MNGR

The headline captures the character of the fragrance very well, I think. This fragrance is truly not a "no-brainer", so no fragrance that you can apply carelessly in almost any situation, without touching. On the contrary, it is a true "brainer", meaning one that you should choose wisely. It's a fragrance that you should think about. And for that reason alone, it has currently advanced to one of my favorite ones.
In addition, the attitude circulates that AdP CS should rather be assigned to the set man in the best age. On the former, the gender, I go with. For me, a very clear men's fragrance.
With the age I am ambivalent. I think here the noble and sublime DNA contributes its part to the fact that this fragrance should be worn with precision and style. Of course, it is easier for a "grown man" (I would like to deliberately not specify an age) to create this atmosphere of self-confidence and authenticity, than, for example, an unsteady, searching and in parts insecure to naive "young man". But this can also carry it, just the danger of "getting it wrong" is probably greater.
AdP CS is indeed the only one of this "Eau de Cologne Concentree" series, which I have smelled so far, but I dare say that all releases can be attached to this distinguished, Italian-style, classically noble label. The presentation alone: brown glass with a shimmering bronze label emblazoned with the traditional coat of arms is indicative of this in my eyes. In comparison, the Blu Mediterraneo range seems far more youthful, playful and light. In addition, the unisex classification, which runs almost without exception through the entire series. Ultimately, these fragrances correspond to pronounced summer scents, with a view to the flacon design (not least underpinned by the latest new release, the AdP
Blu Mediterraneo Bergamotto Di Calabria La Spugnatura), however, it is deliberately addressed a broader and more impressionable target audience. What I absolutely do not want to speak badly, because ultimately, the "blue" serve as a gateway into the world of AdP. So too, in my case. About Fico de Amalfi I learned to love the Italian traditional house and have become a fan of it downright.
And just by the AdP CS this affection was strengthened immensely.
He has a demeanor that is very difficult to grasp and describe. Accordingly, I was surprised when I smelled him for the first time. I bought it here in the souk as an almost full 100 ml bottle, including OVP. More or less blind, because only the reviews and statements here have moved me to get it. And I am very glad about it.
When talking about AdP and the in-house DNA, I can say that there is a lot of emphasis here. The typical citricism always resonates, especially at the beginning of course. But it never goes away completely, it is only complemented by further tones in the performance. Especially in combination with lavender and cardamom it develops a liaison, which for me forms the association with a bright/white and warm summer breeze. Not the kind that almost slays you in the middle of summer. Much more one that surrounds you in the evening, in cooled down temperatures, far away from oiled, sweaty and tanned skin. Here strikes no club and a fortiori I do not want to speak here of a "beast" or "sillage monster", but for an understatement fragrance, it is already very understatement or better, it radiates this understatement character very strongly outward, as if really everyone should perceive that this is a fragrance that radiates this subtle, feingesitige, self-confident and sublime gesture.
Provided that there is a certain sensitivity and you choose this fragrance very consciously, it is the absolute foundation of what makes the person of the wearer. He gives you this power resting in itself, patience, balance and very much dignity. He doesn't make those around you doubt your choice in any way. It makes this connection with you as the wearer that not every fragrance can achieve with such precision. This leads to a balance between scent and person, a ying and yang that forms a unity and cannot be considered detached from each other. Therefore, it will not evoke compliments, but not because it is too weak or not noticed. No, the compliments don't come because this fragrance says that it doesn't need compliments. He is 100% aware of his performance every second and therefore needs no recognition whatsoever. He would much rather be left uncommented upon to enjoy the moment, without projecting on individual elements.
As mentioned before, the danger of dressing up with AdP CS is always there. I would like to reiterate that at this point. But with purposeful engagement and understanding of this fragrance, it brings an immense amount of joy because it shows you that no fragrance in the world can transform its wearer. What it can do, however, is bring a person's sense of self, good self-image, and skillful reflection to the outside world. And not striking, but außerordenltich unique.

