40 Rogue

40 Rogue is now sadly one of Manuel Cross's discontinued scents. There is still a limited quantity of 75ml bottles at https://www.ecuacionnatural.com/product/rogue-40-rogue/ 40 Rogue is a recreation of a long discontinued scent called 40 Love by Jean Desprez. It was a bit of a "sporty" scent that fit the idea of sport for the time, where you would be better dressed to play a sport than the average person is going to work today. I've never smelled the original so I can't judge how close it is, I'm reviewing this scent as it is independently. First, a word of warning. Mike Tyson once said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. The modified version of this would be everyone raves about vintage frags until they actually wear one. This is not an "easy" fragrance that you'd find at Macys and to be honest it's a little more challenging than the frags you'd find at Luckyscent. It's completely anachronistic and spray it feels like you've been sent in an olfactory time machine at least 80 years in the past. This is a dirty/clean musky sporty fragrance. At first I was tempted to reference vintage Kouros for the feel of it, even though they smell nothing alike. However vintage Salvador Dali Pour Homme may be a better reference since it's musk is a bit sweeter than Kouros. The opening of the fragrance to me is a bombastic mix of Chanel-esque aldehydes and a sour lemon, like a rind. It doesn't smell like Chanel No 5 but if you're familiar with how Chanel handles aldehydes it will give you an idea of how they come off hear. A sort of smooth, fruity fizz. This is quickly grounded, literally, by the basil and tarragon. The herbal notes are sharp and dry and smell like a mix of a garden and the smell of clean sweat. I know this is a dichotomy but you know what I'm talking about. The musk and deep oakmoss show up about 20 minutes in on my skin, and the mixture makes the first hour very challenging. If you found Kouros pissy, run. Run now. The combination on my skin had a distinct honeyed urine note to it. It didn't project but it was there when I buried my head in my shirt. I'd swear there was civet in here but it's probably my nose playing tricks on me. About a hour in it calmed down to a very respectable mix of a long lasting citrus melange, a soft floral bouquet, musk and oakmoss. The heavy green moss cleaned it up a bit IMHO and makes the fragrance tilt more to the masculine side but it's completely wearable by either gender. The floral notes are listed as carnation and rose but honestly it didn't smell like either one to me. And I'm hypersensitive to rose in frags, a rose note makes me second guess a fragrance more than the piss note. It's a softer, creamier floral to my nose, more of a ghost of honeysuckle or jasmine. Whatever it is, it's beautiful and was an ethereal counterpoint to the heavy, rolling in the dirt base. The drydown does smell dated by modern standards but that's entirely the point. It doesn't smell bad by any means. It's not an overly complex fragrance but instead it picks a few notes and highlights them by using obviously high quality ingredients. If the concept of an earthy, animalic yet oddly fresh and sporty musk appeals to you, you should really try this out. If you want to find a fragrance that showcases what oakmoss and musk really smell like, you should check this out. If you are looking for a dumb grab Sauvage or AdP Profumo scent, this mostly likely won't be for you. Performance was good but to be honest slightly underwhelming based on the strength of the frag. Projection was powerful for the first two or three hours. We are talking full 80's here, I used two sprays on my chest and a small spray on my shirt and honestly I oversprayed. Less is more here. Fortunately it calms down to a softer hug range around 3 hours and stays at that level until it fades out completely around 8 or 9 hours. This is great by today's standards, I was just expecting 24 hour longevity based on the opening. This is going to be a very limited scent for most people in where and when they can wear it. If you're the daring sort, this is for you. However if you work in an office environment and want to be professional this is not the best choice, especially if you work in close quarters with the public as say, a doctor. If you apply it 2 hours before going to work you'd be fine, it's just a bit of a risk. It isn't what I'd reach for if I was going to a nightclub either. This is a scent that screams for a formal event. Going to an opera? Yes. And art gallery? Yes. A romantic evening? Hell yes. I know anyone can wear any scent any time but this one seems to call for more judicious usage. Surprisingly it's working out fine on a hot day. I know it will do well in colder weather but even in the high heat and humidity here it still smelled great. It makes sense, this was originally made before fragrances were corralled off into summer/winter designations. All in all, a superb scent and a must smell for anyone serious about the hobby but not something I would try and recommend for mainstream wear. If you love the old Cartier Declaration, Kouros, Jicky, Salvador Dali Pour Homme, Musc Ravageur, Musc Kubla Khan and other fragrances like those, you owe it to yourself to smell this. A sample is a very wise choice and he has them for a very reasonable price, and when you fall in love and buy a bottle like I will the bottles are priced very fairly too. Smell: 10/10. This is such an amazing, lush, dense fragrance that it smells like nothing else out there today and just envelops you in sensual quality. Originality: 10/10. Even though it's a clone, read up on the effort it took to make it. I wish every clone was done with such care and attention to detail, and wish more companies would clone long forgotten or discontinued scents rather than 200 fucking shitty copies of MuH AvENtuS Performance: 8/10. If this was a mall frag it would be a 10/10 but it's a victim of it's own success. I just expected a little more based on how strong the initial hours are. It will get you through the full day with no issues however. Price: 9/10. This is priced very,very fairly both for samples and the variety of full sized bottles. I think it's a bargain based on the quality, and I say that as someone who loathes paying retail. Versatility: 5/10. I feel bad giving it such a low mark but I have to be realistic. This isn't a scent I could wear often nor would I want to, this will be a treat for me to wear. Overall: 9/10. Truly a beautiful scent that shows what one man can do with quality ingredients and a clear vision, and I look forward to reviewing the rest of the scents in the sample pack.

