JavSantana
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Good but highly overpriced (Applies for all their perfumes)
(I apologize having erased my older review of this, anyways, reviewing once again:)
I like Aventus, i love wearing it and it's so damn versatile. But i gotta complain for that price. The point being:
This smells so good, the natural citruses, the florals, the birch tar smoke, the oakmoss, the marine ambroxan edge. (Yeah, i said ambroxan, no current nor vintage Creed has ever had natural ambergris in it, and it's actually better, ambroxan projects like crazy, it's much cheaper and has around the same tenacity than natural ambergris, and blending with the other heavy materials in Aventus like the birch tar itself, the oakmoss, (Which i can't remember if it's solely veramoss or actual oakmoss absolute) the musk and the vanilla, it just comes alive amazingly)
It draws so many compliments, it's so attention - grabbing, so nice to wear (Opposite to how i'd feel rocking Amouage Interlude) and whatever you want, but, why that damn price?
I had grown suspicious of a few things from the house, then i tried a bunch of their scents and "The Ghost Perfumer" dropped. Fake history about the perfumery tradition of the maison, seems like these guys hadn't put anything in the market before the 60's or 70's. Basically stealing creations from brilliant perfumers and talking gossip about the scents being worn by certain celebrities like Churchill wearing Tabarome and the actor who died around the same time GIT dropped, lol. And you can kinda see it, i mean, for around 400 bucks DISCOUNTED, the box quality, the ingredient quality itself (This is a premium designer composition with components by Firmenich, Givaudan and such, no more than that) and the performance of the scent is just not worth it at all. In my personal case, i can see wearing this to extremely special events, and having a couple 10ml decants or maybe a 1oz bottle. No more than that.
I get decent performance out of this, if not, a bit better. I love the scent. This used to have a couple banned ingredients back in the day, but now the ingredient declaration seems safer.
My bottom line is: If you're buying this for status and you don't mind the cost, go ahead, great scent. On the other side, if you're like me, with not a particularly fat budget and looking for a better bang for buck, don't EVER buy this. I also think about the same for every perfume by the house, no exceptions.
PD: The wine study around cost being a factor as to perceive something of a better quality than what a product actually is, i think gives a good idea as how to people see the house: "Oh my God a maison from 1760 that sells its perfumes for 500 bucks, that must be amazing!!"
PD2: Batch variations are a complete hoax. They mod the formula slightly as to seem artisanal. Ingredient variations are pretty much imperceptible to most people, and wouldn't change the proportions, they'd only bring up slight differences in ingredient nuances. Proof, GIT and pretty much all other scents from the house never change unless reformulated. A salute to all!
I like Aventus, i love wearing it and it's so damn versatile. But i gotta complain for that price. The point being:
This smells so good, the natural citruses, the florals, the birch tar smoke, the oakmoss, the marine ambroxan edge. (Yeah, i said ambroxan, no current nor vintage Creed has ever had natural ambergris in it, and it's actually better, ambroxan projects like crazy, it's much cheaper and has around the same tenacity than natural ambergris, and blending with the other heavy materials in Aventus like the birch tar itself, the oakmoss, (Which i can't remember if it's solely veramoss or actual oakmoss absolute) the musk and the vanilla, it just comes alive amazingly)
It draws so many compliments, it's so attention - grabbing, so nice to wear (Opposite to how i'd feel rocking Amouage Interlude) and whatever you want, but, why that damn price?
I had grown suspicious of a few things from the house, then i tried a bunch of their scents and "The Ghost Perfumer" dropped. Fake history about the perfumery tradition of the maison, seems like these guys hadn't put anything in the market before the 60's or 70's. Basically stealing creations from brilliant perfumers and talking gossip about the scents being worn by certain celebrities like Churchill wearing Tabarome and the actor who died around the same time GIT dropped, lol. And you can kinda see it, i mean, for around 400 bucks DISCOUNTED, the box quality, the ingredient quality itself (This is a premium designer composition with components by Firmenich, Givaudan and such, no more than that) and the performance of the scent is just not worth it at all. In my personal case, i can see wearing this to extremely special events, and having a couple 10ml decants or maybe a 1oz bottle. No more than that.
I get decent performance out of this, if not, a bit better. I love the scent. This used to have a couple banned ingredients back in the day, but now the ingredient declaration seems safer.
My bottom line is: If you're buying this for status and you don't mind the cost, go ahead, great scent. On the other side, if you're like me, with not a particularly fat budget and looking for a better bang for buck, don't EVER buy this. I also think about the same for every perfume by the house, no exceptions.
