Play Sport

Listed Notes: bergamot, mint, ginger, lemon leaves, amyris wood, black pepper and musk. Notes I pick up: Mandarin orange, smooth mint, airy ginger, lemon (listea cubeba-ish), salt, hints of vetiver, smooth white musk, hints of smooth but slightly medicinal sandalwood, hints of coumarin and vanilla Perfumers: Emilie Copperman & Lucas Sieuzac (these two are responsible for Play and Play Intense as well) If a sport fragrance is intended to be worn during actual sports or sports-like activity, then I can say that Play Sport earns its title well. I put some on this morning and it behaved a bit differently than on paper, but perhaps most importantly, it has survived a fairly intense weight lifting session and best of all, was never obnoxious or intrusive in any way. I think the reason for that is tri-fold. First, the scent is very light - somewhere between an aquatic and a citrus, but structurally leaner than most aquatics or citrus scents. That's not to say 'thin' with the negative connotation that term typically carries when applied to a fragrance. Amazingly Play Sport doesn't come across as thin despite bean very lean. Secondly, it has a cooling, almost chilled vibe to it thanks to a very unique mint element. It also has that icy/aquatic/floral musk note that appears in Reflection Man (also by the same perfumer, Sieuzac), Montauk, Secretions Magnifique, and Bosque. I wish I knew what chemical this is, because I absolutely love it. It starts out icy and cool, salty and a hint metallic (smooth metallic, though), and eventually showcases an interesting floral element. Third, the scent is smooth. The citrus is never sharp or biting as in say, TdH or Orange Verte, and yet it is not that overly smooth synthetic citrus in say Le Roy Soleil. It is smooth and yet there is a hint of tartness and even more fitting to the sport theme, a saltiness present. Behind all of that is a hint of creaminess that thankfully is NOT from the now ubiquitous tonka in so many designer scents. No, this creaminess is different - a bit like a leaner take on Allure Blanche and maybe a hint of Guerlain Homme in the mix, too. I really like that the saltiness persists throughout - it gives a kind of natural, fresh and clean sweat vibe, while the gentle creaminess and other fresh notes (a long last but almost "white" smelling lemon note) do suggest, as per Octavian's less than flattering review, a deodorant. Overall, I find the scent to be a simple pleasure (although there is actually a lot of noticeable note movement and interplay in the first 30 minutes, from a beautiful and direct mandarin orange opening, and then the lemon and ginger sneak in and the powdery/green/cool mint and aquatic element surfaces, then a saltiness emerges as the smoothness of the mandarin fades, etc). It's fresh, bright, sunny, and perhaps best of all it truly smells optimistic - if such a feeling could be translated into fragrance. I always thought CK One was the scent of optimism, and really very few other aquatics ever struck me as being so happy, so joie de vivre, because they either came across as too chemical or caustic or forceful or what have you. Now, I've got to add Play Sport to that list of 'happy scents' - a list that I would love to keep growing. I don't think many here will love the scent, and I can understand why. It's not daring or out of the ordinary in the way most perfumistas are looking for in their scents, but to me it does stand apart from other fresh scent offerings and will fill a gap in my wardrobe - smooth, natural, easy to wear and cooling citrus that is great in extreme heat and/or sporty or athletic acitvites. Also Play Sport does not project nearly as much as most scents in this category - a huge plus, in this instance, as far as I'm concerned, as that is what lends to its wearability during strenuous activity. I don't advocate wearing scents to the gym, but if I were going to wear one, Play Sport would be my first choice. I think I'll get rid of Varvatos Artisan or Hugo XY to make room for it in my 'drobe. Maybe I'll dump both, as in some ways Play Sport is kind of like a combination of the two. ---- tl;dr Play Sport is a nice, simple, smooth and natural chilled citrus scent. Imagine Allure Blanche, with less woods and pepper, less creaminess, and a bit of mint and salt. Or imagine Guerlain Homme if it was made with lemons instead of limes and with a lot less powder. Or imagine the scent of a slightly sweetened lemonade, garnished with a mint leaf and some salt on the rim of the glass.

