Gucci Guilty Absolute

Releases of this caliber come around every decade, or even less often. So this brash, patronizing, and perhaps somewhat over-the-top title shouldn't surprise anyone. Let's be honest, the chances that any mainstream brand (I'm deliberately excluding niche fragrances here, especially the orthodox, commercially untainted segment) will present a fragrance as bold, original, and ambitious as Gucci Guilty Absolute are slim to none. Today, history has come full circle, and to think that I had to wait six years for the opportunity to write something nice about a new Gucci perfume for a change, since the 2011 premiere of Gucci Guilty... This scent is so good that I consider the search and nominations for the title of the best fragrance launch of the past year (and there will be such a category in this year's ranking) to be over, back in February... I'm glad that the brand that until recently I used to wipe my mouth with, for endorsing the mercilessly crappy stuff ordered to be signed with the Gucci logo by its former creative director, Frida Giannini, has finally handed Ms. Giannini a well-deserved dismissal and decided to return to being an icon of truly refined perfumery and style, at its finest, Italian. And it must be admitted that the Gucci brand has a lot to say in this field, so before we move on to the sound of the star of today's post, it's time for a mini retrospection... The image begins to wave, everything becomes blurry, the plucking of a harp appears in the background - and a soft fog begins to fill the edges of the field of vision... Once upon a time, when herds of Allosaurus marched across the Jurassic steppes, accompanied by Maryla Rodowicz on the balalaika—phew, come back!—it wasn't that long ago!... Once upon a time, sometime in the late 1980s, the grand dream of Guccio Gucci (yes, the brand's founder was actually named Gucio) began to crumble. The company was truly on the brink of bankruptcy when a young, brilliant visionary and multi-instrumentalist, Tom Ford, took over. Ford also revived the bankrupt house of Yves Saint Laurent, so let's just say Tomek knows his stuff and didn't cut corners – for example, by offering Gucci's discerning clientele a tacky, bland, mass-produced product, with the motto: "If others are offering it and it sells, then we will too!" King Ford managed the Gucci family estate wisely and fairly from 1990 to 2004 – and the company prospered under his rule like never before. In 1998, the ginger angel Gucci Envy was born – and two years later, the woody, resinous Gucci Rush* was born. Unfortunately, the idyll couldn't last forever, as the good King Tom was poisoned by the evil witch Frida and took over the kingdom, much to the despair and ruin of his subjects – STOP!, not this fairy tale again!... Unfortunately, one day, Tom Ford left for his own business, and his place was taken by Frida Giannini, who quickly introduced her own, very "fresh" and drastically different vision for managing the Gucci fashion house, which Ford had just revived. Bravo Frida!... Only what escapes brands like Lacoste, Hugo Boss, or youth-oriented brands like Puma or Adidas – won't quite appeal to a clientele accustomed to luxury and elegance, at its finest, Italian. It's as if Frida Giannini took over the best Italian restaurant, steeped in tradition and with a typically Italian flair for celebrating meals – and suddenly, with a single signature, she erased it, turning it into a fast food restaurant with a menu and service straight out of McDonald's... So we eat burgers quickly, with our fingers and from paper boxes, but we sell a lot and quickly – well, Bravo!, Bravissimo!!! 😉 And you don't have to be a great business strategist or a creative director with a monthly salary of tens of thousands of euros to know that this business model can't work. Old customers, previously well-served by Ford's genius and creativity, felt disgusted and cheated, while new customers, who had nothing to hold onto at Gucci, collectively voted with their feet and left for the competition... Some in search of lost quality, while young ones in search of more desirable and cooler logos... Hey, come back! We'll give you coupons for Dragon Ball and Pokemon cases for your iPhones if you stick around and like our Facebook page!... What do you mean, you don't want it? Hey, shove that case up your ass, you impudent little brat in Lacoste sneakers! Suddenly, it turned out that there were players on the market much better at promoting banal fruit juices for teenagers – which Gucci switched to, presenting the world with min, the Guilty and Made to Measure series... And then the wealthy and loyal customer sulked and took his platinum Visa to the competition... But how? Why wouldn't anyone want to buy the grossly overpriced and bland garbage from Gucci? It's simple, because there have