Well, this isn't going to be the most in-depth review I've ever written. Partly because getting a sample out Bloomingdale's in the Beverly Center is like getting wining lotto numbers. This time the place was so bereft of Sales Associates I didn't even have one there to sneeringly tell me they don't do that..
So this review is from a healthy spritz.
"Guilty" is one of those fragrances that is frankly mis-named. Sort of like years ago when Vendetta came out- I liked it, but there was a darkness missing that I thought should be there with such a name. Let's just go to the Bloomindgale's Website and look at some of that ad copy, shall we?
"Young, fearless, with impeccable taste, the wearer of Gucci Guilty Pour Homme is a hero for our age – exuding charisma and more than a little dangerous."
Uhh, not really.
Not to say what's there isn't very nice. It's a nice little lemony thing with touches of mandarin and a little greenness that moves into a standard fougere territory of lavender. They talk about a "defiant touch of pink pepper" but I never got it. Mind you, I did like what I got- it was perfectly pleasant and the woody patchouli at the end was very nice, if rather anodyne. The patchouli in particular is perfect for a patcho-phobe: light as a feather. The word that occurred to me when wearing it was "pleasant." In my head the wearer of Gucci Guilty Pour Homme is the sort of stalwart chap who's more likely to have the oil changed in your car for you than he is to ravage you in it's backseat- and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that..
$80 for 3 ounces practically everywhere. I tested at Bloomingdale's.
I guess I am really, really behind on my Italian fragrances, because not only did I not know about Acqua di Parma's glorious Profumo until very recently, I was also unaware of another masterpiece from a very famous house and this time I did not discover it until after it had already been discontinued. My only (very poor) excuse is that the bottle is a bit odd-looking and does not give a very good idea of the nature of the contents; I must have passed it over at some point since it was introduced in 1991. Imagine my feelings of both delight and dismay when I first inhaled the wonderful rose chypre perfume that is the late, great L' Arte di Gucci, knowing that if I wanted more I would have to hunt it down and pay a premium price for it.
I am an enthusiastic fan of the rose chypre genre, and I have even learned to love and admire the huge and occasionally terrifying Paloma Picasso Mon Parfum after being surrounded by it during the orgy of excess and sensory overload that was the Eighties. (Other favorites are Les Parfums de Rosine's wonderfully green Une Folie de Rose and the hazily romantic yet oakmoss and patchouli-rich Demi-Jour by Houbigant.) Along the continuum of impact and strength, L'Arte di Gucci is similar in style to Mon Parfum but much more wearable and not nearly as dense and chewy. Not quite as green as Une Folie de Rose, it nevertheless has a refreshing clarity when first applied, due to top notes of aldehydes, bergamot, coriander and other zesty elements. But watch out, for once the heart notes kick in it's a whole different story, as the intensity ramps up and an intensely rich and honeyed quality begins to emerge. Although individual results will vary, it builds in power to approach the opulent feeling of Ungaro Diva and other Eighties power scents of a similar style while stopping short of the Picasso-level volume, since it does not have as much patchouli. Actually, the overall effect of it is that it's the love child of Paloma Picasso Mon Parfum and Lancôme's Magie Noire the way it used to be, with the coriander adding a unique spiciness to the whole. No matter what stage it's in, however, it's all about the rose, a rich and jammy darkness.
