Perfume Reviews by speedracer

Replica Never-ending Summer by Maison Margiela

Smells like an Aperol spritz with the sweet orange notes mixed with bitter, unripe citrus. The tea note gives it a luxury spa feel. Feels slightly feminine to me, but I agree with unisex as the official gender assignment.

Gets very light very quickly, so more stays may be needed. Spray on clothes to improve the performance slightly.

A Little Secret by Imaginary Authors

Candy, syrupy, fruity sweet opening. Powdery aspects come out next. In the heart, it becomes a cherry scent to compete with the current trend that got a big pickup when TF Lost Cherry was introduced. Smells like something in that realm.

Seems to be more feminine and juvenile than masculine or serious. The deep dry down is even more powdery and mature.

Projection is solid, and longevity lasts into the next day.

Aquatica by Rayhaan

This is very close to Virgin Island Water from Creed. Other than Gorse (Laboratory Perfumes), I haven’t smelled a better clone scent, and this one may be the best and is much easier to obtain. The lime is more prominent in Aquatica, and performance is much better.

Lasts all day and has good projection.

First Peach of the Season by Imaginary Authors

Soft, feminine, playful peach scent. More candy-artificial-peach than a realistic-smelling peach. Even then, it's just not as peach-forward as I would like. Tom Ford's Bitter Peach is my go-to peach reference scent, and First Peach of the Season is far more subtle.

A solid, decent scent, but just not much "wow" factor.

Brilliant Peony by Clean

Clean, white florals. Smells similar to a nice house air freshener or room spray that might be called “Spring Rain” or “Morning Dew”. This is feminine to me, but not overly sweet or jasmine-forward.

The Abandoned Mansion by Imaginary Authors

Old books, leather, and lots of old, damp wood mixed with patchouli and a familiar pink bubblegum sweetness. That’s the opening. The deep base is a clean leather laundry musk.

If you're wearing this, it's probably just for yourself. Not a crowd pleaser, but it will please many wearers with its nostalgic notes and addictive qualities.

Projection isn't half bad, and the longevity is good too, lasting most of the day.

Untamable by Imaginary Authors

A clean, animalmalic musk with great performance. It reminds me of Kielhs Musk but with amped up projection and longevity.

Soleil Neige by Tom Ford

Beachy, white floral scent with plenty of clean musks. The opening may be too feminine for some but I find the drydown to be unisex.

I actually find this to be a little heavy-handed on hot-temperature days. It can really project off my skin and lasts all day and into the next.

Spicebomb Metallic Musk by Viktor & Rolf

Not a complete departure from Spicebomb, but this is the freshest variation of that scent profile I’ve smelled. Also, the most unisex. It's very modern, especially coming from a Spicebomb variant. Smells very similar to 40 Knots, especially in the dry down.

With enough sprays, this could have some good projection, but overall, it's adequate. Decent longevity as well.

The Brilliant Game by Davidoff

Powdery sweet opening. The orange blossom is featured as it dries down. The overall effect is a warm, soft, and clean everyday scent that is better for cooler days, but also light enough for warmer temps. Office safe. Smells a little like 1 million in the opening, but more generic, less distinct.

Longevity is okay but projection struggles after the first few hours.

Twin Flame by 5 Sens

Clean, creamy sandalwood with a calm, cool, spa-like aquatic and green-herbal side note. Smells similar to Santal 33 but without anything weird. Another decent comparison is Kenzo Homme EdP. Unisex all the way to me.

Juice by Commodity

Juvenile fruity notes mixed with a more mature and refined rose. As it dries down, the "child's scented strawberry toy" scent gives way to the earthy rhubarb and floral notes. Then it’s just more rose. An aldehydic rose at that. Very feminine to me.

I think the projection is quite good, lasting for hours and never having to struggle to get whiffs in your nose throughout the day. I can smell this on skin the next day.

Boss Bottled Beyond by Hugo Boss

Above average in smell, just average performance.

Typical modern mall/designer scent with the currently popular masculine, fresh, clean, woody amber scent profile. The ginger is a nice touch, giving it a fruity-sweet hint, but nothing juvenile. Very office and daytime safe/appropriate.

Projection and longevity are both adequate, but nothing impressive.

Addicted by Aaron Terence Hughes

Powdery and seductive, featuring chocolate and boozy, honey notes. The cinnamon is also present, but doesn’t take over.

