Spanish Leather

The aftershave smells even better than the cologne. Either way to me, it hits a similar note to Ralph Lauren Safari and a hint of Old Spice and even faintly reminds me of the dry down of Dior Sauvage Elixir,which is my favorite version of that line. It's not exactly the same, and it predates those, but one of the first times I wore this to work, I'm sure I was the only one wearing cologne in the room and was feeling somewhat self-conscious until one of the ladies from admin walked in and said "wow. It smells like man in here!" I have gotten other compliments on it too. Nowadays I'm probably old enough to fit the profile for the stuff, but I still break it out once in awhile. It's a very nice touch after a good shave, and I always feel classy wearing it. Never got the pee aspect others mentioned, but it's possible I have a pre-reformulation bottle.

Finally a barbershop scent that doesn't assault you with Lavander, patchuli or sandalwood. Doesn't smell like 1950s green like a lot of these. Extremely refreshing.

Another member I know proclaimed this stuff to be completely devoid of leather, and I see what he meant in the sense of how soapy and sweet it is. The very top notes are surpsingly dry and citrusy, with spices way down underneath as in Trafalgar. The lavender comes out in front, so as usual I feel like I need to wait it out, but it doesn't take long for a sweet resinous leather/soap to emerge, with spices similar to those in Bel Ami but not as overdone. It does get sweeter and soapier into the mid notes, and less truly leathery, but for those of you like me who hate things as nightmarishly sweet and floral as Creed Royal English Leather, it's not nearly that strong. Still, a little bit of the bubblegum note from REL is in here, and it gives a slight candy vibe which I could do without. There's a lot of vanilla in the base as well, which doesn't help. This fragrance is trying to wear many hats, and not entirely succeeding with all of them. I think it's trying to have more leather content than Trumper's ill-named Spanish Leather, but it doesn't quite know how to do it. Ultimately, I still like it because the end result of this failed multitasking is a very creamy wood fragrance, close to Davidoff's Zino, but you have to be careful with it because it's so sweet.

So far this is quickly the most unique and engaging scent from Truefitt of the 5 or so I've sampled so far. It's extremely powdery, which is not expected for a leathery scent but it works for me. The musky and dark sweet notes balance it out and give it an almost chocately feel. I honestly really like it. If my barber splashed this on me after a haircut I'd definitely be asking what it is. I understand why some people don't like this, but I'll give it an 8 out of 10 as it does achieve the barbershop scent profile while being pretty interesting and engaging.

As the other quite unique creations from this house, not easy to compare directly to other known fragrances. It is an enjoyable scent resembling the spices in Sex Appeal by Jovan, with a dry down somehow reminiscent of the Versace l’Homme. Performance is lacking as other reviews have stressed, but has a good complexity and personality.