been brands specializing in this area for a long time (and much more thriving), whose position wouldn't be threatened by the arrival of Gucci, a fashion house unknown in this segment. You know, it's like NASA starting to compete with our Bolesławiec, or Rosenthal in ceramics... And they went off to bake ceramic facings for space shuttles, not coffee sets! Fortunately, someone on the board of the Gucci Group, which currently owns the Gucci brand (yes, thankfully, there was someone else overseeing Frida) realized that the business model she had implemented was ineffective given the competition and, moreover, was doing the brand more harm than good. As a result, the inept creative director was removed from the helm in time to prevent the millions of euros poured into shaping the Gucci brand's image from devaluing at such an alarming rate. Fortunately, Alessandro Michele, Gucci's new creative director, decided to return to the proven path of success, previously charted by Tomek Ford, resulting in today's post, Gucci Guilty Absolute! Yes, the tasteful, refined and exquisite GGA cut is undoubtedly the result of the will of the new creative director, because although the fragrance inherited the inglorious name of the Guilty series – I have no doubt that under the reign of Frida Giannini, it would not have smelled as perfect... And I only secretly hope that Frida will never find work in this industry again – which is what I wish for you, for myself and for every company in the industry 🙂 Okay, now that I've lambasted Frida from head to toe (but she deserved it)—taking revenge for promoting rubbish, tarnishing her reputation, and nearly sinking the brand that gave the world some of the greatest men's fragrances ever! (Ave. Rush, Envy, and GPH 1 and 2)—let's move on to the revolutionary Guilty Absolute. A groundbreaking fragrance, but I have no doubt this one will face more challenges than any other fragrance in history. Firstly, Guilty Absolute is bold, ambitious, niche, and iconoclastic, and the mass market doesn't like such fragrances. I fear the fragrance might end up like YSL M7, which was also ahead of its time and discontinued before, hmm, posthumously instilling in hordes of perfume lovers its equally bold, oud-like bouquet. Secondly, the fragrance inherited the name Guilty, which has negative connotations and is undoubtedly a heavy burden on its leg. Brilliant and demanding, Guilty Absolute is a fragrance on par with the aforementioned and equally brilliant M7, or the equally distinguished and challenging Encre Noire. A charismatic fragrance with character that will either win over customers and become fashionable – or disappear from the market without a trace. You might ask why the brand chose such a famous name. I'm afraid Gucci might have had no choice, because unfortunately, perfumes aren't created overnight. A fragrance takes a long time to develop, both the fragrance formula itself and the back-end—the advertising campaign, name, graphic design, and bottle. Contrary to what some of you think, even the garbage piling up on perfume shelves isn't created overnight. Launching a new perfume takes time, and it's a time-consuming process that involves a significant amount of human and financial resources. While the fragrance composition is usually outsourced to an external person or company, the production is handled by a dedicated bottling plant, each new release must first be developed and entered into the brand's calendar—so the idea and its implementation are often years apart. I assume Absolute was in development during Frida Giannini's time, after all, a consistent bottle and name for the entire line were approved. Orders for bottles also go to glassworks well in advance and are very expensive. So when Frida lost her job, and the glassworks called to say that the ~50 million Guilty Absolute bottles were ready and waiting for collection, Alessandro faced a real dilemma. In my opinion, the only thing he could do was replace the probably trivial fragrance composition Frida had previously created with something ambitious—while simultaneously utilizing the commissioned and already owned bottles and the partially implemented/launched campaign. This was much faster and, most importantly, CHEAPEST than starting from scratch with a completely new name, campaign, and bottle—where the existing bottles bear the Guilty Absolute name... We're talking about millions of euros, which, instead of being pointlessly thrown into the trash, were cleverly used with what I consider a better fragrance composition. I'm just speculating, of course, but that's how it could have been – because you'll admit that the scent is completely unlike Frida's "taste," yet it inherited both the name and the bottle. To conclude, a comment from one reader – yes, one swallow doesn't make a summer, but this strange and