When talking about a fragrance that symbolically unites the ideas of a masculine aquatic, there is probably no getting around Acqua di Gio Profumo. Much too interwoven is this classic with the style-defining virtues of an aquatic-fresh perfume.
I even go so far out on a limb and dare to say that everyone (of course, always everyone) who likes this scent direction has already heard of this one - or the original origin fragrance - read or probably smelled it before. And because this distinctive scent is so unique, most can probably remember just that perception.
Personally, I always perceive this scent quite consciously, the last time particularly impressively in April when a friend moved. He lived for rent in a completely oversized, elaborately restored and listed old building city villa of the Gründerzeit. When I entered the entrance area or lobby in the morning, I smelled it immediately. After the first coffee, I visited the bathroom and could make sure. I smelled Acqua di Gio in its original form. It was probably a fairly old batch, because the intensity was stunning and flooded the entire house. And from what I gather, the wearer of the scent didn't overdose on it when he applied it, and certainly didn't run through every room leaving a spray everywhere. That day in April brought the scent back to my mind and showed me how much it can shape one's image/perception of a person.
Then a few weeks later, while shopping at a large drugstore, I deliberately tested the Profumo flanker, along with another scent. Both backs of my hands were in use, and I must confess that the AdG Profumo did not fare well that day.
Then in a fragrance post about two weeks ago I was sent a tester of the AdG Profundo, sprayed it on straight away and smelled the old familiar AdG note. This version liked with immediately better than those in the drugstore.
Earlier this week, I received another fragrance mail and inside was a surprise 5ml bottling of AdG Profumo. I must confess, I was very pleased and immediately smelled the spray head. I liked what I could perceive there and took it upon myself to apply the fragrance the following day and "observe" it throughout the day. I consciously decided against taking the bottling to work. I wanted to smell the evolution and not refresh the top note every two hours. This is indeed just as distinctive and refreshing in its effervescence, but I wanted to fathom the core of the fragrance.
After the admittedly generous dosage in the morning in the bath (must be enough for the whole day), I set out and was enormously excited by the great projection. It was not even necessary to move the wrist to the nose. I smelled it even as it was, without it seeming too overbearing in the slightest. Nor do I think that he embodied a disturbing aura for those around me in the immediate vicinity. Sure people smelled him in conversation with me, in the stairwell or while walking behind me, but no one avoided him or made a comment to that effect, either pos. or neg. I think that's the true art of AdG: it stands out, is identified as such, but doesn't interfere despite its prominent perception and sillage. It expertly subordinates itself without disappearing. It always provides that fresh aura, even 4-5 hours after application. This is fascinating, in my opinion. This fresh, herbaceous spiciness that the fragrance takes in a very nicely rounded way is unique in this form. The Mediterranean herbs give it a well-measured astringency that subliminally assists the aquatic and becomes more prominent as time goes on. I like that immensely. The patchoulieske nature connection is furthermore always given, becomes in the course even always better in the projection.
In conclusion, I can say that the AdG Profumo has once again inspired me sustainably. This time even the first time also on me.

Everyone knows those days when you literally can't help but remember. You start thinking about something, fantasizing back, and suddenly you're spellbound and captivated because of your own vita. This way of dealing with oneself quickly becomes reflexive, when one goes so far as to ask oneself, what if? What if I had been in that situation then, with my present mind? Perhaps there would be no remarkable differences at all. However, reading, listening, and especially smelling Dior Addict, I inevitably think myself back to 2010.

