Maxi3000

... and that's the cat out of the bag, because: if you're familiar with the previous Habit Rouge variations by Thierry Wasser and Delphine Jelk, you already know from the headline which two fragrances the new perfume version by HR reminds me of.

That wasn't very brilliant of me in terms of suspense - but well, we live in les temps du tempo and people prefer their news-to-use in breaking news format, so in that sense I've done my duty. For those of you who still have time to spare, here's a more detailed description of my fragrance impression - it's complimentary!

I am probably one of the few millennials (a.k.a. "Generation Goldbarren") who counts himself among the Habit Rouge ultras and wears the original with devotion and delight - not despite, but precisely because of its eccentricity.

Nevertheless, I am always open to modern reinterpretations of the theme;
but ... I have now, alas, studied "Habit Rouge Dress Code | Guerlain" and "Habit Rouge Rouge Privé | Guerlain", and unfortunately also "Habit Rouge L'Instinct | Guerlain" (urks!), with great effort - and here I am, poor fool, and I am as clever as before!

In new German: the previous remixes didn't do it for me; but it's a matter of honor that I had to order the new perfume version on the Guerlain website on the day of release ... and it probably won't stay in my collection for too long.

But first things first: I find the rum/bourbon note pompously advertised on the Guerlain website to be more of a nice marketing gag; well, with a little imagination you can sense something high-proof liqueur-like in the top note, otherwise the start with bergamot is reminiscent of "Habit Rouge Rouge Privé | Guerlain" only already much more candied and very quickly framed by the other fragrance notes.

Compared to other HRs, Delphine Jelk turns the dial down considerably with the hesperides and leather and ignites the gourmand turbo - according to Guerlain's PR fragrance pyramid, this is patchouli and vanilla, but there is definitely something else at work that steers the fragrance in a rather praline direction from the heart note onwards.

And when it comes to praline, everything is actually clear: the perfume is basically the dress code interpretation of "Habit Rouge Rouge Privé | Guerlain": bergamot and leather from the latter, tonka and praline from the former. The similarity to "Habit Rouge Dress Code | Guerlain" is particularly striking in the base.

Incidentally, the latter lasts for a very long time - even if it becomes relatively skin-deep after a while - but in my opinion this is a bit of a disadvantage for the fragrance, as this phase of the scent in particular goes down well for me, but doesn't really make me go into raptures.

It's just a matter of taste: for some it will make the fragrance more modern, wearable and universal, for me personally the rich bergamot-backed I-Love-Milka sweetness trivializes the fragrance somewhat. In the original, I love how transparent and "razor-sharp" the individual base notes are despite the sweet and powdery notes - in the perfume version, on the other hand, the sweet notes cover the fragrance like a soft focus and make it seem a little flat and dull at times.

But enough grumbling: anyone who loved Dress Code and/or would like a more modern, somewhat less complicated HR version should definitely give it a try. For me personally, the release, like all other remakes, perhaps fails due to the fact that the original is unmatched in its fascinating contrasting program of jagged citrusy top notes, dandy floral heart and the deep vanilla-leather patch base and simply cannot be improved upon.

For me, the ultimate remains the holy trinity of "Habit Rouge (Eau de Toilette) | Guerlain", "Habit Rouge (Eau de Parfum) | Guerlain" and "Habit Rouge (Extrait) | Guerlain" (Where are you? Sob!)

What you don't know won't hurt you.
And sometimes it has advantages not to know every corner and comment of Parfumo by heart. Like in this case, which is about the latest flanker of the "Pasha de Carter" - the "Pasha de Cartier Parfum", about which I only wanted to write a short statement after the first test, but which I like so much that I wanted to praise it with a more detailed commentary.

I have never tested or smelled the original "Pasha" from 1992. And never looked for it on perfume. And maybe it was better that way: if I'd gone through the reviews of the fragrance, I probably wouldn't have tested the newly released perfume version from Cartier: you read about a spicy, soapy, old-fashioned, sorry, old-school scent that has strange associations with sweaty Thai pensioners and lascivious old quarterly drinkers with gold chains.

This much can be revealed beforehand: the new perfume variant is also not for Prada purists who want to smell germ-free. Even in the 2020 update, a slightly herbal-sweaty cumin nuance echoes, but only very moderately "human" and wrapped in many other delicious notes. While fine-tuning the composition, house perfumer Mathilde Laurent seems to have looked left and right from time to time: here a little liqueur with "Dior Homme Intense", there a little tonka bean from Guerlain - and then discreetly worked it all in, resulting in a men's fragrance with classic masculine DNA, but by no means dusty character (which doesn't mean that the ladies shouldn't try it out!) Our Pasha treats himself to a makeover: away with the gold chain, the bus driver shirt and away with the men's coverlet!

The new Pasha prefers to start off with a coffee: I actually perceive an earthy-dark note at the beginning, which reminds me of black coffee - although not indicated in the fragrance pyramid. With fruity undertones (so there was fruit liqueur), slightly turgid (to avoid the Anglicism "boozy").