PD: The wine study around cost being a factor as to perceive something of a better quality than what a product actually is, i think gives a good idea as how to people see the house: "Oh my God a maison from 1760 that sells its perfumes for 500 bucks, that must be amazing!!"
PD2: Batch variations are a complete hoax. They mod the formula slightly as to seem artisanal. Ingredient variations are pretty much imperceptible to most people, and wouldn't change the proportions, they'd only bring up slight differences in ingredient nuances. Proof, GIT and pretty much all other scents from the house never change unless reformulated. A salute to all!
Polo green before reformulation
Polo by Ralph Lauren from 1978 is a formidable scent, created by Carlos Benaim. It belongs to the woody chypre family and its notes are juniper berr...
Hold on, this isn't Polo...
Jokes aside, i find One Man Show to be rather close to Polo green before its latest reformulation. Going onto the actual review for OMS:
The opening is a tart, green blast, almost like smelling straight fresh lemongrass from beside a creek or stuff, also presents heavy hints of fresh, juicy bergamot.
It dries down to a slightly leathery, very soapy, powdery, mossy, musk, pine and castoreum - heavy, spicy, ambery and floral blend with hints of wood and a lot of earth, amazing. It's usually related to the USSR since it was one of the very few luxury goods that entered behind the iron curtain back in the day. Its performance in the current formula exceeds thy of most fragrances being offered nowadays, when the bottle is opened of some 5 - 6 hours with a noticeable projection and after aging for a few months, some 8 - 10 hours on skin with a brutal projection for the first couple hours.
Overall, an easy way to describe this is as if you mixed the pine from Polo green, the soap from Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, the spices from Santos de Cartier and the drydown of Chanel's Antaeus. Or if you made PR rougher, or Antaeus greener, of Santos greener and leather - forward. Something to that extent. Also deeply reminds me of brutalism in architecture, and particularly, a complex of buildings in my city dating back from the 1960's where pines and coniferous trees with aromatic sap grow in the gardens, and where nationalist murals used to be, along a theater where i played a few weeks ago. Anyway...
Bottom line: Excellent bang for buck 80's powerhouse. I prefer it far above Quorum, (I frankly dislike its cigarette - like drydown) Polo (Which has become extremely synthetic and lost performance) and even Lapidus Pour Homme (Ultraheavy and not versatile at all, while i do like it)
I also frankly prefer OMS above its competition, because it seems to check the boxes better than pretty much any other fragrance in the market for me. This is becoming my new signature scent. Best wishes.
Hold on, this isn't Polo...
Jokes aside, i find One Man Show to be rather close to Polo green before its latest reformulation. Going onto the actual review for OMS:
The opening is a tart, green blast, almost like smelling straight fresh lemongrass from beside a creek or stuff, also presents heavy hints of fresh, juicy bergamot.
It dries down to a slightly leathery, very soapy, powdery, mossy, musk, pine and castoreum - heavy, spicy, ambery and floral blend with hints of wood and a lot of earth, amazing. It's usually related to the USSR since it was one of the very few luxury goods that entered behind the iron curtain back in the day. Its performance in the current formula exceeds thy of most fragrances being offered nowadays, when the bottle is opened of some 5 - 6 hours with a noticeable projection and after aging for a few months, some 8 - 10 hours on skin with a brutal projection for the first couple hours.
Overall, an easy way to describe this is as if you mixed the pine from Polo green, the soap from Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, the spices from Santos de Cartier and the drydown of Chanel's Antaeus. Or if you made PR rougher, or Antaeus greener, of Santos greener and leather - forward. Something to that extent. Also deeply reminds me of brutalism in architecture, and particularly, a complex of buildings in my city dating back from the 1960's where pines and coniferous trees with aromatic sap grow in the gardens, and where nationalist murals used to be, along a theater where i played a few weeks ago. Anyway...
Bottom line: Excellent bang for buck 80's powerhouse. I prefer it far above Quorum, (I frankly dislike its cigarette - like drydown) Polo (Which has become extremely synthetic and lost performance) and even Lapidus Pour Homme (Ultraheavy and not versatile at all, while i do like it)
I also frankly prefer OMS above its competition, because it seems to check the boxes better than pretty much any other fragrance in the market for me. This is becoming my new signature scent. Best wishes.
Fahrenheit Dissertation
Fahrenheit has changed a good amount over the years. Early formulas feature extremely natural smelling, rough, violet leaves over OG russian, smoke - based leather, with undertones of spices like nutmeg, carnation, woods and such. Still, i take the risk of saying, it's much more juvenile and easier to wear than stuff from back in the day like, for example, Jacques Bogart Furyo, Lapidus Pour Homme and Hermes Bel Ami.
