Armani Privé Eau de Jade
Giorgio Armani (2004)

A rather ordinary beginning. Peppered bergamot. Slightly bitter. Yes, it is peppery though not exquisitely so. The Neroli isn't particularly strong. In fact, this fragrance has no intensity whatsoever on my skin. After the top notes, it completely falls away. Way too delicate for me.

The redeeming quality is the base. The bourbon vanilla note is quite nice. Still, a little too late for a better review. At times I swear I smelled cedar or leather. Disappointing overall.

The fresh bergamot-lemon-neroli opening blast is not very brightly fresh, but a touch subdued. The bergamot is the most prominent of the triad, and the three are vivid enough to convince in their interaction and in their joint result. A lovely set of top notes.

The second phase is heralded by a the appearance of a oeppery and darker undertone, accompanied by a collapse-like nigh complete disappearance of the other compounof this frangrance, but soon a pleasant, albeit very sundued vanilla arises. This is a nice vanilla but nothing exceptional.

I get moderate sillage, very good projection and eight hours of longevity on my skin.

A good start into a summery scent , but the second half is uninspiring to say the least. Good quality ingredients but less than original. Based on the opening and the overall good quality of ingredients - above the usual Armani level - hence - just - a positive score - by the skin of its teeth. 3/5.

Regardless of what Armani may claim in the accompanying olfactory pyramid for this fragrance, the opening of this fragrance smells like lime to me--a nice, bitter, three-dimensional slice of squeezed lime, with peel and pith included. Then the lime breaks apart. I smell something faintly like finely ground black pepper, which feels diffused in that weird way that says "cashmeran." Then there's an equally diffused neroli, its edges further trimmed by a distinctly woody, somewhat synthetic vanilla base that rises from beneath. The effect seems somehow like a darkened, muted type of transparency, or maybe translucency, but not with the softness of gossamer--rather, with the stiffness of a metal screen.

I think I understand the Armani aesthetic well enough to know what's going on here--in general, take exuberant "natural" notes and submit them to a rigorous tamping-down to the prescribed house shades of greige. This can work with some fragrances: incense, for example, generally holds up well under the Armani treatment. On the other hand, a freshie (like this one) seems almost beside the point, since it doesn't really smell fresh for long enough to matter. I don't mind a bit of metal in my green scents, but I prefer them brighter, crisper, and livelier than this. Eau de Jade isn't an awful perfume, but it's not doing anything to justify its price tag. And this style really is the cutting edge of 2004.

This stuff is great. Neroli is the main factor in this gem. If you are a neroli fan, you should love this. The vanilla calms the neroli down nicely. A nice citrus note in there also. A different take on another neroli gem....Neroli Portofino. 8/10

A great Armani's performance on the classic eau de cologne theme. Really a well made piece of green/hesperidic/musky accord and a real Ode to bergamot imo. At the beginning Armani Prive Eau de Jade seems to be "ostensibly" not a complex fragrance "di per se" (yet in texture and evolution); on the contrary this scent is actually really articulated (you can notice it along the way) sounding incredibly elegant and distinguished. The opening is really effervescent. This fragrance is effectively really zesty, so lemony, freshly hesperidic, slightly medicinal (the typical bergamot's undertone), green and dusty (in a sort of peppery/rooty way vaguely in to a 7 de Loewe's style- considering all the differences). After an initial greenish/spicy "by bergamot mastered" blast the note of neroli jumps over the stage as surrounded by a sort of dry piquant and herbal/cedary sparkling aura. The wet-rooty spiciness anyway quickly morphs down while a blooming up dry down starts smelling really musky and more than vaguely soapy (with a smoother classic eau de Cologne's vibe a la Mugler Cologne or "waving" in to an Askett&English/4711's style). The dry down is wonderfully soapy-musky, slightly smoky and woody. I detect fantastic musky-balmy/cosmetic nuances (mostly orangy-vanillic with some vetiver's twists). In this final phase the aroma is impeccable, warm-intimate (a touch of ambergris in the blend?) and multifaceted with something vaguely leathery-seasoned (smoky) as undertone. A really sensual and "warmly molecular" dry down catchs our pleasure till the end of the game. Thumbs up.

Eau de Jade opens with a strong and textured citrus accord (aromatic, aristocratic, fresh and sweet, with notes like neroli and bergamot), pepper which at first smelled like juniper to me, and a darker base which comprises a range of nuances spacing from mossy-hay notes, to licorice and leather - a modern, satin, soft kind of leather. Despite being quite conventional, it is really pleasant, complex and powerful, with an enjoyable, vibrant richness all over. It kind of reminded me of Eau de Gloire by Parfum d'Empire, less earthy, less raw and less chypre, and more zesty and sophisticated, but somehow the "mood" is that one – citrus notes on a mossy-musky base. Not the most natural around, but too much organic naturality won't be "glossy" enough for this type of Western elitist concept of luxury, so it works the same – it's classy, perhaps pretentious, but nice. The evolution is quite close to zero, meaning that more than evolving it just becomes lighter, softer, more velvety and warmer, losing (obviously) in freshness and liveliness.

7,5/10