Dauerländer

The original 1982 Quorum, even in its thinned-out formula today, represents the dust-dry green herbaceousness of a solid man's fragrance with many ingediencies, but speaking with one voice, calling one chord.

Quorum Silver only very briefly gives a whiff of that primordiality, then settles into a field of ginger-cardamom-mandarin-lavender on a - reading from the scent notes - cedar base. Aha. Cedar it is.

Delicious without being too sweet. There's something scratchy in there too, but only ever as a base, never coming to the fore. This distinguishes it from many light modern fragrances: it has a solid base on which the delicious woody fruitiness can unfold. The whole thing airy, light, and then remaining almost unchanged for several hours. The colour of the liquid is a perfect match. Speaking of the bottle, it seems fragile to me. Perhaps a symbol of the contemporary nature of masculinity, or rather its questioning. Quorum Silver has some of that, fits quite well for an androgynous woman in my view. As with the man, less a fragrance for body builders in muscle shirts, more for a suit wearer. Rather Pierce Brosnan than Sean Connery.

The shelf life is quite okay, a few more spritzes needts already for a daily ration. The sillage is already thoughtful at the beginning, but then remains the same for a long time and is not so quickly to the Skin-Scent.

What makes it stand out is its versatility and seasonal indeterminacy: makes itself well in a pollen-flooded spring, a sun-drenched summer, a rainy-windy autumn and a foggy-cold winter day.

Now is this a more modern take on the classic? In my opinion: No. It's something of its own. If I didn't know it was called Quorum, I wouldn't think so.
I can't really name a fragrance twin. My cedar scents (at least the ones with that in the name) are not comparable: Lagerfeld's Bois de Cèdre is much more tart, no sweetness at all, more peppery-soapy; Ferrari's Cedar Essence goes in the direction of a slightly powdery-creamy detergent cleanliness (?) and Armani's Eau de Cèdre also has a similar sweetness to Quorum Silver, but more like sweetened black tea with added sage.

In short: a fragrance that does not easily fall out of time. Fit 2005, fits 2021.

Bought about two years ago, I have Marbert Homme (MH) after smelling for the first time, quite perplexed, put aside and only recently again hervorgekramt.

By the comments and statements here, the thought could arise, MH is a smooth citrus fragrance with woody-warm notes and floral touched. The current transparent Flacon allows such an interpretation quite. And the fragrance pyramid mentions jasmine, vanilla and cedarwood.

So far so good. But I smell something completely different.

After I have bought me for about two and a half years a large range of different fragrances, I can now better classify MH, which I then as a novice simply not yet succeeded. MH I assign rather a category "old Powerhouse" (so much for the terms that one takes after youtubesker continuous sprinkling with English language in his basic vocabulary), so mossy, very bitter, extremely green, aromatic, no sweetness.

To find a scent twin, I sprayed on Bogart's "Bogart" and the One Man Show (OMS), Puig's Quorum and Cartier Santos and observed, or smelled, the progressions. Of the four, OMS comes the closest to MH. Santos is quite distant at first, but approaches the MH somewhat as it progresses. Quorum and Bogart are darker, warmer, a bit more pleasing, less bitter. MH, in comparison, is very "herbaceous", slightly soapy and rather "light green" (the green hue of the cardboard packaging sums it up well). In its own way, more slaggy, determined, concrete and pithy. And so he remains even after a few hours, where, on the other hand, OMS develops tamer.

The fragrance pyramid above can therefore only be true in parts. It certainly has "citrus" in it, but not the fresh bergamot or lime notes, but rather the bitterness of a grapefruit. Rose - maybe. Jasmine - if so, it goes down for me. And the fragrance pyramid is missing notes like clove, moss, pine, or whatever in combination evokes that "herbaceousness" (maybe someone can help me there).

How do I like this? I like the OMS to some extent (the Gold and Ruby editions say more to me, and I really like the Oud). Bogart and Quorum I wear from time to time, as classics of the category and me most likely. For the OMS, I don't find too many occasions where I wear it. And the MH? Well, on the one hand, MH has the advantage of going in all seasons, for day and evening. I think for the right man, MH can be a signature scent. It's well crafted, has decent longevity, comes across as very masculine, and can't be beat for the price.
But just not mine.

He wasn't exactly topping my wish list, the Versace Man Eau Fraiche. But with so many, sometimes almost euphoric reviews here and on YT I wanted to be surprised and ordered blind.
From the colour of the bottle and the advertisement I conclude that it is an aquatic, very fresh, light fragrance. A summer breeze, water, spray, slightly salty. A cool refreshment after a too hot sun.

Nix da!

Immediately after spraying it on, I find the fragrance most pleasant, a little fresh, slightly citric and floral. But what emerges after about a minute and remains the same for the next hours is a dull-smelling broth of artificial fruit aromas, probably starfruit (I never had the pleasure of smelling a real one). Sweet, a bit bitter, a bit sour, and not really fresh, rather on the threshold of overripe fruit that has been lying in the hot sun for too long. There is no trace of aquatic. Sea spray also smells different. At least there is a hint of spice and later on something darker can be perceived. After about four hours it gets fresher and more conciliatory

So the light blue, transparent flacon led me on a wrong track. In terms of colour, I would have found a matt, darker yellow, not strong, more in the direction of beige. But I might have to rethink my colour associations, because apparently other "blue" flacons also tend to be artificial-fruity, like the Myrurgia Yacht Man Blue, which has nothing to do with aquatic, too
And "summery" is probably less associated by many with cool mountain lakes or a stiff sea breeze than with holidays on the Mediterranean and on busy roads emptied and sun-dried, sticky lemonade.

