ColinM
3
Not extreme, but really nice
Here’s another “kind of” winner among Paul Smith range. Nothing extreme here, rather the opposite: Extreme is in fact to me a really mellow, smooth, quite unexpectedly classy and mature sort of citrus-floral-herbal fragrance with cedar, something soapy and slightly fruity, maybe a hint of orange blossoms, and something like cardamom. I also get rosemary quite clearly, bringing this a bit close to Rochas Aquaman and Lanvin Oxygene – they just both develop the herbal-aquatic Mediterranean theme, here it is just more a touch of herb among more classic woods and floral-citrus notes. Which is basically what makes Extreme slightly different from similar fragrances, as it smells basically like a “bridge” between old-school citrus-woody-floral “barbershop” aftershaves, and more modern spicy Oriental ones. Overall a really bright and pleasant scent, quite “synthetic” but I don’t mind that – the smell is incredibly fine and rich, and that is what counts for me. It is a sort of really modern, kind of youngster but really refined sort of classic “eau de cologne”, with its flowers-infused citrus and woody-spicy blend. Shortly a sort of barbershop scent for “downtown lads”, less old-school and a bit more contemporary. Nothing juvenile though, just simply crisp, versatile and lively, perfectly suitable for mature men as well. Longevity is really poor, soon leaving on skin just a faint soapy-musky drydown (still nice, just barely perceivable), but it works fine on clothes.
7/10