Marbert Man Marbert Eau de Toilette

Marbert Man is one of those strange, overtly masculine fragrances that have always been around. It’s something you’ve smelled often without knowing what it actually was. I can’t remember it ever being advertised in the last 20 years. Nevertheless, it’s not just shyly tucked away in the corner of department store fragrance sections, but is offered in all varieties of grooming products. Who actually buys all this? And why?

This perfume is wonderfully hideous. A penetrating synthetic floral note, with a jasmine accord playing the lead role, sits atop a complex yet quite indefinable woody base. I notice a striking similarity to the well-known Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent. And when you compare the ingredient lists of both perfumes, the impression is confirmed.

The Marbert Man, released 4 years earlier, is even more unrefined and rough around the edges than its refined successor by Pierre Bourdon. Anyone who rejects Kouros must hate Marbert Man!

Unfortunately, the peculiar jasmine note of this fragrance is not only known from perfumes; it reminds me in a fatal way of scent compounds found in urine stones and the like. Marbert can’t be blamed for that, but I think you need a certain robustness to wear this scent. Normally, I would quickly label a perfume with this note as "cleaning product" and set it aside. However, Marbert Man is too interesting for that. In its rough-and-tumble way, sharp and far from any balance, it is quite likable to me.

But it gets worse. Please don’t continue reading if you’re already put off! With the slight retreat of the floral note - it doesn’t completely disappear - a sharpness and saltiness emerge that actually makes me think of fresh male sweat and urine.

Definitely a very physical scent, which some might find sexy. Extremely sparing use is absolutely necessary, as the intensity of this construction worker perfume is just as bombastic as that of Kouros.

A great fragrance! But wearing it myself? No way!!!