10/28/2015
ColinM
516 Reviews
ColinM
Top Review
10
Gucci pour Homme I rewritten
Finally I must agree with the “similarity” considerations about this fragrance. In fact, I am impressed of how easily Comme des Garçons can stand next to Gucci pour Homme I, to the point it may work amazingly well as a replacement for it. It does not smell like a ripoff or an inferior version of it; just like a similar fragrance, maybe a bit fresher and “younger”, maybe slightly (really slightly!) cheaper, but definitely playing similar chords, still with its own defined personality and creativity. A win-win, basically: good enough to replace it, unique enough to stand next to it – and obviously, nice enough anyway if you don’t care about Gucci pour Homme I.
2 Man opens with a really catchy fresh accord of transparent incense-infused woods, a fascinating, weightless touch of “gassy” aldehydes providing a grey whiff of metallic-industrial feel, and a sort of herbal-citrus top accord which smells zesty and fresh, but also with a sort of dark bitter core, which reminds me a bit of the smell of olive tree leaves, perfectly paired with a minty-balsamic note. Leather isn’t really there at first for me, but it soon pops out – an unremarkable synthetic note as in any cheap leather fragrance, but it works here to provide a generic dark shade of dryness on the very base. A bunch of spices enhance the tart nose-tinglingness of the blend. There’s something warm and sweet too, which I thought may be amber but I don’t see it listed - however I do get some really subtle resinous-boozy warmth contrasting with the general (and bolder) breezy-cold atmosphere of this fragrance.
The evolution is sadly not that interesting though, as most of the notes quickly vanish or tone down, and 2 Man soon turns into a really conventional, almost disappointingly flat vetiver scent with a hint of synthetic herbal leather (weird enough, a hint of powdery violet pops out, and 2 Man comes unexpectedly closer and closer to Jil Sander Man by Wasser & Menardo). Still nice though, I just wished some of the initial “magic” lasted a bit more.
Anyway, all considered, I would recommend this. it’s reasonably priced, exceedingly wearable and mass-appealing, basically (just to throw in another reference) halfway Dsquared Potion and the abovementioned Gucci pour Homme I, with a leathery-herbal vetiver drydown; less herbal-ambery than the first one, less sophisticated than Gucci, and more “avantgarde” than both while keeping it perfectly safe and crowdpleasing. The drydown is a bit boring, but you can’t have them all sometimes. As soon as they’ll discontinue it, it will likely become a holy grail just as the Gucci anyway. Chapeau to Comme des Garçons for having been able to bring some skills out of Mark Buxton.
7,5-8/10
2 Man opens with a really catchy fresh accord of transparent incense-infused woods, a fascinating, weightless touch of “gassy” aldehydes providing a grey whiff of metallic-industrial feel, and a sort of herbal-citrus top accord which smells zesty and fresh, but also with a sort of dark bitter core, which reminds me a bit of the smell of olive tree leaves, perfectly paired with a minty-balsamic note. Leather isn’t really there at first for me, but it soon pops out – an unremarkable synthetic note as in any cheap leather fragrance, but it works here to provide a generic dark shade of dryness on the very base. A bunch of spices enhance the tart nose-tinglingness of the blend. There’s something warm and sweet too, which I thought may be amber but I don’t see it listed - however I do get some really subtle resinous-boozy warmth contrasting with the general (and bolder) breezy-cold atmosphere of this fragrance.
The evolution is sadly not that interesting though, as most of the notes quickly vanish or tone down, and 2 Man soon turns into a really conventional, almost disappointingly flat vetiver scent with a hint of synthetic herbal leather (weird enough, a hint of powdery violet pops out, and 2 Man comes unexpectedly closer and closer to Jil Sander Man by Wasser & Menardo). Still nice though, I just wished some of the initial “magic” lasted a bit more.
Anyway, all considered, I would recommend this. it’s reasonably priced, exceedingly wearable and mass-appealing, basically (just to throw in another reference) halfway Dsquared Potion and the abovementioned Gucci pour Homme I, with a leathery-herbal vetiver drydown; less herbal-ambery than the first one, less sophisticated than Gucci, and more “avantgarde” than both while keeping it perfectly safe and crowdpleasing. The drydown is a bit boring, but you can’t have them all sometimes. As soon as they’ll discontinue it, it will likely become a holy grail just as the Gucci anyway. Chapeau to Comme des Garçons for having been able to bring some skills out of Mark Buxton.
7,5-8/10
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