But I'll be completely there and back only after about half an hour: Patchouli, Amber and Labdanum push the fragrance into a warm, spicy, somewhat golden-caramel terrain and give the whole thing that slightly sleepy, ambry, foggy appearance, which is also one of my all-time favourites - "Opium pour Homme" in the eau de parfum version - and which is perceived by some perfumers as too pompous and bulky, but by me simply attractive, sensual, even physical in an erotic way. Also the base, which finishes with an embracing balsamic and sandalwood finish, is not necessarily top-modern in terms of craftsmanship, but it is harmonious and pleasant for my senses.

A big trump card is the durability - on my skin the scent lasts for 10 hours, on my jacket I still noticed it even after 48 hours - you can see that this is not an eau de parfum, otherwise it is a real perfume (!). The Sillage is also very strong, so for the best possible enjoyment use it sparingly or at least dose it with a little care! Otherwise, the veil of scent is already very penetrating.

The beautiful Art Deco flacon is almost identical to the original - looks chic and timelessly elegant and also feels good in the hand; with jewellery houses such as Cartier or Lalique, you notice that special attention is always paid to the design.

A very respectable publication by Cartier! This Pasha is not necessarily a trendsetter, not a "performer" and does not hang out in the hippest clubs - rather he is a stylish, elegant and warm-hearted guy, to whom many a lady (and even one or two gentlemen!) will be attracted. After having put Cartier aside for years in my mind in the pretentious-boy-corner (sorry!), I'm now slowly having to apologize: after the last appearances in the men's segment - "L'Envol", and the "Declaration Parfum" - have already turned out to be modern, adult fragrances that don't bend too much to short-lived trends, the "Pasha" perfume is the most successful new release for me so far.

And with all further new releases I will test more often in the near future and THEN look for Parfumo... ;)

First of all, an important info first: I celebrated my 30th birthday last summer.
Is therefore relevant, as the following comment probably gives the impression that I am at least twice as old. Or triple. I just wanted to get rid of it again quickly.

And now straight to the outing: Yes, I'm one of those crybabies who feel pissed off by Dior, now that the French are completely gutting one of their modern milestones in men's perfumery and launching it on the market as a virtually completely new fragrance. The fact that the original version still exists, at least for the time being, as the "Dior Homme Original" and that the Intense and Perfume versions of the fragrance seem to remain untouched suggests that the decision may have been controversial even within the company. I think that the latter two versions (EdP and Parfum) will also be redesigned sooner or later - a line in which eau de toilette and eau de parfum do not match at all will be difficult to market in the long run. Seems to be a complete mess in some perfumeries in view of Dior's business policy already now.

The original "Dior Homme" is a perfume grand deed that I still love very much: noble, opulent, a little dandyish, and through the legendary powdery "lipstick accord" worn by Iris always a statement, maybe even a little provocation: against rigid definitions of what masculinity has to look (and smell), against mediocrity. Here no bashful game of hide-and-seek was played with shower gel, deodorant or shaving foam associations - here a man clearly professed to be "perfumed". To this day I find the concept incredibly cool and progressive.

If the new "Homme" had been released under a completely new name, I wouldn't have lost many words about the fragrance. But even so, the summary of my fragrance impression is quite brief: citric-peppery upbeat, a few sparingly masculine-woody notes in the heart, surrounded by some Iso E Super and Veitver, quite good durability, very quickly flattening Sillage.

Not badly done, not for running away, but much worse: trivial. Inconspicuous. Just not worth mentioning.

It has always annoyed me a little how such a boredom is then talked up as "ever-walker", "crowdpleaser" or "versatile" (worse expression). (Or especially bad: "office scent" - as if one always had to be slippery as an eel in the office and also underline the streamlined devotee olfactorically)
This should not be against this kind of fragrances, which have their right to exist. But: if I want to have such a perfume, I choose something in the drugstore or put a twenty for a Jil Sander or Joop on the table. For the price that a premium manufacturer like Dior calls up - 100ml of "Dior Homme" can be bought on the Dior website for 96 Euros - I find the bid simply outrageous. No more crowdpleaser or perpetrator. (Monsieur Demachy hits the mark involuntarily when he whitewashes this bland banality as "open, absolute simplicity")

But what am I talking about - to most people it seems to be either not important or even convenient anyway. Every perfume is also a child of its time. The fact that Dior creations such as "Fahrenheit" or the original "Dior Homme" became box office hits despite all their extravagance is also due to the spirit of the times. "Dior Homme 2020" fits very well into a time in which everyone wants/must "perform" their life, but yes, please within the given framework. Don't get out of line too much. If you walk through the shopping miles of the big cities, you will see super-individual people who look like each other like eggs. Branded clothes are important, but please do not wear unconventional or unusual clothes. Inconspicuous sweatshirts, basic T-shirts, pants in a jogging look, all silky-sitting and cut without a whistle, but as long as one of the brand logos from Calvin Klein to Gucci is on it.

So no more metro fumbling and all that newfangled existentialism! The 2020 remake of "Dior Homme" skilfully captures the current zeitgeist, which is once again with more conventional political and social connotations, and will therefore sell very well. Smells okay, doesn't attract attention, is from Dior - Safe, Bro.
Now you can find this stupid (like me), but it has to be noted like this.

