Le Beau Male

TL;DR: Herbal, men’s EDT-y mint & wormwood, dirty indolic skin-on-skin smell combined with clean musk. —— ***Before I start, let me clarify that vitriol this fragrance receives is largely due to several reasons unrelated to the fragrance itself: Maligned because of its branding, because it’s “fresh”, and because it’s a flanker.*** —— THE CONTEXT I came to discover this scent as I was looking for a specific combo of mint/musk/orange blossom (or neroli, petitgrain) in the search function on this site. In general this past year, I’ve been looking for fragrances that hide “dirty” within a deceptive facade of traditional “clean”. This was it. And while it’s not the musk in this that is “dirty”, it certainly exalts and blends well with that “dirty” note that I’ll come to soon. I came back to this fragrance, having first sampled in summer, this winter - I live in Northern Europe. For winters, I like fragrances that embrace the cold - I like a camphorous bite with a dose of musk, for example. I was looking for a fragrance to wear to fit in with my freezing, glistening white surroundings and the chilly winter wind of my coastal city (I don’t buy into the idea that in the winter, one must smell like a leather armchair next to a fireplace and a pipe; I like to smell human, thanks). I must have smelled everything before the Fragrantica search function brought me back to this one. Me: Young, university student. THE SCENT This opens herbal, I smelled wormwood before mint, surprisingly. The lavender, a note I dislike for its barbershop and stereotypical fragrance associations, takes a welcome backseat. The dry-down is a musky floral. This has a better longevity than average and the right sillage - arm's length. Le Male DNA? Yes. This is the younger cousin, shyer but more attractive. Deceptively facile. Whereas Le Male peaked as a gregarious personality in nightclubs, baring it all out, attracting the Jersey Shore, Le Beau Male looks down on him and his escapades - he’d rather read a book, go for a winter run or swim. He doesn’t live on the chase, and is that much more attractive for it. But I imagine this layering well with the original or summer editions. THE DIRT The fragrance settles comfortably on my skin, a tryst with my own chemistry, before unleashing the aromatic indole. I had completely forgotten my initial review of this when it smacked me in the face, sweet beautiful sweaty INDOLE. This makes sense, with orange blossom and clary sage both containing this. CONCLUSION I will enjoy smelling under my sweater this freezing winter, the almost-sweet herbal iciness mixed with the sultry skin-on-skin smell of indole. FK, not being an amateur, sneakily knew what he was doing. I was surprised: the cringey and cliche quote from Monsieur Gaultier - the made-for-ad-copy... ..."Icy that makes men hot” is exactly what this ended up being.

This is a very cooling fragrance. The bitter mint-wormwood combination has a menthol-like effect; my sinuses actually tingle when I inhale it. In fact, it's currently my favourite fragrance to wear when I'm suffering from allergies or a cold, because it acts like a toned-down version of Vicks VapoRub while smelling much better. I wish it projected slightly more. For a scent starring mint, it does perform pretty well, but that isn't saying much. While I can smell some vaguely animalic musk during the drydown, I don't get the indolic or urinous notes some reviews here mention. It's mostly mint and wormwood, with lavender in the background and musk later on. I can't smell any orange blossom. Due to its cooling nature, I'm most inclined to wear this during hot weather. However, it would certainly be an interesting choice in the winter, and the musk gives it enough depth to sort of fit cooler temperatures as well. It is unique, and quite bitter, so I'd suggest it to people interested in 'cold' fragrances who aren't married to sweet notes. I haven't tried many others in this fragrance line, but get the impression that most of them are sweet, so I can see how this one might put off fans of the original Le Male and its flankers.

