Mandate

I've been aware of this stuff for years but was reminded fairly recently when I saw the old Sacha Distel advert for it, kinda wish I'd been around in the 70's to smell the original but the Eden Classics version will have to do. I'm keen on Classic fougere fragrances and this was very much what I was expecting from this and to a large degree it exceeded those expectations because I think Mandate smells unique. It's not a fougere in the rougher sense like a Paco Rabanne for example, it's much smoother and more mellow, with more of a powdered focus of geranium and lavender up front with the classic touches of pine cedar and oak moss and cloves very much lower in the mix. The one note that jars for me from the outset and until it settles right down, is a sweaty unpleasant smell which I can only attribute to clary sage and I wasn't surprised to see it amongst the notes here. This is the only thing that puts me off because when it fades this is a nice scent, which smells inherently cheap but very cheerful, performance was not great but I wouldn't say poor. For 3.99 worth a punt and I actually will wear it. Paradoxically I think it's that stale sweat and cumin smell which although unpleasant actually gives Mandate it's character it would be a very much duller and more forgettable affair without it...strange when that happens. Update: Mandate is superb. I've worn it three times this week and that's unheard of for me. I totally got over that smell in the opening and as I said above it actually contributes to what is an excellent fragrance and it was only £3 for 50ml...amazing. I bet the original was an absolute treasure.

This has been my regular aftershave since 1981, and for the price you really can't beat it. It starts out all fresh and soapy with a rich spicy accord of lavender, rosemary and pine, before morphing into more of a citrus, cinnamon, clove, cedar and rosewood affair. The base notes offer a sensuously warm benzoin, amber, tonka, and white musk finish. The overall impression is one of it being a spicy, soapy, herbaceous, woody, amber fragrance. Though classed as a Fougère, the generous use of cinnamon and clove combined with the underlying amber belies such strict categorisation, as an Oriental influence is clearly evident in its composition. I find little trace of oakmoss in the Dana (1996 - 2008) or Eden Classic bottlings, and only a hint of it in the Procter & Gamble version (1990 - 1996), but it is richly evident in the original Shulton formula (1976 - 1990), giving a depth of body and longevity that is sadly lacking in the other three companies bottlings. Though the quality of the ingredients has dropped considerably since the original Shulton days when French essential oils and genuine ambergris were used in its original formulation (now replaced by cheap Chinese synthetics), Mandate has always maintained its distinctive trade mark scent and is still recognisable to the original fragrance. 9/10.

This was my signature sent back in the day, I never had gotten one bad remark about it while wearing, girls seemed to like it as I got compliments and asked what it was ha, it was not expensive back then just like today and my friends were wearing kouros, fahrenheit, aramis and so on and Mandate stood in amongst those big boys and at least held his ground. Yes it may have changed some but this underdog can still hold ground. Memories oh memories. I find with most bottles of fragrance that the first ( up to a dozen ) sprays, does not give a true reading of the sent when the bottle is new so I spray my bedroom curtains a few times to get to the lesser oxidized good stuff, I think I got this from jeremy fragrance from youtube. This fragrance can really be worn anytime, lightly or go heavy when required. I had a miniature bottle in the glove compartment of my car and would lightly top up now and then. It's not too complex and works well reapplying, not like some fragrances were reapplying just doesn't work so good. Without breaking it down I'm giving it a 9/10 just because I love a true underdog with big ba*ls as my friend, ye,ha.

Peak aromatics for those who enjoy a good fragrance with such. Mandate starts off with a punchy, fresh, herbaciousness and then quickly begins to mellow into an almost incense-like blend of warm clove, pine and cinnamon. It reminds me a lot of those Nag Champa incense sticks you can get in hippy shops, and I'm all for it! There's also a hint of sweetness, someone mentioned a mystery honey note and I can definitely see that! Beautifully blended fragrance - only a bit let down by it's performance as I'm sure its revisions over the years haven't been kind, thus making it last only for a few hours on clothes and even less on skin. You can still get the deodorant from B&M in the UK if you're lucky, try that for £1 to see if you'll enjoy the EDT because they're both exactly the same in smell. That being said, Mandate isn't priced very high at all so you can splurge £10 on a bottle without regret as it's a super comforting and approachable fragrance from the 70s! A smell-like for this one would be Homme de Cafe, another from the 70s with heavy clove and musk, just a bit sweeter.

My grandad was a clean bloke. Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm during the war. He wasn't a strict disciplinarian but his service days were still evident in the mid 1970s when I was a kid. His clothes were always clean and pressed, I never once saw him unshaven and the scent of Wilkinson Sword shaving stick and Palmolive soap was always around him. He used Old Spice mainly but when he passed away in 1988 I found a bottle of Mandate in his things. He must've been given it as a present one Christmas and as soon as I smelled it I was taken back to him wearing it when I was a kid. So, is this a fragrance for old or long dead men? No. What's old about smelling clean and masculine? What's dead about smelling good? I've recently bought the 50ml edt of this obviously reformulated fragrance. It's fresh, zesty and dries down leathery and soapy like it always did. Rather than being outmoded and dated I regard it as rather modern and as an antidote to the demonstrable feminisation of young men we're currently experiencing.