John Varvatos XX

Love this stuff, it's so simple, yet so pleasant. I thought it was really weak and boring when I first got it, but over the last year, the strength has greatly improved and I have come to appreciate it a lot more. I had received a sample in an order from Fragrancenet and my wife loved it, even though I found it to be quite boring, especially next to the tester of Initio Rehab it shipped along side of. I love my wife so I bought a bottle and over the last year and a half it has really grown on me, and ironically she doesn't even notice when I wear it these days. I guess both of our tastes have changed. To me, this smells extremely similar to YSL l'Homme Eau de Parfum with a hint of La Nuit de l'Homme, but has much better performance than either of them. It's basically a sweeter take on l'Homme EDP with the oak note dialed back, minus the hint of orange zest, but also has an overripe red apple note and some added cardamom. It definitely has some YSL DNA. This is one of those fragrances where it's difficult to pick out individual notes, but they all blend together seamlessly. Performance is just fine, I get about 5-6 hours with strong arms length projection in the first 2 hours. The projection pushes out but does not fill a room. This would ideally suit Fall and Winter or date nights. It's sweet but also clean smelling. If this was released by Yves Saint Laurent, it would costs 3x as much. It's a very high quality scent for the cooler months, that's smells great and doesn't scream for attention. It's sweet, dark, and clean. It is somewhat generic, but I still enjoy it more than a lot of generic men's fragrances from houses like Coach, Montblanc, and Jimmy Choo which are generally in a similar price range.

This fragrance opens up like a spicy, juicy red apple. The cardamom gives the red apple this spicy characteristic. It is just lovely. For the first couple of minutes, this is really all that I can smell. Then, as the dry-down begins, the black-currant comes through, adding almost a boozy, cider-like quality to the apple and cardamom in the beginning "smell-smack". As the dry down continues, the woods come out to play. The woods both tone down the currant, but also amp up up the spiciness. This amping up of the spiciness allows for the floral notes to also come forward, and ride on the cedar, and sandalwood. The main floral scent in this fragrance for my nose is the orange blossom. The white violet is there, but for my nose, not as present as the orange blossom. The geranium, it gives the florals a bit more depth, but also adds to the tang of the black currant note.... Then in the deep deep drydown.... The coffee finally makes itself known. It is not the smell of brewed coffee in a coffee shop. It is that dry, almost woody, roasted smell of grinding fresh coffee beans, in the kitchen of an old wooden house, early in the morning, as the first light of an autumn sunrise shines warm, orange, and amber through the old milky glass of the kitchen window. Blend this autumn-sunrise coffee experience, in with the warm-boozy-spicy cider smell, smooth & smoky wood, and light touch of florals... You have "autumn apple-orchard, in the country-side, at sunrise" nostalgia in a bottle here... If you are curious about this scent.... I say "GO FOR IT".... I am happy to have this one in my collection

This smells amazing. It's definitely best suited for nighttime wear, but that doesn't mean you can't wear it during the day. It's vibrant, loud, sweet, and sophisticated. It features fruity notes without being citrusy and has a prominent essence of dark chocolate and coffee. I was curious why some people dislike it. To me, It gives off a vibe that's like the color black but not in a dark, mysterious, or ominous way; more like a vibrant black personality scent if that makes sense. Imagine Billy Joe Armstrong from Green Day, rocking out on his guitar, performing 'Holiday' and that's the vibe I mean by black yet vibrant. I enjoy wearing black clothing; most of my wardrobe consists of black or dark colors, yet, my personality is quite vibrant. So if you are not that type of a person then it's probably not for you and may dislike the scent. It's a truly signature worthy scent that complements both my appearance and personality perfectly. I love it. This is an amazing and unique fragrance. 9.5/10

Most of JV show their potential with oxidation. Half on an hour after application. XX is after Original, Dark Raider and Vintage my next favorite one. I would say it’s close to JPG Le Male DNA. Buzzy at opening with red apple hiding something that is deeper. Applying for the second time You feel this cheat and it’s easier to accept. Then with time the heart gets the voice. Smell becomes sweet almost like coconut with strong coffee and sandalwood at the base. With sweating smell shows it’s power keeping it’s profile (white man, brunette, “middle” sweating). On the skin still detectable 12h later. Tricky done. I would recommend instead of Invictus or Le Male ... less common and more male. For colder days or dates, less for clubbing. Rather not for the office and it’s not fresh and clean type.

A vibrant and fruity yet still warm fragrance. I get mainly the apple, black currant, and cardamom top notes throughout, then a floral and fruity, soft sandalwood dry down. Not as much coffee as I’d hoped for unfortunately. In the realm of Coral Fantasy but cheaper. Projects well at first then eases back into a softer dry down. I put it on after a shower then drove 7+ hours and the girl that hugged me when I arrived demanded to know what fragrance I was wearing. So I don’t think longevity is as bad as some say of Varvatos. Fall/Winter/Spring, Day/Night. 8/10 Agree with the seasonal picture JaggerTheScientist painted below.

Summer scent. Coconutty and a bit of Vanilla. But still very manly. Perfect Resort wear scent in the tropics. Wear it on a Beach or Yacht Party while sailing or cruising. Lol. There is a hint of musk with coconutty notes. The moment the botique attendant sprayed this on me I wanted it. Living in the tropics made me want this as I find it rare to have a coconut inspired scent worn in the city. Wearing it makes me feel like Im working near a beach or ocean side in the tropics. It's a good scent that can transition from daytime to dusk. But maybe not for clubbing.

