Perfume Reviews by Scent Detective
Burberry Brit for Men by Burberry
Nice opening. Citrusy top note that quickly turned into a synthetic melange of wood and other notes that began to gag me after about two hours. Nothing beyond the opening citrus was pleasant or enjoyable to me. This seemed very synthetic, meaning that each and every smell I was smelling felt like a laboratory experiment.
Granville by Christian Dior
Updated Review:Much like Cypres Musc by Creed, CD's Granville has grown on me. Either my sensibilities are maturing or I'm just schizophrenic. My enjoyment of the freshness of Granville is overcoming my aversion to it's medicinal nature. I'm feeling pretty good wearing this today. The medicinal herb/citrus bath is dirtied up by thyme and that's the slight strangeness that bothered me in the past...but I'm getting past it. This is a thumbs up for me now. :)
I got a good sized sample of this since it's supposed to be a pine fragrance. Disappointment once again. This is a "tyme" bomb. Far too herbal/medicinal for my taste. As Odysseusm said, this has a very similar opening to Blenheim Bouquet, but seems a little better made. I got some very strange scents from Granville, from mouthwash to corn chips. Just subtle little whiffs that seemed to bring weird olfactory waking dreams. There is a certain sense of freshness to Granville, from the herb quality it has, but it's not one I enjoy. If you like rubbing herbs like tyme and rosemary all over your skin, then you'll love Granville. Longevity was only 4.5 hours for me, and sillage was only about 2 hours. I'm still searching for the pine notes as well.
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Plum Japonais by Tom Ford
I don't like this one as much as I thought I would. I'd heard comparisons to Fille en Aiguilles by Serge Lutens. I absolutely love Fille en Aiguilles, and I do smell a slight similarity, but it's very slight to me. Where Fille en Aiguilles takes me to the pine forest, then to Christmas and all it's alluring scents, Plum Japonais aptly smells like plum. It has that sharp, tangy bitter edge that a bite from a plum has that I just don't like. When you see a beautiful plum sitting there, you think it looks so delicious. Then, you take a bite, and it ruins the whole effect. That's the way it is for me at least. There is something in this fragrance that I don't enjoy. I did get a little bit of a wood vibe as this dried down, but it's a thinner wood smell than I like, and I guess I was just expecting too much. This isn't a terrible fragrance at all, and I'm sure many would enjoy it. I've just been spoiled by Fille en Aiguilles and don't feel the need to have this fragrance in the rotation too. The longevity was about 8 hours on my skin. The sillage was about 6 hours or so.
Black Orchid Eau de Parfum by Tom Ford
Be afraid...be very afraid. This stuff is grandmama perfume with the longevity of a nuclear winter and dark, dirty, coffee grounds all rolled into one. I literally had to scrub off the first layer of skin to get rid of the stench. I had heard this was a good unisex fragrance, and I apologize to all those who love this frag, but this is one of the worst things I've ever put on my skin. It made me ill almost immediately.
Tom Ford for Men by Tom Ford
I don't like this. It smells like a hundred other uber masculine musky smells that I can't stand. The funny thing was that my wife liked it somewhat. I wanted to like it as well, but then I wore it all day. I just don't see myself wearing this again. It's a headache inducer too.
Grey Vetiver by Tom Ford
I had heard good things about this fragrance, so I figured I would like it. I like Original Vetiver by Creed, but I struggled with the synthetic feeling of Grey Vetiver. I did enjoy the final stage more than the opening or the middle notes as it softened, but I'll have to give it another wear.