inexplicable sense of peace – tells me that from now on, everything will be alright, that the bad lady is gone, and from now on, nothing stands in the way of always being alright... Okay, now that we've covered the extensive and, in my opinion, essential introduction to better presenting this perfume – it's time for the real deal... What's shocking and simultaneously most delightful isn't the ambivalent name, but the fragrance itself. And what a fragrance! It smells of real, masculine leather, heavy and deep agarwood, wood, and single malt whiskey barrels still redolent with fire and smoke! I would have expected something so massive, deep, masculine, uncompromising, bold, rich, and simultaneously avant-garde from an orthodox, non-commercial niche—not from a brand that, just a week ago, I considered the archetype of a producer of exceptionally poor mass-market products. The fragrance makes a stunning impression and surprises with its smoky and burnt (burnt wood) bouquet. After the initial dismay caused by its unusual design, its subsequent reception is surprisingly easy and pleasant. Big applause and kudos to the genius of Alberto Morillas for presenting a topic usually considered a difficult and extreme niche in such a way that it becomes digestible and pleasant, even for the average consumer. Of course, I realize that not everyone enjoys the scent of burnt wood, "black label" whiskey, and oud, but similarly tailored scents are hard to find in the mainstream, and generally speaking, this perfume has no mainstream rivals. The rich and multifaceted aroma exuded by this expressive, dry, yet warm perfume is composed of numerous, fantastically intertwined details. Absolute is the smoke of a bonfire and the interior of a noble gentlemen's club, burnt wood or the fire-blackened and smoke-smoked interior of barrels in which single malt whisky matured. But because the barrels were leaky, the contents were quickly drained, and they lost little of their rich, burnt aroma, acquiring a noble, alcoholic aftertaste. Finally, Absolute is a temple bonfire, where a pile of precious agarwood (oud) chips was piled on the ceremonial hearth, which, in a fit of fanatical barbarism, were set ablaze in honor of some forgotten deity... The chips burned only partially, extinguished by a generous amount of alcohol, which the priest threw onto the fire, generating a vast amount of fragrant steam and smoke. Besides, even a thousand words cannot replace a single whiff of this perfume, rich in subtle nuances and utterly exquisite... Added to this are sandalwood and a wonderful, rough, slightly animalistic, and incredibly masculine leather – finished with vetiver root and blades and softened with a touch of warm patchouli... For me, it's an olfactory orgasm. Secondly, Morillas achieved the seemingly impossible. He presented the suggestive, idiosyncratic, and distinctly niche scent of a "burning bonfire" in such a compelling yet accessible way that the scent intrigues and captivates even those who normally prefer fresh and casual fragrances (tested on a group of work colleagues, some of whom consider Armani Mania a good perfume 😉 ). This, of course, doesn't mean that lovers of the casual mainstream will immediately abandon their fruity juices and switch to the burnt Made in Gucci scent – but if such an unconventional and simultaneously demanding scent is received so positively, you have to admit, it bodes well for him. Guilty Absolute is distinctive, especially in its initial phase, but it's not a nose-twisting axe with crushing projection – so you won't be hurting anyone with this perfume. Absolute smells niche and distinct, as befits the combination of notes used – yet it doesn't terrorize, overwhelm, or overwhelm with a loud or overly ubiquitous bouquet. While one might expect a higher volume level from an EdP and, considering the highly intense ingredients used, at least 10 hours of longevity, in practice you can count on a maximum of 6 hours of GGA's clearly perceptible presence on the skin. On skin, because on fabric, the scent lingers much longer and is even less prone to evolution – maintaining that distinct woody and smoky burnt note for a very long time. On the one hand, those 5-6 hours might be disappointing, but I've written more than once that, in theory, intense and highly concentrated eau de parfums and perfumes tend to smell shorter in practice than theoretically less concentrated EdT. So Absolute isn't a long-lasting powerhouse, nor does it trail behind the wearer, leaving an exorbitantly long trail – in fact, it sticks quite close to the wearer. However, the intended amount of clouds is surprisingly pleasant, easy, and enjoyable to wear – and I personally could reapply this perfume endlessly... Alberto, Alessandro – thank you for Gucci's return in such beautiful style!..... I L.O.V.E. GGA L.O.V.E.