I remember being intrigued by this back in its first release days, and I am so happy that I now own a bottle. This is a very unique mix of clean fresh and musky, the overall scent has an icy sweet candy-cane-like profile that is unlike anything else I've smelled. The amped up mint and wormwood give a cool greeness not present in the original Le Male. The lavender, orange blossom and musk creates that familiar pillowy softness the original has, though a more indolic and sensual kind. This scent creates a subtle sweetness without the use of anything like Vanilla, which is quite pleasent. This scent doesn't seem to project very much, sits rather close to the skin. Longevity is a little weaker than the original, I get an average of 6 hours until it's nearly undetectable. Probably best warn during temperate days but appropriate almost all year round, minus super hot summer days. I just hope this will still be around by the time I finish my current bottle.

I pre ordered this fragrance to insure that I received it upon its release. At first spray I was wholly confused about the accord that I experienced. I bluntly hated it so I put it away for a while. A few months passed and I dared to try it again, this time it was absolutely pleasant to my nose. Since then I have been wearing it as a daytime scent for bright spring and soon to be summer days. I thought about the motives behind my initial impression of this fragrance and noticed that it was popular opinion of this fragrance that gave me the biased perception. The opening is amazingly fresh with sharp notes of mint and then it mellows out to a musky combination of lavender and orange blossom with absinthe trailing in the mix. My absolutely favorite sequence of the dry down is when the absinthe dies down and the musk notes die out. The remaining accord is light and airy. Projection is good. Gets close to skin at around 5-6 hours.

Lighter yet so much better than the OG. I wore it all 2019 with my other fragrance at the time which was Bentley Azure Think of a less spicy/aromatic blend, without the heavy cardamom smell to it. In this flanker, you get the freshness of the herbal notes : Wormwood & Sage. The clean soapy (shaving cream like) side that you could find in the original Le Male : Lavender & Mint without vanilla but replaced with the clean aspect of the musk ! Really fresh summertime fragrance but who can be worn throughout each seasons, all year round. So so sad that it got discontinued, even though I have the 200ml flanker it is now nearly empty (just a little upper the “crotch area” of the bottle). I didn’t know it was such a pricey perfume to buy once discontinued so it’ll be I think, my last flanker... Thanks again Francis Kurkdjian, this perfume is an 9/10 <3

OK the first thing I want to say is all about the appearance. The outlook definitely have the white color of Fleur du Mâle and the original blue from Le Male. This affect directly to the scent of this fragrance. Le Beau Male has a very young and modern start out. But after about 20 minutes the dry down totally has the flowery scent from Fleur du Mâle combine with a little bit marine-blue (the first scent of Le Male) into it. To people who had Fleur do Mâle, it just like the younger version of it, but combine with the classic one, it make a little stand out of the crowd here. The fresh site of Le Male + the flowery site of Fleur du Male = Le Beau Male. Not very well done, but it's totally a good job IMO !

Awesome Fougere by Francis Kurkdjian. Do not pass on this one if you see it! It is discontinued and an awesome fougere. People are hating on it because people who like JPG usually dont like old school smells. To me it smells very similar to Masculin Pluriel by MFK. Yep Francis Kurkdjian made this one too and only a year before! It is more animalic though. It has a slight pissy vibe to it, the wormwood is very old school and dry. Also the musk in this smells like the musk in fierce, which is why some people compared this to Fierce. In general it is a grey earthy lavender, wormwood and slightly urinal with a fierce like musk. Solid performance. Get it while its cheap! BEAUTIFUL presentation too.

'Le Beau Male' by Jean Paul Gaultier is one of the sexiest, fresh colognes I own. I'm very surprised by the negative reviews. This is a classic Gaultier cologne; sweet, addictive, good performance and a very seductive bonding of notes. By no means a fancy, high-class cologne, but a solid casual flanker. The mint, wormwood and lavender gives you a fuzzy, fresh and sweet experience. I could describe it as a frozen mint scent with a nice musky finish. Very enjoyable for at least 3 hours before slowly settling down. 'Le Beau Male' sticks to the skin for about 6 hours. Blind-bought with absolutely no regrets!

