Good Life for Men (Eau de Toilette) by Davidoff

Bottle Design:
Serge Mansau

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Good Life for Men Davidoff 1998 Eau de Toilette

7.9 / 10 221 Ratings

A popular perfume by Davidoff for men, released in 1998. The scent is fresh-green. It was last marketed by Lancaster.
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Main accords

Fresh

Green

Spicy

Citrus

Floral

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Fig leaf

Grapefruit

Bergamot

Melon

Blackcurrant

Lavender

Heart Notes

Lemon

Magnolia

Pelargonium Violet

Violet

Base Notes

Almond

Clover

Amber

Sandalwood Tea

Tea

Perfumer

Pierre Bourdon

Ratings

Scent

7.9221 Ratings

Longevity

7.5162 Ratings

Sillage

7.0156 Ratings

Bottle

7.6169 Ratings

Value for money

7.457 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet · last update on 12/30/2025.

Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Good Life for Men After Shave

Great Life

Romance for Men Eau de Toilette

Dune pour Homme Eau de Toilette

Gramercy Park

The Best Life

Reviews

17 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/25/2017

9Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

Elysium
916 Reviews

Elysium

Very helpful Review 5

A spritz of green water

Davidoff Good Life is just one of those scents that were always in my mind, but for any weird reason, I did not buy until it got discontinued. Oh damn! But all of a sudden, I came across it while visiting a perfume outlet, and it was there on the shelf, just waiting for me! :D

DGL is the evocation of a summer day's end... when the fig tree, the hay, and the meadow release their scent in the warmth of the sunset. The opening is zesty-aquatic-floral, with a touch of bergamot and grapefruit that give a fresh and tonic start to the fragrance. Despite those notes are pretty dominant, there is even a bit of watery melon and a tad of mild lavender. This rich fragrant aroma reminds me humid grass in the early morning at dawn, when the sun starts rising.

Then, the scent evolves into a warm and comfortable green accord of fig leaves, green tea leaves, and tart black currant, which add a fresh earthy twist to it. A touch of floral notes is added by the white magnolia and pelargonium. That is the heart, so green and fresh, but not aquatic or marine.

The soul of DGL is made of fresh tobacco leaves, mellow amber, and creamy sandalwood. This concoction gives the signature a masculine structure. The fragrance is modern, refined and perfectly embodies all the simple pleasures, that's what good life means.

My gut feeling tells me that DGL is a perfect scent for warm weather, especially spring time. Longevity is good, and sillage stays close to your arms, which is good for the office, for the young and the more mature men.
Unfortunately, DGL seems to be discontinued, and it is very difficult to find, even on the internet.

06/01/2015

6Scent 5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Drseid
828 Reviews

Drseid

Helpful Review 1

The Somewhat Good Life...

Good Life for Men opens with relatively sweet green fig leaf coupling with an aromatic bergamot and lavender co-starring tandem. As the composition moves to its early heart the green fig leaf and aromatic lavender remain now as co-stars adding slightly tart grapefruit to the mix with additional subtle melon support. During the late dry-down the composition eschews most of its sweetness turning distinctly ambery with supporting green oakmoss and dry woods through the finish. Projection is very good and longevity good at about 8-10 hours on skin.

Ever since Good Life for Men was discontinued I have read many praising the composition, and demand must be there as prices have steadily increased. Just like many other discontinued compositions, however, the legend is often larger than the actual result so it is time to see if Good Life for Men really deserves its stellar reputation. I have worn the composition three days in a row and am again wearing it as I write this review. I am afraid despite my love of its classy bottle, for me Good Life for Men is really not so good. Oh yes, it does have some green aspects that are appealing, like the slightly synthetic smelling fig leaf, but the clover derived green sweetness that makes itself known early and hangs around with the fig through the mid-section is too sweet for my tastes. The woody amber dry-down is nothing new either, with only some green oakmoss adding an interesting twist, though far from original either. At the end of the day, this composition must have been designed to appeal to Davidoff's Cool Water crowd, as that really was their big hit (by the same perfumer Bourdon, no less) but alas, lightning rarely strikes twice and Cool Water in its original vintage form is a lot better composition than Good Life for Men. The bottom line is the approximately $170 per 125ml bottle on the aftermarket Good Life for Men is a valiant attempt by Davidoff and Bourdon to revive the house's greatest commercial success, Cool Water, but while appealing this "good" 3 star out of 5 rated composition comes up a bit short.

08/02/2021

8Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Smellavision
205 Reviews

Smellavision

Helpful Review 2

"Good life, where have you gone??"

