Black Tie for Men Fragrance One 2020

One can discuss and write at length about Jeremy, analyze and despise him, praise and doubt him - or not at all. What he has built up as an influencer is certainly more than respectable and impressive when viewed purely in terms of numbers. Personally, I can't watch his videos for even a second without feeling cringeworthy and shaking my head. But I don’t have to. His style, life philosophies, and the "values" he conveys could hardly be more wrong and problematic in my opinion. Especially for the youth, his main audience. Does every generation get the role models it deserves? And yet, I once met him personally at a perfume fair behind his seemingly always-running camera, and he was more than friendly, natural, and cool, unlike his YouTube persona. He even knew me. All of this blurs into a very strange picture for me, which I don't want to delve into further. I just hope he is/will be happy, more mature, and perhaps, in the best case, a bit less materialistic. However, I do want to engage with the fragrances, should they happen to wander under my nose. No more or less than with other scents. Okay, I admit, maybe with a bit more curiosity and a smile. But as always, definitely (m)ine as fair and independent an evaluation as possible. One should separate art and "artists," after all, right? ;-)

"Black Tie for Men" is a citrusy aggressor with a slight gasoline flair. Super positively, it doesn’t remind me directly of any other fragrance. That’s quite an achievement in this subgenre, I definitely expected something different. It definitely doesn’t smell like designer mass-produced goods to me. However, it doesn’t smell like the highest niche either, and the often-cited price raises at least one eyebrow. But the content, the juice... well, I like it. Quite a lot, actually. Its slightly rough 90s attitude (especially with the oily gas station flair) reminds me a bit of "Nightflight." A greasy strangler. For me, it’s more trashy than refined. But good trashy. American (B-Movie-)Psycho.

The absolute suit formula is not what I envision. Not at all. A tie killer is something else. The supposed panty remover falls flat. But that only gives some deductions in the back of my mind and the B-note. Its performance is impressive to rocking. Its foundation is more masculine and serious than one might think. Patchouli is very woody and dry, interpreted as toxic and greedy. It may shock some, but it’s only daring at first glance. Essentially, it’s built much safer and more solidly than expected. Sparkling and quite unsweet. If anything, at least just citrus fruit sugar. Neither a game changer nor a head scratcher. But a top wearable type of scent! Not just for high class and the black suit. But please, dose it discreetly. It doesn’t get better with quantity.

Bottle: quite safe and boring
Sillage: noticeable (especially for a primarily citrus fragrance)
Longevity: very, very good 9 hours - also exceptional for a citric (I’m not familiar with reformulations and differences)

Conclusion: an surprisingly safe, hissing, and yet somewhat ordinarily downplayed/upplayed, massively wearable and simply self-assured citrus seducer. Guilty pleasure. Synthetics done right, no need to follow the hype, but the scent can definitely get a big thumbs up. Especially for the younger and clearly defined target audience.