Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
11/11/2022
MrHonest
110 Reviews
MrHonest
2
The REAL Luna Rossa Eau Sport
Many moons ago, I took for granted that this fragrance was basically a clone of JPG's original Le Male. At least...that's what I assumed. After smelling it once or twice on paper, it gave me smoooth Le Male vibes and I just left it at that. Unfortunately, due to its apparent popularity, it was one of those rare fragrances in the line that was never really discounted or ended up on the usual discounter racks like Signature, Riviera or Windsor. And paying a premium for what was essentially a better version of Cuba Gold simply wasn't justified. But as luck would have it, English Laundry recently discontinued this fragrance; and bingo-bango, just like that, into the bargain bin it went.
But that's not where this story begins. You see, I have a history with Le Male. Back in the late 90s, I found myself in a perfume shop in Germany that apparently decided to push the stuff like it was grandma's home cookin'. The entire store was blanketed in the stuff, and trying to navigate through shelves of unfamiliar perfume looking for a teenager's first cologne was like trying to sail through a dense fog in middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Every breath sent waves of minty vanilla-lavender into the lungs, stimulating key receptors and clouding the mind. From then on, the scent was burned so keenly into my nasal memory that it was impossible to forget.
Fast forward to the middle of the last decade when I came upon Le Male for the first time since the 90s - albeit in its reformulated form. Immediately I noticed that something was missing. Cuba's Gold would bring back some of that edginess, but it still wasn't quite there. And so began my quest to find either something closer to the original, or simply a better version.
Enter Prada's Luna Rossa Sport - a wonderfully smoother lavender-vanilla that I discovered after acquiring a number of samples with an order. I wore the heck out of that stuff in the winter of 2018 and actually grew quite fond of it. The blend was wonderful - albeit simple - and the performance was excellent for a synthetically sweet fragrance that had one foot in freshie territory. It wasn't exactly woody like Boss #6, but more of a quasi-aquatic take on Le Male without the mint - incredibly smooth and easy to enjoy.
So you can imagine my reaction when I picked up Arrogant recently from the bargain rack expecting to smell Le Male, and instead, being greeted with that ever-so-familiar smoooooth sweet lavender from 2018. Within seconds, 2 thoughts crossed my mind - 1) This isn't Le Male, and 2) Why am I transported to the winter holidays, walking through bustling streets and enjoying......yup. It was Luna Rossa Sport all right. No doubt about it. Almost identical for the first hour. Even the quality was on par. The only real difference was that it was a tad lighter - probably owing to the crappy atomizer - and it degraded into a thin candy-ish amber after about 4 hours. But for me, it finally highlighted the key difference between that scent and Le Male.
To describe it in plain terms, it starts out sweet and bright. Immediately the amber and lavender start kicking, with a very faint touch of some green spice in the background. Up close, I love this contrast. It's not quite a spice like pepper, cardamom or pimento, but more like this tingling greenness that just gives the lavender a sparkly edge. Nothing like the mint in Le Male either. Difficult to explain. Interestingly, it doesn't take long for it to disappear into the background and that smooth sweet lavender blend to take over. Simple - yes, synthetic - hell yes, but oh so pleasing. And lineeeeeeear. Very linear. In terms of quality, probably 2 steps above a holiday candle. Definitely passes as a great budget fragrance, but little more than that. The bottle and cap on par with the other English Laundry fragrances - not great, but workable.
Overall, I'll have to go out on a limb here and say that it's probably my favourite from the entire line, next to Oxford Bleu. But I'm biased of course. I really enjoy Luna Rossa Sport. And remember Luna Rossa Eau Sport? Yeah, wtf was that? I couldn't even finish the sample of that one it was such a mindf**. A super generic citrus that came out of nowhere and had nothing to do with the original. But THIS.....THIS fragrance easily lives up to that name. Quite literally, the watered down version of LRS, that retains the essential elements. So if you're looking for a solid budget version, this is it. Can't say that I'm disappointed that it's discontinued. Otherwise it wouldn't have ended up in my hands. A simple, easy to like and versatile unisex sweet lavender that anyone can enjoy. But yeah, not Le Male.
But that's not where this story begins. You see, I have a history with Le Male. Back in the late 90s, I found myself in a perfume shop in Germany that apparently decided to push the stuff like it was grandma's home cookin'. The entire store was blanketed in the stuff, and trying to navigate through shelves of unfamiliar perfume looking for a teenager's first cologne was like trying to sail through a dense fog in middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Every breath sent waves of minty vanilla-lavender into the lungs, stimulating key receptors and clouding the mind. From then on, the scent was burned so keenly into my nasal memory that it was impossible to forget.
Fast forward to the middle of the last decade when I came upon Le Male for the first time since the 90s - albeit in its reformulated form. Immediately I noticed that something was missing. Cuba's Gold would bring back some of that edginess, but it still wasn't quite there. And so began my quest to find either something closer to the original, or simply a better version.
Enter Prada's Luna Rossa Sport - a wonderfully smoother lavender-vanilla that I discovered after acquiring a number of samples with an order. I wore the heck out of that stuff in the winter of 2018 and actually grew quite fond of it. The blend was wonderful - albeit simple - and the performance was excellent for a synthetically sweet fragrance that had one foot in freshie territory. It wasn't exactly woody like Boss #6, but more of a quasi-aquatic take on Le Male without the mint - incredibly smooth and easy to enjoy.
So you can imagine my reaction when I picked up Arrogant recently from the bargain rack expecting to smell Le Male, and instead, being greeted with that ever-so-familiar smoooooth sweet lavender from 2018. Within seconds, 2 thoughts crossed my mind - 1) This isn't Le Male, and 2) Why am I transported to the winter holidays, walking through bustling streets and enjoying......yup. It was Luna Rossa Sport all right. No doubt about it. Almost identical for the first hour. Even the quality was on par. The only real difference was that it was a tad lighter - probably owing to the crappy atomizer - and it degraded into a thin candy-ish amber after about 4 hours. But for me, it finally highlighted the key difference between that scent and Le Male.
To describe it in plain terms, it starts out sweet and bright. Immediately the amber and lavender start kicking, with a very faint touch of some green spice in the background. Up close, I love this contrast. It's not quite a spice like pepper, cardamom or pimento, but more like this tingling greenness that just gives the lavender a sparkly edge. Nothing like the mint in Le Male either. Difficult to explain. Interestingly, it doesn't take long for it to disappear into the background and that smooth sweet lavender blend to take over. Simple - yes, synthetic - hell yes, but oh so pleasing. And lineeeeeeear. Very linear. In terms of quality, probably 2 steps above a holiday candle. Definitely passes as a great budget fragrance, but little more than that. The bottle and cap on par with the other English Laundry fragrances - not great, but workable.
Overall, I'll have to go out on a limb here and say that it's probably my favourite from the entire line, next to Oxford Bleu. But I'm biased of course. I really enjoy Luna Rossa Sport. And remember Luna Rossa Eau Sport? Yeah, wtf was that? I couldn't even finish the sample of that one it was such a mindf**. A super generic citrus that came out of nowhere and had nothing to do with the original. But THIS.....THIS fragrance easily lives up to that name. Quite literally, the watered down version of LRS, that retains the essential elements. So if you're looking for a solid budget version, this is it. Can't say that I'm disappointed that it's discontinued. Otherwise it wouldn't have ended up in my hands. A simple, easy to like and versatile unisex sweet lavender that anyone can enjoy. But yeah, not Le Male.