On the other side, current formulas feature much more protagonism on the spices and carnation, the leather has become much more refined, and the violet doesn't feel as natural, as if replaced with synthetic molecules, as, they indeed are.
While the OG smelled like burnt rubber, gasoline, an accident in a gas station about to explode if someone lit up a cigarette or stuff, the current smells something to the extent of a carnation growing in the garden beside a mechanic's shop. Old but refined leather, the smell of automotive oil above everything, slight gasoline.
My bottom line on this is: Yes, who couldn't change after 30 years? But anyway, the current formula is a great banger if you look for a balls out, straight out, classic and rugged leather scent, with slight, very slight sweet, floral and spice tones, to not say current leathers are soaked in vanilla, cinnamon and whipped cream. I would actually prefer Fahrenheit to Gucci Guilty Absolute, not because i dislike the other, but rather because i see it as a relatively proper replacement and Fahrenheit is much easier to obtain than GGA, yet easier to like and wear while mantaining the rough aura. I frankly would also prefer it a thousand times above any Tom Ford style leather, since those smell like new leather shoes with three cans of grease and paraffin above them, not much of my liking. Yet, i have to say, i prefer other, even more refined leather scents. Polo green in current formula is something more of my liking, same for Givenchy Gentleman from 2017, CH Men Privé, Hermes Bel Ami, the long gone Salvador For Him from the 90's and so on, which have refined, aromatic, suede - forward, saffron and violet - heavy leathers. (With the exception of Polo)
Blessings.
On the other side, current formulas feature much more protagonism on the spices and carnation, the leather has become much more refined, and the violet doesn't feel as natural, as if replaced with synthetic molecules, as, they indeed are.
While the OG smelled like burnt rubber, gasoline, an accident in a gas station about to explode if someone lit up a cigarette or stuff, the current smells something to the extent of a carnation growing in the garden beside a mechanic's shop. Old but refined leather, the smell of automotive oil above everything, slight gasoline.
My bottom line on this is: Yes, who couldn't change after 30 years? But anyway, the current formula is a great banger if you look for a balls out, straight out, classic and rugged leather scent, with slight, very slight sweet, floral and spice tones, to not say current leathers are soaked in vanilla, cinnamon and whipped cream. I would actually prefer Fahrenheit to Gucci Guilty Absolute, not because i dislike the other, but rather because i see it as a relatively proper replacement and Fahrenheit is much easier to obtain than GGA, yet easier to like and wear while mantaining the rough aura. I frankly would also prefer it a thousand times above any Tom Ford style leather, since those smell like new leather shoes with three cans of grease and paraffin above them, not much of my liking. Yet, i have to say, i prefer other, even more refined leather scents. Polo green in current formula is something more of my liking, same for Givenchy Gentleman from 2017, CH Men Privé, Hermes Bel Ami, the long gone Salvador For Him from the 90's and so on, which have refined, aromatic, suede - forward, saffron and violet - heavy leathers. (With the exception of Polo)
Blessings.
A very pleasant surprise
Quite frankly, the blue tendency is not something i'm into. They have always seemed quite simple and random fragrances for my personal use. And i always liked to use something different to that. I think blues are a good warm and hot weather scent, but, since i wouldn't wear them, i needed to look for other alternatives. A couple of the ones i liked the most (Out naturally of the blue realm) are Versace Pour Homme, Lacoste Blanc and recently, Adidas UEFA (A synthetic Allure Homme Sport Eau Extreme) and also the classic Agua Brava.
A few days ago, i saw AB Azul in a supermarket here. And smelling it from the cap, it was something to the extent of:
"It's a blue that doesn't smell like generic bullshit".
Anyway, this one seemed very nice. Oceanic notes with pink pepper, citruses and a slightly woody, musky and ambery back, just great.
The performance some mention is bad. I think it can be oversprayed and getting it to last some 8 hours on skin, or apply normally or slightly more than usual on clothing and it will have a good performance. It's like a modernized Agua Brava, great for any age, better when younger, great for casual summer and hot spring use.
A few days ago, i saw AB Azul in a supermarket here. And smelling it from the cap, it was something to the extent of:
"It's a blue that doesn't smell like generic bullshit".
Anyway, this one seemed very nice. Oceanic notes with pink pepper, citruses and a slightly woody, musky and ambery back, just great.
The performance some mention is bad. I think it can be oversprayed and getting it to last some 8 hours on skin, or apply normally or slightly more than usual on clothing and it will have a good performance. It's like a modernized Agua Brava, great for any age, better when younger, great for casual summer and hot spring use.