Azure Lime by Tom Ford
Azure Lime. Where to begin. This smells almost exactly like Set Sail St. Barts by Tommy Bahama. Except that I smell the lime much better in the opening of the St. Bart's than I do with Azure Lime. I also smell a lot of salt and an aquatic drug store after shave smell from both of them, but it develops over time with the St. Bart's and it's present throughout with the Azure Lime. Azure Lime is a very linear fragrance without much change during the 4 hours that it lasted on my skin. The St. Bart's had nuclear longevity and sillage on me, but the Azure Lime didn't make it past the 4 hour mark. I wasn't enjoying the fragrance all that much anyway, but that's pretty disappointing for a frag this expensive. The St. Bart's was $20.00 for 3.4 oz. at Nordstrom Rack. The Azure Lime is $220.00 for 1.7 oz. at many outlets. So, to do the math, that's $5.88 per ounce for the St. Bart's and $129.41 per ounce for the Azure Lime. It's a no brainer. Unless you're completely in love with the Azure Lime and just have to have some, get the St. Bart's. It smells just as good if not slightly better and it would be a shame to spend that kind of money on the Azure Lime unless you truly love it...just one man's opinion though. Based on my preferences and the poor longevity, I've got to give this one a thumbs down.
Italian Cypress by Tom Ford
Short review to begin with, then more to come as time goes on. As others have mentioned, this is a complex fragrance. I've only worn it one day so far, but just wanted to put down my first impressions. The top notes are nice. A crisp, coniferous cypress. But, alas...it passes so quickly. I believe the brightness of the cypress might be enhanced by the citrus note, but fortunately, the citrus doesn't over power at all, it seems to only act as an enhancer for the cypress note. Middle notes start to become more musty. Having worn Polo for 33 years I can honestly say that like many others have stated, I can smell the similarities to Polo. I'm going to continue wearing and come back to this fragrance many times. I know it's been discontinued and it's another one I'd like to have. I'd better enjoy my samples for awhile. I got some bigger ones so I could work my way through this frag for a while.
Edit:
Celery. I wore Italian Cypress again today and I smelled celery. I'm surprised that I missed it the first day I wore it. I picked up celery in the opening notes this time instead of the citrus/cypress smell. I don't know if my nose is on the blink or not, but I don't like the Yatagan celery vibe from Yatagan, let alone from a fragrance as expensive as Italian Cypress. I don't hate the celery scent as much as I do the oregano smell I get from so many of the Amouage fragrances, but I also don't want my coniferous fragrances, (which are my favorites), smelling like celery. I also noticed more with this wearing that the longevity was only around 4.5 hours. I'm going to keep the thumbs up rating, but the longevity should be better, IMO.
Neroli Portofino by Tom Ford
Alright...it's official. I'm in love. I'm looking down the barrel of another expensive purchase. :( The fragrance world is killing me, but I must have some of this juice! The small sample I've got is just not going to be nearly enough! I want the 8.4 oz. jumbo bottle!!! Seriously though, this fragrance is transportive...it's so fresh and amazing that I could probably wear it everyday all summer long. It's just that good. It's so good in fact that I'm considering coming off my self imposed ban from buying any more fragrance for awhile...I'm a sick man...but I sure do smell good! :)Oh, and for the record, this has lasted all day on me. I've been enjoying this fresh beautiful scent for about 10 hours now. :)
Old Spice by Procter & Gamble
Best tag line on a fragrance."If your grandfather hadn't worn it, you wouldn't exist".
Set Sail St. Barts for Men by Tommy Bahama
I got a little lime in the opening notes of Set Sail St. Barts, but it sailed away very quickly. It started turning into a salty aquatic pretty rapidly. I've heard people compare this to Creed's Virgin Island Water, but they smell nothing alike to me. This reminds me more of another Creed from the salty aspect and that Millesime Imperial. There's absolutely no coconut to be found in this fragrance. I becomes more boozy as it develops. Very dry and salty. This is a margarita. I've read some say this doesn't last on them, well...as I write this 12.5 hours after I applied it, I can still smell it. That's pretty good longevity in my book, and for the price, it's remarkable. I applied four sprays since I'd read that it doesn't last, but that proved to be incorrect on me. I started to develop a headache after about 6 hours, so I'll definitely do half the sprays next time. I'm not totally in love with this frag, but it's also not too bad either. This is a margarita drink that you put in an atomizer and spray on yourself. If you like that scent, then you'll love this juice.
