sort of deal for the guy who just wanted some action on Friday night or to smell good at the cocktail bar after work. A masterpiece this is not (and neither is the Nobile), but it's also not particularly youth-driven like the Gucci Guilty (2010) and Gucci Guilty pour Homme (2011) ranges would be a few years later. At some point Gucci renamed this Gucci pour Homme too, so ironically it did become the 3rd fragrance to use that name after all. Thumbs up

This one surprised me. One of the best, most underated, masculine designer colognes. Top-10 worthy. From opening to dry-down, and for a few hours afterwards, a masculine delight, that develops beautifully. Not at all a typical "mall scent"

I'm impressed with how multidimensional and non-linear this is. It opens with a soft citrus and fragrant herbal accords of violet and Cypress, warmed by subtle tobacco heart-notes, balanced by an uplifting Jasmine. Then in the later stages, incense, and a soft suede leather base, all dancing together in a fragrant symphony.

If I have one complaint, it's the unfortunately weak performance. Sillage is almost non existent. In less than an hour, it becomes a great skin scent on me.

Despite that, this is for me Gucci's best mens offering I've tried so far, so I'll excuse all the confusing name changing, and buy the biggest bottle I can find.

This has basically disappeared off shelves, a response to universally negative critical feedback a few years ago. From the same crowd that venerated dior home, le male, a men, Gucci 1 and 2, Michael for men, terre de Hermes and a plethora of other generic overly sweetened men's potions. Problem with all these fragrances I've noted is how dated and cheap they smell now that we are a few years in the future.

Gucci by Gucci also known as Gucci 3 at the time, doesn't have this issue. A fragrance that's top and mid heavy and then settles down to a fairly simple sweetened (but not too sweet) tobacco/ashtray accord supported by an extremely refined amber, pathchouli, and a hint of leather. This is an excellent designer that can hold its own against any niche fragrance.

This is a sylvan, silvered purple-grey chypre that whispers but never screams. In a fragrance landscape where 1 million and bleu de Chanel are blockbusters it's easy to see why it died an early death - too bad the so called "critics" wrote it off for its obvious "similarities" to everything else without noting it's subtle, elegant and haunting differences. This is a watery men's cologne that somehow evokes darkened, shadowy and blurred images, nostalgia and longings for times past, with a few simple strokes. Call it a willfully minimalist masculine for the Issey Miyake pour Homme generation

O, chypre's oakmoss!
Before they took you from me
You whispered to me.