DPArtist

A non-nostalgic review. OK so Versace/Versus Blue Jeans has been around for a long time, since the mid 90s in fact, a time which for me personally was a time of coming of age, the end of childhood, my youth! Well, for whatever reason I never owned this fragrance until a few months ago and indeed only sniffed it (knowingly) for the first time in early 2019. Admittedly upon the opening I wasn't sure if I liked it, I couldn't focus on what I was smelling, I was getting this huge sweet floral aroma which seemed extremely unique but paradoxically familiar.

This first sniff had been in a duty free shop while waiting to board a train from Paris to London, I had sprayed my wrist, then soon began the rush to board the train. Once settled in my seat I was thinking at how fantastic the train smells when I realised the strong aroma was emanating from my wrist! It was seemingly filling the entire carriage with an alluring and comforting scent, sweet, cosy and reassuring but with a little freshness mixed in too for good measure. The huge note-listing shows how this inexpensive little fragrance is actually a rather complex composition, a symphony of citrus, florals, spices, conifer trees and sweeter accords. If anything stands out to me personally it's the lavender & geranium, as I'm such a big fan of these notes, but really, I think the unique and extensive combination of notes (heliotrope, fir, rose, jasmine, patchouli, basil, vanilla, juniper etc) is what probably makes this scent so special. I agree that the scent sometimes comes off like a fruity-floral cola drink (reflecting the unique bottle!).

I'd have to disagree with the classification of Blue jeans as a 'citrus-fresh' scent though, it's more than that. I'd have to echo SirSmellALot's thoughts, Blue Jeans isn't a million miles away from extremely popular modern scents such as D&G The One and all the smell-alikes that came after it. They share those same alluring, cosy, comforting and sweet qualities, they both smell superb, the big difference is that, for me at least, Blue Jeans really performs!

This is a masterful creation by Monsieur Béthouart, a truly timeless fragrance which is arguably (putting subjectivity aside for a moment) one of the best bargains currently available in the fragrance world, making me baulk at the prices of other offerings! It really is something special indeed!

A must try for any fragrance enthusiast. Wish I'd tried it sooner, I shall definitely be getting a back-up bottle as I'm well and truly hooked on this one!

I'll try to keep this as short as possible. I was lucky enough to find a pre-owned, full bottle of this for a great price back at the start of the year. Initially I mentally branded it a light, kind of weaker version of the original l'Eau d'Issey pour Homme. I then compared the two and weirdly side by side the differences are apparent, on it's own 'Issey Yuzu or IY' as I'll call it definitely recalls the original. IY amps up the citrus considerably (while removing the OG's floral aspects, plus toning down the woods a little) treating us to a gorgeous, mouthwatering refreshing start which never really lets up completely throughout the fragrance's duration which for me was at least 7 hours, probably more.

Working outdoors, I kept getting whiffs of this frankly stunning scent. I realised just why I liked it so much, it gives me hints of my beloved Dior Homme Sport, the 2008 original only though! I consider that Dior a masterpiece which the brand should never have messed with but there you go, I live in hope that they'll bring it back one day but I doubt it. IY is lighter than the DIor but they do share several notes. Unlike the Dior and indeed the original Issey which are year round scents in my opinion, I find that IY is probably best suited to the warmer days, if only because such are it's refreshing qualities it would be a shame to waste it on cooler days but it's also probably too light and airy for most peoples tastes in the cold weather, still it could be a good zesty pick-me-up anytime I guess!

I'm surprised at the low scores for this fragrance, really I think it's an absolute gem. Of course scents are subjective, maybe I have odd taste. But perhaps people are keeping it at a fairly low profile so it doesn't get hyped? Hmm. Sorry but if that's the case, the secret is out now! :D

Superb stuff, Issey should bring it back and make it a permanent fixture, rename it 'Issey cologne' if you have to!

Having owned this for a year I had been considering selling it on as I had often found it to be a bit too sharp and cloying. Yes I had been fooled by it's light turquoise summery appearance, also some words I read had described it as a 'summer freshie.' I had also expected Edge Intense Man to be a clone of Creed's Aventus which it isn't in my opinion, although it does give off kind of a similar vibe, yet they're far from identical. If anything I find this scent gives a closer nod to Montblanc's Legend Intense but with a unique twist (and less apple), sharing the Creed's key Pineapple note of course.

