Pino Silvestre - Tried and True Classic

Where do I begin with a fragrance that is older than me...? I wasn't totally sure how to judge this when I first started thinking of writing up a review because this is another one of those more deep, mature fragrances rather than a fresh, light and easy-to-compliment one. Well to start I'll give a bit of history.

Pino Silvestre, as the name and bottle suggest, is scented with conifers and wood in mind. It is the Italian name for the Scots Pine tree which is native to Europe and East Asia, covering a huge mass of land in between the two. The original formula was introduced in 1955 by Lino Vidal. In Italy, it became a huge hit for what I can only imagine is it's classy quality combined with a fairly cheap price. Like Stetson in the States, Pino Silvestre could be found on the shelves of pretty much any normal drug/grocery store and often was sold in the same package as it's bodywash counterpart...which allegedly is also top quality in the scent department. One day I'll get around to trying the soap out.

Pino Silvestre is marketed as a masculine fragrance and from the first spray until the end of the day, it's obvious why. It has top notes of bergamot, lavender and apparently...lemon. Might as well throw the lemon out and make way for the lavender and bergamot because let me tell ya, the lavender is strong and about as fresh as any I've ever smelled. I keep a vial of lavender essential oil in my medicine cabinet and the beginning of this fragrance smells as pure as the oil in that vial. Now as you would assume, the scent moves on to it's heart note of pine which is balanced out by hints of geranium and clary sage. For the less discerning nose, just imagine a very pungent pine sap scent with other deep and mildly fragrant greens to smooth it out while the lavender continues it's soothing role in the background. Towards the end, notes of cedar-wood and musk come out and are again somehow very elegantly balanced out with even more green foliage notes that you would find in the woods.

I've never been completely baffled by this scent no matter how many times I apply it and I think that is due to it's cleverly disguised simplicity. That is not room for dismissal though. In my opinion this fragrance is extremely soothing to the mind and under an equally relaxed scenario I believe it could provide a substantial background for entering a creative scene. I believe this would make a fantastic fragrance to wear with your loved one out to a nice restaurant with another couple...or even by yourselves. The lavender in this fragrance suggests in my mind that the best time for wearing it is in the evening when you want to unwind or take a relaxing night with someone. The pine, cedar-wood and musk help add to the masculine side while it's extra notes keep it smooth and seductive.

All in all, this is a year-round fragrance with decent performance and a couples mindset (meaning those close moments may last just that much longer =D). The woodiness allows it to work in winter while the lavender and bergamot give it a refreshing quality that will suit even the hottest summer days. A well thought-out fragrance that deserved the attention it got. Give it a try and wear it a few times to really get to know it. It's cheap and I sincerely doubt you will be disappointed!

Thank you for reading!

Tommy Jeans

Hey fragrance fans, today I want to write about a fragrance that I've been familiar with since I was a child. My father got this probably 12-13 years ago during one of the first few summers we lived in North Carolina and it was a complete departure from what I was used to smelling on him. I was very used to the musky and more deep scents from his Polo aftershaves and small collection of others that I can't remember which I believe is why this stayed in my mind year after year. A fitting name for a fragrance in his collection too because he most certainly was a jean-wearing kind of man.

There is not much use in listing a makeup of official notes for this fragrance because it seems to be extremely linear (not in a bad way though). This is a pure and sour type of citrus directly on your skin which doesn't seem to sit quite right with me for an extended period of time. I think this might actually be the only cologne I've ever worn that I cannot wear for more than a few hours before washing off...which speaks for it's lasting power and projection. The ending drydown seems to be very strong on me and my nose just cannot take it. However, this is also one of the only colognes that I do not become anosmic to in the slightest (meaning that my nose does not ever get used to it) which again speaks for the power of the formula in a good way.