I was just 20 at the time and was doing my community service in the emergency department of a hospital. That was pretty exciting. The range of cases was enormous and I saw it as suitable preparation, for a possibly upcoming medical studies. My job was mainly to receive people from the ambulance, help them onto a stretcher, and push them into the treatment area. Of course, the newly arriving patients had to be entered into the hospital system so that documentation, diagnoses, etc. could be recorded. This job is not done by community service workers, but by experienced nurses. In my case, there was a particularly capable and exceptional woman. She was perhaps the same age as my mother and extremely attentive, sensitive, witty and empathetic. We completed many services together and always got into conversation at great length.
She has a daughter who was about my age and was doing a year abroad in Ireland at the time. So she was relatively far away. Looking back, I think I may have been a kind of communicative substitute for her child, who was contactable but somehow unreachable. She told me a lot about her and I was very happy to listen. She drew a picture that let me participate very authentically in her mother-daughter relationship. She shared with me not only the beautiful sides, but also problems, concerns, worries and fears. She also told me that her daughter cries a lot and is very unhappy. The host family probably did not accept her as she expected. This was sad and I felt very sorry. The situation in Ireland became more and more drastic, so that her daughter broke off the year abroad after two months and returned to Germany.

Probably her mother told her as much about me as she told me about her. And so one warm April day, she came to pick up her mother from duty at the hospital. I was there too, knowing she was coming and looking forward, probably very excited. I hadn't seen a picture of her before, but when she faced me, I had pictured her the same way. She was wearing a beige trench coat and looked very smart, embarrassed, sweet and somehow pure and beautiful. I was immediately on another level emotionally from that point on.
I knew from her mother's stories, however, that there was someone else who probably longed for her return more urgently than I did, her boyfriend.
I do not remember exactly on which day of the week we faced each other for the first time, but on the Saturday after that I was partying with friends in a club. And on the way to the bar she ran into me. We talked for what felt like an eternity until her friends wanted to go home. We exchanged numbers and texted half the night. We arranged to meet and if not on the first date, at least on the second, I kissed her. She returned the kiss and since then it has probably been one of, if not THE most memorable in my memory bank. Afterwards she said that unfortunately it would not go and I apologized.
After a short radio silence, we wrote again. I guess she couldn't do without me any more than I could do without her. We met again and kissed. I knew she had a boyfriend and everything seemed kind of hopeless, but we were so young and everything was so bittersweet. It was a beautiful summer. She returned every kiss and shortly after regretted it anew every time. My (unspoken) wish that she break up with her former partner, however, remained unfulfilled for a long time. Too long. We met again and again, until it was no longer possible. I could not it any more, if I wanted it nevertheless all the more strongly.
I wrote her a farewell letter, which I packed in a box, together with a new bottle of that fragrance, which she wore very often since our first meeting, Dior Addict. That was my farewell gift.

As the name of the fragrance already notes, I was also addicted to an addiction. One that catapults me to the highest heights in a frenzy, only to have me sink into the deepest blue of the sea moments later. It's a scent that revealed to me the full scope of loving in my early twenties. Every time I smelled it, I felt safe, although I knew that this feeling would be short-lived. He exuded dignity and calm where often there was only uncertainty and naivety. I associate with this fragrance a deep intimacy and closeness. A scent that, when I arrived home alone, was still in my nose for so long. I loved it and yet it deceived me and made me deeply sad. It is a fragrance that triggers the memory of beauty and vulnerability.
That "Queen of the Night" dominates the heart chord is as consequential as it is fatefully ironic. I do not know if in a mirror cabinet not far from me, still this one bottle may stand. If so, then I know that something will always remain. And somehow that is a beautiful thought.

Wherever you subconsciously perceive a gray veil, it leaves a distinctive footprint. It is not always associated with positive things. On the contrary, it often evokes displeasure. For example, after repeated washing, it settles in white clothing. Or it clouds photographs, taking away their clarity, brilliance and contrast. Some might call this faulty, unattractive and disturbing, but in my eyes it conveys a certain imponderability, unpredictability and the ambivalence of imperfection, imperfection per se.

Certainly, we human beings strive to work through as many things as possible in advance and to establish standards in order to make processes comprehensible, less prone to error and, above all, similar to each other. This veil of grey, which creeps into human decisions in the form of unpredictability, can be perceived as both disturbing and "noisy", but on the other hand makes things appear all the more authentic, individual and unique, even if often unintentionally.

