K
Eau de Parfum, Dolce & Gabbana (2020)

Back to the drawing board gents!

The original K EDT is fairly dry so I was hoping this EDP flanker would have some sweetness, but alas, it ain’t there.

To my vulgar nose, this one opens with a pungent and sour lemon which then moves into a figgy / chili pepper mid and finally closes with a huge whack upside the head from a plank of cedar wood. Seriously, why so serious?

Ultimately, it’s just flat out boring, with practically none of the clean lavender present that gives the original a pleasant lift.

1 / 5 stars

The first Dolce & Gabbana K "metallic" eau de toilette appointed in the 2019 (and representing another D&G's smart mass market-issue or sleight of hand's market attempt over the solid and successful mediterranean tobacco-infused original Pour Homme and the taking the world by storm following citrus-aromatic and vaguely lichenic/aquatic Light Blue Pour Homme) could probably be quoted as a D&G delayed but well appointed market-answer to several previous "bleu" bossy/virile (synthetically woody/aroma chemicals and ambroxan-oriented) market-cracks from the main competitors as Dior Sauvage Edt, Chanel Blue Edt, Paco Rabanne Invictus Edt, Versace Eros Edt and Pour Homme Dylan Blue, Ralph Lauren Polo Blue, Lanvin L'Homme, Ysl Y 2017 etc. The following more recent bleu EdP-market wave (of all the previously quoted creations, I'm refering in particular to Dior Sauvage Edp version and Ysl Y Eau de Parfum) has recently (2020) produced (nearby D&G perfumes) this slightly heavier and barely figgy Edp-brother which has been even followed by a more recent (the born in the 2024 contemporary and more stressed on fig-note and leather) K Eau de Parfum Intense, being in the meanwhile all these competitors perfume brands kind of all stranded in to a sticky mess of Edt/Edt intense/Edp/Edp intense e/o Parfum/Elixir/Platinum and God knows what else in the middle of which is really really hard one perfume-lover to well orientate himself. K Eau de Parfum does not differ too much from its Edt predecessor (featuring the latter mainly citrus, acid grapefruit, chilly pepper, lavender/aromatics, sharp geranium and vetiver) which is probably less peppery, more versatile (being lighter and more aromatic), more sporty and probably much more intensely virile on my skin. K Dolce & Gabbana Eau de Parfum is as well a citric-aromatic, woody and spicy fragrance itself. It opens fresh, semi-sweet, with citrus and some coniferous/aromatic patterns. Along the way the smell becomes more peppery (sweet pepper) and sweeter (vaguely figgy). Going on with its development the aroma turns out kind of darker and woodier but still aromatic and floral. This much intenser and richer Edp D&G K's version goes effectively darker than its Edt's brother and features a much stressed peppery-cardamomish approach while hints of figs afford a vague coconutty vibe all around surrounding a final woodsy leather-accord. Cypriol oil exudes effectively a darker more "massive" green/forest aura and is combined with a final touch of leather. Anyway D&G K Edt and K Edp smell basically very close in conclusion, just the former being woodsier and vaguely figgy. I feel definitely the Edp rounder and with a less pronounced metallic vibe. I agree on that the Edt is more like a safe blue scent a la Lanvin L'Homme or Mercedes-Benz Club Blue (smelling fresher, more sporty-aromatic and stronger on lavender) while on the Edp the fig turns the smell richer, softer (less metallic) and sweeter, the patchouli is kind of earthier and the pimento is stronger than the lavender-presence. The dry down smell more restraint, still woody and quite spicy and virile. K Edp is a generic masculine fragrance really "confident", bold, virile and finally spicy-warm. Despite its generic vest this is probably a mass-appealing kind of fragrance. Performances are great on my skin. Fantastic blue king bottle. The bottom line is that it could be a safe choice for a self-confident, serious and projectful man with strong sense of family and protection for his beloved people.

Car wreck among the most generic woody aroma chemicals. A mess. Wife made me scrub. Looking forward to getting this out of my samples box.

The opening feels like a jumbled mess, but it starts to clear up as the scent progresses. The blood orange, pimento, and cedar notes start to merge, while the fig note is not apparent to me. I mainly get some woodiness and citrus. Although the "K" line is unimaginative and boring, I'll give this scent a neutral rating for its effort in using blood orange. It's worth noting that this isn't an orange-dominant fragrance, as most of the notes are balanced.

Unfortunately, the performance is not great, but that is to be expected from woody citruses. Overall, you won't miss much by skipping this fragrance.

So, between the EdT and the EdP you see comments like “typical mall scent”. Which is interesting, because I’ve been smelling everything I can get my nose on at the mall pretty regularly now for about 18 months and nothing really smells like K to me.

There’s no bubblegummy Invictus tease here. I don’t get any BdC at all. There’s no vanilla or tonka bombs going off.

Sure, there are “things” in K that smell like “things” in other frags. The chili here, for example, is also picked up in Nightvision EdP. There’s some Ambroxan that reminds of Sauvage. You’ve smelled some of this citrus before in various Light Blue’s (surprise!). But only Burberry Hero with its smooth spice opening is really, truly similar, and it’s really just a lower grade Johnny come lately K. This is nothing like Ralph’s Club, for example, which really is just a dressed up, bubblegummy fake out mall melange.