For the summer time, this scent is damn near perfect for those dry sunset evenings spent at a ballpark with your friends or when you want to host a small outdoor bar-b-q for your family and neighbors. An extremely pleasant scent that has enough power to get you noticed but not so powerful to make people keep their distance. The few times that I have worn this, I have received compliments on how nice or clean I smell. I really feel it does evoke the sense of warm, blue skies in the summertime with it's extremely bright and sour citrus notes.

Unfortunately this fragrance is no longer in production so if it sounds like something you may like, make sure you get it from a reputable source as I'm sure bottles are scarce and some may be fakes. I hope you've enjoyed another entry from me and please leave a comment below if there is a fragrance you'd like to see reviewed or if you have any questions about any of my previous reviews.

Thanks for reading!

Polo Double Black - Stylish and Smooth

Hello everyone and thanks for taking another moment from your day to read about what I believe to be the superior of the two fragrances from the Polo Black line. Take everything I said from my last post, except for the iced mango, and throw it to the wind because this fragrance, while it maintains the Black in it's name, does not resemble much of it's sibling. I'll list the notes early on here, although I still believe them to be quite irrelevant in the overall effect.

Top Notes

Mango, Pepper

Middle Notes

Roasted Coffee, Indonesian Nutmeg

Base Notes

Rich Woods, Cardamom, Juniper Berry

Now right off the bat I will say that again this smells like a well-blended fragrance that doesn't change much on my skin. Keyword there is much. Unlike it's little brother, Double Black actually has some complexity to it and it's not only worth noting for a review but also noticeable to the casual wearer (When I first started using it I had no mindset of reviewing any fragrance ever and considered myself a casual cologne user). Upon the initial hour or so of wearing it, I get the notes of mango, pepper and coffee...and it smells fantastic. It's strong, masculine and classy without being invasive. Like it's predecessor, Black, the mango note here feels icy and pronounced but the pepper and coffee quickly come in to balance out that icy sharpness with a warm and inviting, "come here and touch me," feeling. I have had a few compliments along the lines of, "sexy and subtle...I love it." As well as a few strangers simply telling me I smell good or ask what it was that I'm wearing. Again, like most of my fragrances, this one most certainly appeals to a female crowd older than myself which I am perfectly ok with.

Now on to the stage where it settles down and lingers on you for the rest of the day/night. The mango scent is pretty much gone at this point as well as the pepper. From here on out for me it's a mix of dark roast coffee beans, nutmeg and a nice tame woodsy scent. Not a dirty woods, more like that of fresh cut lumber that has a very deep and rich scent. At this stage, Polo Double Black is an absolute winner in my collection. My wife loves it, women elsewhere have never said anything bad about it and men alike appreciate it's rich coffee-like aroma. What's more is that this scent will last for a solid 8 hours on my skin.

Unfortunately when I smell this, a lot like regular Black, I do not have images or stories summoned into my imagination. To me this is just a great smelling fragrance that will please your partner and those around you and is sure to be a crowd pleaser for many years. As a final note, I also have the full sized matching bottle of aftershave and deodorant and all three go hand in hand. The quality really seems to be there in the entire line.

Thank you for reading!

Polo Black - Come and Get Me

Hello and welcome back if you are indeed joining me again in reading about our world of smells. Tonight I've finally decided to write about Polo Black, a scent which has brought my ears and mouth more attention than my nose. I'll start by saying that this cologne is not the usual enigma of smells in which I need to spend hours with pulling apart every discernible detail in order to make sense of what I'm smelling. No, this is a nice blend of notes that on my skin project almost perfectly to those around me and I can safely say it has drawn a surprising amount of non-solicited verbal compliments.

