JavSantana

JavSantana

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JavSantana 3 years ago 6
10
Bottle
6
Sillage
4
Longevity
10
Scent
Let's talk on Drakkar.
I knew this frag because of a certain youtuber's video on old school colognes. Drakkar Noir and Azzaro (Which are quite similar, lavender heavy scents with some type of anise nuance, leather and oakmoss) made the list, along some pretty heavy ones like Hermes Bel Ami and stuff. Drakkar Noir was described by this guy as a "juvenile fougere scent" which indeed is. It is rather similar to Azzaro as i said before, but it just smells less mature, sexier and cleaner. I have a 200ml bottle from a batch which i think is from 2016. Let's talk on that.

First, the opening, which is an amazingly fresh opening with some citrus tones. Aromatic, herbal as well. The heart reveals woods, more herbs and even a touch of florals such as carnation, a heavily used note in old school colognes. In the drydown we get a punch of leather (A clean, finished and even fresh leather which is amazingly worked, it is very very realistic and differs from the russian leathers of the time such as Polo green and OdlR Pour Lui...) and a plethora of woods and earth notes such as moss, vetiver, patchouli, fir, pine, resins, et cetera. I find this fragrance to have been concieved in a period that i consider the "baroque" era of perfumery. Drakkar has 25 listed notes, an impressive amount when compared to modern day frags (Obviously modern ones have way more aromachemical ingredients, but notes like so? Ha.) and that makes me think how hard it must have been to mix all those ingredient oils, in such small quantities when the perfume was originally created. I think this is perfectly usable by men in any age group. A 50 year old man can use it to recall the days of old and a 20 year old guy can rock it as well without smelling dated or stuff, i guess it would be nice to young women and it would get them curious since it's not animalic at all as it still smells like a soap, a fresh leather, and also like the nature or stuff. The reformulations surely have made it less heavy and fresher, which is good. Amazingly versatile, perfect for fall and spring, can be used in cool summer days and not-so-cold winter, dress up (Not the most convenient however, the scent is extremely sports - focused IMO) dress down, leather jacket, bomber jacket, (It's the 80's Sauvage...) date, casual ocassion, school, HUGE ET CETERA. The performance is something to mention though, the first day i used it i sprayed the fragrance happily. It lasted an hour. Now, after two years of use, it lasts around the 4 hour mark when overspraying so it's very weak. Might wanna consider an alternative like some clone or Lomani.

Bottom line: It is a great smell, and the bang for the buck, meh, up to you. As i mentioned the performance is very weak at least on my skin. A great old school cologne with pretty much no animalic tones on it, perfectly usable nowadays. Extremely sexy for women in late 20's, 30's and above. Good as a gym scent if you want the powerhouse feel. Extremely versatile as well, weather - wise. Some consider it a random uncle frag, but it really is a masterpiece when analyzed.
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JavSantana 3 years ago 4 1
10
Bottle
10
Sillage
9
Longevity
10
Scent
Most masculine cologne ever?
May 2020 batch: Has a harsh (but great) juniper berries opening with lots of aromatics and a touch of citrus in there as well. The heart contains pine and some slight chypre floral nuances mainly of rose and carnation. Leather (A russian leather, similar in smell to a vintage BO impregnated jacket, which differs heavily from the original birch tar smoke of the older formulas) appears as a late heart note, but disappears in the far drydown. The drydown is a combo of mainly smoky tobacco, amber, earthy patchouli, vetiver, oakmoss and musk in there, with the amber making the edges of the aroma smoother and giving in this case a very slight sweetness that accompanies the tobacco, however, i don't smell notes such as the moss which is pretty tamed down pretty much in all frags nowadays, same for the musk, this frag is supposed to contain a pretty heavy animalic musk which i don't smell much but is percieved with ammonia tones, and something pretty interesting happens with vetiver, it is not perceived as a protagonic note or anything but along cedar, acts as a wood backbone to this leather and pine heart.

