3lbows

After statement and comment response I have to take a stand for the legend. Although the fragrance establishment says he has a shower gel synthetics and he can't shine in any discipline, I think he is really successful as a representative of his fragrance.
After experiencing the Fierce DNA for the first time in 2002 in a Kohl's supermarket in Denver - at that time still as perfumy-oriented as a cold sock - I've been looking for a long time for a summer scent that plays this song. First, because I wasn't ready in the USA to spend so many stones for a scented water, and back in the old world again, because you could hardly get your hands on it here.
A decade later, the accidental discovery in the miller: Black, heavy bottle with a small, but well-dispersing sprayer and plastic lid with a full click. Still no ambitions in the hobby, which should catch me again a short decade later, just tried it, but immediately recognized: This other, NOT showery fruitiness (my shower gel at that time was called Cliff), this NOT aquatic warmth, this, at least initially NOT sweet seduction (I'm open for suitable, existing synonyms), that was Fierce! How dare you! Clearly the same fragrance! NO! Because what Legend lacked was performance, endurance, projection, presence. Anyway, it was bought anyway, and I was happy because I finally had my perfume. And believe me, among non-perfume junkies it is well received, and has enormous recognition value.
As I said, a few years later, PARFUMO came into the house, and besides many new experiences, also an original flacon Fierce. Directly from the relatives in the USA, one fears the forgeries. But what was that? Top note: Check. But Legend is still coming along. Fierce: Fruity, broader, slightly orange (?) even. Legend: The slender pineapple looks good on him, makes him colder, clears out the DNA and gives him more freshness, although Legend is more reserved, but also more mature than Fierce. Heart note: Check. Legend and Fierce don't give each other anything here. In the base, Legend becomes warmer and more conciliatory with the Tonka, but remains fresh and suitable for summer because of its metallic, almost pencil-like base, whereas Fierce does not develop magnificently, but simply fades away. BUT. In the reformulation (black cap), Fierce is not nearly as durable as before. Doesn't even play in the same league anymore, maybe because the dosage of oakmoss has fallen victim to newer regulatives?
Be that as it may, SO Legend is just as persistent, but at the same time lighter and more multi-faceted, though at the same time actually a bit more synthetic.
So Fierce sold again, Legend now sprayed down to 10ml.
But this is not the end of the fragrance journey. The DNA fascinates me so much, and apart from Aventus (and Fierce 2002) no other summer scent could really knock me down.
So the souk was combed for Legend (Fierce?) alternatives: Platinum Egoiste? Too much suit, too little summer suit. Tous Man Intense? Cheaper and more durable, but even heavier than Egoiste (and even more orange than Fierce). Just Cavalli Him? Pleasing, beautiful depleted top note (paprika), but does not last. Legend Intense? See Tous Man. 701 from the blatant German scent copier? Like all fragrances offered there only 128 mBit (we understand each other).
Away from Legend only Police with To be - the Illusionist could offer me a valuable alternative. But this one is too close to the reformulated Fierce, and therefore from my side an unrestricted purchase recommendation to its target group.
I still have the aviator of Paris Bleu, but I don't have much hope (and at the moment it doesn't seem to be that easy to get, even though it's cheap).
That's why Legend definitely does what he does right. It enriches the Fierce DNA in a more adult direction, also makes it suitable for the office and for me as an Ü40 year-round fragrance not so easily replaceable.
So the search goes on, as so often...

