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Notes05/22/2020
Fittleworth
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Fittleworth
Top Review
50
Everything used to be better!
Why, why must fragrances that once were really good and enjoyed great popularity be disfigured by reformulations?
I have not yet found an answer to this question.
Maybe it is the urge of one or the other perfumer to combine his or her own name with that of a great or at least successful fragrance?
Perhaps reformulations are also an adaptation to increasingly absurd regulations ...
Perhaps the management of this or that fragrance manufacturer believes they have to serve a fashion by adapting fragrances to a trend that elevates boring smoothness and uniformity to an art form.
Perhaps the one or other fragrance designer would like to remember ...?
Perhaps all these reasons are mixed up, and perhaps the rampant reform frenzy could be explained quite differently ...
Eau de Rocha's Homme, in its original 1993 version, was a bright, citric fragrance that exuded an enormous lucid freshness.
An omnipresent lemon, unsweet and very natural, was the leitmotif of this fragrance, opening the top note, which was wonderfully and carefully complemented by basil, taming any sweetness that might be present.
Lime, tangerine and bergamot underlay this combination of lemon and basil in a round but very reserved way A pleasant coolness, not to say coldness, which seemed like the clear water of a mountain stream, was contributed by the discreetly added aldehydes.
That was great, that was wonderful.
The heart note of the original version from 1993 was composed of a very successful interplay of floral notes, whereby carnation, jasmine and lily of the valley were combined with the still very present lemon and fresh, cool basil.
The base note grounded the fragrance skilfully with amber, but especially with oakmoss.
Vetiver and cedar were noticeable in echoes, but were still outshone by the very persistent lemon.
This tart, citric persistence was most likely due to the aldehydes, but it literally made the fragrance a perennial in every sense of the word. The endurance was enormous for a citric scent and was about 6-7 hours before the scent became skin-tight.
For reasons I cannot explain, this all-round successful, very popular fragrance was then reformulated in 2015.
Responsible for this was Giles Romey, who had already created the original version of 1993.
I would like to ask him, what reasons caused him to disfigure his own, really quite outstanding fragrance in such a way ...
In the reformulated version of 2015, the top note is composed of bergamot, lemon, lime and mandarin.
Compared to the original version of 1993, basil, lemon verbena and the aldehydes are now missing.
As a result, this top note has neither the freshness nor the persistence of the original version. The citric top note is now much sweeter, much less fresh, but above all it lacks the crystal-clear, sparkling, crystalline coolness of the older version.
It lacks the uniqueness that made the 1993 version stand out from other citrus scents.
The heart note of the reformulated fragrance is now completely different from the original version.
In the 1993 edition, floral notes combined with radiant citric notes provided depth, volume and a bright, fresh, transparent fragrance. In the reformulated version, these floral notes were simply replaced by pine and mugwort. Coriander has remained, but seems barely perceptible, and the basil that has now been added here obviously cannot hold its own against the pine.
It seems to me that the significantly weaker citric of the reformulated version is far from being able to establish the connection between the top note and the heart note as skilfully as in the original version of 1993.
The reformulated version of 2015 lacks the power, the fresh coolness, the transparency, the crystal sharpness.
Nor can this be remedied by keeping the base note the same - at least on paper. I personally find the base note also weaker, duller and more short-lived than the original version.
At this point I would like to compare the ingredients of the two versions of this fragrance once again, so that a comparison is possible:
Eau de Rochas Homme (1993)
Top note: aldehydes, basil, bergamot, lime, tangerine lemon, lemon verbena
Heart notes: freesia, carnation, jasmine, coriander, lily of the valley, rose, violet
Base notes: Amber, oakmoss, musk, vetiver, cedar
Eau de Rochas Homme (2015)
Top note: Bergamot, lemon, lime, tangerine
Heart notes: coriander, basil, pine, mugwort
Base notes: Amber, musk, oakmoss, vetiver, cedar
These changes, indeed the complete replacement of the heart note in conjunction with the consistent and unsightly pruning of the top note, mean that one has to compare two scents that are remotely similar but de facto very different.
No, the reformulated fragrance of 2015 is no longer the original fragrance of 1993!
I concede that the 2015 version bears a distant resemblance to the 1993 edition, but it is definitely not the same fragrance.
If we consider without bias how many components of the original fragrance were left out during the reformulation (aldehydes, lemon verbena, basil in the top note, freesia, carnation, jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, violet in the heart note) in order to be replaced by a few new ones (pine, mugwort, basil in the heart note), we can see that it can no longer be an identical fragrance.
I am very disappointed that the reformulated fragrance, which is only a faint shadow of its original version, is still marketed under the same name.
It's not the same scent anymore!
Unfortunately, it seems almost impossible to find the original 1993 version. So if you still have a remnant of this great fragrance, consider yourselves lucky and enjoy it.