This one has really grown on me. From OK to Like to Love. From boring to pretty good to great. It is a really nice generic masculine scent, nicely balanced staring black current. Excellent year round affordable dumb reach. I don't smell the d&g the One comparisons at all. Performance is surprisingly above average (and certainly better than The One). Sillage is great... I am still catching it in the air 3-4 hours after application. I can't speak to the polo red comparisons but for $25, you can't go wrong. Blind buy worthy.

This is autumn goodness in a bottle! When first applied, the fruity aspects of it are more prominent (30 min.). Then the coffee, woods, and spices slowly take over the rest of the duration. I get a pinch of the florals, but only during the dry down. Performance was pretty surprising for this fragrance; this is due to the fact that most JV fragrances have a history of poor performance. This would be excellent as a scent-of-the-day fragrance for Halloween 🎃. Scent: 8.5 / 10 Projection: 7.5 / 10 Longevity: 8.5 / 10

Excellent ‘fall in a bottle’ fragrance Nice and warm inviting. Gives me pumpkin spice coffee vibes Not in a feminine way! Pumpkins and Scarecrows even a little halloween, the beginning of Christmas. Kinda smells nostalgic, that’s the best kind of fragrances right? You could wear this all through winter but it’s best in the Fall! or beginning of winter. Very Calming and should make her want to cuddle up by the fireplace with you & a buffalo plaid blanket Magnificent, pair with a Vanilla. Exceptional value

Such a unique, interesting cologne, I would say it's mostly 4/5, not one of the best out there or anything, but the smell is pretty fantastic, and if you want a memorable, lesser known fragrance as a signature that will pull compliments and many people begging you for the name of the fragrance, go for this one!! Edit: the performance on this is INCREDIBLE for the price, lasts easily 9 hours with me still being able to smell it, and a huge compliment getter, probably because of how unique it is

Pretty good stuff especially for the price, warm and inviting. Performance is decent for the price, overspray is usually required. It definitely gives me Nuit de l'Homme vibes and is of similar quality. This is a super easy wear and I think it's pretty much safe for any occasion, except very high heat and humidity. I like for just casual wear around the house or running errands, my wife goes crazy for it, yet turns her nose at some of my niche frags. I would give it a sold 7.5/10.

Loved it so much on the week of its release I ended up buying three more just for backups. Yeah projection is moderate it’ll lay on your skin for around 3-5 hours then starts to really disappear but it’s so beautiful smelling. Pretty identical to the one edp. It’s sweet, bright, aromatic with apple and coffee in a fruity grasp you by the nose kinda feeling. You crave it. Try it. It’s a must. I have around 300 frags, for whatever that’s worth this is my opinion it’s in my top 10.

The apple really hits on the opening can come off pretty sweet, but I'm pretty sure I'm just not an apple note type of person, it's rounded out by the other ingredients and to me is pretty masculine. Love the Drydown on this that's where it shines to me, if you get some on your clothes it will stick around for days and smell amazing, get the wood and coffee there. best in cold weather for sure. Too many sprays and it can get cloying.

I really have to quit making judgement calls on fragrances until I've worn them a couple of times. This really is a beautiful apple/coffee fragrance. Despite the warmer notes it is rather bright, probably due to the apple. I get a full work day use out of it. It isn't a strong projector but those within an arms length will notice it. I've even grown to like the bottle with its flashy medallion. Truly, a nice scent!

This is a very unique scent to me. It's a fruity, spicy, floral, woody scent. The coffee adds darkness, and aromatic depth to the dry, woody base. It's somewhat powdery and dry, so it feels like a nice texture for cooler weather. It's fitting with Varvatos aesthetic. It's not like BIR Coral Fantasy to me. That's much sweeter, juicier, blonde tobacco like.

Typical Varvatos. Uniquely performs in a beautiful way. Instantly becomes a skin scent. 5 sprays (on clothes helps). Very subtle beach coconut vibe. Also a good subtle office vibe if you don’t want to be the every day blue and green guy. Very pleasant and relaxing. Worth full price if you like unique and interesting smells.

a dark roasted coffee blended with fruity red apples and juicy black currant, without feeling too sweet. The sandalwood is pretty prominent too adding a touch of powderyness mixed with the violets. The dry down is much more wood forward, keeping remnants of the coffee and a hint of that red apple.

I absolutely adore this fragrance and I'm blown away by the performance. More people need to be talking about this! XX opens to a spicy cardamom and dries down to a sexy woody coffee fragrance. I can't stop getting compliments in this and I will be adding it to my regular rotation. A MUST try!

Just received this 10 minutes ago 9/10/2020 Upon first blast it's apple and cardamom. Honestly it's not a super unique scent. I'll report back with longevity and projection. As I'm writing this the sandalwood is coming up front with a slight coffee warmth. Overall atm I'm giving it a 7/10

Not sure why there is so many “blah” reactions to this; I think it’s delicious! I’m wearing it in late spring, cool days, but this is going to be perfect in the fall day & night. Just the right amount of gourmand going on here, without being overly sweet or cloying. I love it.