This differs from Angels’ Share in that I find it lighter and more focused on chocolate. Otherwise, they live in the same neighborhood.

This being an ATH creation and having an aggressive name like "Addicted", you'd think this would be a projection monster. If you spray enough, yes, it can be. But with two sprays, I don't find it to be overwhelming or cloying. Lasts all day on clothes.

Arabians Tonka by Montale

Heavy oud-rose-tonka scent. Take any random Montale that features oud-rose and combine it with a strong dose of tonka.

Doesn't smell cheap, but it is extremely loud and hard to get rid of once sprayed, so only 2 or fewer sprays are needed. 1 or a half spray is probably better. NSFW!

African Rooibos by Chris Collins

The opening is sparkling with plenty of black pepper and cardamom. Has almost a ginger ale feel to it. The tea note is very nice and steals the show in the dry down. Versatile for many occasions and climates, and should be great in the office too.

I really enjoy wearing this and experiencing the evolution of the scent.

Projection is above average, and the longevity lasted most of the workday.

Voyage d'Hermes Parfum by Hermès

Lots of citrus and florals. Clean and office safe, but unremarkable. Highly unisex. Just smells like a nice hand soap.

Projection isn't much, longevity is just okay. Performance is fleeting, so a few extra sprays will be my recommendation for wearing.

No. 89 by Floris

Lemony, citrus, and slightly bitter green opening. The drydown is less bitter, a little powdery, and reminds me of the smell of a pressed dress shirt from starch and ironing. This is the smell of old school gentlemen or a clean suit. Nothing modern or sweet here.

After the initial sprays, it calms down and doesn't project much but the notes are strong enough to detect for a few hours.

Nitro Black pour Homme by Dumont

Trying to be Aventus but achieves Armaf Club de Nuit Man Intense instead. The opening is similar to the clone, smelling like lemon furniture polish and not a juicy, smokey pineapple. Standard Aventus clone drydown.

Not bad, just not great.

Projection and longevity are solid. Less sprays can help dull the synthetic harshness.

Nitro Platinum pour Homme by Dumont

Cotton candy, synthetic, juicy sweet fruit, white flowers, saffron and vanilla. It really does feel like it's all over the place, but sprayed in low doses or just hanging in the air, it's nice.

Feels unisex and just a few years above teenager. Very young and casual. I don't have a clear/direct comparison scent, but somewhat in the style of BR540.

Projection is on the loud side.

Nitro Intense pour Homme by Dumont

In the style of Aventus Absolu. Harsh, screechy lemon with black currant opening. It dulls as it gets into the drydown, thankfully but remains synthetic and harsh throughout.

Oversprayed, this becomes very cloying, so go easy on the sprays. Even at low doses, it's too synthetic for me, but it is loud enough to be smelled by others, and it has the Aventus smell, so it could work really well in some situations. Surprisingly, the longevity wasn't great for me. Starts to become hard to smell 4-5 hours in.

Nitro Red pour Homme by Dumont

Fresh, fruity, sweet, very young. I also get some green melon in the opening, which I think helps with the appeal and notoriety that this scent has been gaining lately. However, it is quite synthetic, not unique, and I wish it had a more masculine, woody base. Unfortunately, based on how it smells, the low price you can find this for matches the scent.

It's pretty loud, so fewer sprays would be my recommendation.

L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme Eau d'Été Summer Edition by Issey Miyake

Finally got to smell and own this one after hearing about it for many years. Does it live up to its storied, legendary status in fragcomm? For me, it does not. But it is fresh, clean, unique, and very unisex. A pleasure to wear, but more in the category of “above average”. It does have that Issey Miyake pour homme yuzu sourness that makes it distinct and unique when compared to other “summer” scents. I'm not nostalgic for the original, so this is not a love for me, but I do agree that it is an improvement over the original.

The projection is actually good during the first 4-5 hours. After that, it dries down to a nice skin scent that can be smelled most of the day if you get close.

Superman x Hugo by Hugo Boss

Smells similar to the original Hugo from 1995, which I actually owned, but with extra shower gel freshness. Interesting mix of the familiar 90’s feel, and modern fresh-n-clean. The mint note is still prominent as well.

Nothing amazing or worth spending good money on to try, but still a pleasant, easy-to-wear scent that others will compliment.