Polo Red Ralph Lauren 2013 Eau de Toilette

Polo Red opens with a very sweet synthetic smelling candied red berry accord. As the fragrance moves to its early heart the sweetness tones down slightly with a subtle coffee undertone joining the candied red fruit as a synthetic vague woody accord begins to take hold gradually. During the late dry-down the cloying sweetness nearly subsides as the synthetic smelling woods take control and now dominate with the candied fruit all but gone leaving just the subtle coffee undertone in support. Projection is below average and so is longevity at 5-6 hours on skin.

Oh how the mighty have fallen... The original Polo was a masterpiece that I used to wear with abandon in my younger days and still completely enjoy today in its vintage form. That was the first offering from the Ralph Lauren brand and by far its best. Not many of the other releases from Ralph Lauren over the years have been worth even a mention (save the also excellent discontinued Polo Crest), and Red will join the rest of the duds in the line, only it is even worse if possible. The candied fruit open is so sickeningly sweet and synthetic (in a bad way) that it sets an early disappointing tone for the rest of the annoying composition to come. The heart and late dry-down is primarily a norlimbanol (synthetic woods) bomb with only the coffee undertone to distinguish it from so many other poor compositions on the market. The bottom line is Polo Red is a complete disappointment and an insult to fragrance lovers and Ralph Lauren customers around the world. While its $76 retail price for a 100ml bottle won't break the bank for many, it is not even worth one tenth that price and should be avoided at all cost, earning a "poor" to "very poor" 1.5 stars out of 5 rating.

This opens with candied red berries (cranberries), which are then joined by a little coffee/latte, amber and some woody notes through the heart. In the drydown, the berries fade out so that the quite synthetic musk and woody coffee note prevails for the rest of the (short) drydown.

It's really sweet and bordering on gourmand, so much that it somehow reminds me of jelly beans. Definitely not for summer use, I would recommend fall or even better winter nights. Projection is not very impressive and I only get about three hours of performance. Probably the best purpose would be as a dating scent. I heard that Polo Red Intense should be in the same vein but longer lasting.

Overall, I think it's not bad, the scent is nice and pleasing - youthful and casual - but unfortunately quite synthetically composed and really lacks some punch.

I call it underrated—because who even mentions Polo Red EDT anymore? It’s long been overshadowed by its green bottle cousin, Versace Eros EDT, and other fragrances like 1 Million and Ultramale. All of them get lumped into that “clubbing scents” category. Bleh. Kind of cringed writing that. But those colognes are still talked about to this day, either with reverence or disdain by the fragrance community.

Polo Red EDT, though? In my opinion, it’s better than all of them. And I wish it had a bigger footprint instead of being relegated to “oh, it’s fine, but nothing special.”

When I first bought it two years ago, I wasn’t too impressed. At the time, I was a big fan of The Most Wanted by Azzaro—which is undoubtedly cloyingly sweet in comparison—so I found the weaker performance of Polo Red kind of disappointing.

But something happened.

Over time, as my fragrance collection grew, I found myself coming back to Polo Red regularly. “It’s that damn addicting cranberry note,” I thought. But I was wrong. Sure, the cranberry note is very pretty, but there was something else pulling me in: that coffee note.

Let me be frank—that "coffee" note isn’t a 1:1 match with a freshly brewed espresso, nor is it like a cappuccino or latte. It’s a coffee nuance—like when people describe coffee as having notes of hazelnut or dried fruits. In Polo Red, it’s more like a combination of unsweetened dark chocolate with a touch of vanilla. As a base note, it anchors the fragrance. It’s what you notice when it clings to your clothes. This single aspect, along with some subtle herbal and citrus elements, actually makes Polo Red smell quite masculine. That nuance stays fairly flat and keeps the fragrance grounded throughout its wear.

In contrast, the cranberry note is on the other end of the spectrum. It’s fresh, it pops, it grabs your attention immediately. Fruity, a little sparkly—and when combined with the other elements, it creates this fresh, herbaceous sweetness that feels unique compared to other sweet fragrances marketed to men. As it dries down on the skin, the cranberry top note fades away, allowing a slightly vanillic amber to take center stage. But on clothes? That fresh cranberry-coffee combo still lingers—and it still smells amazing.

When it dries down (and it dries down fast, within an hour and a half), that fruity punch disappears. And honestly, that’s my only gripe with Polo Red. If it lasted longer—if it projected a little further—it would, without a doubt, be my absolute favorite. A 10 out of 10.

That being said, it still edges out some of my other favorites just because of how addicting it is. It’s tastefully sweet. Not saccharine, not cotton candy sweet—just sweet enough that you keep bringing your arm up to your nose. No weird notes, no off-putting chemical vibes. It’s balanced, well-crafted, and a prime example of how to do a sweet masculine scent right.

An underrated masterpiece.

After wearing this a few times, it was kind of reminded me of something, and I quite couldn’t put my thumb on it. But today I saw my Dunhill desire, sprayed it on one hand and polo red on the other. It was surprising how similar they are anyway I like both of them they have decent performance for an EDT.

I don't have much to say about this fragrance besides, it was a great memory for me. I loved wearing it as a young 22, 23 yr old man with very little understanding about fragrances.
.
It was sweet, it was spicy. It was everything nicey. Lol it was gourmand but synthetic like most sweet Designer fragrances were in this era. You kind of just had to be there.
.
The dry down really had nothing but compliments you'd only get if you hugged someone. Lasts about 3 or so hrs with about an hour of projection. U could dump this on & it would still not last past the 4 hour mark with any projection.
.
If I was to buy this fragrance again, it would be for pure nostalgia. & I'd probably layer it with other fragrances because I'd need more than this basic approach that polo had at this time.
.
In my opinion, the blue parfum, & red edp are best for anytime use day or night. I love the purple label personally as my favorite polo/Ralph lauren fragrance. So if I was to give you any advice about this, get it for a young man who wants to start a collection. It'll give some variety. & go to the other suggestions