                                                                   Top Notes 
                                        Iced mango, Spanish sage, "Green effervescent accord" 

Middle Notes 

Silver armoise, "Lush Liquid Accord". Hedione 

Base Notes 

Patchouli Noir, Sandalwood, Timberol, Tonka Bean (provided by basenotes.com) 

Now as far as all those notes go, I seriously doubt you'll ever smell all of them. In part because of it being blended well together so you can't single out every one of them but also in part because this cologne does not seem to evoke a sense of, "I must smell myself!" This is most certainly an attention grabber and holder and more than likely will be popular among certain types of men for years. I however am not one of those types. What I and others seem to smell though is the very first note of iced mango. It's a very strange sounding smell, I know, but once you've worn this enough times to be completely used to it, you smell the cold that's worked into that mango note. It's like taking your first step out of the door on a cold winter day and inhaling quite deeply...the cold sensation going from your nostrils to your throat is in that iced mango scent. Unfortunately I've not gotten much more out of this scent than that as far as smells go. As time goes on, the patchouli noir and tonka bean seem to calm the intensity down without destroying the projection. All in all, this is a perfect scent for attracting a woman who already knows you. It adds an air of mystery in my opinion and I completely endorse this is an occasional/long lasting fragrance.

P.S. The aftershave is a perfect compliment or even stand-alone in this line. The deodorant on the other hand, sucks. 

Thank you for reading!

Guerlain Coriolan - Unrecognized Quality

Hello and welcome back to my little corner of the interwebs in which I indulge myself and a small audience in my fragrance fantasies. Today I bring you something from a house I had known nothing of until watching a documentary on the contrasts between designer fragrance and private, niche fragrance houses. Coriolan by Guerlain is most certainly a contrast (I typed that while chuckling to myself) to fragrances of it's time. This is another daringly different scent and it's short-lived life on the shelf holds true to that statement because as most don't  know about this fragrance, with a storm of style, this one does not conform to a consumers society...but first, a little background.

The name Coriolan is derived from a legendary Roman general named Coriolanus. To quote one of my sources, "Coriolanus has inspired Shakespeare, Plutarh and Beethoven. He was the man who accomplished all of his goals, not because of his glory, but because of a woman he loved." Apparently the story of this man inspired Jean-Paul Guerlain to create a scent to celebrate such passion, strength and knowledge. Now on to the technical side of things.

This fragrance was released in 1998 and soon after was discontinued, the year in which is was discontinued as well as the reason remains a mystery to me. The presentation and bottle itself, while at first may seem feminine due to it's shape, begins to take a refined masculine tone once the fragrance itself is experienced. All of the shiny pieces you see on the bottle are said to be made of real bronze and when shone in the correct light, reflect that claim due to the rainbow of color that is shown while the top of the spray nozzle is engraved with Guerlain's symbol. When held in hand the bottle feels like something of a small gunpowder flask. Projection and sillage on this fragrance remain a bit of a mystery to me as well although I have received a few compliment only after two wearings. Longevity on the skin though is absolutely fantastic given the age of the fragrance, staying on my skin for over 8 hours while working. That speaks volumes of it's quality.

Top notes: bergamot, lemon leaf, neroli, sage.
Heart notes: ylang-ylang, absinthe, pepper, juniper berry.
Base notes: vetiver, patchouli, benzoin, everlasting flower.

In the end, I make my own conclusion about this fragrance and why it is no longer offered. To me, this is not an everyday fragrance. It is not fresh from either top notes or bottom notes to my nose. Instead it starts out rich and peppery with a hint of thick semi-sweet lemon leafs, progresses to an even fuller, richer statement while the pepper almost completely disappears and patchouli makes it's never-ending statement and VERY slowly dries out to a close romantic scent where the patchouli is met with the slightest earthiness of the everlasting flower giving it an almost tangible texture. Mid-way through this scent though, on my skin, I catch a whiff of what I can only describe as sex. I know it sounds strange but my god is it provocative. The rest of the notes are not important to me as this formula is so extremely well blended that one cannot possibly point out all of the notes within.

Absolutely elegant fragrance that never received the notoriety I believe it should have, and for that I am thankful. It is unheard of, unique and therefore another winner in my collection. Now we'll just have to see what the wife thinks when she gets back from her vacation. Thank you for reading!