Premieres of the caliber of this perfume, happen once every decade or so, or even less frequently. So this snide, condescending and perhaps somewhat over-the-top title should come as no surprise to any of you. Let's face it, the chance that any of the mainstream brands (I'm deliberately excluding the niche here, especially its orthodox, non-commercialized faction) will present a fragrance as bold, original and ambitious as Gucci Guilty Absolute, is close to zero What shocks and at the same time delights most is not the ambivalent name, but the fragrance composition itself. And what a fragrance composition! It smells of real, masculine leather, heavy and deep agar, wood and burnt and still smelling of fire and smoke barrels, after single malt whiskey! Something so massive, deep, masculine, uncompromising, bold, rich and avant-garde at the same time, I would expect sooner from an orthodox non-commercial niche - than from a brand that until a week ago I considered the archetype of a producer of extremely poor mass-market. And here it turns out that the last of the Guilty, the culmination and crowning achievement of the entire series (it's an EdP) - is its total negation, a 180-degree turnaround and, ironically, the jewel in the crown! A gem that smells like the sacred and profane, niche and dark - like a combination of Fumidus, with Black Tourmaline and Petroleum, i.e. the niche of the niche! Frankly speaking, I would not have expected such an ambitious fragrance even from Hermes, Lalique (despite the existence of Encre Noire) and Mugler - i.e. brands bold and confident enough in their position to still treat the art of perfumery in a responsible and uncompromising manner. And suddenly among them there is a player from whom no one would have expected it - and whose launch has completely shattered the order, and the balance of power, in perfumery. Here appears a fragrance that is so sincerely and fervently sorry for its sins ( guilty), that it genuinely washed away and redeemed in my eyes all the previous faults of its brand... Guilty Absolute really surprised me, ba shook and moved me to the living - and believe me, it is difficult to surprise me with something else.... The scent makes an electrifying impression and surprises with its smoky and burnt (burntwood) bouquet, and after the first consternation, caused by its unusual cut - its further reception is surprisingly easy and pleasant... Here a big round of applause and tribute to the genius of Alberto Morillas, for presenting the subject matter, which is usually categorized as a difficult and extreme niche - in such a way that it became digestible and friendly, even for the average consumer. Of course, I realize that not everyone likes the scent of burnt wood, “black label ” whiskey and oud - but similarly tailored fragrances in the mainstream can hardly be found, and in general these perfumes have no competition in the mainstream. The rich and multifaceted aroma that these expressive and dry yet warm perfumes spread - consists of a great many, fantastically correlated details. Absolute is the smoke of a campfire and the interior of a noble gentleman's club, burnt wood or the fire-smoked and smoke-smoked interior of barrels - in which single malt whisky was matured . But because the barrels were leaky, so the contents were drained rather quickly and did not lose much of their rich burnt aroma, itself gaining a noble alcoholic aftertaste. Finally, Absolute is a temple bonfire, where a pile of precious agarwood (oud) slivers were placed on the ceremonial hearth, which in a fit of fanatical barbarism were set on fire, in honor of some forgotten deity... The slivers burned only partially, extinguished by a large amount of alcohol, which the priest splashed on the fire, generating a huge amount of fragrant steam and smoke. Anyway, not even a thousand words can substitute for a single sniff of this rich in subtle nuances and arcy exquisite perfume... Added to this are sandalwood and a wonderful, rough, somewhat animal and incredibly masculine leather - which was finished with root and vetiver blades and softened with a touch of warm patchouli Secondly, Morillas has accomplished something seemingly impossible. He has presented the evocative, specific and eminently niche scent of “burnt fire” in such an evocative and at the same time approachable way that the fragrance intrigues and delights even people with a taste for freshers and casuals (tested in practice on a group of colleagues, some of whom think Armani Mania is a good perfume ). This, of course, does not mean that lovers of the casual mainstream will abandon their fruity juices out of the blue and switch to the burnt Made in Gucci - but if such an unconventional and at the same time challenging fragrance is received so positively, you have to admit, it bodes very well for it. Guilty Absolute is expressive, especially in its initial phase, but at the same time it is not a nose-twisting axe, with crushing projection - so you won't hurt anyone with this perfume. Absolute smells niche and specific as befits the resultant repertoire of notes used - but at the same time it does not terrorize, tire