In pure love ! If i consider having a signature scent- which is far from possible- this would be my very choice ! It is very different, reminded me of school days when i used to collect stickers and place them into albums. It smells the same to my nose ! complete stickets, pepperment, pepper, young, fresh scent that is perfect for any morning and even can be used at night. I love it. Resemblance to " Le Male " is almost not there since this is a totally different DNA and on my skin it sits forEVER ! what else should i look for ? simply nothing. Thumbs Up.

Le Beau Male is a very handsome gentleman. This is green, bitter, and musky, but also fresh, bold, and a little sexy. The lavender, sage, and mint are invigorating, while the wormwood gives this a pungent, almost shocking quality at the top. That note does fade and what you are left with is an addictive aromatic musk...no trace of sweetness. This makes me think of tonic water infused with herbs. That, combined with the musk, give this a daring, yet old-school quality. This is unusual and I can see many people not enjoying this, but personally I love it.

It's a sexy and playful fragrance. Wear it when you want to attract girls or just want to smell sexy. This is definitely not for older people I say this as a young man. To me if sex was a fragrance this would be it. Longevity was about 10 hours to me. I sprayed 5 times before going to work and I could still smell it when I left work. The first few hours are the main scent and then it starts to dry down and becomes something a little bit different what I still like. Sillage is lightweight, pleasant and not in your face, which I think is awesome.

If I could ever speak to Mr Kurkdjian, this is the fragrance I would ask him about. No way this sold well and I'm wondering why he made it for JPG. What was the brief and what was his inspiration or idea? BUT I really really like it! It is both wet and dry at once. Green herbal wet but also musky dry with some urinal cake vibes Excellent Night or morning scent in the summers, performance is decent and the bottle is gorgeous

As a first impression after I smell it, it seems to me that this Le Beau Male managed to emasculate the strength of Le Male. I need to look better. (Except for the Thierry Mugler and Loewe, it seems that all brands are reducing their perfumes for scented water levels to use in the bathroom .... it's really a shame. Think not only on profit and learn from the two brands mentioned.)

Found this in my brother's room, originally mistook it for a Le Male collector's at first as I'd never seen it before. Very fresh and strong mint opening, turns a bit sweet over time. Love it. Would not recommend using this during winter or fall, smell just doesn't fit during those seasons, definitely a summer banger though 💯 Shame it's discontinued, but we ball.

It is a mix of Minty Freshness of original Le Male and musky vibe from Abercrombie&Fitch Fierce. I don't like the top note, it is very offensive. But after few minutes you can smell the scent of mentioned Fierce with some fresh spearmint. Overall - great summer fragrance. Good longevity and averge sillage. Love it. 8/10 Worth buying. Regards!

It's a very nice fragrance - fresh and light. Great for hot summer days. Minty opening that dries down to a pleasant floral woody scent. A million times better than the current le male formulation. I don't get any stinkiness or animalic barnyard accords. Shame it doesn't last at all - barely a skin scent after two hours.

Tried it at a Shoppers this week. Not bad, very minty, which I like. It had a much more greeness to it, which I think the wormwood and sage is giving off. I might wanna give this a few more tries before I even think of purchasing it. I don't like it as much as I like the regular Male, I have to say.

Regarding Anatolian's comment; that's because its a flanked of le male, which is meant to be a different version of the classic. At least when they come out with flankers, they are in relation to the original in some way or another, unlike other lines that should just create a new bottle entirely.

I am eagerly waiting. I love all the Jean Paul Gaultier products, and in particular all the Le Male range (in all its variants). In this Le Beau Male, for now, bearing in mind the notes and the overall quality of the brand and the creator, seems to me to be an excellent scent. LE MALE 4EVER.

It's quite an uncommon cologne which never really got talked about or hyped up, it's musky, minty, and like it suggests it's intensely FRESH, Overall a Fresher more heavy on the Aromatic side version of the Og Le male with an added soapy-ish feel Longevity 7 hrs Overall 8.5/10