Maybe it’s the “melange” of well balance recognizable modern aroma chemicals that people are calling “common” with K? Can’t say. K is a smooth criminal. A little sweet, a little spice, a little blue, a little barbershop, a little wood, a little cream. It’s really nice!

I like it and it even gets me a compliment here and there. It’s very versatile and you can wear it anywhere. Smells classy and never offends.

K Eau de Parfum (2020) is a case study in industry cynicism if I ever saw it; and to be clear, I do actually like K by Dolce & Gabbana (2019) quite a lot, so this isn't taking shots at the overall fragrance line. The erstwhile eau de toilette is in my eyes just what Dolce & Gabbana needed to finally succeed not Light Blue pour Homme (2007), but the original Dolce & Gabbana pour Homme (1994) that straddled the line between boringly functional and beautifully crafted. Light Blue on the other hand, well that was just about designed by marketing and formulated with the beancounters leaning over the perfumer's shoulders to optimize profit and risk management, making it a real "lively one" at parties if you catch my drift. Yeah, the stuff sold like crazy and it's the reason D&G even stands here at all today to continue making fragrances, as By Man (1997) and Masculin (1999) did absolutely nothing but alienate buyers and give vintage gatekeepers hubris to worship as misunderstood genius when they were discontinued; but Light Blue pour Homme was made by one of the guys who brought us Acqua Di Giò pour Homme by Giorgio Armani (1996) in a way that clearly communicates D&G wanted to cash out rather than stand out. That boring commercial purgatory was followed up with Dolce & Gabbana The One for Men (2008), as the softer and warmer, ultimate generic night out fragrance that is so hard to dislike yet so hard to remember exactly how it smells until you're smelling it again all over on a passerby. With K (which I guess stands for King), Dolce & Gabbana saw what was going on with Creed Aventus (2010) and its creamy bergamot and pineapple ambroxan goodness then said: "let's make a punchy Italian version of that". K is fresh and has just the right amount of performance, being versatile without being boring, much like D&G pour Homme was. It should have ended there.

Instead, people bitched and moaned about K being too weak, not enough projection, too synthetic, not sweet enough, or whatever. On virtue of the fact that this is Dolce & Gabbana, not some smaller house like Azzaro that's expected to pop out a whole lot of half-baked ideas in-between the occasional blockbuster, people set the bar unrealistically high. Some really detached-from-reality folks expected a second coming of By Man, while others figured maybe a return to D&G pour Homme, and still others expected God-only-knows-what. Instead, they got a competent, enjoyable, left-of-center "blue" fragrance with a heap full of spice, something none of the competition was doing. Naturally, that isn't good enough, so we get K Eau de Parfum, the fragrance that "fixes" all the "problems" of the original K without really addressing any of them. That right there; that's the cynicism I mentioned, because either D&G knew nothing was wrong with K and made this as a placebo, or made changes that they knew would cause complaint in a fraction of the buyer base so they could later trundle out this eau de parfum for them in true racketeering style of create a problem then sell a solution. Either way, K Eau de Parfum is really just a slightly thicker, stronger, but otherwise identical variant of K eau de toilette. The opening comes out a little heavier with cardamom added to the blood orange, bergamot, and juniper. The heart is the same sage, geranium, and lavandin with pimento, and the base has a beefed up ambroxan and Iso E Super riff with more patchouli and vetiver, plus cypriol. The difference being this stays more noticeable in the air for longer and dries down with a bit more sweetness and heft, smelling 95% the same after a few hours. Versatility is reduced with added thickness, but you can probably wear this more easily in winter than you can the original eau de toilette, so there is that.

How I feel about K Eau de Parfum is how I feel about the original Y eau de toilette for Men by YSL (2017) released on the heels of both Dior Sauvage (2015) and Paco Rabanne Invictus (2013). The 50+ years in the waiting men's counterpart to the original Y by Yves Saint Laurent (1964) ended up quietly replacing it instead, as if they had no care in the world that they were literally taking the famous debut fragrance from the house and turning it into a regurgitated blend of what was popular at the men's counter at the time. To add insult to injury, they then released a more complete version of the fragrance called Y Eau de Parfum (2018) that actually smells quite wonderful and better than both Invictus or Sauvage. So, YSL rolled out the intentional disappointment first and then wowed everyone with the "fix" that happened to have an upcharge. Here it's that same cynicism almost in reverse, because there really is nothing wrong with K, so the "fix" is basically a Trojan horse with the same drydown delivered as a "gotcha". Same cynicism, but the ruse played out in reverse. YSL delivered the fragrance that would get everyone bitching first, then with expectations lowered, delivered "the good one" afterwards at a higher price. Here Dolce & Gabbana released a good if unexciting everyday fragrance that took a popular trope and gave it a spicy Italian spin, then knew for some people that just wouldn't make them happy, so they had a "better" one waiting in the wings that is indeed a bit stronger to address performance claims, but actually smells a little worse than the original, even though it costs more. D&G is laughing all the way to the bank at the expense of solipsistic "FragBros" who watch too much YouTube, while I just shake my head at the idea of the fabricated "premium mediocrity" that is this fragrance. Neutral