Armani

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Though i am not really into this type of smell, but this one is gorgeous. Yes it is chypre, but apart from many others this is not an offensive chypre, not a heavy one. Opening has bitter note, yet it is warm and not scary (thought about bitter orange but this is soft marigold, yes it is beautiful here). It has very strong vetiyver note, which is quite dominanting, but not overpowering like i have experienced in some other chypres before. Maybe because of all the flower notes that are also in composition? At first you don ́t smell them at all, but later when it begins to develope you can smell the floers here as well. At first i was starting to wonder where are all of them hidden and "voila" here they are! I can smell bergamot, narcissus, a bit of rose and lilly-of-the-valley and a very unusual and surprising accord of mint, which makes it truly refreshing after a bit harsh opening. The drydown is just a bit soapy without being too strong on vetyver and has a really soft and nice woody note and unexpected mint note. The mint in this fragrance is "the catch", if there wouldn ́t be it, then it would be just another regular chypre fragrance. Bravo! Great sillage, great lasting power. Really nice. Now i am ready for pure parfum as well. This was a review for EDT. It reminds me a lot of Courreges "In blue" in the opening which i have in pure parfum concentration, though Courreges is a softer one and more warm, less chypre to my nose. "Cardin" by Cardin has also similarities, though Cardin is even more harsher and stronger with vetyver note and really misses the fabulous minty note. And i agree with Action who wrote that this one is also similar to "Leonard" by leonard, though Armani is less flowery to me in the middle and in the drydown.. UPDATE (5,5 hours later): this one is really beautiful! I guess i begin to start loving it more and more. The longer it stays on my skin the better it is... Can ́t say enough good words about this one. Minty-soapy-woody drydown has really got me! My oh my, why didn ́t i go for a pure perfume bottle straight??? I really hope the one i was looking at is still available. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! UPDATE (4months later): THIS IS LOVE! UNCONDITIONAL LOVE! I ́v e grown to love this fragrance very much, this is my perfect spring time fragrance. I ́m stocked up!

An intense vintage perfume where the main notes like tuberose play a very important role. For those who are familiar with the perfumes of this era, this fragrance may not come as a surprise. Ron Winnegrad had a penchant for dry aromatics and complex structures with a profusion of notes. In this way, he created a very dense and lively perfume both in its "Parfum" and "Eau de Toilette" versions. The bottles were faceted and had a characteristic cap in the shape of a half sphere. The opening recalls the tradition of the 60s and 70s, using typical 80s notes like bergamot, galbanum and aldehydes. A touch of innovation, accentuating the perfume's sweet green hue, also justified the use of marigold, pineapple and mint. In the heart, we find the traditional notes of rose, tuberose and jasmine, as well as some cyclamen, lily and a very light orchid. Also at this stage, some differentiation was needed and strong notes of narcissus and orris root were also used. At the base, the mandatory oak moss, sandalwood and cedarwood gave it a woody background. However, it added a certain dose of boldness with a musky, creamy chord consisting of civet, benzoin, tonka and amber notes. The sillage and projection were very pronounced, and the scent lasted an eternity. Nowadays, and due to IFRA regulations, it is practically impossible to make a similar perfume due to the prohibition of using ingredients such as the type of natural oak moss that was used "back in the day". This must be the main reason why this perfume has been discontinued so long ago and without a glimpse of a re-edition. Armani's commercial strategy may also contribute to this fact, as it concentrates its efforts in other directions planned for its Privé line. I can't help smiling when I try this fragrance and compare it with the fresh floral flankers the brand has launched for the female segment in recent years. It's a hard perfume to find nowadays but it left a legacy of admiration sticking to the brand's image. I religiously preserve a decanter, which now has no more than 5 ml, just to remember this scent on special occasions like this one when I am writing these lines.

Armani is a beautiful vintage chypre - my favourite scent family; and Armani is the type of chypre I like the most - a rich green, floral chypre; powdery, mossy, herbal, woody. It isn't inky dark or animalic - instead it is bright up top, light and airy, followed by a rich, powdery bouquet on a beautiful green background, with a classic mossy chypre drydown. Armani opens with bright, soapy aldehydes and fresh citrus on a hazy, green galbanum background. A hint of herbal mint follows, keeping things bright and enhancing the greenness. A prominent marigold note initiates the bouquet, adding a soft, herbal-spicy edge to the green opening. I get a tiny hint of tart pineapple - thankfully restrained. The powdery florals develop, led by rose and rooty orris. Clean, sweet white florals round it out, and grassy, polleny narcissus is prominent. It is rich yet made with a light touch. The greenness hovers in the background, complementing the florals to perfection and paving the way to the mossy, earthy base. The vintage-style oakmoss is delicious, coming to the fore as it dries down. A musky, slightly sweet amber accord emerges in the background, tying everything together beautifully but remaining subtle. It is all about the oakmoss here, complemented to perfection by soft sandalwood - of the top-notch vintage Mysore variety. Soft tonka bean rounds it out as it fades. Sillage is strong and longevity is long-lasting. Best worn in cold weather. One of the best vintage chypres I've come across, this is like Diorella without melon. Boldly feminine, but perhaps unisex by today's standards, as is the case with classic vintage chypres. An underrated beauty. 5/5.

A burst of aldehydes introduces this luminous chypre: galbanum scrawled in neon, and angular, fruity florals rendered colorful as if designed in the style of the Memphis group. The focal point is this deliriously wonderful and pungent, ketonic marigold of the tagetes kind, reminiscent of ripe green apple and piercing green herbs. Ron Winnegrad's ingenious use of a pineapple accord, a supporting addition that is carefully applied, does take all of these piercing minty aromatics and the approaching mossiness to new heights. The tuberose is restrained—in fact all of them, the muguet, the narcissus, play a more ancillary role here while the marigold steals the show here. Armani is almost the floral chypre counterpart to Kouros, as both share a robust muskiness in the base, tempered just somewhat with the sweetness of resins. This slither of skank is just short of being over the top (the 80s would soon show just how far this could go), but is still exhilarating in its indecency. It all unwinds to an ebbing and flowing moss and woods that lingers for hours with occasional dirty-mind whispers. Its nonlinear development from cool-green and fruity to warm-musky and animalic makes this so satisfying, not to mention that nothing here moves into shrill and bossy territory (we'd have plenty of that in the 80s, and I can revel in that style as well). Sadly, this has been out of production for some time. The version I have was produced by Cosmair, early 90s.

You utter beauty. Where have you gone? Why have you deserted me? I fell in love with this in my late teens and early twenties. It was so easy to get and at the time I did not need anything else. And then they discontinued it! Why on earth? Launched me on a quest to find something that made me feel rounded and sensual in the same way, which led to a frightening parade of lesser scents and an obsession with testing every new thing out there. I'm an Armani girl for life now. Don't know if that is a blessing or a curse. Emptied quite a few of his bottles and have some on my wish list. His stuff is modern but also accessible and lasting with no grande dame perfumyness and not many gourmandises. I tried Annick Goutal passion based on the review below and i do not get the same mellow wholeness - it starts way too loud and then like all the AG fragrances I've tried it is a blink and you miss it experience. I have some drops of Champagne (the original) by YSL left and it is lovely but not the same. Nothing is the same. Sob. Note to self try Y. Like the memories of a first love I can't remember the smell of this at all, just that it made me feel gorgeous like nothing else. Suggestions welcome!