For a summer scent, durability is quite good and Sillage is quite ok (means: noticeable in the personal zone).

My puff test reveals something striking: otherwise I almost always sniff a concentrated dose of the base, the core of a fragrance. With this Versace, I get almost nothing, as if it only consists of head and heart notes, without a perceptible base.

The other Versaces appeal to me more, like the pleasing (unfortunately weak) Oud Noir, the minty tasty Eros, the cherry-tobacco Dreamer and one of my favourite scents: L'homme.

What can he compare to? It is similar to one from my collection: Salvador Dali Silver Sun, although it lacks the citrus note. But this strong, matte fruitiness is characteristic of both
I only own one of the fragrance twins listed here: Banderas' Blue Seduction for Men. And yes, there is no denying the similarity. But it's not my favorite Banderas either

So does this mean I won't be wearing Versace Man Eau Fraiche anymore? No. I'll wear it once in a while when it hits 30 degrees, dry heat, Sahara dust. Then I can certainly imagine that turgid fruitiness.
Besides, he is highly appreciated by almost everyone. So I'm going to really get into it, look for crowds of people and hope that I finally get one of those "unasked for compliments" that so many men seem to receive all the time ;)

Bogart's "story" line doesn't go over well here
Since it is very cheap to buy online, I liked the previous Bogarts well to very well and I am looking for the controversy, I ordered it last winter and stored it in a cool place for a few months. Then in spring the first test. Immediately I notice this characteristic Bogart basic chord, as it appears for example also Silver Scent, Story Red, even in Riviera Nights. It's just cleaner, more basic, smoother here. Soon after spraying on my over the whole scent course (which scent course? Linear as only anything!) my association remains the same: detergent. Definitely detergent. I can't pinpoint a specific brand, but it's definitely detergent. Enriched with a mix of artificial cherry, grape and lavender aromas

Citric? No. At most for a few seconds after spraying. Although I would refrain from smelling for the first 30 seconds anyway
Aquatic? An arm-to-arm comparison with DEM aquatic EdT, Cool Water, shows Yeah, there is something. While Cool Water smells to me more real, more natural, "meadow by the water" or rather: "trees by a lake", I have a comic of a shore scene in front of me in Story Blue. Plastic-surface-like.

It lasts for a long time, not extremely long, but for an EdT for the warmer months already really good. The Sillage is constant over a long time at about arm's length.

The breath test (a little 1h after spraying on - I do it on the back of my hand - breathe on it and then smell it very close): No change in the otherwise perceived scent.

The dark blue of the bottle matches my sense of smell well. Because of the association with detergent, I also find it whitish-powdery, the colour of detergent powder. Yes, powder. Not liquid detergent. It smells different: creamy, thick, jasmine

I find it difficult to specify a certain age for which he is particularly suitable. Maybe younger men like it less, because it lacks both the intense sweetness and this currently so popular (pineapple) fruitiness. And it is certainly not a very sophisticated fragrance. It is neither a crow-pleaser nor an insider tip for seekers of the extraordinary scent. It simply smells synthetic, clean, blue, smooth, Bogart-like and unlike most summer scents.

For me from spring to late summer as a change to citric, aquatic or fruity scents, especially in rather humid weather and when I am on the road and do not want to spray again after 2 hours.

And just ordered a backup bottle and stored in a cool place.

It's World Fragrance Day 2020 and I just had to spray on my favourite perfume still in production, even though the season is the wrong one. A spray in the left crook of your arm, in the morning at about 9 o'clock. Now it is 7 pm and it still smells and projects strongly. I will take a shower in the morning and I know I will still be able to smell it afterwards. One of my very few fragrances that last this long. And yet the scent is gentle, yet masculine without being even a hint of animal. Pretty linear. Very well mixed. Elegant. Adult. The Sillage is practically constant good for many, many hours, not room filling, rather limited to 50cm to 1m.

I love wearing it on a day I spend at home. Applied in the morning, 2 sprays are enough, a discreet, but always well noticeable scent cloud follows me until late in the evening. If I wear it outside, then at least with a shirt. Actually, tie and suit belong to it, which is not my thing and not a duty at work. There I would rather attract attention and collect sayings like "probably have a job interview ;)".

It fits well to the winter half year, i.e. for our latitudes from about mid-September to about the end of March, day or evening.
The colour of the liquid fits very well, I perceive it as yellow and slightly creamy.

With its enormous performance and the rarity with which I use such top fragrances, my two 100ml flacons will probably last for a few more decades and give special days a special note.

If I had to give away all but two of the fragrances (for reasons I can't figure out, as I always do with these mind games), then I would keep exactly this one - and the 2012 version, which I value even higher.