Mark Birley

Ahhhh...Mark Birley For Men, it's amazing that this fragrance has been around for nearly 20 years and yet you never see it anywhere...I mean who sells it? For a British brand it's not exactly readily available in Britain. Just briefly on Birley himself I kinda like the idea of a multimillionaire creating his own fragrance and tasking two of the best in the business with the challenge of getting it right. Oh how they got it right! This fragrance is wonderfully fresh, masculine, refined and with a hint of mystery. The opening to me is a lovely blend of citruses, leaning more towards lemon but still with accents of bergamot & orange. Then after the initial few seconds the sweet, refreshing citrus is bittered by musk and it's then you realise Mark Birley is a little more complex than your run of the mill citrus. The primary players in this fragrance are vetiver, Cedar, carrot seed and incense which give a subtle spice but ultimately an overriding clean quality. I can't say I detect violet (listed here) or that this is particularly powdery. The smell is very addictive and nods at a more balsamic, incense type fragrance but with the light touch and cleaness of a vetiver/citrus combo. It's great and in my book is worthy of the praise it receives. To echo other comments regarding longevity and projection which are not good but acceptable at about £60 for 125ml which is around a higher end designer price such as Dior or Chanel. Just treat it like a cologne and spray more, also put some on your clothes to get the lasting effect. Really keen to try the other Birley fragrance now, which is leather based.

Top notes: Mandarin, bergamot, lemon Heart notes: Violet, carrot seeds, vetiver Base notes: Cedar, sandalwood, incense, musk The rarest of all birds, Mark Birley for Men is a modern masculine that's sophisticated, dignified and uplifting. Light and reserved, it's truly a gentleman's scent that invites others to draw near for delightful conversation or to close a business deal. Mark Birley employed two masters to create this fragrance: Pierre Bourdon (Green Irish Tweed, Kouros, Cool Water, Live Jazz) and Frederic Malle. He ran them through their paces before deciding that their 180th version of this scent was perfect. That tenacity and dedication to quality, start to finish, prompts rave reviews: "The best ever? I can't think of a better one." "Whenever I sample other fragrances, I'm always reminded why I only wear Mark Birley for Men." Imagine a scent that's lightly sweet, predominately orange and earthy, as experienced through a silver foggy mist. Yes, longevity may be an issue for some (it lasts 5-6 hours on me), but that's easily solved. When spraying your chest or neck, allow some spray to catch your shirt. On fabric the scent remains vibrant for over 12 hours.

I totally love this one! It's a very classic yet extremely modern scent. I find it to be one of the most refined and complete male scent ever created. Unmistakable, fresh and at the same time deep, very versatile. If worn by a 50 years old gentleman it's very classy, otherwise on a 30 years old turns to be modern, and yes, even unusual! Lasting power it's not among the best but you can bypass this problem by sipmly wearing it on both skin and clothes so that it stays for more than 8 hours.. Rating: 9/10

This reminds me of the orignial D&G for men, before it got reformed to crap. Great work scent! 10/10 Update! I have been rocking this for a couple days now to really get a feel if this should be in my rotation. RIght now I say HELL YA this bad boy is perfect for work and may become my sig. frag. Imagine an aqua based perfume mixed with "kyoto", if you like clean italian aqua's with a light woody, incense in the dry down give this a try.

Mark Birley starts with light citrus with some violet and something else? I can’t just get my finger around it, but overall I feel something familiar, but it’s not something I wanted to smell like. Then again I only get it when I bury my nose to the scent and try to figure out what it is. As the fragrance dries down citrus subsides I get more violet/carrot seed with something bit woody and musky, I wish I could get better grip of individual notes but I take that just is mark of a good blending, at least that’s what I tell myself. The fragrance ends up feeling cold with light musk if that makes any sense? Likely it’s the violet, carrot seed and musk that are left. It is nice enough, but “nice enough” isn't what I’m looking for with so many fragrances out there. Longevity is good with this one. I can easily smell it from morning to night, no problem. Sillage might be on the lighter side, but I do get wafts every now and again to remind I have something on. This does feel more upscale and formal rather than casual and fun, now that I think about it might be just that why I don’t care that much for it. Though I believe this accomplishes what it set out to do, upscale scent that goes well with suits and formal settings, not sure if this one is actually versatile or not. What I know is that this is not what I'm looking for from fragrance nor is it made for me.