Performance without any liquid evolution / aging inside the bottle is of around 8 hours for a single spray. With time i guess this will easily reach some 10 or 12 hours of performance, if not more. (This can already be achieved with overspraying.) This is happily one of my two signature scents, along Givenchy Gentleman '74, i use them at 20 years old. I find it to be a timeless ultramasculine scent. (And this formula is more refined, less heavy on leather than older ones which have an overwhelming smoke from the leather and the old school Polo is without any doubt the most masculine cologne i have ever smelled.) The reformulation has also made it more versatile since it is not that heavy and women seem to dislike the beastly leather in the older ones anyway. This evocates masculine activities, such as logging, wood burning for grilling or a fireplace, leather making, tobacco smoking, et cetera. I feel that any age group can use it when properly dressed. (Don't wear this with your modern day bomber jacket, teenager shirts, aesthetic outfits and stuff, wear this with some sweater on fall, a flannel or overall a long sleeve shirt or a real leather jacket. I think it admits casual use but it requires some care put into the look)
A great cologne overall.
1 Comment
JavSantana 3 years ago 3 2
Disco King?
I am 20 years old and i own this fragrance. A reformulated version, naturally, and i will review it for you.
Azzaro Pour Homme reminds me of an after shave cologne from the fresh notes it contains. We can note a pretty lavender heavy scent, with some anise as well, (This is the combo that forms the main character of the fragrance) aromatics and also some citrus tones in there as well. The heart already contains cardamom and woods and the base shows the oakmoss, musk, leather, et cetera. I have to say it is quite hard to identify individual notes on this fragrance, since it contains a lot of them and is pretty nicely blended and made with such care and attention to detail. I also think the reformulations have made of this a more usable fragrance even for younger guys like me without smelling dated or old. It is a pretty versatile cologne and it simply smells great. Clean, fresh, aromatic, woody.

On the other side, as i state in the title, i find Azzaro Pour Homme an excellent example of what a "disco king" fragrance was in its days. Yes, we might find this frags from the 70's to be nowadays pretty elegant, but back in the day they were surely used for everything. From what i have smelled of these 70's powerhouses, one that i don't find for disco use is Givenchy Gentleman. All the others were surely used for the disco. As i see random things in my head when i smell something, as i smell Azzaro i personally imagine a man with a Selleck mustache, some 70's haircut, bell bottom pants and an open shirt with a heavily haired chest projecting Azzaro through the whole club like a beast dancing to something like Stayin Alive, breaking the dancefloor as he passes, who knows why. I might also imagine that with Paco Pour Homme or stuff, an elegant guy making out with her girl in a hotel at the beach or stuff while listening to barry white. Polo and Lapidus are rather some heavy rock scents, i imagine a guy with an open shirt as well and some heavy chest hair, a thick gold necklace, a gold watch and a leather jacket driving an old school car with long backwards-combed hair. On the other side, Gentleman reminds me of a funky guy that looks like Charly Garcia and is wearing a suit.
2 Comments
JavSantana 3 years ago 7 1
10
Bottle
10
Sillage
9
Longevity
10
Scent
My first love (And first review here)
Greetings. I am moving from the "Frag..." named site since my computer doesn't charge it properly and usually crashes when i visit it. The thing being, i am starting from scratch in here and i will even change the language i write my reviews in, i am from Mexico, but hopefully my english is still understandable.

Going back to the review: I smelled first formulation Eros around 2014 or 2015 from a tester decant i had. I went crazy when i smelled it, i couldn't understand how that could exist. Eros has been called the King of Clubbing and it certainly is, i personally prefer it above its "similars" like One Million, Ultramale, and stuff. Even the reformulated version has an above average performance, still nothing to see with the vintage.

Eros starts with a nice blast of mint, lemon (smelling like the juice of the citrus) and apple, having a distinctive mix of these notes. As the cologne goes into drydown we can note a slight touch of geranium, a pretty heavy tonka bean note and some vanilla as well in there. Woods are also included in the fragrance, such as moss, vetiver, and cedar, to name a few, i don't smell them that much, though.
The reformulation made the fragrance heavier on apple and vanilla, took down the aromatic touch and the citrus from the opening and overall made it sweeter. As i told you, i don't think it's bad but it's not simply as good as the vintage.

Eros remains my first love when talking on perfumes, even after some six or seven years since i first smelled it. It brings memories from a club that existed in my hometown (Zacatecas) where they used to put Flume songs in our middle high school parties, the place closed in 2015 and a few years later i discovered the Flume songs (Which i didn't knew the name of) that i loved from that era. I overally relate Eros with the deep house / chill music scene, a certain haircut i used to have, my lack of facial hair from that time, that club and even a shirt that i used to wear back then and which i am keeping unused for the time i get the vaccine and finally go dance those songs on one of those places again, spraying pretty heavily first formulation Eros which i am pretty lucky to have bought recently.
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