In this respect, I emfinde the name "Gris Charnel" already as an extremely successful choice. He carries the fragrance in my eyes very skillfully and honorably into the world. The grayish-purple coloring of the fragrance underpins the approach once again.
Capturing the veil-like is certainly an ambitious undertaking. That and especially how it goes, Mathilde Bijaoui proves here skillfully.

In the opening, a fine spiciness dominates, which comes to light quite unexpectedly, since the perception appears directly at the spray head much more fruity and sweet. That's it, this slight offensiveness, which comes across as disturbing or unplanned, like a veil that settles down without having been asked for it. But now it is there and begins to develop.
Gradually, it takes on traits that create an aura of coziness. The very fact that a powdery iris creates a cozy warmth here in the drydown reflects the ambivalence of a fragrance that has unpredictability in its name. It's mysterious and unexpected, yet equally logical and consequential. Above all, bdK stages this perfume extremely thoughtfully and astutely. Chapeau.
Over time, the veil envelops you. It lays itself gently and tenderly like a cream on the skin and sticks to it. Like silky cloth, it gradually becomes lighter and more inconspicuous. As if it were no longer there. But when you recall it again, it is ready. Subtle, not chumming up, first the spiciness decreases and turns into a creamy sweetness. But before this can drift into the over-sugared, a woody creaminess takes over the rowing and rocks the ship into the harbor.

All this happens along the way and remains in some ways unfathomable and mysterious. Nothing goes off the rails. Brief evasions in sillage explosions are immediately recaptured. They recede, like a veil in the wind, clinging its existence beautifully to its surroundings. It's hard to shape, much less give another identity to, but it obscures the inessential and envelops the protectable. You can neither hold him nor deny him. It fits you as you are, not as you want to be.

The design of the bottle alone hints at what might await you here. In some ways, this approach can certainly be called pretentious. On the other hand, the "original" is paid tribute accordingly, which is probably also reflected there in the sales figures.
To answer the question posed in the headline, right away: both.

It is probably obvious that Zara has ventured here very close to Dior Homme Cologne. Maybe even so close that it's just legal. I can very well imagine that Demachy and Epinette are smirking about it, but that the Parisian fashion house Dior has very well considered taking legal action against it. But let's put the conjecture aside.
I told you both were true. That is, there is truly something sacrilegious about this fragrance, but at the same time something very beneficial. Because on the one hand it is the copy of something, the imitation, the imitation. On the other hand, it is so well done that presumably even trained noses would be hard pressed to detect significant differences in a blind test. But if we disregard the sacrifices in durability and sillage that inevitably come with a Zara scent, this is extremely good, both fragrance-wise and dupe-wise. And at the price, one can own gladly also times two or three bottles and deposit them everywhere, where a Nachsprühen could come into question.

I'm also a friend of when good fragrances, in an unconventional way to a, usually younger, audience are made accessible, which might not otherwise have come into contact with it. Of course, Zara is primarily pursuing a marketing approach here, in that inexpensive fragrances tempt people to buy one or two more items of clothing. That's okay. That's how the market works.
On the other hand, I can imagine only too well that this fragrance is quite capable of animating the wearer to deal with the "original". Especially when the environment speaks to you about it and possibly adds an insinuation: "Man, the Dior Homme Cologne suits you but particularly well. Fits you."
If the wearer then asks himself, what it probably has to do with it and read here and there, so he comes quite quickly to the fact that fragrances are perceived very subjectively, because the label is nowhere obvious to read. So it sometimes happens that the copy on one or the other smells more original than the original itself. Of course, this has a lot to do with construction and association, but somehow it's an uplifting thought. There's something about democratization, anonymity, and masking. This mysterious something puts the drive into a thing and causes it to be talked about, or as in this case here, at least written about.