Pierre Cardin pour Monsieur
Pierre Cardin (1972)

I acquired both the Five Star version (75ml) and the earlier Jacqueline Cochran/pre-Alladin import version (75ml). Got them each for around $15 which is an insane value. Both are excellent, but I did a side-by-side comparison because they are not identical. The 5S version opens as a light aromatic barbershop with plenty of lavender, barbershop, eugenol and cinnamon elements. These can all be found in the JC version, which adds carnation, bitterness, patchouli, styrax and amber while correspondingly reducing the impact of the bergamot and lavender. As they wear, the 5S version picks up some medicinal "doctor's office" smell that blends beautifully with the barbershop elements. The JC version fades earlier but features a honey-type of sweet thickness while moving away from the barbershop element in favor of floral accord dominated by carnation. They are both fantastic.

Love this stuff. I've been associated with this fragrance since 1980 when I was an adolescent. I didn't think too much of it then but I certainly do now. I like it so much I currently own 4 bottles of the Jacqueline Cochran led juice and I'm very proud to say so. The performance is decent to very good at about 6 hrs plus. Tons of masculine citrus notes and a wonderful drydown that changes the entire complexion of the scent. The current bottle is garbage but that's no surprise. The good thing is vintage bottles are very affordable so take a shot at a true masculine classic that modern perfumers can take a page from.


9/10

I was lucky enough to pick up a used tester bottle of original Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur eau de toilette made in France some time ago. Nice orange citrus basil opening, floral spicy mid then a pleasant leathery vanilla wood base. Magical. Quality ingredients.
Since then I acquired the cologne version. Follows a similar profile but some of the nuances are missing, and it's very synthetic.
The vanilla in it is like a mini milk ice pop! Household cleaning product level stuff I'm afraid. Also very weak. If you love this scent as I do, I'd suggest only going for the eau de toilette. Although the cologne is okay, it's inferior in quality as well as strength.

If I have a #1 fragrance, this is it. I don't merely like PCPM; it actually cheers me up like bottled sunshine. I don't wear it daily but it's the one fragrance that when I do wear it I couldn't care less what anybody thinks. I wear this one for me.

Having tried everything from deep vintage to current production, the differences between them are minor and negligible.

Get it, wear it, enjoy it.

Finally bought this and realized it was what my childhood barber always wore—what I had always assumed was some secret bay rum or Barbasol scent that I couldn’t put my finger on. But he always smelled like a million bucks and set the standard even then for what good masculine grooming meant. I’ve loved barbershops ever since. Fast forward and Pierre Cardin PM is still great and essential history for what came after the early ‘70s in men’s fragrances. Dated? Hardly. To me this is timeless and a couple of spritzes and my sartorial armor is complete. Lemon meringue, sandalwood, and patchouli over a vanilla and amber base. Tremendous. And even in EDC strength it has crazy sillage and longevity. Careful with the trigger finger here. Shave and a haircut. Thanks, Monsieur Cardin.

I feel like Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur has become an afterthought since it's been widely available since its release and has been a drugstore staple dismissed as cheap, dated, even comical. It's nonsense really, as PCPM, especially if you were to spend just a few more bucks for an older formulation, has a delightful, even impressive sandalwood note in its heart preceded by lemon meringue, lavender, and green herbs.

The carnation note rivals that of Equipage, and its mossy benzoin dry down puts it in the ranks of Lagerfeld Cologne (Classic). I swear that if I were to have some vintage snobs blind-test this and label it with the name of an overpriced discontinued unicorn, they'd be salivating to blind buy for a couple hundred bucks. And so it goes, the noble PCPM, a progenitor of the fabled Derby, going for pennies on the dollar.