L.12.12 Rouge / Red
Lacoste (2012)

The opening is a fruity blast, with a mango impression combining with an ripe orange. Pleasant and bright.

The drydown adds a prominent cardamom, with additional whiffs of cardamom adding a bit more depth. A ginger impression arises too, which present as a bright but not really crisp ginger on me. I still get some of the mango here, but it is now fading rapidly.

Heading towards the base I get a strong benzoin mainly, Iruña nonspecific woodsy undertone noticeable until closer towards the end. Throughout the development of this composition there is a persistent sweetness that is pronounced, bet never really overly cloying.

I got moderate sillage, good projection and four hours of longevity on my skin.

A scent for cooler summer days that has some nice ideas, but it is quite generic and overly synthetic at times. This scent is named after the designation of Lacoste's famous first Polo shirt, but this creation is quite mediocre, and definitely far less groundbreaking that Monsieur Lacoste's Polo shirt. 2.75/5.

The top notes are citrus and fruity. They seem to have a serious artificial tinge to them in the manner of an aromatic aura… or else I might be picking up a bit of the rockrose from the base. Anyway, the opening is orangey and lightly mango-ish. The spices of the heart level also come across rather lightly – this is no spice cabinet fragrance even though the pyramid might lead one to think so. As usual I don't get much pepper but the ginger and cardamom come across clearly… but without overwhelming. The base… sweet and a bit aromatic… is rather neutral and pleasant… and it is the best part of the fragrance, which is where the best part should be. Lacoste's L.12.12 Rouge has longevity problems as a projector of sillage. It quickly moves to being a skin scent and that last stage lasts about two-three hours at the most on my dry skin. This is a pleasant fragrance – somewhat synthetic, a bit demure – I can see where it might be a decent fragrance on the right person. For me, if I wanted something that performs like this, I would buy Polo Double Black.

Mango note combined with Benzoim and Acacia bring a nice fruity/sweet smell, that makes this fragrance a bit different from the usual "red" ones out there. It's sporty and refreshing, great for everyday use. Although It shares the mago note with Polo Black, they're completely different fragrances.

Ok, maybe not as "red" but it just as might be! I really like this one. There is something sportish yet chic about this one. Not formal, sportish but not in a teenage typical citrus way. There's a bit of depth here. Mandarine, mango and a hint of benzoin with a touch of woody notes and we have something not all that bad, au contraire, quite surprisingly good!

Yes, it's mango and for this it's very similar with Polo Black, but this one smells more soapy and clean. I loved it, and not surprisingly it couldn't stay on my skin more than 1 or 2 hours.

To MY nose, smells apple-cinnamon-y, not bad, but nothing special, and it doesn't last long enough to justify the purchase. Blah.