Givenchy’s 22nd (yes, that’s right, I wrote 22nd) men’s fragrance is the masculine companion to 2003’s Very Irresistible for Women. Though I can’t say that the women’s scent left any kind of impression on me (other than the fact that Liv Tyler IS lovely to look at), this men’s version by perfumer Pierre Wargnye definitely caught my attention. With notes of grapefruit peel, mint, sesame seed, mocha, hazelnut wood, and Virginia cedar, Givenchy offers its first men’s gourmand fragrance.
It’s true, I do love sweet foody scents, and following on the coffee themes I introduced with Mat; Very Male and Bond no. 9 New Haarlem, one might think I have a caffeine addiction. But Very Irresistible offers only a hint of mocha, preferring to spend most of its time wavering between a minty citrus and a nutty, woody note. Though not as loud as I had thought it might be, Very Irresistible is a soothing, snuggling sort of scent. No great development, no complex unfolding, and thank goodness, nothing even slightly aquatic. The hazelnut and sesame notes, notes rarely used in perfumery, are my favorite part of this one.
I can’t help but think of Angel for Men when wearing this. The drydown, though slightly different with the addition of grapefruit peel, is very similar to my nose. So is Very Irresistible better? Well, I’d happily call this scent a success and douse myself with it on a cold day. It makes me want to play in snow and then go to Starbucks and order a hazelnut cappuccino. I wonder if Starbucks owns Givenchy or vice versa?
p.s. — isn’t that bottle a stunner?
Givenchy Very Irresistible for Men is available at major department stores.
Great review Marlen. I only smelled this on a card so far, but I have to give it a good sniff. This seems to be Dior Homme's biggest rival for men's fragrance of the year, doesn't it?
Is the hazelnut more pronounced than in Mechant Loup? I never got much nuttiness from that one.
Hi 1st post here! My husband tried this out and it is just as Marlen said, it is a snuggling sort of scent. It develops much better on skin then on paper or sprayed on clothes. When he wore it I just wanted to nestle into the crook of his neck. Yummy, but not in a obvious gourmand way. Just comforting and warm, like coming inside after a brisk walk out in the cold. Very sexy, a new favorite and the bottle is gorgeous. I have a feeling Mrs Santa will be getting him a big bottle of this for Christmas.
Thanks Marlen. The first time that I sprayed this one on, all I could think of was Angel for Men. The coffee note was so fleeting on me that it was almost non existant. I used up my sample vial on wearing it to work and it proved to quite Resistable because nobody commented on it..LOL.
I agree also about the bottle being a stunner.
Barry
I sprayed it on my husband for a test drive. Verdict: nice but not necessary. I wouldn't kick him out of bed for it, but I wouldn't drag him into bed for it either.
I've never met a coffee note that hung around for the long haul. New Haarlem's coffee kick is so fleeting it's practically depressing. Anyone know of a coffee scent that sticks around and isn't horrid?
DSH Coffee Absolut was a surprising discovery. I would recommend trying it. However, I am discovering that I just do not like coffee notes by themselves with nothing to soft their roasted pungency. I like lots of milk with my coffee, to begin with! 🙂
Håkan – It does seem as if heavier gourmands are strong this year, doesn't it? The hazelnut in VI is not as prominent as in Mechant Loup (hazelnut, honey and myrrh), although I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a VI Eau de Parfum. Givenchy has done it before with Pi, so perhaps a nuttier version is on its way?
Vennie – Welcome! It IS snuggly – I wore my sample the other night and a friend replied with “wooo, what's that?” and then proceeded to give me a hug to get a sniff. I'd call that effective.
Victoria, Barry & Tania! – you're right, as promising as the coffee note starts, it just somehow trails off into “barely there”. I do wish it stayed stronger on my skin for a longer time.
Coffee bean seems to have made its debut with Angel for Men (correct me ifI'm wrong) and since then, I have actively sought out coffee scents but with little success. I love coffee and chocolate notes and do agree that by themselves they can be a bit harsh, but I have had a difficult time finding something I love that lasts. I am a fan of Balenciaga's Cristobal for men, but the coffee note is merely an accent in the basenotes there. MPG Eau des Iles and L'Artisan L'Eau de Navigateur were (for me) unwearable, though exquisite.
DSH Cafe Noir is my heavy coffee scent. The coffee note on New Haarlem actually lasts quite a while on me. While I thought VI was okay, I much prefer Angel Men. I think the hazelnut smell kind of nauseated me – bad past experiences with hazelnut liqueurs probably did it.
I'm a big fan of VI. One of my fave men's for this year.
btw Marls, I make it Givenchy's 21st Men's Scent – which one am I missing?
http://www.basenotes.net/brandlist/givenchy&Sex=M
The first coffee scent I remember trying was L'Or de Torrente (or something like that). It was pleasant but not something I had to have. I'll have to check out DSH's coffee scents, it looks like. Oh, and there was a Comptoir Sud Pacifique, Vanille Moka (sp?), which I found atrocious, like a stale piece of coffee candy.
BASENOTES – we're missing Givenchy Aquamarine Hawaii, released solely for the Asian travel market.
TANIA – I'll agree with you on the L'Or…nice but not my cup of , er, coffee…but I loved CSP Vanille Cafe/Mokha…but way too sweet to enjoy wearing and again, very fleeting.
Thanks Marls (I cant keep up with all these Aquamarines!)
Hi Marlen,
I know this is an old review, but anyway …
Am I wrong, or Maritima (an Ozone, Marine, Woody, Leather, Animal raw material by IFF) can be smelled here just in the middle of the composition?
I'm currently using this one and it seems this note is lfoating somewhere. What do you think?
Regards, R.
Hmmm, I never really noticed a marine note…could it be the grapefruit perhaps?
Marlen
whats with anonymous posting all the comment? ^
and this is nice 🙂 the blue one, fresh attitude is better tho 🙂
https://nstperfume.com/about-now-smell-this/comments-user-accounts/
See 2nd paragraph.
sorry, about all the go’s I had at “anonymous”
I just can’t grasp why they would write SO MUCH though <- and thats not being offensive.
sorry
I’m not sure you understood me…those are real comments made by different people, they just “lost” their user names when we switched to a new blogging system.
I was reading the comment policy :S I still don’t think I understand lol
I wondered whether you replied to them with like email or something, because each time the comment had changed subject.
and I feel the need to apologise again for a comment I made on a review I can’t remember, which was similar to my first one on this ^^
again I’m very sorry for being so personal
but you have to know I wans’t being offensive or harmful. 🙂
Those comments are no longer in the correct order:
“Comments with purple borders are “legacy” comments: comments left before we moved to this domain in 3/09. Those comments have lost their “threading” so it can be hard to follow the conversation, and they’ve also lost their user names, so it’s impossible to tell who wrote them.”
I also always wondered how to get a profile picture lol
you have to create one of them generic profiles or something :S
🙂
Go to gravatar.com
I’m just testing to see if my gravatar works
I just found this site! It’s like a dream. I bought a bottle of this Very cologne in 2005, first time I got into smells and perfumes, and truly I did. Ended up spending hours trying all the smells. Haven’t been able to find a smell like this one or that I like as much as this one. So glad I found this blog! Now I know the perfumer and the different notes, I want to try that hazelnut, honey & myrrh mix. I’ll be on this site more often discovering new smells! Oh what a Joy!