Do you know that? A new car comes onto the market and you can't get tired of the design. The more often you see the vehicle in traffic, the more common you find it, until you finally don't want to see it anymore.
That's how I've been with Rentless. In the summer I went to the local Lush to try Dirty, after which the salesgirl wanted to give me a hint of "a really great one that I've probably never smelled before". So Rentless on the test strip, sniffed briefly and on. The first impression: dark, liqueurish, earthy, sweet. But no classic gold bar sweetness, or the reservedly flattering sweetness of DHI. No, this is different; clearer, almost cutting, fresher, much fresher. Like Shania Twain's voice, if anyone else knows it. The fragrance is definitely sweet - but it doesn't feel like it at all. But good - Lush is definitely not 08/15, so continue to downtown and wait for the development.
The liqueur evaporates quickly, the grapefruit works its way forward and makes the fresh sweetness more scratchy. Then patchouli and lavender take over, but the mix remains crisply fresh, crisp, in the absence of a better German word. The scent doesn't fade, it stays. After an hour, he still sillies like Duracell from the test strip out of the shirt pocket. At this point my wife persuaded me to go back to the shop and take the 30ml with me. For her, not for me, therefore definitely unisex. But now back to the problem. Durability and Sillage outshine everything, really everything I have experienced so far. Definitely still perceptible on the skin after two days (and showers). On clothes? The shirt with the test strip still smells today... But seriously: Rentless, 2x sprayed on, Mugler, Rabanne, definitely drives everything I was allowed to test so far, against the wall. My wife sprays it on, and the kids don't want to be in her car anymore. Not because it's bad, but who wants to bathe in jelly? All other scent impressions in the surroundings fade. Too much of a good thing, and so I'm afraid the 30ml in this ugly bottle will last another 4, 5 years. Despite his initial affection, his uniqueness and quality, but precisely because of his presence I find Rentless at least in the long run unbearable. This is an experience no perfume affiner would want to miss. But I'd like to meet anyone who wears that signature.

Maybe a word in advance about the Zara Dupes themselves. As with La Rive, there are variations in quality, the extent to which fragrances come close to their role models, and of course the tiresome subject of durability.
But Zara has a special problem here; many fragrances have a pungent, high-frequency scratchy and synthetic note in the drydown after a frequently acceptable top note, which delays the shelf life, but equalizes the fragrances in the early base note. But for me it's especially problematic that this, let's call it perfume glutamate, with its constantly booming presence in the background also causes headaches. With the newer scents like Pipeline and Teahupoo I don't notice them, but with 9.0 or this one here.
Nevertheless, Gourmand Leather is among my Top 5 Dupes. He comes so damn close to his role model Ultra Mâle that it shivers you to spend more for it. The fragrance starts with a full charge of well defined canned pears (sic! Although not in the pyramid), dark blue and deep-sweet. The above-mentioned Zara glutamate gives him a peculiar freshness, which for me at least in the first hour even lifts him above his role model. He seems more interesting, dominant, self-confident and yet playful, projects enormously and is definitely, definitely not 10€ Billigheimer. In this phase I always feel compelled to sniff at the point of entry, simply because he smells comfortably sweet and at the same time screams loudly "yeah baby, I can still do it!" If it would stay SO over the whole course, and only fade away...
But then Zara comes and reminds me of the 10€. The glutamate takes over the control and becomes stronger from hour 2-3. Gourmand Leather now says goodbye to the sailor, gets a bit leatherier, and slowly ends. I would describe the late base as light, close to the skin leather, no longer sweet, but now also freed from the stabbing drydown extender and thus quite compatible. After 8-10 hours it's over, at least on my skin. It lasts much longer on the test strip or on clothing.
The brown rubberized bottle is now not really tingling, but the spray head doses properly and is easy to align. I don't expect more in this price range, although La Rive is mMn ahead of the pack here.
I can't recommend Gourmand Leather quite as unscrupulously as Dry Oil (Dior Homme / Homme Intense), for example, or Just On Time (Pure XS), simply because the Zara Drydown pulls down the overall impression for me. But if you are looking for a long-lasting, clearly perceptible night scent, or if you like Ultra Mâle, you can take a blind look here.

