Candie's Men

This is my first review on here, and I figured I should start with the first fragrance I ever purchased. When I was in high school, this hipster-y kid walked by me in our auditorium. This amazing smell trailed and lingered behind him. I wasn't particularly friendly with this kid, but I couldn't resist tracking him down and inquiring to know what he was wearing. He told me he was wearing a mixture of canela oil and Candie's for Men. (Later I found out mixing fragrances was called "layering".) I complimented him and forgot about it as I never wore or bought fragrances. Without any intentions of buying cologne, I quickly browsed the fragrances offered by a local half priced store. There, I found a three piece gift set of Candie's for Men. I remembered the name Candie's, and I immediately purchased it. ON TO THE REVIEW: This fragrance opens up with an inviting freshness not found in other "fresh" or "ozonic" fragrances. The freshness breezes with a faint, smooth green sweetness, almost forming a finger and beckoning others around you. I would describe this green sweetness as something very synthetic but pleasant. After the top note freshness subsides a bit, it becomes smooth, musky, and woody. While smooth and woody, Candie's maintains its brightness and green notes. I received so, so, so many compliments on this fragrance. The scent memories attached to this fragrance are invaluable. Smelling it today takes me back to the chilly spring mornings of 2004 when I would marinate myself in Candie's for Men. I don't detect any of the notes listed. I wish I could smell watermelon. Candie's for Men is very fresh, and there's an undeniable element of youth. It's extremely bright and playfully enticing. I would highly recommend as a starter fragrance, but Candie's has been discontinued, and the bottles left on the market are completely overpriced. If you have a bottle, cherish it.

This has been my signature scent since it was released in 1999 and I was in middle school. Every year for xmas Id get a candies gift set. It is a fresh sour/ citric / candy scent. Not overly sweet, and doesnt smell at all synthetic. It starts out with a sour watermelon note and fades to a critic musk. I stocked up on these, and the going price is above $100 now! The aftershave can be had for under $10, so I bought some glass atomizers and keep this in my car / work bag. For a summery scent, it lasts a long time. I get 6-8 hours on it, and since Ive been wearing it so long I cant really smell it anymore, even after applying, but I still get tons of compliments from others. This fragrance has led me on a never-ending quest to find a similar fragrance thats still in production (aka not ridiculously overpriced). Yes, its a young scent, yes it has a cheesy name. Back when the ads were still running, it was all about the sex appeal of this one. This is my most complimented fragrance. Ive bought some bad bottles of this, where they smell burnt / anise notes, but the "good" ones of these of mine are straight up candy scents. The bad ones were probably fakes, or improperly stored considering how old this is now. I switched to blu mediterraneo arancia di capri as my signature scent, but thats just as expensive, albeit the best replacement Ive found.

This came out the year I got married and it was one of the first things my wife bought me...at the time, to broke 21 year old college students, even a bottle of Candie's was a luxury. She loved it and so did I...just a nice floral and citrus musk. Nothing special or earth shattering. As my nose matured and my budget improved, Candies didn't get as much use and then, before I realized it had been discontinued. My bottle ran out and I didn't want to pay niche prices for something I used to get at CVS for $30...so that was that. Nostalgia is a powerful thing because a couple years later I had turned Candies for Men into the best smelling fragrance I'd ever had based on my memories. So I bit the bullet and bought a 100mL from ebay. Boy am I glad I did...it smells just like I remember. Like being young and hopelessly in love in the late '90s. Grapefruit and melon and musk...the scent pyramid for a hundred fragrances - but this just smells different than the rest to me. I don't think I would pay the price for Candies if I didn't have such powerful memories associated with it but personally it was worth every penny. And my wife still loves it.

This scent is a sleeper. Really, out of the bottle it wasn't something that blew me away. However, after about 30 minutes the magic happened...at least on my skin. It's basically a sweet and sour scent in the beginning. Melon and lemon. After a few minutes magic happens and the musk kicks in while the sweet sour combo lingers. I love this scent. My wife loves it as well. Sad it's discontinued. I ran out last year and have been looking around the auction sites for a deal. Unfortunately I am not the only one looking for it. Prices are high. Got some KC Reaction as a sub, and while I really like it, as both share notes of melon and musk, Candies is special to me. KC Reaction smells a lot like Candies, not in the opening, but the drydown, but the sillage and longevity issues with Reaction are not problems with Candies.

Candies was like a young man's dreams: fresh and optimistic before the mind numbing drudgery of life beat you down... I bought the gift set (cologne, skin cream, deodorant) for myself in Texas when I was in the service. I was in my early twenties. I guess this was like Drakkar was in the 80s, only we can't wear this now like forty somethings do with that. At any rate, I really did love this. I only remember a melon scent and I wouldn't really say watermelon, but it was pleasant. One of the few fragrances I've actually gotten attention from women for. It worked and I enjoyed that too. Technically I still have this: it sits on my bathroom shelf but it's spoiled. I'd love to have this recreated in a fragrance oil.