Mugler Cologne by Thierry Mugler
Big thumbs up for Mugler Cologne! Such a fresh enjoyable scent that is a real joy to wear. Longevity and sillage are excellent and I enjoy it all day long as the freshness wafts upward. A perfect spring and summer fragrance!
Itasca / Le Vetiver Itasca by Lubin
I've been waiting to review Itasca until I'd worn it for a while. I didn't love it the first two times I wore it. So, I thought to be fair, I'd give it some additional wearings and let it "soak" in, so to speak. Well...I don't hate it. I get the juniper berry in round 1, and I enjoy that. The rest of the notes duke it out from there. In round 2 the notes also fight it out for dominance I'd prefer a little more straight juniper in the opening and less competition from the other notes in the opening and middle notes. There's an almost astringent quality that is slightly off putting to me. The bottom line is this juice feels like the notes are competing with each other a little too much. It sort of fights it's way through the day duking it out with itself and just wore me down by the end. Unfortunately I can't smell the Red Pine or the Canadian Fir Balsam in the melange of other notes in the bottom notes either. With all that said, I still don't hate this juice. I'm somewhat intrigued by the sheer busyness of it. The longevity and sillage are impressive. About 9 hours for me.
Carlo Corinto Classic by Carlo Corinto
A disappointment for me. I was told it was a "Christmas tree in a bottle". Not ever close to my nose. I'll try it again sometime, but won't go out in public in it. I'll wear it at home and see if I can find something I like about it. I'm just disappointed in this frag right now.
Acqua Viva by Profumum
Edit:I was incorrect about the atomizer. (You have to take the foam inside the box that the fragrance nests in out, and underneath there is indeed an atomizer and a small funnel to help in decanting from the larger bottle into the roll on bottle). I was grateful to see the sprayer in there. I've now screwed on both sprayers and I've had no problems and no leaks so far. So glad the sprayers were included! I got a lot better longevity when I sprayed this fragrance on this time over just dabbing it on. I was struck once again by how enjoyable the fresh lemon scent of this frag was...beautiful
As everyone else has said, this is an absolutely beautiful fresh lemon fragrance that has a brilliant opening! I love the freshness and it makes me feel happy when that blast of lemon hits my senses. I must admit however that I expected a bit better longevity based on the reviews I've read on this one. I moisturized my skin before applying, to give this the best chance at longevity, and I just had to re-apply because it had disappeared completely after lasting about 5 hours total, and the last hour of that was such a close skin sent that it was pretty much non existent. I was hoping for the 8 to 10 hours I've heard some have gotten, especially for the price. This stuff isn't cheap, in fact it's overpriced if I'm going to have to keep re-applying throughout the day. I was also disappointed to see that the bottle is a splash, with no atomizer included. They do have a cool little roll on bottle tucked down inside the box that you can put some of the fragrance in to carry around for travel, but it's empty. :( For the price of this fragrance, I would have a appreciated that little roll on bottle being full of juice as well. Having said all of that, this really is a special scent, and I'm enjoying it immensely. It is far and away the best lemon fragrance I've ever smelled, and it brings positive feelings when worn. Because of the beauty, the smile factor, and the obvious overall quality of the product, I still give Aqua Viva a thumbs up.
Halston Z-14 by Halston
I was intrigued enough by the comparisons I've read about Halston's Z-14 to Tom Ford's Italian Cypress that I decided to snag a bottle of Z-14. The bottle shape reminds me of a red blood cell. Okay...odd thought, but that was the first thing I thought of when I took it out of the box. It's the new formulation, so I have no idea what the difference is yet in comparison to the old formulation. The citrus in the opening stands out, but it didn't bother me. There's something about this fragrance that I like. I think it's the cypress and cedar. It seemed quite complex upon first spray, and after reading the fragrance notes listed here on Basenotes, I see that there is indeed a lot going on in this frag. As a newcomer who isn't classically trained as it were, I'm not typically very fond of the designer scents I come across. I'm not trying to be a niche snob, but I just find so many more fragrances in the niche lines that I absolutely love, and so many in the designer lines that cause my gag reflex to go into hyperdrive. Every so often however, it's nice to find one like this that I can appreciate and also have a desire to wear. I'll revisit this one if a few weeks, but I've enjoyed wearing it so far today.
