The Dreamer (Eau de Toilette) by Versace

See Prices

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

The Dreamer Versace 1996 Eau de Toilette

Ranked 99 in Men's Perfume

7.6 / 10 1998 Ratings

A popular perfume by Versace for men, released in 1996. The scent is floral-sweet. It is being marketed by EuroItalia.
Compare

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Main accords

Floral

Sweet

Spicy

Fresh

Powdery

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Tarragon

Artemisia

Juniper

Heart Notes

Iris

Flax

Lily

Base Notes

Tobacco flower Amber

Amber

Perfumer

Jean-Pierre Béthouart

Ratings

Scent

7.61998 Ratings

Longevity

6.91818 Ratings

Sillage

6.61792 Ratings

Bottle

7.81827 Ratings

Value for money

8.71319 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 09/17/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

The Dreamer Lotion Après-Rasage

Uden Overdose

Comandante!

Sculpture Homme Eau de Toilette

Reflection Man

Bogart pour Homme Eau de Toilette

Reviews

69 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/14/2015

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM

Top Review 11

Dreamy barbershop

First, the good news: if you want my opinion, I see almost no difference between the “vintage” and the more recent version of Dreamer. I said “almost” so I’m not saying they’re identical – the vintage smells a bit more natural, slightly darker and smoother, without the synthetic harshness of the recent (current?) version you can smell loud and clear at its very opening; but since in a matter of minutes it goes away and the scents perfectly “tunes in”, I think the two versions are 99% equivalent overall – just use a little patience with the more recent one. The drydown is pretty much identical, I surely don’t get any “ruined” juice as I read online about the current version. This said, the scent itself is just an excellent piece of modern perfumery. Almost nondescript for me, and it took me a while to “understand” it: it smells just really beautiful, uplifting and terribly pleasant. I don’t get how did they make it precisely, but all works perfectly. I smell tobacco (cigarette type), lavender, spices (Jaipur Homme’s kind of Oriental, talc-infused sweet spices), a clever touch of something balsamic-green, but most of all I smell overall a fantastic feel of cleanliness, peace, fulfillment with a really peculiar “ambiance” halfway naturally and earthy, and so clean and slightly musky it almost smells futuristic.

I usually can’t stand reviews romanticizing scents and I try to avoid mentioning feelings and suggesting “images”, but this time I can’t help it, as Dreamer has a really strong evocative quality for me – evoking this sense of neat, clean, “natural versus artificial” brightness with a fantastic shade of “barbershop” notes and a touch of Oriental mystery. The way they’re blended makes the difference here, Dreamer is incredibly harmonic and compact, there’s just a perfectly consistent unique smell that smells of, well, “Versace Dreamer” and that’s it. This fragrance has them almost all – it’s elegant, versatile, but at the same time informal and fun, and has a really nice set of shades and a subtle “enigmatic” vein, I guess due to its Oriental notes. An easy-going but fascinating “chiaroscuro”. Plus I think it brilliantly takes inspiration from several families of perfumes – from classic tobacco-floral fragrances like Zino Davidoff, to dandy Oriental gems like Jaipur Homme, both under a decidedly “younger”, more modern light. An outstanding work of synthesis of many diverse inspirations, brilliantly projected into the future. Excellent creativity, excellent skills to give it shape. But above all, it smells just fantastic – the vintage version does it since the very first spray, with the recent one you’ve to wait some 15-20 minutes, but then it works as good as the previous one. Easily the nicest Versace ever for men, together with L’homme from 1984 (which is as good as conventional and a bit outdated for me though, while Dreamer is way more timeless – or more precisely, completely “out of time”).

8-8,5/10

08/24/2012

9
Scent

Ysbrand
84 Reviews

Ysbrand

Top Review 10

A maddening enigma

There are very good reasons for owning a bottle of Versace´s The Dreamer, starting with the bottle itself. It is stunning, with that acid finished Medusa, the greek gold frieze ornament... from all the perfumes of the brand this one channels the most the spirit of Gianni Versace and the golden age of fashion and supermodels. It is unique and alluring.

It has a very fresh start, aromatic lavender and citrus, astringent and invigorating... i particularly enjoy the election of mandarin in this case over other citrics, because its rusty bitterness doesnt feel soo clean and high pitched. Just sprayed, it has a powerful fougere identity, but very soon comes the twist: a warm sensual wave of tonka bean arises to stay until the very end. The Dreamer gives the wrong impression of hesitating between an honest, butch, down-to-earthyness and a pretty, seductive sensuality, and challenges you to figure out. The dry sharp edges of the lavender end in flowery lily petals. It is and adorned macho. I see this easily as a shared fragance, and ecourage ladies to try it.