or overwhelm with an overly loud or overly ubiquitous bouquet. Admittedly, one would expect a higher level of volume from EdP and, given the highly intense ingredient used - at least 10 hours of longevity, but in practice one can count on at most 6 hours, a well perceptible presence of GGA on the skin. On skin, because on fabric the fragrance lasts much longer and is even less eager to evolve - keeping that distinct touch of woody-smoky burn in the foreground for a very long time. On the one hand, those 5-6 hours may be disappointing, but I've written more than once that in theory intense and maximally concentrated eau de parfum and perfume - in practice they like to smell shorter than theoretically less concentrated EdT. So Absolute is not a titan of longevity, nor does it drag behind the wearer, leaving a skyrocketing tail - it even stays quite close to the wearer, but this set number of clouds wears surprisingly nice, easy and pleasant - by the way, personally I could reapply this perfume to myself indefinitely... Alberto, Alessandro - thank you that Gucci is back in such beautiful style! Greetings

Epic Journey Into the Bottled Yonder, 238 ------------------------------------------------------- Purchased sample spray book May 2022, a little later a 60mL then re-purchased 90mL July 2025. - - I realise I thrashed this one with my first review, but I've been thinking about it for at least 6 months. Hoping my taste opened up to modern style leathers with petroleum notes. I had to do it, and boy am I glad I reconsidered. This bottle is even more beautiful than last time. You need it in at least 90mL otherwise you got a pansy ass size. I'm even open to getting a 100mL Tuscan Leather considering the decant didn't blow me away back then either (decants don't really do the original product justice I've found), but gents! Allow me to get to the short and handy. Today I rummaged through all the batch codes I can find and found two codes in total. I of course bought the earliest code out of the few options, AND having visited 5 locations for this I had to get it from the shop because online Guilty Absolute was still over $10 too dear for the 90mL/3oz AND no freedom of batch code checking *LONG SIGH*. 3.5 sprays just before getting back into my car, I had to rush at it. It's instantly nostalgic of something, also brutal. That opening blast is raw power maybe by The Stooges. Leather as fuck but it shortly gets even better, the moment of cloying gives way to a molasses, or booze syrupy goodness, or fresh hot caramel. I mean this baby is a liiil sweet! Then the dry down is PWOOOOOF woodsy leather. This one's for you uber mensches. Put this next to your Fahrenheit so you know you got a couple guard dogs for your enthusiast grade collection. My past 60mL I didn't catch the batch but I believe it's the same as my new 90mL anyway, and this one smells EVEN BETTER! Sillage is monumental, projection is as expected of Fahrenheit, and "fuck you for wearing it" thought everybody around you ;) Batch: 0157 from 5th June, 2020 - Coty, made in Spain. (I believe there was a 018-something code too which is the July 2020 batch, I did some digging up today and the chick loved the idea and kind of inferred she'd buy it for a beau before I told her it's a strict uber manly scent that normal people hate. MAD KUDOS to BOLD Life&Leather with the sickest youtube channel for dude frags around. Helped me to force myself to grow even more hair on my sack before settling the score (I mean I already had decided it's time to re-buy before visiting his channel but y'know, motivation..)) EDIT: In your faces! This sucker lasted all day. It was all I smelt, normally modern fragrances puff out about 3-6 hours before this does, including the mensch variety. I clicked on Eternal. You guys....no idea what happened to you or your bottle or your location you purchased it at. Gucci has always been widely ripped off and faked. Buy from an actual brick and mortar, preferably batches 2021 and before (my one is June 2020 as seen above), and be done with the horrors of zero performance. I get almost no vetiver in this, thank god, instead it's much more patchouli and cypress. BOLD Life&Leather, dude you missed out on this one. You actually nixed all Guilty Absolute bottles from your possession. Not sure if sad. But I've been on 3.5 sprays of this all day, which is why I've arrived at 5 sprays for anything to effectively combat poor performance, and this Absolute is "still" potent upon rubbing my fist onto my neck; it's my favourite place to spray. Your channel is awesome but having just read your review stating you've changed your mind is almost mindblowing. I urge all you cats out there to reconsider GUILTY ABSOLUTE, because I'm guilty of changing my own mind on this one! Well, I'm not new to going from hate to love and staying there. Coty made in Spain bottles are legitimate and genuine and I don't wanna hear it. 2ND EDIT: Deep down in the base it reminds me of Bentley Intense. Gents, if you're on the fence with Guilty Absolute then try Fahrenheit and Bentley Intense at the same time. If you can handle that then you may press the next chapter button.

