L'Homme Sage
Divine (2005)

L'Homme Sage by Divine is probably one of softest fragrances I've ever sampled. It wears like a big fluffy pillow, very light on the skin and to the nose from beginning to end. It opens with saffron and light hints of flower, but nothing very distinctive. The saffron dominates in a friendly, benign sort of way, with a patchouli and wood undertone in the heart phase. Incense breaks through late, but it never goes very intently in any direction. It's a pacifistic fragrance that just wears too light for me. While not feminine, it's not very masculine either. Smells nice but in the end I found it altogether boring and extremely fleetingly. I like the opening saffron but lost interest beyond that. A neutral is all I would give this.

Excellent as they are, these awesome gnummy ambers are simply not my kind of fragrance. I own a bottle and it's been nineteen months since my last wear. No matter, I don't wear LdDM much either but that doesn't mean they aren't fantastic.

L'homme Sage smells great and lasts for absolutely ever. But it is powdery sweet! Super sweet! Almost annoyingly so. They say there be immortelle, which usually comes off as everlasting maple syrup to me. Thankfully, that doesn't appear in this mix. Maybe it's the lychee note, something else, or some combination. Hard to put a finger on it exactly. It's not a candy floss or pungent fruit sweetness, rather it's the linear type sweet of aspartame or other artificial sweetener. Add some body heat and there's cloying risk that can be downright suffocating despite the pleasant smell - been there, done that with this.

Does a wise man fit the scent to his ways or does he adjust his ways to fit the scent? I have some thoughts but, regardless, I'm rather sure that a wise man loves smelling this one on his lady!

I picked up a bottle of this on my last visit to LA, and once again proved the old adage of "never buy on the strength of reviews". L'Homme Sage ("Wise Man") gets rave reviews all over, but I'm mystified as to why.

It opens with a herbacious saffron and cardamom note; the smallest hint of mandarin is in the mix too but I don't detect any of the lychee that people speak about. The base is a standard and rather insipid woody incense. It turns a bit powdery on my skin and I really don't like powdery fragrances.

For me, a fragrance must delight, intrigue or lift the senses. I find L'Homme Sage to be rather mediocre. It's an interesting experiment and it's okay on a soft autumn afternoon but I shan't be wearing this often.

Unisex, slightly powdery and sort of soapy (not in a bad way). Projection and longevity are above average. A floral patchouli blend with a light wood in the background. Decent fragrance, but I think I would get tired of it. Seems more feminine to me. Overall a well done fragrance. 7.5/10

So good one might, blind-folded, have thought it a Guerlain.

It begins its "spicy woody" Turin designation with resins, wood and spice, so well blended, that one is reminded of Heritage. There is a warmth here and a very slight undercurrent of a sweetness that must be the lychee.

Turin's three stars seems unfair. This is a four star (out of five) scent that is one of the best masculines on the market.

Rich, round, unmistakable opening with a really tight and complex texture. Basically a fruity, spicy, kind of gloomy blend, with a subtle but still bold accord of earthy oak moss and patchouli, which underline and support the raw, shady side of the scent, while the more prominent flower notes and the aromatic woods create a superb, unique, slightly boozy tea-like aroma melting with the wonderful, fruity-spiced accord of saffron, mandarin and pungent fruits (Vasnier used litchee notes and I trust that, although I only detect a pungent, syrupy, fresh fruit note that can actually be anything). Miles down you can feel the solid base of styrax and cistus, which kind of "shape" the scent with a masculine uplifting touch, giving it a slight unique fougère personality. Words fail a bit here, basing on my description this may sound messy and super-rich, while in fact it's really simple and wearable, just really compact, consistent, harmonic and tightly-packed – like looking a perfectly-formed thingy through a microscope lens, you then realize it's made of billions of (whatever it's made of). Highly wearable, with a perfect persistence and sillage, a real (and sadly, apparently much underrated) total marvel.

9/10

as of September 2013 my favourite scent of all timeOk this is my first review here ! Let me start by saying for the last two years i have treasured my bottle of this divine scent (pun intended) But trying to write about my subjective feeling seems different from that of other reviews, OK i've just sprayed it on my arm. 10 seconds in what i get is not all this fancy mandarin and lychee so talked of, what i get is furniture polish or even boot polish. but oh its wonderful. it lasts of only 15 seconds and already i miss that scent. is just. Just as I am about to brust in tears off we go on a roller coaster. Imagine an italian undercover agent dressed in slick well cut leather. The aroma begins to strengthen and 5 minutes in we are now sitting in the back of a bentley leather accords abound. then out comes a cigar and the scent of nicotinia begins to come to the for. Then well the car stopps outside a tibetan monetary, the guy grabs a few incense sticks then runs into a catholic church and lights them up. There is sort of sacred church like smell a bit damp warm glowing and the sweet resin grows , maybe he lit a candle i don't know. the guy is obviously on some sort journey but heads turn. After 12 hours the warm embers of this wonderful scent still delight the senses.Don't be fooled by hype. to me this is a very synthetic scent but one that would make me proud to admit it. Literally everyone comments on this scent. to me nothing is like it. it is genius . I want to find a better scent than this so far can't . i love it , i love it , i love it.Pros: Wonderfully masculine, heady , great silage and longevityCons: its hard to get the refills. "

It's hard to put a handle on this fragrance. While it presents a typically masculine visage with its aromatic woodsy-spicy incensey profile, there is no denying the existence of a sweetish fruity undertone. An interesting juxtaposition or an unnecessary distraction? You decide. But I don't really smell a wise guy here. More of a shy guy with its discreet projection.

The squareness of this homme's jaw is unmistakeable – it ticks so many of the ‘masculine' boxes it is a small wonder it doesn't veer into travesty. To its credit, it remains calm and contained without displaying bullish urges. This one's a gent.
After an easy opening of bright, powdery, slightly bitter, spiced mandarin (banish all notions of New York, this smells entirely different), a truly complex creation reveals itself. It shapeshifts successfully, now revealing a fir facet, now some patchouli and woods, a flash of leather, spice and incense – oh and did I mention resins? Again, it does this quite naturally without going into maximalist overdrive, but funnily enough for so much changeability the overall feel is a bit too trad for my tastes. My nose encounters a minor problem with some of the resinous tones which bring a cheapening whiff of the hardware store. I can see how the warmth and overall discretion of this perfume will please many. The deep drydown (after about 4 hours of wear) is a bit of a blanket, even and fuzzy, though also quite comforting.

An Absolutely Gorgeous Discovery!

I love this masculine creation from the French House of Divine.

The scent has a delightful spicy, warm and smoky blend of notes with a lovely incense drydown.

I wished it was a bit more powerful and had better longevity.

Thumbs up!

Classy and powdery. A real vintage masculine scent without the side effects of vintage bottles. A very wise parfume, as its title!

This opens with a warm spicy blast of saffron and cardamom with a big dose of incense and it smells really good. After this opening I'm detecting a slightly sweet fruity note which becomes stronger within the mix. This notes cuts through the spicyness to transform the scent making it lighter and its quickly joined with some patchouli.

The scent has now become quite aromatic and balmy and I'm really liking this. It also gets a bit smoky and the fruit has now made the scent sweeter so you have a "Fruity Slightly Sweet Spicy Balmy Fragrance".

I really like the opening to this and how it's really warm and spicy to begin with and then how the slight fruitness quickly transforms the scent by making it lighter and aromatic. Good fragrance.