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!

As a more ‘mature’ guy, this is without a doubt & hands down...... the sexiest women’s fragrance I have EVER had the pleasure of smelling!!! In tandem with my review of the original Armani Eau pour Homme, this fragrance holds a very special place in my heart and I honestly consider it a work of true genius and beauty. I was very lucky to be able to buy sealed late 1980’s EDP & EDT vintage bottles a couple of years ago and couldn’t resist opening the EDT: my brain flashed back and honestly, I immediately went weak at the knees!! From my very first sniff in the South of France in the mid-80’s, it’s what I still consider to be classy, classic, sexy and sensual. Times and fashions in fragrance may have drastically changed and many may disagree but in this one man’s very humble opinion, I think this stunning beauty deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Chanel No.5. Although I didn’t & still don’t agree with its discontinuation, I can kind of understand why it’s no longer in production (ingredient bans and IFRA rules aside) because times and tastes move on but ultimately, a Picasso is still a Picasso, no matter how old it is! A true work of art!!

I’d like to insist that this is no way a potent but a persistent perfume. Just like what a reviewer said, it feels like a shade under the afternoon sun. Its opening’s a treat: pineapple and mint gives the dusky feel of evernia innovativeness. Just like how sunlight breaks through canopies; it’s wonderful. Marigold and galbanum continue to provide the verdancy and tart bitterness until the late drydown. But what’s noticeable is that a nice orris butter and galbanum precipitate survives its drydown. Chanel 19 (galbanum and orris butter) and 22 comes into mind (orris butter and aldehydes) but it doesn’t emulate the Chanel base but instead holds true to its pungent base (marigold, galbanum and mint). Some mention the stalwarts of Gucci perfumery: No.3 and L’Arte but both lean towards a darker spectrum although they share similarities in feel but not it composition. There’s no persistent rose and coriander unlike with the Guccis. Best used in afternoons and summer evenings. Review is for the pre-barcode EDT.

This is so well blended, but the note of the marigolds does really stand out for me and makes me love this perfume. I was able to nab some of this while it's still out there. A chypre that's not too tart or soapy with galbanum. It has just the right mixture of galbanum and oak moss and sweet florals to make it enjoyable for everyone, not just diehard chypreheads. The IFRA should be shut down for making beautiful perfumes like this impossible anymore. It's just a little oak moss, not some nuclear reactive waste, for heaven's sakes. This was a particularly elegant and well done chypre. I class it with the unreformulated Dior Dioressence for refinement in that perfume category. It makes you dream of classy dinner parties and beautiful clothes and moonlit views out of expensive hotel rooms. Even if you don't have those, you feel like you're there in your head, starring in the main role. There's an '80's sweetness that avoids the "b@!*h on wheels" feel of old Chanel No. 19. Too lovely.

I had it back in the 80' after I bought it in 1983. My relationship with it was a bit problematic because it made me sneeze right after I had spritzed it on so I threw it out after I gave up on using it all up. It would take too many tissues to keep using it, I thought. Since I never looked back and I never saw more of it in the shops. But recently I have started to get my hands on several of my favorite perfumes from the 70' and 80' and I have been lucky to find a few of them in still good shape on ebay. And here I found a mini of this scent and I now remember why I fell in love with it back then. It is amazing! I started to use allergy medicine many years ago because of sensitive mucus glands in my nose and now I don't sneeze when I smell this perfume! It definitely is a very complex scent and I don't really understand why it became discontinued that fast as it did. Perhaps I wasn't the only one who it made sneeze, who knows?

An UPDATE: Back in 1983 I bought Armani Giorgio for Her at the airplane on the way to my new job as an au-pair-girl in England. -I loved my new perfume, and bought another bottle later on. Much later, it was no where to be found in Norway, and I have been hunting high and low to fill the gap my beloved Armani left behind.. Yesterday I sniffed at Ivoire of Pierre Balman for the 1st time, and to my surprise it smelled nearly the same as Armani :)) There is a lot of similarities between the two of them: -They both have a huge buckett of GALBANUM in it's recept, -they are both very powdery and soapy, just what I like, they are both woody, green and balsamic, -and I can smell the cedar, the rose and the sjasmin in the background. And of cause a bottle of Ivoire came home with me today! I can highly recommend Ivoire as a replacement for Armani for Her :D

To me this is THE PERFUME!! The loveliest, the One I can't do without! I was charmed at first "sniff" in the early '80s and have been a delighted prisoner ever since. I have certainly stocked up on it, since I'm really afraid to be without it. As many fragrances as I love, this is the one that I always think about as my all time favourite. Not only a scent of Paradise, but also a piece of Heaven here on Earth. It takes me to another world - an enchanted one - and it lasts (even on my clothes) forever - always to make me feel excited and special. Gorgeous - but sometimes a bit too much to wear on an ordinary day. You only need just a little, because it casts its spell on everybody in a room (and sometimes even those in the next room) and you can't expect to be invisible wearing it. This scent is a true masterpiece!! I love it so much!