This is really nice. Seeing it being a scent by Pierre Bourdon, who amongst others is also behind composing classics like Cool Water, Montblanc Individuel and even the (in)famous Kouros I was excited to test it, and was not let down. Dry, green and spicy, it comes out fresh and extremely versatile. After the grapefruit fresh opening with blackcurrant and lavender, all the floral heartnotes and vanilla come to out play and are joined by melon and a great fig leaf note that stays throughout the drydown where it is joined by amber and oakmoss.

Funny as it may seem, this actually reminds me a little of the also discontinued "What about Adam" by Joop, which I tested only about a month ago - apart from the color of the juice, the scents are both very green, grassy and fresh.

One word : dynamic!

05/06/2014

10Scent

Naaase
109 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Naaase

Top Review

Everything Was Better in the Past

""Everything was better in the past!"" my father always says. And I always feel like the two kids from the TV series "How I Met Your Mother" when "Ted Mosby" as the older narrator wants to tell them the seemingly millionth story about their friend group. Eye-rolling is the least of it.

Well, so be it. I too will probably annoy my fellow humans with my wisdoms when I reach a certain age. If I’m not already doing so...

Was everything better in the past? Well, the "Rivaner" was still called "Müller-Thurgau," people played "Federball" instead of "Badminton," and "Twix" still caressed my palate as "Raider." In short, before it then ensured that my waistband became ever tighter.

On Saturday evenings, one would first watch one of the multiple episodes of the cozy "Schwarzwald-Klinik" and let one’s life be determined by the almost "oracular" wisdoms of the equally indestructible and white-coated Professor Brinkmann (always with a stethoscope around his neck). One didn’t even have to change the channel, as "Wetten Dass" followed with beautiful regularity on ZDF. Back then, it was still with the always friendly Frank Elstner, who could only be criticized for the shape of his glasses.

On Sundays, a similarly red-haired and white-clad Boris Becker would chase colorful felt balls on green grass (mostly very successfully), and one could still cheer along in front of the TV. And innocent men were not yet exposed to infamous seed theft in dark broom closets.

So one sat there and knew: The world is in order. Even if the above-mentioned kids (from HIMYM) didn’t yet know how their father had met their mother. Nevertheless, their world seemed to be in order.

That was, of course, a mistake. Because: The world had not yet seen "Good Life," which only made its way to the shelves in 1998. Sure, there was Davidoff's "Zino" and "Cool Water." Also great milestones of perfume art. But the world was - I hope you’ll allow me this little pun - obviously still too "timid" for a masculine fig scent from Davidoff.

And anyway: "Davidoff!!!"
Everything was really better back then: I’ve already mentioned "Zino" (1986) and "Cool Water" (1988). Of course, also the great "Relax" that was released in 1990.

And today? Well, even though we men are known to be creatures of habit and certainly do not possess the flexibility of a woman, I would have gotten over this matter with the "Raider" and the "Twix." And Thomas Gottschalk on "Wetten Dass" was still great cinema. And I don’t drink so much "Müller-Thurgau" that the renaming by the bulbous-nosed winemaker I trust would have decisively led my life astray. Not to mention my badminton... pardon... "badminton skills."

But when Davidoff started making us men adventurers in 2008 ("Adventure"), I sensed something ominous. Even in 2010, I didn’t quite feel like a "Champion" when spraying the latest creation. Maybe it was also because I already failed miserably at lifting the bottle, which was designed in a sporty dumbbell shape, and thus had to shamefully abandon my intention to match Arnold Schwarzenegger at least in a sporting sense right at the starting blocks of bodybuilding. Not to mention his political career...

In 2012, Zino Davidoff still invited me to an olfactory game ("The Game"). Well, this turned out to be as much fun as a Wimbledon final with table tennis paddles. Or with badminton... I guess I will never get used to it. Or, to stay with the image of the artistically designed casino bottle: In "Casino Royal," James Bond's adversary "Le Chiffre" also only had brief joy in the shared card match. Quite right: He was indeed a nasty fellow!

Speaking of "nasty fellows": What followed from Davidoff were multiple flankers to "Cool Water" and just this "The Game." But by then, Zino Davidoff had already lost me.

But now to the actual topic of this essay: The masculine fig! And indeed in one of its highest forms. Namely in "Good Life."

This is advertised on the internet as follows:
"A distinctive fragrance of honest, original character. A mirror of the desires and wishes of the modern, self-confident man. He seeks the balance between material success and deep emotionality and finds his harmony through inner satisfaction. Davidoff Good Life embodies what is most important to him: joy and happiness."

Am I such a man? Do I thus belong to the olfactory prey scheme?