I still own a bottle of the 1993 version, but unfortunately the content is dreadfully running out ...
Tempi passati.
I have not yet found an answer to this question.
Maybe it is the urge of one or the other perfumer to combine his or her own name with that of a great or at least successful fragrance?
Perhaps reformulations are also an adaptation to increasingly absurd regulations ...
Perhaps the management of this or that fragrance manufacturer believes they have to serve a fashion by adapting fragrances to a trend that elevates boring smoothness and uniformity to an art form.
Perhaps the one or other fragrance designer would like to remember ...?
Perhaps all these reasons are mixed up, and perhaps the rampant reform frenzy could be explained quite differently ...
Eau de Rocha's Homme, in its original 1993 version, was a bright, citric fragrance that exuded an enormous lucid freshness.
An omnipresent lemon, unsweet and very natural, was the leitmotif of this fragrance, opening the top note, which was wonderfully and carefully complemented by basil, taming any sweetness that might be present.
Lime, tangerine and bergamot underlay this combination of lemon and basil in a round but very reserved way A pleasant coolness, not to say coldness, which seemed like the clear water of a mountain stream, was contributed by the discreetly added aldehydes.
That was great, that was wonderful.
The heart note of the original version from 1993 was composed of a very successful interplay of floral notes, whereby carnation, jasmine and lily of the valley were combined with the still very present lemon and fresh, cool basil.
The base note grounded the fragrance skilfully with amber, but especially with oakmoss.
Vetiver and cedar were noticeable in echoes, but were still outshone by the very persistent lemon.
This tart, citric persistence was most likely due to the aldehydes, but it literally made the fragrance a perennial in every sense of the word. The endurance was enormous for a citric scent and was about 6-7 hours before the scent became skin-tight.
For reasons I cannot explain, this all-round successful, very popular fragrance was then reformulated in 2015.
Responsible for this was Giles Romey, who had already created the original version of 1993.
I would like to ask him, what reasons caused him to disfigure his own, really quite outstanding fragrance in such a way ...
In the reformulated version of 2015, the top note is composed of bergamot, lemon, lime and mandarin.
Compared to the original version of 1993, basil, lemon verbena and the aldehydes are now missing.
As a result, this top note has neither the freshness nor the persistence of the original version. The citric top note is now much sweeter, much less fresh, but above all it lacks the crystal-clear, sparkling, crystalline coolness of the older version.
It lacks the uniqueness that made the 1993 version stand out from other citrus scents.
The heart note of the reformulated fragrance is now completely different from the original version.
In the 1993 edition, floral notes combined with radiant citric notes provided depth, volume and a bright, fresh, transparent fragrance. In the reformulated version, these floral notes were simply replaced by pine and mugwort. Coriander has remained, but seems barely perceptible, and the basil that has now been added here obviously cannot hold its own against the pine.
It seems to me that the significantly weaker citric of the reformulated version is far from being able to establish the connection between the top note and the heart note as skilfully as in the original version of 1993.
The reformulated version of 2015 lacks the power, the fresh coolness, the transparency, the crystal sharpness.
Nor can this be remedied by keeping the base note the same - at least on paper. I personally find the base note also weaker, duller and more short-lived than the original version.
At this point I would like to compare the ingredients of the two versions of this fragrance once again, so that a comparison is possible:
Eau de Rochas Homme (1993)
Top note: aldehydes, basil, bergamot, lime, tangerine lemon, lemon verbena
Heart notes: freesia, carnation, jasmine, coriander, lily of the valley, rose, violet
Base notes: Amber, oakmoss, musk, vetiver, cedar
Eau de Rochas Homme (2015)
Top note: Bergamot, lemon, lime, tangerine
Heart notes: coriander, basil, pine, mugwort
Base notes: Amber, musk, oakmoss, vetiver, cedar
These changes, indeed the complete replacement of the heart note in conjunction with the consistent and unsightly pruning of the top note, mean that one has to compare two scents that are remotely similar but de facto very different.
No, the reformulated fragrance of 2015 is no longer the original fragrance of 1993!
I concede that the 2015 version bears a distant resemblance to the 1993 edition, but it is definitely not the same fragrance.
If we consider without bias how many components of the original fragrance were left out during the reformulation (aldehydes, lemon verbena, basil in the top note, freesia, carnation, jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, violet in the heart note) in order to be replaced by a few new ones (pine, mugwort, basil in the heart note), we can see that it can no longer be an identical fragrance.
I am very disappointed that the reformulated fragrance, which is only a faint shadow of its original version, is still marketed under the same name.
It's not the same scent anymore!
Unfortunately, it seems almost impossible to find the original 1993 version. So if you still have a remnant of this great fragrance, consider yourselves lucky and enjoy it.
I still own a bottle of the 1993 version, but unfortunately the content is dreadfully running out ...
Tempi passati.
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