KimJong

I was quite looking forward to it even before it was released. I tested it on my skin yesterday and also brought a scented paper. Now I have to say that it is a thorough mainstream aquatic perfume but not boring. Explorer Ultra Blue can still be included in the same category with Sauvage, Y, or so, but it is not a shower gel type, rather a perfume with marine mineral elements such as Bvlgari Aqva, D&G LB Swimming In Lipari, or Invictus Legend.

We already know that Montblanc is not a brand of originality or artistry in the perfume market. Their value is to finely predict consumer demand and join the trend at the right time. But they couldn't join the ambroxan festival of the 2010s. They must have been very concerned about how to inherit the trend as a latecomer in the market, and the result is this, Explorer Ultra Blue. They didn't make the scent more luxurious or special at all. Instead, they took note of the phenomenon in which other designer brands began to accept the salty mineral use. That salty mineral use is something that niche houses have tried first, something that has already been known to the point of safety, but has not become very popular yet.

Anyway, the early opening of Ultra Blue is a fruity cocktail-like scent, which is not very refreshing but also not sticky. This opening provides sweetness for teenage consumers but does not follow the pattern of mainstream men's perfumes. Anyway, the opening disappears quickly, soon after, a salty bergamot pops out. Pepper doesn't stand out very much, but adds a little bit of sharpness to this. And the ambroxan bomb, which is already supersaturated in the market, begins, and it followed the trend of men's perfumes in the 2010s, but emphasized the salty one. It is not necessary to mention the synthetic patchouli and leather that remain in the drydown. They are not materials for a good scent, they are just to increase the longevity, I think.

However, I think there's a reason why mineralic thing can't be completely mainstream, like ozonic thing. Ozonic perfumes make citrus brighter and more beautiful under certain conditions, but when it's not very hot, they also smell like cheap wipes. Likewise, Mineralic perfumes can give different experiences depending on the wearer, but sometimes it evokes horrible unpleasant memories for a person like me. I was born in a conscription country and had to be conscripted regardless of my will. Soldiers there disinfected always, whether was cleaning a camp or grooming equipment, with iodine solution. So the mineralic perfume is the smell of iodine solution used in the army for me. Whether it calls mineralic, marine or seaweed, whatever.

Nevertheless, Explorer Ultra Blue may be the first Mineralic perfume I'll buy. It scents more familiar and wearable than other perfumes with mineral notes to express the cold smell of the sea. it's more recent than Bvlgari Aqva. Nor is it overly sweet like Invictus Legend. It's definitely more masculine than D&G Light Blue Swimming In Lipari. It lasts longer than Valentino Born In Roma and has a little more clean feeling. But surely Ultra Blue won't be my most favorite perfume, and even if I buy it, it'll be time to sell at a discount store very cheaply. Sometimes others simply abbreviate these words as "Nothing Special", but I thought this perfume was pretty good than "Nothing Special". That's because It have made the kind of smell what I hate as acceptable as possible.

PS 1: Very little resemblance to Explorer original. The original wasn't even a literally original anyway, you know, so please stop your hasty expectations about Ultra Blue.

PS 2: If it's the same price range, of course ADG Profondo is much better. However, if the price of Explorer Ultra Blue goes down to 1/3 of Profondo, the evaluation will be different.

PS 3: I'm sorry for my childish English.

Three respectable commentators below left very impressive reviews here, and after reading them I felt intense curiosity about Varon Dandy. I could easily find this on Amazon, and I blind bought a set of a EDT and a aftershave as if possessed by something. And I'm really glad to add this to my collection. This review I wrote here is about EDT.

Varon Dandy consists of a muddy scent the day after the rain, an incredibly intense spices, and a soft soapy sandalwood-like dry old wood scent. The muddy scent works just as well as Mitsouko does as a skin aroma, Varon Dandy's way is much bolder and rougher than Mitsouko. Spices are hard to tell exactly what the ingredients are, but they seem to be almost oriental. The woody scent reminds me of Old Spice or Tabac, but it's much spicier than them, and probably combined with a sweet thing like cinnamon or tonka bean, but it's not creamy though.