The fragance as it evolves, looses the pungent aromatic coolness, but gains in herbaceousness: the geranium leaf takes place, strong and muscular. But in this riddle, the sweet tobacco becomes more apparent turning the fougere into something else, calmly sweet,powdery and enveloping.

I feel i am now watching a skyscape, the clouds slowly shapeshift in front of my eyes and get me in a true dreamy mood... In this mid stage ,along with the make-up type of iris root and the dry sweet tobbaco flower, there is an incredibly cacthy, intoxicating scent, that smells synthetic (to me this is not bad) like vynil or play-doh. This rare artificial accord is bitter and conforting and merges seamlessly in the fragance. Is it tarragon? pistachio? what is this?

Sometimes you smell a clean body after the gym, sometimes you smell lipstick, or gasoline.

In the late drydown it gets woodier and ambery, but the balmy touch stays, like an interrogation mark.

As for the longevity , you will wake up the next morning with a drydown that will still keep the full identity of the fragance. Projects very well. The quality of The Dreamer in terms of ingredients and originality is remarkable.

The Dreamer has a soul that feels inspired by art and antiquity, but , as the starry print of the box implies, looks in the eyes of the future and the unexplored galaxies. He is a seeker of beauty and a nerdy kid...and when he looks up to the night sky, sees both the planets and astronomical object as well as the mythologies of the constellations... The Dreamer is a designer, a model, an adventurer and an astronaut.

09/09/2018

9
Bottle 7
Sillage 7
Longevity 9
Scent

Elysium
890 Reviews

Elysium

Very helpful Review 8

Moments of Intense Fear Mixed with Extreme Euphoria

Dream on! Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year, sing for the laughter, sing for the tears, sing with me, if it's just for today, maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away. Dream on! Dream On! - Aerosmith.

I've owned a bottle ever since it debuted in 1996, to replace my previous cologne Solo Soprani. Pretty good segue, considering it was considered a light scent and not too dangerous. To this day, I must have a bottle to go back to and "remember." That's why I recently decided to buy it once more when I saw it online for a funny price around 20 something bucks.
The Dreamer depicts the essence of this perfume very nicely because when I wear it, I feel like I'm floating between the dream and the real world. Some notes are pulling me to one side like the clean and light opening, and others like sweet and smoky dry-down to the other. Oh, man! What a beautiful fragrance. It's is one of those fragrances that makes you stop dead in your tracks, in the best possible sense, so unusual, so creative, and just so damn good, in my opinion. I like it when I smell a risky fragrance, one that was not designed to sell to the average consumer, one that is controversial, one that receives complete contradictory reviews. I've concluded that I adore challenging fragrances, and this is no exception if you like Dreamer, another outstanding one to try is L'eau Bleue D'Issey. Man or woman, yes woman, wear this if you want to stand out from the crowd and bask in your uniqueness!

The Dreamer is something of a hybrid between fougère, oriental, and gourmand. It's remarkably light, yet crisp, with hints of sweetness and richness throughout, with that 90's cleanliness keeping it all in check.
The opening is like when you first open a pack of cigarettes, I'm not a smoker, but I always loved the smell of unlit cigarettes, a gorgeous sweet fresh tobacco scent. It is a sheer opening, both warm and refreshing at the same time. which gently enwraps and gives a pleasant sensation of well-being. It is very aromatic, bitter sage and floral lavender blend magically with spicy tarragon, juniper grains, and poisoning artemisia. It's harsh but settles down to a comforting and warm male floral.

The oriental aromatic heart combines notes of waxy and soapy lily and powdery iris that blend in with the amber very smoothly. It's got the fluffy powdery floral note that has a smokey woody masculine undertone. The iris stands out a little more loudly as a member of The Dreamer's heart, with the token geranium and an almost invisible touch of rose rounding it out. It can be cumbersome and in your face in time. Overall, It's got the good, the bad, and the ugly layering all in one. The old formulation was quite powdery. The new one is less powdery and more floral.

The dry down is the most stunning I have smelt in a long time. It has that lovely sweet tobacco smell, with what kind of scents like vanilla and musk, animal musk if you feel it close to your skin. It's that glorious leafy tobacco flanked by tonka and amber, with literally nothing else to get in the way, with maybe cedar aftertouch bringing in some sustain. The tobacco isn't of the already-dried or smoked variety like with some scents, and more of the "raw leaves and blossoms in the sun" kind of feel, lending it an outdoorsy vibe that its other ingredients don't suggest. By the time this reduces to the skin, all you smell are tobacco, amber, coumarin, and wisps of those aqueous florals, including the potent iris coming up for encores when the air hits just right.

