Eau de Lacoste L.12.12. White

I sprayed Eau de Lacoste L.12.12. White expecting another clean white polo in liquid form. Instead, I accidentally inherited a suburban kingdom. The opening hit me like a hyperactive grapefruit cannon fired from the deck of a millionaire's yacht piloted by a golden retriever wearing boat shoes. The grapefruit isn't sour—oh no—it is dazzling, effervescent, aristocratic citrus that has never experienced financial hardship. Then comes the rosemary, freshly kidnapped from an Italian grandmother's herb garden where every tomato weighs six pounds and every family argument ends with homemade lasagna. Cardamom crashes into the party wearing an ivory tuxedo, whispering, "I'm spicy, but my parents are lawyers." Then the ylang-ylang arrives. What is it doing here? It's lying dramatically across a chaise lounge, throwing flower petals into a swimming pool while someone plays smooth jazz through hidden outdoor speakers. It's creamy. Tropical. Slightly flirtatious. Like a botanical supermodel who somehow also volunteers at animal shelters. Then, just when you think you've figured this fragrance out... ...the cedar quietly walks in carrying a fresh stack of perfectly ironed white polos and reminds everyone that elegance never has to raise its voice. This isn't lumberjack cedar. This is the cedar from a walk-in closet bigger than most apartments, where every hanger is perfectly spaced and every shoe has been polished by someone named Sebastian. The tuberose deserves credit too. Normally it kicks the door down and demands to be the center of attention. Here, it politely waits its turn, adds a creamy floral softness, compliments your landscaping, and leaves before becoming overwhelming. The vetiver follows with a dry, green refinement that smells like every successful man who's somehow owned three sailboats despite never once mentioning what he does for a living. The strangest part of Eau de Lacoste L.12.12. White is that it somehow fills you with memories you've never actually had. It smells like winning a tennis tournament despite never learning tennis. It smells like walking through a five-star resort where every employee knows your name even though you've never been there before. It smells like a family vacation where absolutely nobody argues about where to eat. It smells like perfectly folded white towels, spotless white sneakers, sparkling swimming pools, and impossibly white teeth that have clearly never met coffee, tea, or poor life decisions. It's clean in the same way a luxury hotel lobby is clean—not sterile, but effortlessly polished. It doesn't try to be mysterious or edgy. It simply smells like someone who always returns the shopping cart, remembers anniversaries, owns matching luggage, and somehow still has unbelievably white teeth after drinking espresso every morning. Performance isn't monstrous, but honestly, would you expect this fragrance to shout? No. It politely introduces itself, offers you lemonade on the back patio, compliments your lawn, and somehow leaves your house cleaner than when it arrived. If freshly pressed white cotton shirts had a religion, this would be their holy water. 10/10. I don't wear Eau de Lacoste L.12.12. White anymore. I let it manage my retirement portfolio.

On seeing the press release for these three and reading their "notes", I was excited (and amazed) that they had included TUBEROSE and YLANG in a manscent! I just KNEW this would be "the one" for me... I also found it strangely apropos that the GREEN and BLUE bottles were translucent and the one for WHITE was opaque. Where the other two were modern and very sheer, WHITE is a bit more substantial and impressive (to me anyway) and I can see myself getting a FB of this...as soon as it comes to the little college town I live in, with it's one "high-end" department store and Fragrance Counter! This opens with a wonderful WHOOSH of freshly-cut citrus, aromatic greens and sexy spice! Despite the listed "grapefruit", to my nose, it resembles more orange or mandarin; as it is not all that bitter-zesty, but tartly sweet. Add cardamom's smooth warmth, laid over the sharp pungent rosemary and you get something that is simultaneously warm, refreshing and invigorating! Despite what you may think the combination of ylang and tuberose would result in (something thick, lushly sweet and somewhat heady, leaning towards dusty or "naughty") WHITE becomes something that has gorgeous florals in it, but does not let only these things alone define it. The flowery undertones are sweet and airy with an utterly "comfy" feeling vibe, not unlike (as Grottola and Anup have said) fresh, crisp laundry just dried outside and brought in from a clothesline. Sunny warmth and softness, without being wimpy or actually smelling like fabric softener, how truly wonderful! The drydown has the warm woodiness of cedar, calmed by suede and very soft leather accord that (to me anyway) smells more like linen, rather than either of those animal skin-based aromas. Very pleasant, quite unexpected and a definite winner from the House of LACOSTE! This will be great for Spring or Summer, but also for sunny Autumn days. I cannot wait to try this (from the bottle, with a real sprayer) as soon as I can... Sillage: very good Longevity: above average Overall: 4.25/5 I love it when a "for him" scent includes flowers, but are not ALL flowers. Some of us guys are not afraid to have a softer side, and are actually proud of it. L.12.12 WHITE is just such a scent...masculine (for the most part) and, like a well-rounded man, more than the sum of its parts. If I had to choose JUST ONE Eau de Lacoste scent from the trio, this (without any doubt in my mind) would be the "one"! Some women may enjoy this as well. This is a TRUE breath of fresh air (for men, at least) among a wave of all the aquatic, sporty and fresh scents, so prevalent these days. WHITE stands (head and shoulders) above the rest!