So there it is also here, in my new hobby world: The Anti-Mainstream. Just because something appeals to a lot of people makes it per se - bad. Real gamers only gamble hardcore or crowd found indie games, depending on the religion, a real mountain biker doesn't buy in a DIY store, movies must be demanding or absurd. No cineaste regularly goes to Otto normal cinemas. Whoever listens to the usual radio stations is a superficial buffoon etc...
Please do not misunderstand; Those who delve deeper into a matter perceive nuances, see more differentiated, more trained, perhaps also blunt a little, but in any case have higher or at least other demands. Those who lose their openness to simple impressions and smile at the uninitiated, however, deprive themselves of the playful lightness that such a leisure activity can have. He quickly finds himself forced to keep the uninitiated outside and to defend the "us" of those who, on the basis of their self-recognized competence, are allowed to allow themselves to be judged anew.
So I explain the 5.4 for this fragrance here - as a fortress against the mainstream. If you like it, you're not one of us. He doesn't deserve that in my eyes, even though I hate him too. But one thing at a time: For me it starts fresh-citric-sweet, also scratchy and not very charming. This scratchy, herbaceous lemon cream runs very slowly to a much more peaceful, also creamy vanilla. Long lasting and with a good sillage until almost the end. For me also very unique, at least I wouldn't know of any fragrance that resembles it. Pure XS is synthetic but certainly not generic. If you are looking for a long-lasting sweet-citric summer scent that doesn't drift into the orange like Allure Homme Eau Extreme or Tonka, you should at least try it here. Its sweetness has nothing to do with 1 million, Spicebomb, Eros and Co, goes in a completely different direction. The bottle is interesting, though bulky.
I don't mean to say this scent doesn't polarize: I, too, have not yet been able to decide on a full bottle because it is simply too bulky and too loud; Im lacks the light, always portable, pleasant that I look for in a summer scent, especially at higher temperatures. To dismiss him as Plörre, however, does not do him justice, there would be here still completely other candidates, who have substantially less character, but are left by the Community in peace
Simply test and decide for yourself!

Here they are now wooing on my wrist, Kouros on the left, Eros on the right. The two Proleten from two generations, one in the Ford Capri, the other in Papa´s Tiguan, exemplary expression of perfume historical contemporary history. The fact that today, where generic syrup bombs and discreet androgynous flatterers interpret the fairy tale of sugar back and forth, the Kouros, albeit in a weakened form, are still brought to the man is in itself a statement. But who buys something like that?
The two don't give each other anything, they scream "I'm here!" and make their way through the crowds. But it seems that at Kuro´s you were older if you wanted the right to have fun, or even an expensive perfume to wear. Where today it seems normal to have dozens of U20 "Beastmode" - Fragrances a la 1 million to choose from before the weekly exit, the industry at that time was apparently less success-pressed, which led to an almost naive creativity. That's the only way I can explain Kouros to myself. There's nothing smooth ironed here, and I don't think it's conventional either. Rather daring and an unthinkable risk for today's marketing departments.
For me as a fragrance beginner, fresh bergamot notes make up the main part of the Kouros experience, coupled with this almost unheard-of smoky animal note that many would describe as unpleasant. The whole remains faithful for a long time, until the honey takes over, and the fight-dog whistles back. Now that you've met, you don't have to bite anymore. I did not know the name before, although I grew up in his time, but the smell of the sprayed sample was undefined familiar to me. So it must have been quite common at some point. But today? I can't smell it anywhere. He somehow seems out of place, like from another time, like He-Man, Magnum or a Colt for all occasions.
The current bottle (without the glass container) is less offensive. Actually a beautiful hand cuddler with a solid distributing sprayer that is easy to aim.
For me, such a perfume can no longer be judged in itself, nor can I see the graphics and sound of old games or the editing in old films without their temporal context. At least for me the intellectual pigeonholes change too quickly and, unlike, say, music and literature, there seems to be less really overpowering common denominators in the world of scents.
But precisely for this reason I am glad that they are still available, the Kouros´ Fahrenheits and Joop Hommes, although often reformulated. For their uncomfortable uniqueness, their otherness, their charm and character provide a head cinema of impressions, sensitivities, feelings and memories that hardly any other art form is able to achieve in such a dense and accessible way. A journey through contemporary history at Douglas.
In 20 years it will be Eros' turn to tell us his story.