L'Homme

I was very, very curious to discover this fragrance, and I immediately added it to the watch list when it appeared among the novelties a long time ago. I know the Emanuel Ungaro brand well and am fond of the old compositions. In the 90s, I was lucky enough to use Ungaro pour L'Homme II EAU DE TOILETTE, which is unfortunately discontinued today. A very unconventional perfume, opulent, rich, with glorious notes of carnation and civet that in modern perfumery are now extinct or are hardly used anymore. Besides this jewel, I still own Ungaro pour L'Homme III Parfum Aromatique, Ungaro pour L'Homme III EAU DE TOILETTE, the magnificent Ungaro pour L'Homme III Oud, and some U-shaped bottles like Man, Blue Ice, and Silver. And just today, I was lucky enough to find this perfume at a ridiculous price for the 100ml format, just €20. The test on the paper strip convinced me on the fly, nothing disruptive or innovative; Dior Homme and Valentino Uomo have explored this stage long before, a reinterpretation of a classic olfactory style in a modern way, but the test on the skin has engraved so much on the purchase, very pleasant, comfortable, and intriguing. Just to anticipate my impressions, the essence is based on the triplet composed of black pepper-iris-tonka, although the latter is not mentioned in the olfactory pyramid. And I would like to mention the bottle, a sandblasted blue denim glass with a matt finish. To the touch, it is as if it were made from porous stones. So, what does this perfume tell us? The first nuances are rich in spice. Black pepper is the master of the opening; it expands and occupies all the air that surrounds me, deep, penetrating. Without falling into vulgarity, I dare say that this peppery explosion is similar to an orgasm, intense but fleeting, ephemeral. On my skin, and most likely on my nose, the powdery aspects of the iris emerge prematurely, while the fruity notes of the velvety peach together with the citrus ones of the bergamot are shy, almost imperceptible, perhaps obscured by the spices and rhizomes. I don't get any syrupy or pulpy peach. I don't feel like defining the beginning as a fruity or citric accord, but definitely spicy and powdery. In no uncertain terms, the presence of the Florentine iris announces the heart's entrance. Now the powdery and powdery aspects of the rhizome dominate the scene without that nuance reminiscent of the carrot. Supporting this noble flower are the silvery leaves of sage intertwined with violet-lavender flowers. The whole look fougére. If the opening turns out to be fleeting, the central part remains stable for a few hours before heading toward the final act. I realize that L'Homme has reached its finale when a strange sweetness takes possession of the scene. Nothing to do with exotic vanilla but something toasty similar to Tonka. The sweetness is proportionate, not from annoying sensations, and is balanced by a pinch of patchouli that dirties the dry-down just enough, together with a woody nuance provided by cedar wood, whose dry and resinous sawdust nuances are unmistakable. Now I feel the leathery accord, very smooth like the one generated by birch bark, not at all animal or rough. In all phases, L'Homme gives me pleasurable, pleasant and relaxing sensations. Never too pushy, pushy, or arrogant. If I had to sum up L'Homme with a few adjectives, it would be earthy, woody, powdery, spicy and slightly leathery, with a fougére tendency. Miserably underrated, a little gem I find ideal for mid-seasons, it can work well on summer evenings outdoors, while it is a bit weak to face the cold winter months. Preferable during the day and discreet for the office, its performance is below average, with moderate projection but great longevity, although I think it is sufficient to cover almost a whole day. If you like the leathery and powdery genre of Valentino Uomo Intense and Dior Homme Original (2011) EAU DE TOILETTE, you should consider this cheap, high-quality alternative without synthetic splinters. It's so inexpensive and not on anyone's radar. I'm formulating my impressions on a bottle I've owned since June 2023 (BC 2227901).

