JF

I am a 30Y.O. male and I've tried this at a Floris store, on my upper arm (as my lower arm and palm were already trying out Floris Jermyn Street and 71/72). The opening was great - fresh and clean, citrusy. However, in 10~15 minutes or so, it became something familiar in a dishonorable way. It was a cleaning product. Just general cleaning product, or an air freshener you'd possibly come across in a cab. At that point, I got a 30ml (since they were out of 50ml) of 71/72 and left the store. However, they gave me a discovery set upon the purchase and it included JF again. I gave it another go and wow, that cleaning product-like dry down I experienced was...gone. It's as if it was a different perfume. I actually suspect it might have been due to the long exposure to sunlight - the store windows were big, and had sunlight coming in, the bottles on display almost constantly under exposure. Light definitely isn't good for any perfume product. I really love nice hotel lobby fragrances - the expensive resort hotels. To me, it reminds me of the many holiday trips I went with my parents and friend's families, as we used to live in South East Asia with a lot of these hotels. Nostalgic, the joy and excitement of the fun that follows after checking-in, and just generally sophisticated and clean as a scent. It would be nice to be unique, but I'm not one to dwell too much on it that it takes away the true value I see in a perfume - to smell good and enjoy the fragrance. As an adult, I do link it strongly to a modern tailor's shop - clean crispness with a hint of something a tiny bit sweet. I love wearing suits to the point my favorites are all bespoke, and it makes me feel like I've walked out of a tailor's with a brand new tailored suit. The dry down keeps the clean-ness up and it's beautiful. The only regret is longevity - it's not terrible, but on me, it lasts up to about 3 hours and by the 4th hour, moving about doesn't emit the smell any more and I need to put my nose fairly close to the skin. They only have an EDT so I was hoping there would be an EDP at some point if at all longevity would improve. I see many comments on how it's possibly an obsolete scent, but I don't really see that. It might not be a "young" scent, say for teens or early 20s (though nothing will stop you from pulling it off) however, I don't really imagine this being anachronistic even today. Classical music, fashion, and scent would always have its place. For the sake of comparison, 71/72 started off great but it ended up a tad too sweet and stuffy for me although, my two male mates that were there were split between JF and 71/72. One of them thought 71/72 was more "classy." Bought a full bottle at 100ml and I'm happy with it. I agree it's a spring/summer scent due to the fresh/clean nature of the scent, but I don't see anyone going "that' unacceptable" even in winter.

Update 9/2/2022: I had been provided a couple of testers directly from Floris when I purchased something else from them and I found those samples to be much better than the sample from a third party I reviewed two years ago. So much so that I bought a half bottle directly from Floris, and a few things stand out...performance of this fragrance is actually very good. I applied at 8am this morning and it is now 5pm and I can still smell it on myself. And where CW is quite synthetic, JF feel much more natural and not quite as aquatic. I still think GIT is the best of the three at least in the way that I believe it smells the most natural and least synthetic, but JF is a close second at a fraction of the cost. CW is MUCH cheaper, but one has to deal with the synthetic nature of CW. All this to say...I quite like the current version of JF that I bought directly from Floris. Let me open by saying that I am a huge fan of Floris and I own several fragrances of theirs... Opens EXACTLY like GIT or CW as others have already stated dozens of times. Unlike CW or GIT, the opening fades fast and there is almost nothing left to smell after 5 minutes other than a clean, soapy scent. And because I wore CW as a teenager, this makes me think I am 16 years old again. Between the age-mismatch and total performance collapse after 5 minutes, this is an easy pass.

While searching for a "signature" scent for myself, and after sampling about a dozen different fragrances from various houses, Floris' JF EDT stood head and shoulders above the rest. I wanted a scent for the office that did not overpower or offend, but rather presented itself only when in close proximity to others. With crisp citrus opening notes, warm and pleasing heart notes, and round base notes, JF fit the bill perfectly. The scent does not last the entire workday, but some people can live with that. After wearing this out for the first time, I realized that JF also instills a real sense of confidence in the wearer. You'll begin carrying yourself with more self-assurance and others will notice your demeanor more than the fragrance itself. A lot of times, that's more important. I now look forward to applying JF every morning because it makes me feel like a million bucks.

I bought this knowing full well that it has been compared to Green Irish Tweed and Cool Water, and it's a DNA that I like. It's really not much like GIT at all, which has that grassy opening that turns into an iris/violet/lavender scent that is full and round. It is very much like a more muted, elegant CW with a more fresh water vibe than salt water. The florals are slightly different. But I could see it being mistaken for CW. If you want to save money and don't mind a more synthetic feel and less longevity, just go with CW. If I had spent full retail for JF I'd be a bit disappointed. But I got a tester for a very reasonable price and find myself wanting to reach for it all the time. Since it's not a loud fragrance it is a great easy reach if you do not want to offend. GIT is king in my books, and I'd put this square between GIT and Cool Water.

The opening of Floris JF is pretty sharp citrus. Citrus note passes through quickly and it becomes a little warmer and somehow reminds me of clean laundry. Some may say it's soapy but the bitterness and oak moss note behind the main accord keeps me wondering if I should consider it's soapy. The wood note and floral note are quite interestingly blended. I couldn't distinguish individual note mentioned above. After 5-7 hours for me, it becomes very understated musky note. One of my friends considered JF a masculine scent, also very gentle, warm and firm. Another friend said he cannot stand the "bitterness" in the smell and the smell made him feel it's "old". Anyway, I personally love this scent and think it's a classy also unique one. Worth trying but I would not recommend blind-buying since I got complete different opinions.