Different version? Reformulated?
Reading the last review i thought of something to the extent of CH Men Privé or JPG Le Male Essence de Parfum, and Segno was hyped to me as a similar to a leather and liquor fragrance. What i got, made in Mexico (Since Avon seems to have several facilities around the world, that besides any possible reformulation which modified substantially the smell of the perfume) is quite far from the description of the last review.
Starting with its presentation, Segno is sold in a box with a quite nice design. But, the bottle design is astounding, i'd say better and much more interesting than most presentations in the designer realm. It's quite unstable but y'know, who cares, just put it in a good place with a stable base where it won't fall off. And it is very surely a bottle that i'll keep since it is itself a work of art.
Anyway, onto the actual fragrance:
My version presents an extremely dominant lemon opening with present lavender, to later dry down into pepper, liquor, more exactly, rye whiskey, which is not particularly sweet, but it does feel alcoholic, spicy, as if it had cumin, also contains rose and geranium undertones, Haitian vetiver (Which feels much creamier than asian vetiver, which smells like grass, Haitian does not, smells ambery, creamy, almost like amberwood) and slight amber nuances, with a present patchouli note in the base and dominant wood notes overall, as if it were tannins from a whisky barrel.
I DO NOT smell leather on it at all. So, it's overall, a woody, sweet, boozy, spicy, ambery and slighly earthy perfume. I would actually describe it as closer to Mugler's Pure Malt, Yves Rocher's Cuir Vetiver, or even, a booze and spice - forward Terre D'Hermes.
I don't consider it particularly good for colder weather like autumn and winter, but rather, as a dress up, dating, summer or spring fragrance. For fall i'd go for something like Banderas The Icon The Perfume or Bentley For Men. I think it's great for formal wear, while it's not the most elegant fragrance by any means, great for evening or night events in spring or summer, great for night wear in summer as well, dates as well, and i also see it working perfectly for office use. And frankly, i think it's one of the best bets with Avon, since it is built by a great perfumer with IFF ingredients, meaning, it uses the same ingredients as CK fragrances (But this one does actually perform) or even, some by Ralph Lauren. Good also for casual wear, but it does feel quite elegant, as with most liquor perfumes. Its longevity is very solid, of around 8 hours. And for the 15 bucks you pay for it, it's just great.
Bottom line: A banger for this price. If you want booze or a very fine vetiver, with spices, this is your frag. And if you want a cult catalog fragrance, or a dating perfume, it's also one of your best bets.
Starting with its presentation, Segno is sold in a box with a quite nice design. But, the bottle design is astounding, i'd say better and much more interesting than most presentations in the designer realm. It's quite unstable but y'know, who cares, just put it in a good place with a stable base where it won't fall off. And it is very surely a bottle that i'll keep since it is itself a work of art.
Anyway, onto the actual fragrance:
My version presents an extremely dominant lemon opening with present lavender, to later dry down into pepper, liquor, more exactly, rye whiskey, which is not particularly sweet, but it does feel alcoholic, spicy, as if it had cumin, also contains rose and geranium undertones, Haitian vetiver (Which feels much creamier than asian vetiver, which smells like grass, Haitian does not, smells ambery, creamy, almost like amberwood) and slight amber nuances, with a present patchouli note in the base and dominant wood notes overall, as if it were tannins from a whisky barrel.
I DO NOT smell leather on it at all. So, it's overall, a woody, sweet, boozy, spicy, ambery and slighly earthy perfume. I would actually describe it as closer to Mugler's Pure Malt, Yves Rocher's Cuir Vetiver, or even, a booze and spice - forward Terre D'Hermes.
I don't consider it particularly good for colder weather like autumn and winter, but rather, as a dress up, dating, summer or spring fragrance. For fall i'd go for something like Banderas The Icon The Perfume or Bentley For Men. I think it's great for formal wear, while it's not the most elegant fragrance by any means, great for evening or night events in spring or summer, great for night wear in summer as well, dates as well, and i also see it working perfectly for office use. And frankly, i think it's one of the best bets with Avon, since it is built by a great perfumer with IFF ingredients, meaning, it uses the same ingredients as CK fragrances (But this one does actually perform) or even, some by Ralph Lauren. Good also for casual wear, but it does feel quite elegant, as with most liquor perfumes. Its longevity is very solid, of around 8 hours. And for the 15 bucks you pay for it, it's just great.
Bottom line: A banger for this price. If you want booze or a very fine vetiver, with spices, this is your frag. And if you want a cult catalog fragrance, or a dating perfume, it's also one of your best bets.
