Cypress Cedar

Another solid frag from Banana Republic's Icon collection, and very different from the rest of the line. It has a combination of green-ness and earthiness going on. It's not in-your-face with attention grabbing sweetness. It's got a round bitter citrus and fruit quality from the bitter orange and rhubarb, and that green earthiness from the cypress and cedar. Very pleasant. I've never smelled TdH, so I can't speak to those comparisons. I wanted to get this in part because I was actually curious to compare it to "Blue Cedar and Cypress", one of my favorite frags from Cremo. Just going by the names, you'd think they would smell similar. The truth is they are very different. BC&C has a very sharp, almost harsh, combination of lemon leaf and cypress. Still quite appealing, but very in-your-face. Banana Republic Cypress Cedar is much more "laid back" I would say. Still very appealing but maybe a bit more subtle, more round. Edit: on furthering wearing, I actually feel it resembles another Cremo fragrance: "Distiller's Blend" aka "Reserve Blend". Distiller's Blend is sweeter and more boozy with a bourbon accord, but it has a similar spicy round citrus opening and the clean but earthy vetiver drydown. What's fascinating is that I've seen Distiller's Blend also compared to Terre d'Hermes. Both this Banana Republic frag and the Cremo frag are favorites of mine, so perhaps I should try TdH. I would say this is a great year-round frag, except maybe for extreme heat and extreme cold. It's more of a daytime frag for me, or for casual evening hangouts. If you're really going out to a party or on a date, I might pick a different scent. The best way to buy Banana Republic frags is to scoop them up for $20 at rack stores. Cypress Cedar seems to be a bit rarer of the bunch, as it took me several months to find one. But it did pop up eventually at my local Marshalls. If you want to save a little money that's how I would recommend purchasing it.

I just continue to fall in love with this line . To my nose the majority of the line are almost spot on dupes. And yes I test them on my skin side by side with the OGs . This is a definite Terre dupe. But as mentioned on here , it is a tamer version. But anyone that smells this will automatically say TDH . I feel the Hermes is a bit more orange and bitter. This does have a tad bit more sharp cypress probably to up the bitterness and get it closer . But I found this to be great. Bright and bitter tree pines, sour butter orange. Rhubarb to bring it down and add a cool freshness. The vetiver and cedar rounding everything out. Very spring time fragrance but I think it's pretty versatile. Performance isn't too bad. It's a $20 2.5oz fragrance that is a very good dupe. It has to lack somewhere. But it's not expensive so an extra 2 or 3 sprays to refresh every 4 hours is not a big deal. It projects a little for about an hour and a half but is does stick on to the skin for a good 4 hours. I applied this about 3 1/2 hours ago and it's just starting to fade. But you can still smell the citrus and cypress . You don't need to think about it , it's still noticeable. I have to give this an 8/10 .

I am a big fan all the TDH & flankers and have or have had most of them. The comparisons being made here are very valid. With your nose in it you can’t deny that the bitter orange and vetiver are very similar to TDH. That being said it’s got a less dirty orange with hint of minty lemon opening. The vetiver is very similar to Hermes but overall stays alittle sweeter and zestier. As it dries it gets away from the comparison alittle as it stays brighter with the rhubarb notes and green mossy cedar. It is it’s own stand alone fragrance and not a clone but to try and describe it without using TDH as comparable fragrance would be a disservice to readers. This is a great scent that’s kind of quaint but can be over sprayed to compensate. I love how mature and bright it is at same time and the rhubarb is very unique. Seems to have a short life so far but can to be the case with new bottles. I would say this is better than TDH if it lasted longer. Its a little more youthful and has a brighter profile. Great blind buy if you like vetiver scents for sure. Definitely is more masculine and mature side of things for cool weather and rainy days. 8.5/10 overall

This starts off a kind of bitter green citrus that immediately morphs into a cypress note; pink pepper is subtle but present, and in the mid/base it’s mostly cedar and that classy musky banana republic linen. Really fresh and classy. I’d take this over TdH any day. Only superficially similar to TdH. I see how the citrus-cypress can smell a little similar to the citrus in TdH, and it’s shares the pepper-patchouli-cedar-vetiver notes, but in this, the citrus fades into a nice fresh cypress very quickly. It’s so clean, it’s almost soapy. The woody notes are more cedary with less vetiver/patchouli and more importantly to my nose, less ambrox super (don’t argue with me, TdH has Amber). The fact that I can shower this off (unlike TdH) without having skin that stinks of synthetic amber is a huge plus. I’m not great at picking out rhubarb, but I assume Rhubofix is the fixative here giving it some longevity and lending to the rhubarb note.

This is a beautiful scent. It smells really nice in the air. The sillage must be pretty good, because I got a compliment about 8 hours after application, and the person was several feel away. Initially I saw this as more masculine, but the more I wear it I definitely could see a woman being able to wear this too. I generally prefer more masculine scents, so that's probably the only thing keeping this from being a 10/10 for me. I would rate this an 8/10 for myself. Update: This is a 10/10 for me now. The more I wear it, the more I like it and the more interesting it becomes. It just works so well on my skin, even when it's hot. I think lately I'm noticing more of the base notes/masculine notes like the patchouli, musk, and vetiver. And it is still my most complimented fragrance. I think I like this better than Terre d'Hermes.