Bvlgari Man Wood Essence Bvlgari 2018

Another day, another boring designer with no bit of character or any sign of actual care put into the composition. This time we have Bvlgari Man Wood Essence, which let me tell you, it has nothing to do with the essence of wood or its scent. I think Morillas and/or Bvlgari's marketing team have never actually smelt true woodiness, because if this is what they consider a "woody fragrance", then they should start visiting forests on a regular basis.

Yes, this starts quite synthetic as we've come to expect by now, accompanied by sort of a sugary citrus sweetness supported by some warm, spicy, and surprisingly nutty coriander. Nearly thought I was getting cinnamon for a second, but the sweetness immediately takes a step back, leaving plenty of room for some woodiness that never truly arrives.

The cypress soon adds a touch of crisp, piney freshness, slightly aromatic and barely "green". Supposedly, it's now that the wood essence should start revealing itself, but all that you get is an airy and hollow dry/musky cedar that lacks both strength and a grounding quality. The benzoin doesn't help much here, adding tiny bits of sweet balsamic undertones and a powdery finish, as well as that faint hair fixative vibe which if anything, makes the composition seem more synthetic. Overall, there's nothing here that reminds me of wood, nor anything that would hint at a qualitative and well-put together product. Truly one of the worst from Bvlgari.

At least they were thoughtful enough to not make this nuclear regarding performance, which is usually the opposite for most designers. On my skin, I got somewhere around 5 hours of longevity, with pretty weak projection throughout. The first hour was pretty average, maybe about 1 foot of projection at best with decent but short-lived sillage, after which it would plummet down to a skin scent by hour 3.

Once more, the versatility category is the only one where boring scents such as this manage to bring back some points. And in the end, that's largely why they're so boring, because they're made to be as versatile and mass-appealing as possible. Daily wear, office shift, school hours, a short visit to your grandparents... Basically your daily activities that do not require you smelling like Areej Le Dore.

But I don't want to cut Bvlgari Man Wood Essence any slack with that. There's still plenty of better options out there that check the "simple and boring" boxes better, managing to still give the fragrance some more personality. And while Bvlgari Man Wood Essence is not the most devoid of character scent I've tried, it surely won't (shouldn't) win any awards for uniqueness. With a price tag between €100-€150, anyone who knows what they're doing will skip on this one, as it isn't even a good value fragrance for people who don't care about fragrances obsessively. Very lackluster, but very unsurprising.

Overall Rating: 3.4/10

It is quite annoying to see reviews of people, characterizing this particular fragrance (and others) as unsuccessful, purely synthetic or even generic!..
Well, it is probably not the most traditionally made aroma out there, but it is absolutely an interesting and nice smelling one.
Also, it's name "wood essence" gives a pretty good idea of what to expect in terms of smelling experience : woody enough for someone who likes that category of fragrances.
Of course, the "woody" aromas aren't always the preferred choice in comparison with other types (as spicy, or aquatic) but are still a good choice for rho who like that type of fragrances.
So, for that particular category the Bvlgari Wood essence is really a very decent representative!
If you are a fan of woody fragrances, then this is an excellent choice!

Immediately after spraying, the fragrance is filled with an exquisite smell of freshly cut wood and forest. It is not an olfactory complex fragrance and If you do not like woody fragrances, this fragrance will not be to your liking, the smell of wood is very present.

In the drying of this fragrance the magic happens, the smell of wood decreases and a Citrus-sweet smell appears along with the Bvlgari base. Here's the difference with many woody fragrances.

An ideal fragrance for young adults, It does not smell like a mature adult, like the case of Man in Black, nor does he fall into the vice of sweet fragrances for young people who don't know if they are for men or women. It is a 100% masculine fragrance, but it screams youth. In my opinion it is very positive, but if you are looking for a woody fragrance that projects maturity and firmness, again, this is not the fragrance for you.

The duration of the fragrance is Excellent, the projection not so much. If you put it on your clothes or on blotting paper, the fragrance will last for weeks. On skin about 8 to 12 hours
The projection of the fragrance in the first 2 or 3 hours is very good but then it fades a lot.
This is the weakest part of the fragrance. In some perfumes with low projection, you could apply about 10 sprays and with this you would solve the low projection. But this is not the case with wood essence, if you apply 10 sprays, you could flood an entire auditorium with smell, it would be inconspicuous.

Indeed it is an Edp, on the skin it feels slightly oily. Ideal for use in spring or autumn during the day or night.

I tend to like Morillas' creations, and love several of Bvlgari's releases but this? I was excited to try it since I'm a sucker for woody fragrances but damn, when was the last time Alberto visited the woods??

Let me start off by saying that this isn't anywhere near a WOOD essence, more like a generic, money-grab, blue fragrance release. It starts off very sweet and synthetic pretty much like any other scent of this kind, shampoo-ish. That stays until the very end it is a very linear scent until it somewhat becomes a skin scent that smells of clean musk. That's it.
They could've done much better stuff with this idea. Big pass.

The first hour or so I'm reminded of Davidoff's Good Life which is a definite Spring and Summer scent.

It starts off green and figgy though I don't see fig in the notes list.

The middle life turns to cypress and vetiver.

I have to give this a few more wearing to better describe the tail end of Wood Essence.