Opening 7/10: interesting The bergamot hits aided by the pepper but they quickly fade leaving the scene for a non-makeupy iris. The peach comes in last giving this perfume an unique touch. I was really surprised by the peach note. I expected it to be either "Garnier baby shampoo" or overwhelmingly gourmandy, but instead it ends up being sweet yet with a fresh quality (maybe this is caused by the note mixing with bergamot) After 30 min - Middle 7/10: Iris takes the spotlight. Pepper reappears in the background only to take the peach by hand so as to tame its sweetness (somebody rightly said it becomes boozy), until the fruit fades making room for lavender and a shy sage. After 2 hours - Dry down: 8.5/10: woody and virile. The now fading iris melts with patchouli in a dark chocolatey mix that tones down the overrall sweetness of the fragrance, making space for a clean lavender, while cedar rises to give it a cool woody helping hand. Slight leather undertone in the background. The citrus might disappear early on skin but I detect it subtly lingering on clothes even during the drydown. It is my first dabble with an iris-centric fragrance, an experiment if you will, and for the price I paid I consider myself fully satisfied (you can find it between 15 and 25 euros). I was afraid it would be too sweet for my taste but it ended up being just right. This has the potential for working in romantic situations, being not too loud it could also work in the office. Edit: After using it a while I came to love this, as it has changed a bit and it's not super sweet anymore. On some days I got amazing performance out of this, one day I sprayed at 7 am and when I came home at 7 pm I could still catch it clearly in the air and I do max 3 sprays. Projects decently. As somebody said, from the late mid until the drydown it gets a tiny bit fougere-like thanks to the lavender-sage combo. TL,DR Lots of iris, a pinch of pepper, interesting peach bergamot mix, surprising cedar-lavender drydown. Recommended as a cheap introduction to iris. Scent: 7.5 Performance: 8.5 Price/Value: 10 Overall: 8.6/10

What a great find this fragrance is. It opens with a blast of non-lipsticky iris and fragrant peach, together with a background of lavender and sage. This forms a very good mix, and gives the iris a clean, fresh facet which is missing from Dior homme Intense. In the dry down the pepper adds a welcome gentle spice and the peach gains a boozy accord. The iris blends with the lavender and sage; The feeling is clean, warm and stylish. The leather and cedar never overpower the fragrance, instead adding a soft strength which creates balance. An amazing fragrance for the price, and a must have for any iris enthusiast.

I got a bottle week ago, not bad, generic powdery cologne, good for cold weather. Edit: I really start to love this cologne, it really smell's good, the iris and peach are dominating in it. The problem is on my skin i don't get a super projection and longivity, i only get a moderate projection and longivity but i get more longivity when i spray it on my clothes. At last, it's a good designer cologne, cheap price tag not expensive, and the bottle looking good even i don't know what they made it of ? it don't look like glass.

Wow. Stellar. "You immediately love the sweet smell of Velvet Peach mixed with zesty Bergamot honed with a hint of Black Pepper, for an exotic dream. In its heart, the velvety Iris leaves the refreshing Clary Sage. The essence of Lavender will lead you to the sure path of timeless elegance." Drydown is gorgeous. Negative comments on this one would be to protect the overhyped more expensive perfumes I'm sure. The only bad thing here is the spray function.

love this juice :) sprayed like 5 minutes ago on my hand, and at first the was an iris, alot of it, didnt get any peach at all, after 10 minutes l can smell only dried blue plums and nothing else, and powderines is gone completely. some sweetened dry fruits, interesting smell, different for sure, love it! smell reveals itself as it goes, im happy l've got this today.

A beautiful, soft spring powder fragrance that resembles Valentino

This one is a nice powdery , soft and elegant fragrance. Not quite sure why some label it as a synthetic mess considering that by far most fragrances on this planet are synthetic. This one might have a slightly harsher synthetic opening while others have a softer synthetic opening? Or a citric synthetic opening? Or a floral synthetic opening? Etc..... To most harsh equals synthetic and not harsh equals a supra organic natural blend??? Which brings me to the point that there are different qualities in synthetic ingredients but all serve the purpose to ensure that the quality stays the same. That's why hyped perfume houses such as Creed et.al. use synthetic ingredients as well but of higher quality in order to ensure batch quality. It quickly turns into a soft powder scent, shares a lot of character with Dior Homme (minus lipstick accord) and Ted Lapidus Poker Face. The blue terracotta bottle is very unique and the scent lasts for a while. Considering the price it is a good value fragrance.