SAEIM opens with an incredibly bright, sharp and invigorating blast of fresh citrus fruit (bergamot & maybe lemon which isn't listed) and ginger, if this stuff doesn't wake you up then nothing will! It is intense as the name suggests but not with the typical modern perfumery interpretation of what means 'intense', there is no leather, incense or oud note here (!!) but rather an amped up freshness which could be just too much for sensitive noses, when the key note of geranium comes into play and takes centre stage the intensity increases even further as it battles it out with the pineapple and ginger for dominance!

Don't be fooled by the deceptively coloured liquid, this is no transparently weak and/or ozonic summer freshie. Go easy on the sprays and you will be rewarded with a delicious fruity & spicy scent, the dry down of which is simply sumptuous, perhaps accentuated by the interplay of floral notes with dominant fruit & spice, later a light touch of sweetness provided by vanilla lends the scent a nice fuzzy feeling almost like the calm after the storm. A fruity beauty when used sparingly.

Picture a sleek modern office building, a painting of a forest behind the receptionist's desk. A suited man enters, 'hi Violet' he says and walks between two rows of tall, impossibly clean-looking potted plants towards her giant wooden desk, a gust of air following him in from the street. He reaches the desk and Violet looks up with her cool green eyes and gives him a knowing glance but doesn't smile.

CK Man is a versatile masculine fragrance, indeed the bottle itself recalls the sleek modern office building from my abstract intro, the scent is most certainly suited to the contemporary urban workplace. Not a warming scent, the coolness of green plants and the evergreen cypress trees lends CK Man a slightly cold and serious vibe, however this is balanced out with the strong & alluring note of violet leaf which is really the star of the show until the gaiac wood reveals itself fully later on. Some spicy & herbal accords particularly from the nutmeg but also rosemary add a little underlying playful mischief to ensure that it isn't all work and no play.

So a modern urban fragrance, with a little nod to some 'manly' woody & evergreen fragrances of the past. A city dweller who goes hiking in nature at the weekend, when he gets the chance and isn't distracted by Violet's eyes.

From the advertising campaign this and the female version 'Because It's You' seem to have been marketed as perfect his & her gifts. Well, seeing as I'm a single straight man (and quite handsome according to my late grandmother, so form an orderly queue ladies, please calm down!), I decided to buy this for myself instead of waiting until hell froze over to get it as a gift from a female admirer! :D

This lovingly created fragrance seems to get more than it's fair share of hate in frag-Com. Why? Well in my opinion it's because of the type of scent it is (popular with the masses a la 1 Million et al) rather than the smell and quality of the fragrance itself! Upon sniffing Stronger with YOU for the first time you are hit with a strong sweetness, which some may find off-putting. Give it a chance though and it can quickly become enchanting, addictive even. SWY is said to be unoriginal and rather deja-vu and yes it does smell familiar but at the same time it's like a much (much) better version of something familiar. I also find this fragrance, even though it smells brilliantly contemporary, has a timeless quality to it. The way it was created it seems more of an overall scent or composition in a similar way to many 'classic' fragrances from the past rather than one of those where you pick out each note and so easily classify a scent as a leather or tobacco frag and so on, so this is possibly another reason why it's written off as synthetic crap. Oh and it doesn't contain one of the current trendy notes such as leather, oud or strong iris.

In my collection I find this to be like a cold weather variant of lovely Legend Spirit by MontBlanc, perhaps that's due to them both containing pink pepper, cardamom and a sweet woody vibe. Whatever it is they are both immensely uplifting scents that please both the wearer and people around them! Yes, surefire crowd-pleasers make no mistake. Where SWY surpasses LS is on performance, (MontBlanc please release an intense version!), whereas has acceptable performance SWY projects on the higher end of moderate with decent sillage and fantastic longevity (10+ hours). The heart-warming glow of this fragrance will keep you company for hours & hours with it's beguiling, candied chestnut and vanilla dry-down (with an ever-present cardamom giving it that spicy lift). If you care about compliments on your fragrance (I don't) then you will be extremely happy with this one.

I often when I visit stores the tester bottles for this fragrance seem get a huge amount of interest and are often nearly empty, a sign of it's obvious popularity. I'm not a niche snob but usually rather more of a under the radar/cheapie snob (contradiction in terms!) but on this occasion this popular designer product deserves praise of the highest order, from the quality of the beautifully crafted yet simple bottle to the rich amber coloured liquid held within. A must try. And try more than once you maybe pleasantly surprised.

Timeless.