DK Men by DKNY / Donna Karan
Bottle Design Stephen Weiss
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8.3 / 10 100 Ratings
A popular perfume by DKNY / Donna Karan for men, released in 1994. The scent is spicy-leathery. The longevity is above-average. The production was apparently discontinued.
Pronunciation
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Main accords

Spicy
Leathery
Woody
Smoky
Sweet

Fragrance Notes

SuedeSuede SpicesSpices TobaccoTobacco Citrus notesCitrus notes
Ratings
Scent
8.3100 Ratings
Longevity
8.480 Ratings
Sillage
7.582 Ratings
Bottle
7.7106 Ratings
Value for money
7.411 Ratings
Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 12.02.2024.
Interesting Facts
The name "Fuel for Men" was apparently only the slogan for this fragrance at first. Only with the re-release in 2008, the fragrance officially appeared under this name.

Reviews

7 in-depth fragrance descriptions
10
Bottle
8
Sillage
9
Longevity
9.5
Scent
Can777

121 Reviews
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Can777
Can777
Top Review 45  
Suggestion
As far as my opinion about expensive sports cars is concerned, I have become very realistic. They are usually very uncomfortable, very noisy while driving, extremely expensive to repair and maintain and highly unsuitable if you want to go on holiday with a woman like mine. This refers to the usually very small boot, which has little room for much luggage. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Extremely much! Nevertheless, I like sports cars like a lot of men, of course. Especially when they're fresh out of the box. Say: New are! Standing in front of it is of course something completely different than sitting in it. The smell that a new car emits in the interior is probably known to many of us. Let's describe it in one word: Flawless! Here is a small example of what this olfactory suggestion can do to us and the deep subconscious. Or better said DK Men!

I was very lucky to get a full and unused bottle of this fantastic perfume. The joy about it was huge! I have known this fragrance since it first appeared, but had not worn it since the 90s. I have always liked him very much, honestly said but never knew why exactly. It was, of course, hung up immediately. And of course I was immediately overwhelmed again by his presence and incredible initial projection. Soon after, I had to take the dog out. I took the elevator downstairs and walked for a good half an hour. Back home I pressed the button of the elevator with a thousand thoughts in my head. The door opens and I entered the elevator car. I was in an elevator, but olfaktorisch seen I was in a luxury body, sports car, new car or car dealership. DK Men was still smelling in him. The aura of the fragrance still floated there, about half an hour after I had left it. I had thought lost completely forgotten that I had hung him up before I went out and was fascinated what I got olfactorically suggested. A new sports car, dismantled into fragrant atoms!

Conclusion
The power of olfactory suggestion should not be underestimated. And DK Men does that more than well. This fragrance is unique in its effect, radiance and composition. And it doesn't surprise me a bit why he was and still is so successful with so many men. And the same goes for women. I deliberately didn't mention any fragrances, because you can't take DK Men apart at all. He's a whole and he looks like one. Complex, multi-layered and dense. In order to make it a bit clumsy, coarse and not very serious DK Men smells like suede or suede leather, a fruity-citric leather care product and sweet synthetic rubber gaskets, underlaid with a spicy tobacco note. Maybe the salesman's?! That may sound weird now, but it's not. The combination of the scents is ingenious. I don't know any perfume that's so authentic after an expensive,
new, flawless new car. None! You could undoubtedly use it to fragrance a showroom to boost sales. Donna Karan wanted to make her husband Stephen Weiss happy with the fragrance when she created DK Men, who had died in the meantime. It should be the smell of his favorite car. A tribute to racing and to himself. Her greatest love. This undertaking was probably more than successful in my opinion. Stephen Weiss had slightly modified the unique, stylized gear-shift bottle in his very own, personal and artistic way as a sculptor. And I think he's an asset to any male collection. Not to mention the content. An absolutely unique fragrance that is second to none!

If I would see myself as a sports car, I would say the paint is already off in some places, but the primer is still on it and I'm at least still checkbook and fast. But with DK Men as a fragrance, the flaws don't attract any attention anyway!
28 Comments
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
9
Scent
Scorpio

1 Review
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Scorpio
Scorpio
Very helpful Review 17  
The Holy Grail...
....or the most legendary men's fragrance since Patou pour Homme.

One can rightly claim that this fragrance is one of the most sought-after and rare fragrances you can buy for money. Almost mystified by its enormous rarity. In my opinion, there is only one fragrance left that can top FUEL. And this is Patou pour Homme. The original version goes without saying. Not the Reformulated Plörre.

With no other fragrance (except perhaps New West for Her) I had such a desire after the first test. That's the scent I wanted. But unfortunately I was just 14 years old in 1994, already a scent affine at that time and completely misunderstood. FUEL cost a lot of money back then. And I didn't. Besides, I could only test it in the big city. Our small-scale drugstore didn't even have something so exotic. To cut a long story short. Only since this year I am proud owner of a 75ml bottle full to the brim. Just 25 years after my first scent orgasm. How is that possible?

First of all it should be mentioned that the bottle as it can be seen above disappeared sometime and gave way to a full glass bottle without cap, metal frame and already firmly integrated spray head. This version I bought years later of course and was confused. He smelled much more intense and somehow different back then. REFORMULATION!!! But I had no idea about that at the time.

I don't think the scents are correct. And lo and behold, I found the following information on the net:

Head
Citrus fruits, juniper, pineapple

Heart
Mayflower, Amber, Almond, Suede, Tobacco

Base notes
Sandalwood, Lavender, Musk

This unique blend of exotic fruits, leather and this fine almond note keeps flashing me to the new. So far, I've only worn it three times. Too precious! If you want to know more about the fragrance itself, read through the recession of Can777. In my opinion, he's said everything there is to say. FUEL related of course

The bottle, as shown above, is traded on Ebay at absolute moon prices. Under € 300,00 (and more) nothing goes. € 50,00 for mini bottles will be offered without red as well. But sometimes you are lucky ;-) Even if you have to wait 25 years
9 Comments
8
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
8.5
Scent
Taurus

310 Reviews
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Taurus
Taurus
Helpful Review 6  
Playful and yet mature
Most of the people who had already dealt with fragrances at that time will probably remember the conspicuous spacy bottle.

