212 Men Carolina Herrera 1999 Eau de Toilette

Contrary to voting, citrus is not dominant. This fragrance will make you feel sporty and a little luxurious. It is suitable for men under the average age of 35.

I'm pretty sure it's "Turkish Tea" from one of the notes described as green notes. (For those who do not know the smell of Turkish tea) It is an aromatic scent that comes out when bergamot peel and exotic green leaves are dried. The scent has a tea scent, which makes it unique.

I feel a fresh and slightly spicy scent. Spices are similar to rosemary and ginger spice. It's a refreshing spice that's not irritating. At the bottom, there is a smoky vanilla scent.

The fragrance is generally aromatic, sugary and slightly spicy. It is quite unique. It's hard to come across an imitation.

It stays on fabric for more than 8 hours. It stays on the skin for up to 4 hours. The projection and sillage ratio is not bad.

Longevity: 7.5/10
Projection and Sillage: 6/10
Fragrance Quality: 8/10

Carolina Herrera is a house with not so many good offerings for men. One of the good ones is the original Herrera for men (which has lost his power and quality over the years), another one is this 212 for men.

This is one of the classics from the 00's but it borrows some qualities from other fresh scents from the nineties, specially, from a fragrance also made by Alberto Morillas. Lanvin L'Homme. A fragrance based on violet leaf with a musky base. That musky base is very similar to the one we find here.

The opening of 212 is essentially a cut grass accord mixed with some spices, namely pepper. Kinda unique for the time. As it dries down, the musk became noticeable. Soapy sweet musk, not an animalic one. And it's pretty much it. The musk is very present until the end. I have a vintage bottle and the performance is incredible. Super persistent and long lasting. 8+ hours easily.

I'm not a fan of that musky drydown to be honest but it's not super strong in the current formula. The cut grass is very interesting and refreshing. Definitely the star of this fragrance.

Overall, an easy fragrance that works for spring and summer time, versatile, masculine, grab n go sort of thing, uncomplicated and long lasting. Also appealing to the majority of the people.

A solid pick with good price online and a classic from the brand.

3/5

This fragrance has been on my mind for years, and after experiencing countless scents, I've concluded that 212 Men is one of the most underrated designer fragrances out there. It offers everything you could want in a signature scent: year-round versatility and a unique profile – a rare combination. Few perfumes smell like 212, and its scent hasn't been overused. It boasts complexity, projection, longevity, and sillage. It attracts compliments and comes at a reasonable price.
The potential downsides? After 20+ years, it might be considered "popular" or "familiar." And while it might not have the same high-quality scent as Dior or Chanel, you get what you pay for.
Overall, 212 Men deserves more recognition. It seems the fragrance community overlooks it, perhaps because it's a Carolina Herrera fragrance. If this were a Chanel scent, it would be praised endlessly. 212 is just as good as the overhyped Bleu de Chanel.
10/10 Masterpiece. Best well-balanced designer perfume. Alberto Morillas did a superb job with 212 Men.

A perfume that speaks itself. An Awesome creation by Alberto Morillas in collaboration with Rosendo Mateu and Ann Gottlieb. This was my signature scent for so many years and I still have 3 bottles, so much love & respect for this beauty.
The initial blast of spices, freshness, greenness & muskiness total paralyzed me when I wore for the very first time & since then I love it. Whenever I was/am wearing it, people noticed my presence in office. Interesting it also leave traces for hours. I am disappointed for its reformulation by watering down its spiciness and freshness. My Rated still 10/10

Let me start by disclaiming I own a bottle from 2014 (batch 40831). I know the fragrance industry, so I can't speak for current formulations and I don't know whether it's been reformulated or not. So take this review as you might.

212 Men is, as the title says, a floral, green and spicy musk classic. It smells like freshly cut grass with pepper, a some floral undertones and a strong, solid musk in the base, that gives it its punch.

Speaking of punch, it has plenty. I'm reading reviews that say its performance is poor. In my experience (keep in mind my bottle is almost 10 years old), however, it's a monster. I usually just wear only two-three sprays, and they keep going hard after 12+ hours. Projection is top notch, right up there with your one millions, invictus, stronger with you, and those sweet frags most people tend to wear to clubs. So much so, this was my clubbing scent, back in the day (not 20 years ago, but until the pandemic hit and I met my girl). It got me a lot of compliments and was very noticeable, cutting with ease through the clouds of dirty ambient scents.

It is an all-rounder, best suited for the fall and winter, but wearable through the spring. I wouldn't recommend it for the summer, given its musk can be overwhelming for the user (at least it is for me). I consider it a pretty decent signature scent, and easy to wear for most people. Works well in an office environment, so long you control your sprays, night outs and casual scenarios. Even though it's not particularly sexy, in my experience, women tend to really like it, so it can work as a date scent, if you only have a couple fragrances. There are, of course, better suited frags for that purpose, all I'm saying is it can work well in dates too. Like I said, I do not recommend it for hot summer days, though.
It is a very particular scent, reminiscent of fresh cut grass, so it has a very good memory effect. People will recognise and identify it with little to no effort.

In my case, I barely use it anymore. Although I really dig it, it's too linear and strong for me, particularly its musk. After 2-3 hours I'm just tired and want to remove it.

Overall, a very solid scent. Not a showstopper by any means, but it does extremely well what it's supposed to do.

Scent: 7.5
Performance: 10 (it can easily fill up a room with a couple sprays)
Bottle: 7-8ish
Value for money: 8-9