The twist on this one is that instead of drying down into the essentially dry and/or sharp character one might expect from a chypre, it magnifies its ambery, musky base notes along with the profound mossiness and even a bit of leather, creating a richly honeyed and headily atmospheric effect that still shows off the chypre “bone structure” to its full effect. So many chypres are a bit haughty, even some of the rosy ones, but this is deeply sensuous, all purr and no claws except the ones she hooks you with only to draw you closer. This is especially true in the Eau de Parfum strength; the Eau de Toilette has just as much character but is perhaps a better choice for day wear. I love both versions but my heart belongs to the stronger stuff, and I will be on the lookout for a bottle of it when my small decants from a perfume friend run out. (Of course I now want the Parfum too!) Therein lies the real problem; it's one of Gucci's best feminine fragrances of all time and yet it is no more, perhaps a victim of the frenzy of natural material restrictions and lock-step reformulations that have swept through the big European houses. The word is out and the prices are high if you can find it, either at a discounter or at an auction site. I checked a few places and it's not being sold at a deep discount anywhere that I found, it's usually either out of stock or selling for full retail, and you won't find a bargain on EBay either, so expect to pay in excess of $100 for a 50 ml bottle of the EDP; the EDT is usually less. However, it's light-years better than some current perfumes selling for a lot more, and worth the investment if this is your kind of fragrance. Yes, there are plenty of rose chypres in the world already, but L' Arte di Gucci just hits everything right, and it's a shame that it can't carry on the banner for this classic style of scent.
Image credit: L'Arte di Gucci packaging from perfumedistributor.com
Green, elegant and a little bit ill-natured, Eau de Gucci is representative of that period in fragrance, in the 1970s and early 1980s, which produced such standoffish, verdurous scents like Amazone, Eau de Givenchy, Silences and Murasaki. At least that is how this floral-green family of scents always seems to be like to me, exceptionally well put together, well-bred, bitchy and never out-dated.
When a fragrance projects evil elegance, I always suspect hyacinth is at play. Three out of four scents mentioned above have it. In Eau de Gucci, the venomous butteriness of the flower meets you right in the top notes, aided by dry, chilly citruses. The fairly warm, even creamy heart of orris, ylang and tuberose, to which jasmine and rose add their sweetness, tries to convince the wearer that this uppity vixen HAS a heart, but doesn't quite succeed, the verdant toxin still comes through all that velvety floralcy and through the lush ambery-mossy base...Eau de Gucci is, to quote Madonna, “tough, ambitious, and knows exactly what it wants. " I love it. (Thank you, Carol, for reminding me of just how much)
Obviously, it has been discontinued. Look for it on ebay, where not only the regular EDT but Eau de Gucci "Concentrated" (more luscious and more evil) can be found for somewhat OK prices.
I don't usually go to Sephora expecting to meet a prince in a perfume bottle, so to say, but rather to kiss a lot of frogs. This time it wasn't that bad, which means that either the mainstream is getting better or that I am getting mainstream. Nah...neither is likely. I must have been in a particularly good mood.
Seriously though, Tocca's new Brigitte, inspired by Bardot and meant to take the wearer for a bike ride in the south of France, mainly through Marseille's spice market, is almost prince material. On me, the fragrance skips both rhubard and papaya, declared in the list of notes. A pity about rhubard, but thank goodness for no papaya. The composition rides straight into that spice market, with ginger and saffron being the most prominent notes on my skin, throughout the scent's development. The soft floral aspect (rose, iris), softens the piquancy (which makes sense concept-wise, but again a pity me-wise), while sandalwood in the base doesn't let it become too thin. Were the perfume a little more intense, had a little more oomph and ooh-la-la about it, I would have been tempted to buy it. ($30.00-$68.00 for 0.15-1.7oz)