Somehow you couldn't get around suppressing your own curiosity and sniffing out what might be in there. Probably not only I had expected a totally futuristic over-scent, which could beam one into another olfactory dimension. Maybe something synthetic had been expected.

But from the sprayer comes a rather organic, warm-sweet to creamy appearing surge of relatively familiar ingredients.
In front, a few minimal citric splashes with a hint of pineapple. In the background some musk wafts slowly into the mixture. Also a bit of lavender and a soft amber will attract your attention easily. In between, a little almond flashes through like a casual flash, which is less noticeable on the skin than on paper.

This fuel has an enormous presence and durability. At the very end you can still perceive some patchouli and sandalwood for a longer time, perhaps also a hint of cinnamon.

All together Fuel for Men looks sweet and woody as well as noble and spicy, yes - even a little playful but with adult charm. Somehow he has a certain sexyness with discreet creamy powdery beginnings, but personally he was too wintry for me. Perhaps the apparent discrepancy between the bottle and its contents hindered me.

Later I got myself John Varvatos, who almost has the same olfactory notch, but suggests something different from the given notes.
4 Comments
10
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
7.5
Scent
N471v3

99 Reviews
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N471v3
N471v3
6  
Wiggly picture from 1994
"A lenticular image (colloquially called a nodding image) is an image that creates a three-dimensional impression by means of tiny optical lenses or prisms. This illusion can be viewed without optical aids."

So simply put, the little cards that used to come with chewing gum, etc., and enticed children to buy the product for the purpose of collecting it. Was also in Mickey Mouse notebooks, etc...
The card is specially printed so that when you change the viewing angle, a different image is created.
This can create the impression that the subject is moving, but it is also possible to change the subject (Human -> Monster).

And this is where DKNY Men (1994) (also "Fuel") comes in.

(!) Attention: This fragrance has nothing to do with the DKNY Men (2009) of the same name, which is spicy-fresh.

"Fuel", on the other hand, according to Parfumo, is a spicy-woody scent. For my nose, however, it is rather fruity-animalistic, if I have to nail it down to 2 predicates.

I already have about 7ml of it in my possession for quite a long time, and I test it every few years... like today
And as I already said in my statement, this "legend" unfortunately smells more like a gentlemen's urinal to me than anything else.

But not always!

It just occurred to me that this impression is only created when you smell the spray with your nose, very close A somewhat stupid test as I have to admit, because many fragrances are not designed for this distance, but are designed to smell good from a distance of 1m.

It's a bit like when a theatre actress overdraws her lipstick so much that you can still see from the last row that her lips are red. From close up it would look stupid, but at a distance the contours are still visible.

Back to "Men"...

So in my current test I probably smelled too intensely at first, because later when I noticed the silage and my nose was relaxed again, I suddenly felt the scent was completely different and much more pleasant.
I then challenged it again, and the olfactory wobble alternately in the silage, and again sniffed at it from very close, always with 1-2 minutes in between, (or the strong silage forces itself on anyway, so you can always smell it...).

And from the silage it is actually a round leather scent, refined with red berries and spices and tobacco, I would say Could almost be the idealistic predecessor of Tuscan Leather, when you think about it... (Leather with raspberry...)

From very close smelled, but immediately comes back the urinal note, much more disgusting than e.g. Kouros I find.

I can dimly understand why some people find the fragrance so special, it already has a sophisticated composition, especially for its time.

But in the meantime there are so many better ones from Designer & Niche, so Fuel is not really interesting for me. From my point of view, he hasn't aged very well, somehow not polished enough, and a little bit exhausting, pompous.

Nowadays you just buy something like Herod, a sweet spicy tobacco scent, polished down to the last strand of DNA... and is 100 times better dressed
At the end of the day this is again just my opinion and my personal taste, so dear Fuel Connoisseurs, please don't let me spoil your mood!

I see the work of art here, so to speak, he is already special and somewhat strange. (Never smelled something like that anywhere else...)

But you have to differentiate, and for me this is not something I would buy as a bottle.

Practically that this is no longer possible anyway. :D
5 Comments
8
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
7.5
Scent
Morpheus1

49 Reviews
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Morpheus1
Morpheus1
Helpful Review 3  
The Dark Knight of the Fragrance World
First of all: it is a unique fragrance.

The fuel for real men. It explodes like the fuel in the combustion chamber of an engine.
It has the strength and expressiveness almost like gasoline. Just fuel. Male and very distinctive. Nothing for just spraying on. It should be well considered when and where you wear it, if you wear it at all.

Hot juniper paired with fruity pineapple, meets creamy almond with rough, angular leather and spices. A really sharp-edged scent. It has something almost lacquer-like about it. Not for sissies, and it takes courage to wear it. Polarizing, for some noses certainly also deterrent.

The bottle is unique, as is the fragrance. He's got a lot of borrowing from the alien movies.

Sillage and shelf life are above average
4 Comments
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Statements

2 short views on the fragrance
BatmanacciBatmanacci 3 months ago
10
Scent
One of my all-time favorite fragrances! Still incredible after all these years.
0 Comments
Charilaos77Charilaos77 12 months ago
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
8.5
Scent
Happy to have a bottle of this unicorn. Great fruity floral smoky leathery combination. The vibe is for me sth between Egoiste & Tuscan L.
0 Comments

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