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.

Good scent but sillage is disappointing. Really poor. I dont understand givenchy why produce it with this horrible low degree of sillage. بوی خوب و دلمشینی داره، یک بوی تازگی که کاملا حس میکنید نت های غالب میوه هستند. بویی خاص نه به این معنی که فوق العاده است و به وجد میاردتون، به این معنی که کمتر بویی اینچنینی حس کردید. به شخصه از بوش لذت میبرم ولی این همه ماجرا نیست. شما حتی با دوش گرفتن با این عطر فقط خودتون حسش میکنید و چه ده تا پاف چه صدتا پاف بزنید کسی که کنار شما راه بیاد هیچی حس نمیکنه. مشکل زیادی با ماندگاری فوق الاده کمش ندارم، چون سیاست عطر سازها و آدمهای این دوره زمونه به سمتی رفته که بوی با ماندگاری بسیار طولانی دیگه مزیت نیست، هرچند ماندگاری خیلی کمه عطرهای جیونچی هم دیگه واقعا کم لطفیش را میرسونه، مشکل بزرگ اینه که جیونچی ظاهرا داره تلاش میکنه پخش عطرهاش را به صفر برسونه. که البته در این عطر استادانه به هدفش نزدیک شده. در کل بوی خوبی داره واسه کسایی که فقط واسه لذت خودشون استفاده کنند.

The way to spray this seems to affect the longevity enormously for me. On the skin and after 40 minutes I only get a very soft smell with my nose buried into my skin. Spray it on my clothes and it can last for hours! Still the silage wont be much but its still better than when I put it on my skin. As for the smell i really love it. Sweet-vanilla-ish. And with that a little prickly-powdery feel, tingling to the nose. I only get the powdery smell when i put it on my clothes. On the skin I only get the prickly smell. Guess that doesnt sound that special. Still because of the subtlelty/soft sillage i like it. Bought it to wear this fragrance in the gym. I'm a heavy sweater and when i take a little break I dont want to have my super body odor in the dry-down ;)

As a huge fan of Play and Play Intense I was curious about this flanker. That note that is present in regular Play is here in this one...has to be the Amyris wood, which I love. In this version, the Amyris is buried beneath a very fruity citric blast much more pronounced than regular Play. I think Regular play is still my favorite...Intense is the caramel vanillic version...and Sport is the extra citrusy version. Play Sport is pretty good but a distant 3rd in the Play line for me.

Good lemony mint and ginger fresh sports scent with strong hints of pepper and musk with a light green wood. Overall nothing about this is different than the others in the same class. After drowning in it to get the full punch of smells it doesn't seem to last very long and the silage range is rather small. This should be the perfect cologne for a work space that doesn't allow bombs in the building.

Really fresh, summer scent. It sits closely to the skin and is really hard to notice,longevity is poor. The scent reminds me of grass and wet soil, if that makes any sense. The opening has lemon, but the base is a combination of lemon and bergamot, almost like a fennel smell.I like the scent, but it just doesn't project or last. Overall 5/10.

I kinda love this fragrance, it has a nice nostalgic feel to it and it smells quite nice. The only problem i have is that i sometimes catch a whiff of this fragrance and it reminds me slightly of stinkbug in the way that it has that tart, chlorophyllic green smell to it in the background. really weird.

Ok, this play sport smells like lemon hotels shower gel and citron, there are no middle and base notes, and there's no mint. Its good for early mornings walks and really late night outside only.

Buccia di cedro, le altre note passano in secondo piano, leggero nel sillage e nella longevità prodotto che non comprerei mai, ho avuto un campione e mi basta. Profumo senz'anima 3/10

Very nice and fresh but reminds me CK Crave which is also very nice and fresh but 70% cheaper. In general very good summer fragrance which most will love at first smell. 8/10

Play Sport Givenchy for men , long story short NOT BAD but NOT WOW EITHER !

extremely nice and fresh but the longevity is poor :(

Very realistic, fresh citrus but has little else going on in it. Good for the really hot days outdoors. Got it as a gift so emptied it but not worth a re-purchase.

Top: In the opening of this fragrance I get a nice blast of citrus and mint. The citrus in here smells like mandarin, but there is not in here. There is a slight ginger in the back, but not enough to really be noticable. Heart: The heart of the fragrance leaves more to be desired as the mint and ginger fade away and you get a very bland pepper note and mild citrus. The Amyris wood that is in here must be hidden behind this pepper. Base: In the base I get mostly citrus which at this point is very close to the skin, and skin which I guess could be considered some sort of musk. But then I guess you really couldn't consider it a note. Overall this is just another plain, bland, run of the mill fresh fragrance just like every other sport fragrance this year. Save your money and buy something more worth wild. Shop around, but don't let a sales SA put this down your throat. Back to the drawing board for Givenchy.

Oh my goodness... This is not a solid realese... Not in my opinion. I do like the original, and Play Intense is one of my all time favorites, but this does not keep up with them. This is the very definition of a poorly done sport fragrance. Watered down lemon juice. Yes, it is a synthetic lemon and yes it does resemble the smell of cleaner. If its any consolation it does stay true to its predissesors with the signature Amyris wood drydown that is common between the Play fragrances. Overall this smells a lot cheapier than it goes for and is not up to par with Givincheys previous releases. Not to me. Rating: Projection 4/10 Longevity 4/10 Scent 4/10 Versatility 5/10 Value 0.5/5 *Bonus Marks* Presentation 1/1 Marketing 1/1 Extra Long Lasting 0/1 Extreme Compliments 0/1 Underpriced 0/1 Overall 19.5/45

DISGUSTING. I am smelling it, right now. I just went out, and picked up a sample vial. It smells like straight up PEPPER. AWFUL. It is not classy, or elegant at all. Besides, it fades almost INSTANTLY. It's funny, i could pay 15 bucks, for an Avon fragrance, that smells great, and last for well over 24 hours, or this one. A cheap smelling, irratatting, disgusting, peppery, fragrance, that fades instantly for 100 bucks. Nice job Givenchy!...... NOT. Please, skip this one. Save your money for something worth wearing.