I haven't smelled Guerlain's Figue-Iris in 2008, when it came out, because I tend to loathe fig in perfume (with very few exceptions) and am so very tired of iris after the last couple of years of it being everywhere. So I smelled this Aqua Allegoria with much caution only to discover that it is shockingly lovely. Iris tones down the green coconutty figgyness of the fig, while fig makes the ubiquitous iris interesting again. The fragrance is fresh, but not too much so, sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. It is posed gracefully somewhere in-between being fruity-green and floral, and I imagine it would wear delightfully in the heat of summer. I would never use up the whole bottle, but thumbs up to Guerlain for finally producing an impressive Aqua Allegoria. ($57.00 for 2.5oz)
I was almost ready to give thumbs up to Gucci too, for their new Flora, because I liked the beginning of the composition. Peony did a cute little dance with citruses in the top notes, all tastefully sparkly and fresh-faced, and I am in a mood for this kind of clean-ish, conventional prettiness right now. I mean, yes, it is generic all right, but pretty-generic. Not that I was even half-thinking of buying a bottle, but if I were, heart and base notes would have dissuaded me. Osmanthus, rose and sandalwood made Flora unexpectedly creamy, and apparently creamy is a no-no for me right now, when it comes to florals. After the easy-breezy start, there was something too blunt and persistent about the floral-woody accord. I suppose, I should have felt that it gave the perfume depth and substance, but instead I felt bothered by it. Still, compared to a lot of other scents on Sephora's shelves, Flora is quite nicely done, and, because of that weighty creaminess, not as young-smelling as the copy would lead you to believe. Not a prince by a long stretch, but not a frog either. ($52.00-$90.00 for 1oz-2.5oz)
Philosophy's Unconditional Love, on the other hand, is as froggy as it gets. Allow me to channel Seth Meyers here for a moment and ask, REALLY, Philosophy? Really? Unconditional Love, really? You saw it fit to use such Big words for such a tiny scent? "Unforgettable fragrance", really? Now what would make it so? The generic (and not pretty-generic) berry? The cheap vanilla? The pale musk drydown? Ribbi...I mean, really? And what's with the twee, cliche-ridden copy, Philosophy? I do "treasure the fact that real love stories never end." I also treasure the fact that this scent does, in two hours. ($40.00 for 1.7oz)
"The woman, inhaling the perfumes employed by the man, becomes intoxicated; and the use of scents has often proved a strong help to man, and assisted him in getting possession of a woman." The Perfumed Garden, Sheikh Nefzaoui.
If Gucci Pour Homme came to life, he would have been someone I'd fall head over heels for, because, let's see...of course, he would be tall, dark and gorgeous...I might not like him right from the start, in fact I might hate him first, the arrogant son of a gun...and the relationship wouldn't be easy at all, as he would be intense, moody and the "my way or no way" kind of guy... but hey, there is nothing like a little bit of hate to prevent passion from settling into the too-comfortable ever-after. Having said that, although I imagine that Gucci Pour HommePersonified would have been irresistibly attractive but difficult, someone I'd want to hate but wouldn't be able not to love...my relationship with the perfume is nothing but uncomplicated love. And although I imagine it coming to life as a man and although it smells Fantastic on a male, Gucci Pour Homme is a scent I enjoy wearing and would recommend to any woman who loves her fragrances dark, intense and smoky.
It starts with an accord that is lighter in feel that the rest of the fragrance, but already fairly dark: a sweetly-piquant mix of spices, with the tingly deliciousness of ginger being especially apparent to my nose. The light is being continuously dimmed...the orris, which keeps the potentially sharp angles of this spicy-incensey composition soft, is a twilight note, compelling, elusive and full of whispered promises..the amber note is darker still, a rich note with an earthy, leathery undertone that is tres sexy...and when the heavy curtain of incense, the star note in the blend, falls, it cuts off the light completely, and nowhere would I'd rather be than in this beautiful darkness. I adore the incense in Gucci Pour Homme. The usually ascetic note is made sensual here by orris and amber, and the hints of sweet spice, which linger long into the drydown, add a vaguely gourmand undertone to the perfume...I can think of very few masculine scents that are this alluring (and, paradoxically, given the unquestionable, darkly-seductive masculinity, this wearable for a woman).
Gucci Pour Homme is available at Sephora, $65.00 for 3.4oz.
Coming next week: review of Chanel Beige.
(To those who have been wondering, the image is by the bad boy of photography, Terry Richardson, from Vogue Nippon, the editorial entitled The Life Style of the Rich and Famous. The models are Julia Stegner and Evandro Soldai.)