Silent Grove by D.S. & Durga
I wasn't even aware this was listed as a feminine fragrance. I've been wearing it all day and it seems very much like it could be worn by a man or a woman to me. The opening seemed completely lime and smelled a lot like West Indian Lime Cologne by Crabtree and Evelyn. I'm assuming the tea and linden notes are the other elements I'm smelling in the dry down. This is overall a pleasant fragrance, but not one I'd invest the money in for a bottle. As mentioned, it is pricey, and there are other less expensive frags that pull off a similar performance. Longevity wasn't that great, nor was sillage. I had to reapply a couple of times, so I'm wavering between a thumbs up and a neutral rating. I'll go with thumbs up because I did enjoy the scent while it lasted.
Arso by Profumum
Well...with a name like Arso, this fragrance could be the butt of a lot of jokes.Seriously though, this fragrance is...INCREDIBLE!!! I absolutely love, love, love the opening notes!!! This is the best resinous pine I've found so far!!! I love pine so much, and I really pick it up with this scent. I'm not into the whole burning scent craze that seems to happen when someone uses coniferous notes these days, but it doesn't get in the way with this fragrance. I don't pick up any leather at all. This is a beautifully crafted product and I must have a bottle! I've just discovered Profumum Roma and both of the products I've experienced so far are exceptional in quality and in enjoyment. As Arso dries down the cedar comes into play. It's a very dry cedar and sits nicely on the skin. This was just such an enjoyable day because of this beautiful fragrance. Highest recommendation!
Himalaya by Creed
I tried Himalaya for the first time today. It was a different experience that I expected. The opening was not as enjoyable as I was anticipating. It seemed more sweet, where I was expecting a citrus/grapefuit opening. There was almost an Amouage vibe to it, and I'm not very fond of the Amouage line so far. But...then...things got better. Himalaya becomes a wonderful fragrance in the dry down. Such a pleasant experience that it completely turned things around for me. I will wear it several more times before I commit to buying a bottle, but it's certainly caught my attention.
Bois de Cédrat by Creed
I had my hopes too high with this fragrance. I was hoping for better sillage and longevity from the citrus opening, but alas, it disappeared within about 10 minutes on me. The cedar note was nice, but it's the same as the wood note in Ore, and several other cedar fragrances that can be had for a lot less than Bois de Cedrat. A sample is more than ample...well, it's actually less by an "s", but this one isn't bottle worthy, IMO.
Eros by Versace
I made the mistake of spraying this on myself while browsing through Macey's. Ugh...I had to continue walking through the mall with my wife while the stench of this stuff clung to me like a bad nightmare. I got nauseated within about 40 minutes and by the time we left the mall, I was almost ready to beg for someone to turn a fire hose on me. It is far too strong and cloying in a very bad way. The only positive is that the bottle looks very cool. Eros means romantic love, but the name of this scent to me would have to be "Miso", which of course would be Greek for "hate". Big thumbs down...
Ray of Light by April Aromatics
A nice initial opening scent of citrus...but then everything went wrong. This smelled like a comb that has been soaking in solution at the barber shop and is used to comb through wet hair. I couldn't stand it for very long and had to scrub it off. Hence, the lack of longevity and sillage on my rating. I will try to put it on wrists again at some point, but I honestly couldn't stand it after the brief opening notes...maybe it's just my chemistry, but a definite nope for me.
Bois du Portugal by Creed
This smells great! It disappears quickly on my skin...but did I mention it smells great? Gonna douse myself in it and see if it lasts longer...yeah...that's my plan...