My god this stuff is good. It's mindblowing to me that this is considered polarizing and difficult. This is coming from a woman. The opening is a lot, I get that, but it still smells fantastic. The only negative I can attribute is that it may be too strong for some people until it calms down. Pushing through any hints of regret over spraying during the (admittedly overwhelming) opening is essential, though. Because this fragrance has one of the most glorious drydowns I've ever experienced. People describe Guilty Absolute as raw, rugged, and even industrial, but I don't see it that way? Rugged maybe, sure. But to me, this smells like pure masc-leaning sophistication and class. As one other reviewer said: it's Dior Fahrenheit without the petrol. At least as far as the overall presentation goes. I'll add on by saying it's Dior Fahrenheit lounging behind a dark, varnished desk in a multi-million dollar penthouse suite. Take the same person that wears Fahrenheit and put them in a tailored suit. Or maybe it's just them cleaning up and coming across as more distinguished, having washed off the oil and grease from working on their classic muscle car. It's more upscale and refined than Fahrenheit's casual leaning day-to-day sort of scent. For me, this difference manifests in the tonal contrast of their scent profiles. Fahrenheit is surprisingly bright and invigorating for what it is, while Guilty Absolute is much tonally darker. It's a deeper, thicker and more resinous evening/night driven scent in comparison. It's borderline sultry compared to its accidental fraternal sibling's more energetic and "spirit-grabbing" nature. Guilty Absolute isn't in a rush. I apologize for the majority of this review being in relation to another fragrance. I generally try and make these without name-dropping frags that may or may not mean anything whatsoever to a reader. But here such comparisons felt almost impossible to get away from when it comes to how I conceptualize Guilty Absolute. Fahrenheit being such a famous and classic fragrance makes me feel a bit better about doing it though, as it's generally far more likely that anyone who ends up on this page would be familiar. They're both in my top 3, and I can't say I prefer one over the other. In my mind, they're truly the same fragrance at their core—only framed by different lighting. It's shocking to me that this is seemingly unintentional as well. I could easily be fooled into thinking they were part of the same line if I smelled them both without any prior knowledge. Guilty Absolute is a niche, expertly blended masterpiece released by a designer house. It's truly an exceptional blue-moon fragrance the likes of which comes only once a decade or so, if not once a generation. This may be Master Alberto Morillas's finest work in my opinion. If, by looking at these reviews, you feel like you don't enjoy these sorts of scent profiles, then obviously you will not like it. It is what it is and really doesn't care about your opinion. It won't be changing your mind. It's utterly uninterested in doing so. However if you're on the fence, or otherwise curious due to being into this style of fragrance, then do yourself a favor and try this. I ordered a 150ml the moment I heard it was discontinued. If these sorts of frags speak to you, then trust me when I say you'll hate yourself for not getting your hands on a bottle while they were still affordable and easily available. Another reviewer said that Guilty Absolute's discontinuation is a prime example of everything wrong with the modern fragrance industry. I'm inclined to agree.

***Yet another update 12/1/25*** So Ive NEVER given so many ubsurd "Updates" with any other fragrance as as I have with Gucci Guilty Absolute for men as I normally do maybe one update (IF) I notice differences when my fragrances Maturate, but yeah, the longevity just continues improving the longer I own GGA, and its also gained more "heft." Still wears somewhat close to the skin, but performance way better than when Id first recieved my bottle. The scent itself also seems to improve over-time so if anyone decides to purchase a late "Spain formulation" bottle, just be VEEERY patient and you'll see obvious over-all improvements over-time. -------------------------------------------------------- ****Update since 7/14/25**** So, after having sprayed a good amount of fragrance out of my bottle, and letting it sit in its box since 7/14 the performance and smell has indeed improved over-all. The projection is still quite poor, but the scent does stick around a lot more than it did initially and the fragrance does now have more "Presence" (Thank Goodness!). It also (now) smell way better as initially it just smelled like some sort of nasty smelling, medicinal homemade ointment or something. I'm not sure if this dna will improve any more, but as for now, Gucci Guilty Absolute is STILL a Blind-buy regret for me 100%. Again, it still does wear VERY light and if Im going to compare my experience to what most people's experience with this scent was when they made their YouTube reviews and posted their initial thoughts when this fragrance released, then there's ZERO doubt in my mind that its been through a horrible reformulation bc the way most folks describe their experience is WORLDS APART from what Im getting. Lemme put it this way, Ive tried layering my Iso e Super which is an ultra light, "barely there" woody experience along with this bottle of Gucci Guilty Absolue so that I get a boost in longevity, and the Iso e Super is almost OVER POWERING the Gucci Guily Absolute which is freakin' WILD to me! Again, because of its resinous/woody nature, this fragrance truley does remind me of a much weaker version of Encre Noire L'Extreme just with what I suppose is a touch of leather in the base vs the smokey Vetiver. With heavy sprays Im getting 4 mmmaybe 5 hours of soft projection on skin and ofcourse its longer-lasting on clothes. I do admit that (NOW) since its had a chance to "Maturate" a bit, I dig the actual scent (Love Encre Noir L'Extreme), but (IF) Id learned that they had switched production from the U.K. to Spain and that the fragrance had been "Reformulated" there, or what I would call BUTCHERED, then I would NEVER have spent over $80 for a bottle. It still ticks me off when I think of how dishonest it is for Gucci to wait for the Hype to be over and for all the reviews to be in to then weaken the fragrance considerably Im sure to make production less expensive bc this was not "a hit" or a "Successful Seller", yet the price has actually gone up?! A total SCAM if ya ask me! Ill have to get over it and stop my whinning and complaining so that I can enjoy this fragrance for what it is which is a Great smelling, al be it intimate Woodsey/Leathery fragrance. Ill be back to report any further improvements if there are any. CHEERS!