Wow! for Men Joop! 2017 Eau de Toilette

The interest in the fragrance was high beforehand, as was the bashing. It was very well placed for advertising, for example in Müller stores, which at least caught my attention spontaneously. Already during the first test, I was very surprised by the pleasant scent experience. I was very curious yesterday to see if my positive impression would be confirmed, because honestly, the extremely negative statements had unsettled me a bit, wondering if my nose had played a nasty trick on me in mid-January.
Nooo...it didn’t! :-)
I still like it very much, so much so that I bought it yesterday. After wearing it for 1.5 days straight, I’ll try to describe what I like about it and what might set it apart from other mass-market fragrances in this price segment.
WOW can score points with me because, on the one hand, you can clearly smell individual notes like cardamom, violet, and the slightly spiced/dirty vanilla, and on the other hand, the very pleasing and homogeneous scent tapestry is just very beautiful. I discover more deliciously spicy cardamom, slightly peppery and not overly sweet, and a dry, slightly spiced tea note, rather than a sticky or overdosed vanilla or the usual tonka mix. Just that alone is worth all the honor for me...considering the questionable outputs of recent years...where it was swarming with Wilds, Extremes, and Kings. It probably doesn’t reach the classics like Homme (not my taste) and Nightflight (in the original version), but it seems that the lowest point has been passed for now. I see that very positively, as the (long-lasting) trend of overly sweet men’s fragrances has been going on for far too long. Jil Sander (Strictly), Davidoff (Horizon), Nikos (Gods Night), or even Cartier with its L'Envol have probably set the example.
What I also quite like is that WOW retains its slightly masculine note until the end, I think I can smell a slightly bitter watery aftershave note, which prevents WOW from drifting into the banal. Combined with the sweetened tea aroma, it smells very pleasant.
So WOW stays with me until the end, making it an uncomplicated everyday fragrance that doesn’t let me indulge for hours, but that’s not necessary...it fulfills its primary purpose - smelling good - simply well. There’s not much more to say, except for the occasional similarity to Gods Night...but I guess others have noticed that before me, judging by the twin reference.
Speaking of Gods Night...despite the certain similarity to Nikos' latest fragrance, the ratings vary widely, where Gods Night sometimes gets over 8 points, here it barely reaches 4 points (from the same tester), not to mention the even lower ratings.
I could never understand ratings of 1.0 or 2.0, unless it smells like bodily fluids, so I "assume" there’s some bashing going on here...*shitstormnowtakingitcheap*;-)! But it doesn’t really matter...just wanted to mention it.
Conclusion: Not the crown of the perfume world, light-years away from trash, for me it’s elevated mediocrity that has never disappointed me. Very nice bottle. The longevity is quite decent for me (oh wonder), sprayed on this morning at half past seven, I could still perceive it very well after the lunch break at 1 PM...that’s rare for me;-)! The sillage could be stronger, it’s moderate to low, but it comes out quite well on my skin! Except in high summer, it’s always good to wear, suitable for both young and old, for jeans and suits.