I am no expert taleweaver. Never claimed to be, never will be. In fact, it takes some effort to even convince myself that anyone would actually care to hear what I think about a certain scented water. I’ve brushed all those personal issues aside because I feel this fragrance is that great. 40 Rogue by Rogue Perfumery deserves its moment. It deserves to be talked about. A tribute to a long buried fragrance by Jean Desprez -40 Love. The history of this fragrance is an interesting topic unto itself. Based upon the game of tennis, and the score 40 - Love (or 40 - 0). The OG is suppose to be the perfumers attempt to describe the fake of tennis, its heat, sweet and implied elegance. For its time, around 1955, this had to be see as one risqué topic (two people, bodies, moving, sweat, physical activity). Tennis aside, one smell of this fragrance right off first spray and you realize this Jean Desprez was a filthy human being - and in all the best ways! This is a floral musk done right. You can read every other review on here for a note breakdown, but if you are into Floral Musks, or fragrances that cause you to go...”Oh!”...you have to locate a bottle of this. Last I talked to Manny, the owner, there were bottles out of a fragrance shop in Europe (I believe Euacion - or something close). I bought mine there and they were fairly priced and shipped to the states within a few days. Having the original 40 Love, I can attest this is as close a modern interpretation as you will find. Bottles of the original will go for $400 - 1000 and rarely show up on market. As the grandfather to YSL Kouros, Bogart Furyo, Marbert Gentleman, Daniel Hechter Caractere, Salvador Dali Pour Homme, RoccoBarocco Joint Pour Homme, Maxim’s Pour Homme, Alain Delon Iquitos, Paco Rabanne Tenere and more modern interpretations such as Papillion Salome, Jinx Smells J-D’Orient, and J-Musk I highly encourage anyone who care about the history to smell this one. It really helps you understand where it all comes from.

This could all too easily be very masculine as a true sharp fougere but no it just tip toes from the edge. The overall feel on my skin is a green sparkling, unisex, almost vintage scent. I LOVE IT! It has a lovely refreshing cool breeze blowing through from the aldehydes, carnations and basil. It's a green late Spring glade in woodland. The narcissus are swaying in the cool spring air. There is the smell of oak moss. Dry, green and stimulating. It is not very sweet but there is a little softness from the musk. I don't get anything animalic. Perfect for man or woman. The scent of the mythical Green man? It could be. Above average longevity and sillage in this cool room.

I absolutely love this, regrettably I only have a small sample of it and I've been looking all over for a bottle only to be disappointed time and time again... If anyone has a bottle they want to get rid of or can somehow help.me get a bottle of this amazing perfume PLEASE reach out to me 🫶

40 Rogue is a lovly resurrection of 40 Love. 40 Love was one of the first unisex scents. Mr. Cross did an excellent job repairing 40 Love back into shape. I can only dream of the heavy nitromusks in the original but updated thoughtfully for modern times. A great pick up. Highly recommended

My second Rogue Perfumery experience and a welcome surprise. 40's opening is powerful and puzzling. It gradually reminds me of an old-fashioned mechanics workshop; oily, animalic and pungent. Its not at all pretty; its not something I associate with the natural world... its a summer-garage workplace, redolent of doing, rather than (reflective, effortless) being. There's a hint of citrus, not much aldehydic lift and what dominates (apart from the distinctly animalic quality; the mechanic at work) is the sour note of green; a basil-tarragon on prozac, all the high-spirits removed. At its heart, there is a powdered carnation (nothing fresh or dew-spangled here) wrapped in a distinctly oak-mossy atmosphere redolent of dappled shade. 40 is never full-on shadows - it begins in dappled light and ends in twilight - but its never fully lit either. I think I like it. I certainly admire it. It's unique and will take you on an olfactory adventure... and after the first hour it settles into a deep, serious, oak-moss lover's perfume I enjoy and appreciate. Not a blind-buy I'd recommend, but definitely worth trying. Haiku of the day mechanic at work low light in pungent workplace cool inky oak-moss

Opens with an indescribable blend of... almost everything. It's a little citric and fruity, uplifting and fizzy (aldehydes), slightly powdery, lightly floral (mostly rose). Quickly starts drying down and picking up a gentle tobaccoey (narcissus) moss with a light dusting of fresh herbs & spices. Contrary to a number of other reviews here, my nose picks up nothing animalic. It's quite clean and pleasant, though the actual juice does have a very noticeable cooling sensation on my skin that is... kinda worrying? There's no menthol/camphor and I've no known allergies. Anyway... Moderate projection for the first hour, weak projection for a second hour, skin scent for 6-7hr. Mostly pure moss in the deep drydown.