I cannot say for sure. In any case, I always felt not only "joy and happiness," but found my "harmony through inner satisfaction" when I sprayed this fragrance. Oh, what am I saying! Every time I got to hold this wonderful bottle artwork.

Already the first spray from the bottle (have I mentioned how wonderful I find this bottle?) reveals a gentle refreshment through bergamot, grapefruit, and black currant. To prevent it from drifting too much into the "Tutti Frutti" direction (which also used to be on TV!!!), a bit of lavender is added to these fruits.

But what comes next? A wonderful fig!
It is not a green fig like the colleagues from Acqua di Parma ("Blu Mediterraneo - Fico di Amalfi" from 2006).
It is not a delicate-creamy, almost feminine fig like in the "Armani Privé" line ("Figuier Eden" from 2012)
No!!! It is a masculine fig. A ripe and thus sweet fig. However, not too sweet. For that, we still have a breeze of magnolia, which - as already mentioned - takes away the sweetness without drifting into the feminine.

And then? Then it gets really masculine. Of course, without drifting into the "Chuck Norris feeling": Noble sandalwood, dry clove, warm amber.

And what else? Tea! Yes, indeed: This fig-tea combination is outstanding: In the base, when the tea is being brewed, this wonderful fig-magnolia combination fades out and merges into a total artwork.

I have not found a masculine fig scent of comparable quality until now.

I just sacrificed the last drop of my "Good Life" for this test. Farewell!

Everything was probably better in the past...

10/16/2018

10Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

SchatzSucher
107 Reviews

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SchatzSucher

Top Review 17

Good Mood to Spray On

The thing with favorite fragrances is always a very personal and subjective matter. What one person loves and enthusiastically wears may not sit well with the next. And vice versa.
My thoughts on Good Life by Davidoff are of course very personal and subjective as well. But I’m happy to share them with those interested.

There are indeed fragrances that make your mouth corners automatically lift when you apply them. Good Life definitely belongs to this category for me.
It perfectly embodies spring for me, when nature comes back to life, everything is green and blooming, and when it gets warmer and I feel drawn outside to enjoy the fresh air and the young greenery along with all the lovely blossoms.
Good Life is truly a wonderful companion for that.
Even the first spray makes me think of a beautiful sunny and friendly day, on which I want to take a long walk in the greenery. Gentle citrus fruits flatter the senses combined with a hint of lavender (which already creates a green-fresh feeling), it becomes fruity-delicious with a piece of melon and a handful of currants (but just a very small handful, otherwise it gets too sour), and a fig leaf rounds it off. It becomes a bit more floral, the spring meadow is in full bloom, violets wave, geraniums smile, a beautiful magnolia tree greets magnificently, and a lot of clover joins in, giving the spring walk that certain green-herbaceous note that remains throughout the entire experience. This must be that pretty meadow clover you find everywhere, with its very delicate scent.
An interesting scent note, which probably isn’t used very often, could be used more frequently in my opinion.
Towards the end of the walk in the greenery, I crave a cup of tea with a few almond pieces, not too many, it shouldn’t be too strong. And the tea is not too strong either. A piece of sandalwood with a bit of amber scents pleasantly in the background.
The spring walk in the greenery lasted about 7 hours, which is quite good for such a fine and unobtrusive fragrance.
I wore Good Life again today after a long time. Even though it is the epitome of spring for me, it suited the still very mild weather perfectly today. If there weren’t so many leaves lying around, one could really think it’s spring or early summer.
It performed very well at my work, wafting gently around my nose repeatedly, and I felt extremely comfortable. I was also complimented on the scent twice today, which made me very happy. A compliment about the fragrance is always a lovely cherry on top.

The name Good Life is, in my opinion, very fitting; you quickly get in a good mood and think to yourself, yes, life is beautiful :-)
Unfortunately, Good Life has not been produced for a long time, which I find very unfortunate. I don’t even know exactly when it disappeared from stores; it must have been in the early 2000s. In any case, I have never seen it again since.
I still have a half-full bottle that I bought in the late 90s. Thank goodness the fragrance is still perfectly fine. Sometimes it’s hard to understand why the fragrance you love so much is taken out of the assortment.
There may have been various reasons; perhaps it didn’t achieve the expected sales, or maybe it was overshadowed by other fragrances that sold better. In contrast to many other fragrances from its time, Good Life is quite subtle, almost inconspicuous. It has few edges and corners. That may have bothered some people.
I have no complaints about Good Life; it brings good mood, puts me in a springtime spirit, and ensures overall well-being. Just like on a sunny spring day, even if it’s already October and technically deep autumn.

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