And there are old-fashioned red flowers, the type common in many old school male perfumes. I don't like this part very much because it gives me such a mature look, but it goes smoothly with the old-fashioned talkum powder, and eventually leaves the impression of a vivid red pocket chief in a black suit. Interestingly, Varon Dandy has a scent similar to Old Spice, but there is no 'working class' vibe compared to that, instead, there is a vibe like a gentleman from the past. - Gentleman of an age when the tradition of duel still lingers.

I would like to mention that this perfume is quite far from the image of Spain I had in mind. It is not an exaggerated macho scent, nor is it a fairy tale thing like Gaudi's architectures. Contrary to Carlitos01's view, I didn't get glamorous feeling in this, but rather a warm and mild-mannered feeling, like the eccentric father of Penélope Cruz in the film Belle Époque. This is my subjective impression of course.

It consists of several clichés but really well maded, and it is not bad in practice. I consider Gentlemen Only Casual Chic to be in the same category as Chanel Egoiste, A&F Pierce, PDM Percival and so on, but the exquisite shaving cream-like side of it and, above all, its pleasant powdery feel underneath makes it stand out a bit more.

But sadly it has poor performance. It lasts two to three hours and disappears literally, and I, of course, add that it's not because my nose is tired. It's very much like Gentlemen Only, but compared to GO, it has no smoky animalic scent. So it gives a fresher and clearer feel, but actually in other words, it's a thing like GO, with the base notes removed altogether.

It's certainly not bad, and if it had better perfomance, I might have bought it for myself. But at this price range, I can say about 3,000 perfumes that are better than this. I think it's as good as Egoiste considering its scent, but at best it's a little better than Ferrari Light Essence considering its performance.

We often forget that Davidoff is actually a luxury brand because their bestsellers like Cool Water are such good prices. Agar Blend immediately awakens us the thing that we have forgotten. It's a really nice, luxurious perfume.

The opening of the pepper exploding is slightly stimulating, but in time the honeyed cinnamon combines with an almost creamy, pleasing resin in a very sophisticated way. And the oud, which feels like it's polished like fine furniture, is snugly surrounded that. The oud of Agar Blend feels a little tanned, but it is not overly dirty or animalic, nor does it smell like medicine. I personally think it's the most ideal type of oud In modern perfumes.

I've experienced a lot of oud perfumes and I'm collecting some of them that aren't too expensive, but I can assure you this is one of the best. It's quite sweet, but it's thick, bold, and pretty heavy, and it's also well hidden in the oud of the background, so the sweetness is very addictive. The overall impression I got from Agar Blend was that removed the dry smoke from Gucci Intense Oud and instead added the honey and the fine wood furniture. It's a little heavy, but it's not too dark or too authoritative.

I would not argue that it will satisfy all oud fans. It's not a perfume that appeals to hardcore oud fans. Actually I don't like the typical oriental style or the type of oud perfume that's too revealing. I like more gentle, popular oud where I can get compliments in the office at night out, or wherever. Anyone with a similar taste would be greatly impressed by Agar Blend.

I just can't understand why Azzaro decided to release this perfume. Maybe it's understandable if the release year was 1994 or 1997. But it was 2020. Wanted Tonic is no different from other common summer colognes that are already saturated in the market. The slight difference is that there is the 90's style sour citrus smell in addition to the cheap shower gel smell. And it's more of the old fresh type than the current trend of aquatic. But all these are helping to make Wanted Tonic a cheaper and worse perfume.

What I really don't understand is that they already have a Chrome series. Wanted Tonic has no competitiveness even compared to the works they've made a long time ago. I really enjoyed Wanted By Night and I also liked it, so I can't welcome Wanted Tonic, who has greatly dumbed down the quality of the entire Wanted series. It's sure to say that there's nothing to look forward to from this perfume unless you're the one who's collecting all of Azzaro's perfume.