As a music lover, I remember a documentary about Hi-NRG that I recently saw on TV - that synth-driven dance sound that rose from the ruins of the irrelevant disco music in the 80s and disappeared again at the end of the decade of the same name: suddenly all acid and house and the old epigones no longer understood the new language of clubs and discos.
Peter Watermann (from Stock Aitken Watermann), who contributed to the commercial sell-out of the Hi-NRG with his assembly line productions, was a bit perplexed in an interview about the new sound at that time: "They only have one beat - no more songs, no more good melodies! But they meet in tens of thousands in a meadow and have a lot of fun. They do it right - and I'm wrong."

And I'm probably wrong too. The spirit of the age wants it that way.

First of all, some rather unpleasant news: my perfume addiction has reached a new, unimagined level. While I have always waited until a new fragrance was offered in German perfumeries, the longing for the first completely new men's Mugler in 22 years befell me so strongly that I put out my feelers for the first time in other EU countries and had to import the object of desire before the German release. A big smack on the cheek at this point to the Parfumos GlamourAngel and Exhale, who have delivered hot tips in the forum, where you could get him already. Thank you!

But why all this suffering? First, "A*Men," Mugler's first for men, is one of my absolute favorite scents of all time: Tar, rubber, cotton candy, damp earth, a drop of predatory cat pee, and so much more - incredibly brilliant, very daring, polarizing, a great fragrance, a modern classic that never quite got the recognition it deserved. Secondly, I've always been a closet "Alien" admirer - the original for the ladies is a diva-like jasmine siren, sometimes shrill, sometimes annoying, but never indifferent. That too many ladies wear it in too high doses is not the fragrance's fault (analogous to the Gaultier sailor for men), but it contributes to its general disrepute. And now also for us men? A dream!

Anyway: Mama Alien finally has a new one! If she had to take care of her numerous descendants alone so far, which stand with her on the shelf, one has finally taken pity on her and put a male companion at her side. The new guy makes a solid optical impression: broad shoulders, heavy, tinted glass, clear lines, hardly any ornaments or other gimmicks. It's okay like that, it feels good in the hand, but for a Mugler it's an astonishingly unadorned and reduced bottle, and when you unpack it, it gives you a brief moment of shock: surely they haven't foisted an olfactory building society on us? Mugler, of all people, the masters of the opulently overloaded and provocative?

The top note after spraying on provides initial relief: no bland citrusy odds and ends, no shower gel aquatics, but an interesting green-floral opening. Osmanthus and dill? I will smell the next market visit times at the fresh dill and see if that is the green note, which I am able to sniff at the beginning.

After a few minutes, "Alien Man" begins to smell very familiar - like his rich uncle "Cuir Impertinent" from the "Les Exceptions" series, with which Mugler also wants to reach the affluent clientele in the premium sector: a lot of soft leather, plus a star anise note and also here a few green-vegetable dabs are donated. In places the similarity is extremely striking ... seems to be the niche Mugler probably no longer so great "exception"?

Before you can get excited about it in time ("old wine in new bottles" and so ...) takes the leather of the men's alien after an hour a fork in the direction of licorice-likörig, also a smoky nuance sparks again and again purely. However, for my sensation no wood smoke (certainly no beech wood) - rather a little this vaporized fog fluid that is used in discos and clubs on the dance floor or in trashy movies when the alien spaceship lands. If you're sensitive to synthetics, you'll probably be screaming for the hills by now, just like in the same movies. Personally, I find it chic, it gives the fragrance a spacey, billowing touch, which yes fits the "overall artwork". At the end, the Mugler sounds with wood and smoke, slightly ambriert, from.

Who "A*Men" was always too toothache sweet, too diva-like and expansive, may here quietly risk a test: "Alien Man" is clearly tamer, unsweet and more masculine created - that does not mean that he would not have unisex potential, I can even imagine that he could also stand a woman super. The longevity is above average (9-10 hours on my skin), but the sillage - especially for a Mugler - is surprisingly low. Who has hoped for a sillage bomb like "A*Men", may be a little disappointed. But could also be due to the atomizer, which does not necessarily spray fountains, but rather a short, thin jet. Advantage: you can apply the fragrance with pinpoint accuracy. Disadvantage: the scent is not so well distributed on the skin, and m.E. goes with it a piece far the projection flöten.

Measured against my huge expectations, I'm not completely from the socks, but from "Alien Man" very taken. On the one hand, because I always found "Cuir Impertinent" great, but he was too expensive for me and I'm happy to have found a cheaper alternative. On the other hand: the boy has a lot of character. Now he is not a groundbreaking innovation and will not revolutionize the men's perfume like "A*Men", but definitely has recognition value and goes with his gently leathery-smoky type on a path that is currently not too worn out in the mainstream segment.

Clearly less pleasing than many other current new releases in the men's segment - no tonka bean / vanilla, no organ flower, no "fresh-spicy" kerfuffle - no too clumsy and obvious "crowdpleaser" and "compliment getter" (terrible terms!), but simply a sensual-beautiful, leathery, floating Oriental.

Mama Aliens new is' a good one!