I can definetly see a resemblance to Dior Homme and Valentino Uomo Its like a bit of a sweetened up version of Zara 9.0 with a bit less emphasis on the juniper. I also found an unexpected similarity with Ferragamo Uomo Signature, which is strange because it has no listed iris... but they are really very close I heard of comparisons to Prada L'Homme which I don't get at all All in all a very pleasant scent if you like powdery colognes. The Terracotta bottle definetly makes it stand out in my collection. Is it a must buy I you already have iris dominating scents? No But for the price it is definetly a nice addition to your collection if you want to have a bit of a variety regarding iris based scents

Iris+Cedar combo. Quite soft but decent quality, not that sweet or powdery at all.Nice bottle. I got 100ml for 14 euros so it can be considered as another DH alternative approach on a budget like ZARA 9.0 or Paul Smith Man. If you like Dior Homme but its too reformulated/expensive for you grab Ungaro L'Homme, you will not be disappointed. 7/10

Cedar and Iris - a potent elixir combined of totally opposite forces. MUST HAVE! Bottle made out of terracotta (?) in blue colour is yet another representation of a powerful, powdery earthy structure with the light sweetness and airy spiciness. A good price even though it doesn't last longer than 3 hours. Use it often then! 8/10

Who can say anything negative about this wonderful fragrance? As many times as I've worn it everyone asks what perfume I'm wearing. It fits so well with autumn in Athens! It makes me happy so it's a great scent. Simple things.

It is closest to Valentino Uomo Intense, maybe a bit lighter and with way worse performance. Lasts about 3-4 hours. Smells good. Also close to Zara 9.0, but more leathery. Good cheap buy.

It is very similar to Valentino Uomo Intense in drydown. It dosnt smell like any of Dior Homme line. Moderate longevity.

Note breakdown is: At the opening i can smell Iris and some peach shortly after (30 mins) the peach fades and I smell Iris, yeah just Iris, i mean you can tell it is mixed with some lavender and sage but bro. After about an hour you get Leather mostly and a bit of Cedar mixed in with the Iris. Liked it at first, now it's meh and i wear it rarely, i got tired of it, maybe it is because i don't like Iris fragrances Projection and Longevity are alright for the price. Not my type 5/10

Does indeed smell like Zara no. 09 and Dior Homme intense. It's very nice and doesn't cost much. However, it lacks the depth that you get from Dio or Valantino (or even Zara), and it's a skin scent in 30-40 minutes. I use my bottle only at home because I practically have to respray every hour! Won't re-purchase.

If Dior Homme and Prada L’homme had a baby and it threw up on itself. Weak attempt at a iris fragrance 3.5/10

This is okay but super light. This is one you'll need to overspray on clothing to get any type of decent sillage or longevity. It's not really my style of fragrance since it doesn't have much of a masculine presence and seems like it can be unisex. This is not one I'm too excited about.

Horrible synthetic mess! Hoped it would be something like the original Dior Homme because Iris is listed as the prominent note, but it isn’t. Even axe comes with better fragrances. I have a soft spot for Ungaro because I really loved Apparition, but that was the last decent one imo. Sad!

Quite powdery but due to the pronounced presence of lavender and cedar, and lack of excessive sweetness, it doesn't smell too (stereotypically speaking) feminine. It's a bit similar to Burberry Wood but without violet notes. The sillage of Ungaro Homme is moderate, so it's rather a discreet and versatile perfume. (I wonder how it's going to behave in late spring and in summer - I guess it can become really sensual.)