Givenchy Play Sport (GPS) really works well for me and the bonus is it keeps surprising me with it's versatility. I'm not someone who wears cologne to the gym, but I do enjoy citrust fragrances that are done right. Clinique happy, IAMKing, ADG all smell great but I wanted something with Grapefruit. Givenchy PLay and Intense were really nice, and on my skin the initial blast from the top notes were gorgeous, but the dry down vanilla and cinnamon or whatever kept me away like most Givenchy dry downs, like the HEWOOD line as well. Play Sport's got a great dry down, and is not too sweet. Out of a blind pick my lady picked it out of the three Plays.

It seems a lot of people dislike this fragrance, but I actually enjoy it. First of all, it's a sports fragrance, so you have to go in expecting something light, fresh, and not that unusual. Now I've always thought the purpose of a 'Sports' flanker is to provide an aura of cool cleanliness--something that beats the heat and keeps you smelling good while active. To that end, I think Givenchy Play Sport hits the mark. The impression Play Sport leaves me with is that of a cool, minty, floral aquatic that is intentionally transparent. So while many reviewers have remarked that it's "weak," I disagree. I actually find that it projects well, and has a nice, diffusive sillage. Most appropriately, it is never thick or dense. This is a fragrance that smells MUCH better from a foot or two away than with your nose pressed up against your wrist or forearm sniffing obsessively. Up close, you lose the nice top layer--the transparent airiness that defines Givenchy Play Sport and carries with it the cool mint and light florals. And up close there is a bit of an overtly synthetic quality to it that could be annoying. But that's okay, this isn't meant to be a close-up, cozy, cuddle-me fragrance--it's a sports fragrance, an active day-time fragrance, and its most likely that no one will be sticking their nose up against it for an extended period of time. And from a foot or two away, you will smell very good. Longevity is average, but increases with body temperature. You can go a little heavier with this one--4 to 6 sprays is my recommendation. Just as an aside, the center of Play Sport (not my favorite part of it) is mostly ginger and woods. There is an overabundance of aquatics and sports fragrances on the market--there's no denying that. But before writing them all off, I think it's important to judge each one on its own merits. While sports flankers and aquatics may seem similar at face value, there are often significant differences between them which distinguish the 'good' from the 'bad.' Givenchy Play Sport, with its pleasant, cooling mint and light, transparent citrus and florals, provides a refreshing aura of cleanliness without become overbearing or distracting from the activity at hand. In my book, that's a 'good' sports fragrance.

Another solid scent within the play line ! This is a great scent that opens up kind of synthetic and smells like cleaning products but after a while those synthetic notes fade and the mint comes into play( no pun intended) making this sweeter and more smooth with that white musk in the background. To me for some reason it reminds me of what the smell of walking through a cloud would smell like.lol This is a good scent and is a perfect scent for the gym and for when you want to run quick errands but don't want to waste some of your better or more expensive scents. But because of the youthfulness of this scent it would NOT be good for formal occasions when your dressed up. Compared to other sport frags I do have to say this is 1 of the better 1s but it's still not as good as Dior or Chanel's sport flanker. This is a great scent but 1 thing this is lacking is performance. It lasts on me 2-5 hours and has very soft projection which may honestly be good for situations like I mentioned above. Overall rating 7 out of 10 !

I can't believe the negativity aimed at this fragrance from the majority of reviews here. On the one hand I agree that play sport is never going to wow anybody with its generic fruity musk and woods but for me it's a solid citrus release from Givenchy. Another criticism could be that it doesn't retain much (if any?) of the character of play or play intense which are popular fragrances and Play Intense is a real true love of mine. Not only does Play Sport smell very good, those top notes last very well as does the fragrance in general, longer than many niche citrus fragrances I've tried. The opening to my nose is a gorgeous bergamot and mandarin orange which is fresh and zesty then the musk and amyris wood give play sport a solid platform for the citruses to shine for about 6 hours. I like this...it's never going to inspire the same fan base as Play Intense for example because it's quite a flat composition. If you're looking for a clean linear citrus with good lasting power then play sport should not be overlooked.