I picked up a bottle from an estate seller and it was in good condition. It had been sleeping for 30 years. Oh the green opening! The pineapple.. the complex mix of the opening shakes you up on her ride. This is elegance from a long time ago. When you smell something like this --you revere it. After a long opening (the quality!!) the heart opens into the most beautiful, elegant heart of a perfume I have ever smelled. So blended, so floral beautiful of unique notes... then the drydown with the cedar and oakmoss..keeping it tinged chypre green on the edges. So fortunate to have come across this in the EDT vintage version. IMO it puts the chanel 19, the ivoire de balmains clearly in second position. Its so complex. Personally, I dont see it close to vintage cartier panthere at all...Best Chypre of all time.

Precious precious scent! In the words of Carrie Bradshaw: "Real love!! Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can't-live-without-each-other love!!!" ~ AMEN!!! But I just found a very similar one in L'ARTE di GUCCI! It shares most of the same notes n is long lasting as well! I agree w Mals86 that "L'arte has a smolder, a smoky-eyed stare, that one rarely sees outside film noir. Also good are Eau de Gucci & 19 Channel (both hard to find & also discontinued), Salvador Dali (very close & the best modern equal) and Leonard de Leonard (close but not as lasting). I will have to try Climate Lancome, Y YSL, Potion DSquared & Passion Annick n get back to u... But Weil de Weil does not work on me at all.. I agree w Maeculpa that Champagne (now named Yvresse) is good but not the same.. yes true that!

This was gorgeous. Grassy and fresh, I always felt there was an orange-type note in there although it's not listed as far as I can see. I found it especially nice when worn on a cold day, when a crisp waft could be detected when air hit skin. It is obviously remembered by many and highly sought after today with old bottles appearing on the net for £150 and more. Armani, PLEASE BRING IT BAAAAACK!!!! UPDATE: I have now emailed Armani with a link to this page to say they should bring this perfume back! UPDATE: Thanks so much to Galya who has sent me a mini of this. It is a masterpiece, I love it as much as I did when I was 19 as the 80s turned to the 90s. If anyone chances to buy the £150 sealed bottles apparently available please let me know if they are genuine and in good shape!

This was my first ever perfume, one I would share with my sister. My dad always loved perfumes so every year that a business associate of his would travel from Italy for a fair, he would bring a perfume to him. When I was about 14-15 my father asked that associate to bring him a women's perfume for me and my sister; you guessed it, it was Armani. I remember I was so excited to open that black box and I was mesmerised by the scent. For me and my sister it was an expensive potion that we would use with caution so that we wouldn't run out of soon enough. All I can remember is that it was so beautiful, feminine, floral and earthy. I believe that I would recognise it if I accidentally smelled it.

A revelation of green mossy gorgeousness. I have had a bottle of Royal Apothic's long lost Muguet Woods for some years, it's my absolute favourite fragrance. It's green, mossy and it transports me to a dark forest where nymphs among Waterlilly laden ponds and woodland fairies creep just out of sight. I've searched high and low for a fragrance that resonates with me in the same way, but have thus far been disappointed. I received Armani from a fragrance fairy friend along with a bottle of Jason Wu's Velvet Rouge; an accidental or perhaps very fortuitous blessing. The green curtain has been drawn to reveal a forest wonderland, chypre deluxe, it resonates with my soul. It's eternal love.

Armani is a tagetes-chypre-floral foghorn, with one arched eyebrow and one perfectly-manicured hand on the wheel of her Ferrari: loud, proud and fabulous to know. In the crook of my elbow, I swear it lasted for days.... I love this perfume, it's sexy and elegant, grown-up and confident. It was my signature when I had such a thing and I am sadly regretting all the times I didn't buy extra bottles in the nineties when it was readily available. Although who knows if those bottles would smell as good as now! SIGH! My remaining supply (a vintage mini) is in a steel underground vault only accessible by a scan of my retina. Well, it's actually in my jewellery box. But still.

This is the best fragrance ever created. VERY classy and never boring, extremely individualistic without being the slightest bit off-putting. There is/was NOTHING like it! Intense, warm, chilly, minty, animalic, salty, lush, almost sexual, but without ANY overly cloying oriental sides to it.. A fierce yet comforting scent. Strangely natural even though there are so many components in it. A gem, a masterpiece. All these contradictory words make a completeness that smells so wonderful- particularly in the dry-down- that I could get a rush just out of sniffing myself when wearing it. Nothing will ever smell so much like me.

This is the David Bowie of perfumes! Deeply sexy, mysterious, playful, cold and warm, light and dark. Shining almost too green and woody when opening and after two hours (yes, the dry down takes time here or it wouldn ́t be called dry-down) it starts to sweeten with all those florals. I have already written a review, but I am happy to say that this absolute beauty is tingling my soul: sweet tuberos, but mild, mint, carnation, excellent vetiver and moss and the most classy pineapple ever. And so much more. Do or die, really!

I remember this was very unique and truly special. It was somewhat innovative too. The chypre feeling was green but not sporty as one would naturally expect, or masculine. Not at all. It was an extremely feminine fragrance, very elegant, totally in line with the couture of Re Giorgio Armani. It is a pity this has been discontinued, I would really love to buy and enjoy it again. And I am puzzled that all the Armani perfumes that followed are not in the same league of this first masterpice. Not even close.