Green, powdery, sparkling smell up-front - this accord contains a healthy dose of carnation. Fresh, dry moss. Animalic notes have a strong presence, can't imagine how much this was true of the vintage perfume this was based on, given that that one supposedly had way more musks in it. Turkish rose peaks its head out as the perfume dries down. 7.5/10

It's the combination of floral aldehydes combined with a musky, animalic drydown that makes this fragrance unwearable to me. It smells like an animal covered in dirt and musk that has wrapped itself in a pile of screechy clean, fresh laundry. The scent profile is too feminine for my taste. In similarity to other fragrances by Manuel Cross, 40 Rogue is minty, soapy, and abrasive. Final score: 5/10.

Probably my favorite of the Rogue Perfume samples received today (In the meantime bought a bottle for a great price from their etsy page). Opens with a rip of brightness, immediately followed by a greenish, powdery, but also slightly minty herbaceously dark mossiness that I find agreeable but also provocative, almost animalic, and somewhat discordant. Very stylish. Very archetype masculinity. The combination of freshness and mossiness almost makes me think of some kind of tea. This is truly awesome! And can you guess the drydown??!!! Candied Moss PERFECTION... This is the perfect perfume to spray on my handkerchief because it does mask unpleasant odors, as well as lasting indefinitely as the most beautiful soft leathery mossy moss. I really haven't smelled a perfume created in my lifetime at this price that really captures and beautifies animalic notes in the way this does. Either the animal notes are drowned out in a sea of Bal a Versailles-esque sweetness like Salome Papillon (feeling a bit scripted, who HASN'T done that with the funk?), or the animalics become ends that justify the means, you know, that thing touted as middle eastern where it literally smells like nothing but musk/medicinal/fecality. But this: everything is in perfect balance, while also taking the musk and bringing out different colors with it, really exploring it not just leaving it alone to sing on stage like a bad solo in an elementary school musical. Now I'm not really that familiar with older perfumes such as 40 Love, in part because I'm too young, also because the top notes on so many vintages I've smelled are off. But just taking it for what it is, this smells completely cool and maybe old school, but also very wearable.

Without scaring you away, this fragrance opens with some hardcore zoo-like oakmoss. With that said, this rogue performs like a wannabe chypre rather than an animal environment. The handful of spicy notes that contribute to this fragrance forms a thwack of an accord. Once the volume on this thing decreases, a nippy dosage of musky powder cascades about the central part of this fragrance. It stays in this dusty realm for a while leading me to believe that I was actualizing the base. The heart of this fragrance acts as a vestibule for the rose that eagerly awaits. At this point, 40 rogue is totally unrecognizable. The rose comes in rather strongly while supported by other sweet nuances that are indistinguishable in flavor. In all, this many-sided fragrance is ominously verdant, pleasantly aldehydic and almost Turkishly rosey. A fragrant profile that boast an autobot and decepticon characteristic(peep the metaphor). The transformations are vast and spellbinding. 40 has plenty of drama. Somebody tell Lifetime that im ready to tell my story.

Manuel is such a talented perfumer! This smells vintage, I don't know what else to say. It's like you popped open a fresh pre-ww2 bottle of Guerlain that hasn't aged. His fragrances transport you back in time. He's definitely carving a niche in perfumery with his signature touches. 3 sprays medium to heavy projection for the first hour then settles down after a couple hours for me the opening is almost minty, animalic, floral, herbal, shrub-like, then big aromatics such as lavender/sage (possibly from the basil) it's warm spicy, resinous, & then soft powdery ... very nice stuff!

OMG...I love this. So unique and different. Loving the oakmoss/narcisse combo....and I do get the basil/fruity notes weaving in and out...and a greenish carnation/rose vibe that is there but adds to...the blend. The aldehydes in this are not the "worrying" kind...A lot of aldehydic scents are off putting to me... I don't have anything in my vast collection to compare this to...???....Full bottle worthy and decent sillage/projection so far . (Sample tested).

I'm getting lots of mint and or eucalyptus. Very refreshing, fizzy, anyone else? surprised there are no such notes in the pyramid. Powdery and soapy at the same time, a little musky. I see many people mention this smelling "cool" and "breezy", to me definitely the minty eucalyptus aspects. Quite green, leans feminine.

Tested from a tiny simple, not a full wear. Very vintage-like fragrance. I've never smelled 40 love. but 40 Rogue reminds me a lot of my beloved Vol de nuit. Lovely, I need to get a bigger sample.

About three hours in I'm definitely getting the Turkish rose as base note as mentioned in review just below. Very nice!!!