The more I smell the Dreamer, the more I fall in love with it. It is the rare fragrance that is beautiful and interesting in all of its phases, although I like the dry down the best. It is unusual, ever-changing, and mysterious. I find myself smelling my wrists very often when I'm wearing this. I do this because it offers a moment of serenity, of inner peace, that takes me away from the bustle and stress of everyday life. It has a gorgeous bottle I might add too, with one of the more unique integrated sprayers I've seen, which becomes the cap rather than fits inside the lid like most of this type. The usual Mediterranean business adorns the cap otherwise, and the bottle itself features the classic Versace Medusa head.

Fall and winter are the best times for The Dreamer. Sillage and longevity are average, so it's going to take some reapplication for an entire day's use, but if you keep this to evenings and weekends, it will get you through all right. If you were going to get just one tobacco-themed designer scent and didn't want to break the bank on something from an exclusive line, this would be a pretty strong contender for that pick. In the wise words of Aerosmith: Dream On!

-Elysium

03/14/2023

10
Pricing 8
Bottle 7
Sillage 5
Longevity 8.5
Scent

Mitchcraft
36 Reviews

Mitchcraft

11

Sweet dreams are made of these.

There is something about this fragrance that makes me feel so comfortable and relaxed. I would have said it was the lavender but it has been reformulated and there is no lavender in it anymore.
Still this fragrance has the ability to make me feel like i am wrapped up in a bed of soft feathers and ready to dream away.

I often spray this at night when i am having trouble sleeping and feeling stressed as i toss and turn trying to get my much needed beauty sleep. It just says to me, soft, comfortable linin and at the same time there is something masculine about it which i think could be the tobacco flower.

Some people called the original the washing machine detergent fragrance because of all the lavender scented detergents out there today and is probably why they changed things up a bit because you don't want that to be the association of the last fragrance that was created by Versace himself before his untimely passing. Even though the lavender is not there anymore there is still a resemblance to that kind of scent which is probably why people get that feeling of relaxation and comfort from it.

The Dreamer has this ability to transform the way your clothing feels. You could be wearing that horrible scratchy wool everyone hates, but with one spray of this it would make it feel like you are suddenly wearing some of the softest materials on Earth. It really is amazing how this fragrance works on more than just the sense of smell by affecting other senses also. I find i feel like my skin is softer when i wear this.

I love the bottle with the frosted medusa head, it looks very classy and the atomizer is one of, if not the best in my collection. Both in the design and the performance from it as it gives out an amazing blast of juice that is well distributed.

The price is amazing, you can always find it on sale at reputable stores from the RRP of roughly £50 for 100ml down to roughly £25 and it is absolutely worth it.

It's not something you will find yourself wearing on a night out because longevity is just not there so unless you have a way to bring it with you and keep respraying you are always going to find something else in your collection for that purpose. No, this is for as i said previously at night, relaxing at home as i often see many other people say they use this every night before they go to bed as it makes them have a good nights sleep and it definitely has a great name for such a thing.

When i first got it i couldn't help keep respraying it i loved it that much but now i like to keep it for those nights where i am feeling anxious about something as it will instantly have that calming affect on me.

If you don't have this in your collection you should go for it because for the price i don't think you will find anything else quite like it. I have a number of fragrances that smell similar in some way to each other, but i can't say the same about The Dreamer.

10/05/2013

7.5
Bottle 7.5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 8
Scent

Teadot
26 Reviews

Teadot

Very helpful Review 5

I'm actually quite fond of Versace's Dreamer. But...

Brace yourselves for the first half. Which is un-apologetically Loud, Crude, and yet Sentimental. A date night scent worthy of a truck-stop diner! It's a cloying blast of synthetic and powdery floral cliches, made doubly brash next to a (cigarette) tobacco note. Boldly unsophisticated, but never insincere. This is either a real Cowboy's misty-eyed idea of romance - Handing her a dozen roses while talking through a lit cigarette. Or, alternatively, the scent of a creepy old widow down the street...(LOL) For your sake, I hope you own a set of spurs!

The base of Dreamer is the antithesis: It's cozy, congenial, and uncanny. Is it appealing? Yes, certainly. Is it romantic? Sure...if your Mommy still buys your underwear! (and that's not necessarily an age reference. LOL). It's a comforting fuzzy blanket of indistinguishable woods (stitched together with vetiver), snuggling up to a tonka note. But when Dreamer hits a certain point of balance between it's top and base, the scent is indeed "dreamy". Hypnotic, even. (Especially when it wafts from under clothing): Ahhhhh...A perfect hoodie scent ! It has the kind of benign "varsity t-shirt" sexiness, that women at an animal shelter might want a second whiff of ! I should really make this my "signature".

One of the most intriguing, polarizing, and unique, designer scents -that may appeal to your vulnerable side. (The bottle of which I'm sure, had been designed by the general contractors of the Versace villa. LOL). Make no mistake. I like Dreamer, in spite of the jabs. It's simply...Cool !

More reviews