So unique ... love it! It definitely doesn't smell anything like my other fragrances so definitely a good find. The grapefruit opening is a little tart ... almost bitter, so if you are used to a slightly sweet citrus opening like so many fresh scents ... then you get this very prominent bitter grapefruit note ... it's definitely unexpected. Within a few minutes it becomes a strong, unique BEAUTIFUL floral scent (I assume the ylang ylang). On the drydown you keep the prominent floral notes and it adds vetiver and cedar notes. I personally do not find this to be a sweet fragrance at all ... more of a clean, soapy, tart citrus and floral fragrance. It reminds me of adding strong floral notes to Varvatos Artisan Pure to create Lacoste Blanc. Because I sometimes find it difficult to find a masculine floral that smells great ... this one was a great discovery! IF you like fragrances like Artisan Pure blended with Azarro Chrome or Uomo Moschino ... or even Eternity ... then this might be something of interest to you. To me it's a solid 8/10. Although the longevity is just average ... the unique qualities in this fragrance makes it extremely wearable and pleasant. Oh ... forgot to mention ... it will get you lots of compliments and the ladies love it. ENJOY!!!

One of my favorite cheapies. I've seen people say it is overpriced but they must have not searched well enough for good sales. I picked my 175 mil bottle up for 50 euros from Notino, which is an insane price for that volume. For the scent itself, it's a great fresh, slightly sweet, white fragrance. For me it almost smells tropical-like? Whenever I smell this scent I just have a picture of palm trees, a hammock, tropical fruits and an ice cold cocktail to go along with it. I also agree with the statement it smells like fresh clothes (which I personally find a very pleasing smell). I think it's an all year round fragrance, but it shines best in summer/spring. As other people have mentioned, this fragrance does smell very different on clothes. In my experience the fragrance gets destroyed a bit when sprayed on clothes. I don't know the reason behind it, but it's doesn't smell as good. Performance-wise it's average. It doesn't last a whole day, for me after 3-4 hours I do a respray. The fragrance isn't very invading or harsh, so I'm not afraid to gas out the room. It does project really well however in those few hours. For its price tage it's still worth it. I've seen many sales on this frag so don't scam yourself.

One of my favourite fresh fragrances. While i wouldn ́t call this "generic" it is definitely mass appealing and i can see why it has earned it ́s fame. It starts with some grapefruit, rosemary and very soft cardamom, quickly getting to the florals, which i find to be it ́s best aspect, giving it an insanely clean and fresh feeling that few other fragrances have. As it keeps drying you can feel the depth that the leather/suede gives it. While it may not last (6-7hrs) nor project a ton, the fact it ́s such a fresh and clean fragrance compensates for this, it just feels amazing to wear this and people who come close to you will definitely smell you. While it might come down as a little synthetic, it ́s not the kind which gives you headaches or feels scratchy, so it doesn ́t bother me. It is probably the most innoffensive fragrance i own and i love it for that, anyday, anytime, it just works. I have tried a couple clones and while most last longer than this, none of them have given me the feeling this does, they are either too sweet, too woody or just way off. Also, the price difference is not worth it, this is just 30$ and well worth it compared to the 10$-15$ you ́d be saving