Krmarich

I have revisited my 20 year old splash bottle and decanted some in a travel sprayer. The splash always kept it under control. Spraying it activates all of the aldehydes and stirs up the oakmoss. The galbanum jumps up too. Atomized, it is a totally different fragrance.

It hovers over the skin and really projects its refined elegance. With so many notes, it becomes a perfect composition that will never be matched. There has always been a contradictory frosty evening warmth associated with it, lending to its beauty.

ODLPL and its female counterpart are the most glamorous couple at the party, dripping in diamonds and fur(before it became wrong). Its formal evening wear bottled to perfection. I will always have a special place in my memory for Oscar De La Renta, and visting his disco in Paris circa 1987 at the Palais Royal. It was frosty the night of my visit, yet steamy inside, just like ODLPL.

It is a starlit, snowy night riding in a troika in Moscow circa 1900. It the end of the silent ride You arrive at a snowbound dacha that has a roaring fire blazing at the hearth.

I have never encountered this elusive beauty before. Its oddly familiar. Perhaps that because I have used Fendi Uomo for years and they have some common elements. Perhaps it the leather.

It pushes the limits on its catagory. It has too many spices to be a chypre, not enough flowers to be a floriental and changes dramatically over the hours to be an oriental. The LEATHER is big. The rose is blatant. The oakmoss and sandalwood shine. Its epic construction is the stuff of legends. It is refined elegance that is mostly formal winter wear. Perfectly matched with a leather suit and rich furs. Dont forget your hat and viel. Oh yes, red nails and lipstick are required.

By todays standards, Fendi has become unisex. Much like the mens leathery rose standards of the late 80s-Actuer, Zino, Perry Ellis, Tenere and of course Fendi Uomo( I think the big difference is some coumarin), this has similar character. Its somewhat on the delicate side for the men at first, but watch out. Leather and rose is the ultimate pairing for dark passionate romance. Fendi defined this effortlessly.

She is gentle, soft and comfortable. She is also very skilled in the art of wanton seduction. She has more notes than anything on the market today and they hold many secrets. Too many sprays and she could wear you. Like many 80s fare of the day, she requires a certain attitude and a skilled trigger finger.

It not old fashioned by any means. Today its more avant gard than ever. Due to its discontinuation, it is now more precious than any niche house. The original Fendi line from 1985-2000 is now legendary and required in all serious collections.

I LOVE YOU FENDI! PLEASE COME BACK!!!

This heavy resinous classic from the 1970s is one of the greenest patcholi bombs ever. Its somewhat heavy handed in a few areas leaving some distance between it and myself. It is definitive of the 1970s. I love the chypre character, yet its a beast in a guilded cage.

I didnt encounter it until after Giorgio for men. It was the obvious inspiration for the later. Gentleman is much more encryptic. I see Kouros in it more. It was the beginning of the mens powerhouse.

Its darker and more cold than Giogio. I would have to say somewhat more rugged than anything offered later. Its not really a gentleman. Its more of a libertine. Thats it! The low, dirty civet. How could I have missed the obvious? It hides behind every note like a predator, waiting to pounce. Its like its trying to hide its beast within.

Who needs testosterone gel with giants like Gentleman, Anteus and Kouros? Its as if the BIG patcholi was meant to hide the skanky civet. I am finding civet to be a rare moment on my skin lately. I still appreciate it, but yes, it IS animal piss. I salute the boldness, yet wear them infrequently today

I cannot forget my grandmother with this very blue 1928 classic. She always had some on her vanity and I always believed genies lived in it! I add a drop to my pillow and feel she is near. When she left the world in 1968-EIP oddly vanished with her. She reminded me of Coco Chanel, who loved EIP herself ironically!

It is a very French perfume-blue, stately, and elegant. It followed in the footsteps of all of the classics and was marketed for the masses. The reformulation was acceptable and overpriced. It was not the same! Perhaps that is why it flopped?

As a fragrance, its rather linear and decidedly "blue"-lots of violet and vanilla. Gone are the fur collars, heeled shoes with nylons, sensible dresses, face powder and EIP. This is truely from a bygone era...

My large vintage 4oz bottle arrived last fall. I paid under $20 USDs! This is amazing in every way. It is really a different fragrance from the current EA version, which is a pale echo of the original. To reproduce its original formula would be astronomically expensive. This is high end niche quality!!!

To begin, the juice is darker. It offers a twist off cap for the spray or splash option. That leaves you two different openings-spraying releases aldehydes and oakmoss, giving it a projection like no other. It doesnt just fill a room, yet my entire house is more like it. In todays world, a tiny dab from the bottle is all you need. The fruity notes are peachy dried apricots. Most men today may find it feminine(Aromatic Elixer), not in a unisex way. Its not, really. Its just from another time.

Then comes the heart that is priceless-very green PATCHOLI(you must enjoy this note or else) that shares the stage with a lot of oakmoss(my favorite note of all!), honeyed rose(tiny white ones that just break your heart), cinnamon and real sandalwood. The duration is 24 hours or more. Yes, there is some vetiver in here. The iris gives it some powder. The cedar amber notes are very sturdy. The vanilla is dark, like a Guerlain vanilla. This is my pick for Mitsouko for men.

Its an elegant chypre more than anything, as it takes its time to unfold all of those rich dry notes. Strangely, its not sexy(no civet or skanky musk), just an openly flirty attention grabber. Just give it lots of space/time to roam. Fragrance in the modern age doesnt have the time for a chypre. Indeed, it is a class that has left the market, perhaps forever. I have been writing this review for several hours, savoring every nuance.

Its a clean green Rodeo Drive Rolls Royce. Fendi Uomo later added black leather and more darkeness, a black Farrari racing around the Amalfi coast. Thats the closest thing I can compare it to. Both are superb.

For those of us who experienced it then, it is quite dated-wine coolers, moussed hair, Miami Vice, sunglasses at night, 80 tuxedos with real diamond cuff links. 24 years later, I find it everything I STILL love. Nothing can ever really compare to Giorgio for men. American culture had reached its peak as far as fragrance was concerned. OOP, its now just a fading memory for most...

Oh, sorry, I had to toss out my EA Fragrance bottle. Its worthless compared to this magnificent original.