Mainstream men’s colognes — a wearying bunch of scents that more often than not smell of “cold” citrus (harsh, metallic, faux citrus) floating on a sea of “marine” notes or buffeted by ozonic winds. This type of fragrance (apparently beloved by market research guinea pigs) rules the mainstream male perfume world and no matter how many interesting ingredients are mentioned in ad copy — May rose, myrrh, olive wood, hay, nasturtium, etc. — chances are, when you sniff a new men’s fragrance, you will detect only citrus, ozone or marine notes, a touch of wood, and a squirt of tepid musk. Boring, boring, boring.
When Gucci released Pour Homme in 2003, I was relieved to read its list of notes: white pepper, pink bay, ginger, papyrus wood, orris rhizome, vetiver, amber, white olibanum and leather — no citrus, no evocations of the shore or high altitudes!
Gucci Pour Homme opens with a spicy, and short-lived, burst of pepper and ginger. This spiciness merges immediately with a dry, woody-cedar aroma. (If you do not like the smell of cedar wood, I doubt you’ll appreciate Pour Homme.) The wood accord (“papyrus wood”) continues thru the development of the scent and is joined by sweet vanilla-amber and hints of leather and frankincense.
Pour Homme is so well blended that there is little variation in the scent over the course of a day, and individual notes are not readily apparent. The scent of Pour Homme reminds me of several Japanese traditional incense blends I use: simple combinations of woods and subtle spices. Pour Homme is a tranquil, “dignified”, woody and wintry scent and, though not ground breaking, does not fit neatly into the mainstream men’s cologne mold.
Gucci Pour Homme is a good “mixer” — it layers well with leather, black tea, incense and even fruit (especially peach/apricot) scents. Pour Homme has good lasting power and its fragrance stays close to the body. It comes in a handsome and heavy glass bottle with a snap-on metal top and a base of textured glass that resembles wire mesh. Pour Homme was developed by perfumer Michel Almairac, and if you shop carefully, you can find the 50 ml Eau de Toilette online for around $25.
Tomorrow: a review of the new Gucci Pour Homme II.
I love this one. It was apparently create to evoke the overly virile, covered in stubble, Indiana-Jones-feel fragrances of the seventies. There is something kind of campy about it for me, and I never really get why people complain that it's too sweet. I can tolerate sweetness if it is accompanied by the dryness you get here.
Uggh…this was somewhat of a disaster. Just too cedary/pencil-shavy. Its embarrassingly bad compared to the original Gucci pour homme (1978), which is perhaps the best Gucci scent for men.
I am more looking forward to Gucci homme II (it contains a tea note).
It is a very interesting fragrance that develops its incense theme wonderfully. In general, I find Almairac's work inspiring (save for his creations for Bond no 9), and Gucci pour Homme is among my favourites.
Have to butt in to say I love this stuff, and sorry I never bothered to try it until they launched Pour Homme 2. Agree with Tigs that there is something sort of campy about it — in that sense it reminds me of another Tom Ford-engineered scent for men, M7.
Would love to try it next to Tumulte Homme, but can't find my dratted sample. If memory serves, that one is even more cedary/pencil shavings than this.
I agree…the sweet and the dry notes are well blended here. (But the model in the ad is CERTAINLY not a be-stubbled Indiana Jones type.) K
We here at NST are lovers of pencil shavings! I never tried
the 1978 Gucci pour homme unfortunately. I'll remain mum on the Gucci Pour Homme II till tomorrow…K
No, I noticed that – the ad kind of threw me when I saw it here today for the first time. Very much looking forward to your review tomorrow. I haven't tried the new one, but am interested in tea notes lately and the bottle looks so neat (not usually a concern of mine!)
And R, I agree about M7. Love that one, too.
Thanks for carping about the sad state of the men's fragrance market, K, I feel so much more relieved to know I'm not alone. There's only so much of metallic citrus I can stomach – I'd sooner douse myself in Tide! The latest Davidoff spinoff of Silver Shadow, Altitude *rolls eyes* and various summer flankers, they all smell like pesticides.
Gucci, however… Yum (waves to Erin), but then I love cedar and incense and don't mind smelling like pencil shavings. It really is a dry, skin scent with a lovely ambery warmth and I found that it layers beautifully with Rochas Lui. Which scents do you layer it with, K? I might try that w/ Chergui…
Victoria: I really liked Almairac's Eau de Gucci too. But like you say: NOT the Bonds! Kevin
R: I think Tumulte is more resinous that Gucci PH…Tumulte is deeper, sweeter, rounder, longer lasting. Both do cedar proud.
I couldn't agree more! My post today is basically about the same thing, except it's women's fragrances. I adore Gucci Pour Homme! A truly one of a kind fragrance. You described it perfectly.
Dusan: In these cold-morning/warm-afternoon spring days I've been adding a touch of Gucci PH to citrus scents…several of the PdNIcolai citruses and even added it to Annick Goutal's Pour Monsieur with a nice effect. I have a tiny spritzer of “peach accord” and that goes great with GPH.
Gucci pour homme (76) is an entirely different beast. Lavender, bergamot, woods, moss, castoreum (and other good stuff) mix to create a distinguished manly aroma. Its similar to, but not the same as, another classic for men : Van Cleef pour homme. Sadly, its discontinued but you can sometimes find a few bottles of it on Ebay or in the LA/chicago area shops. Gucci pour homme (2003) smells incomplete to me. Gucci II sounds like it might be for people who didnt care for Gucci I.
Kevin – your suggestion of laying this with a peach scent is genious – I would have never thought of it. I'm wearing it with a drop of Fuzzy Peach from the body shop and it smells soooo good. I also like to layer the peach with Bandit.
Love GPH – first fragrance that really reminded me of a vintage mens cologne with leather and an almost 'boozy' quality to it (scotch…? maybe it's the 'highball'-esque bottle)
Tom Ford at his best
How on earth did I miss this? There's nothing about this that doesn't sound absolutely perfect to me. And I live to layer, so that makes it even better. I also have a thing for bottles w/ a clean design that have a nice heft in my hand (love the TDCs). My one dilemma was whether or not to take the time to post a comment or race off immediately to find a bottle online.
Interestingly enough, almost EVERY fragrance even mildly associated with Tom Ford while he was with the Gucci group is supposedly 'inspired by the classic fragrances of the seventies'… lol i have beauty mag clippings stating this for, Ysl Nu, YSL M7 (which i love
) Gucci Envy pour homme, and even Black Orchid… Don't get me wrong, i have nothing against the guy! just thought this was quite interesting!!
Yes, that is interesting…but let him use ANY decade for inspiration as long as it's not the 90s! K
Hmmm. I have Bandit pour homme…I'll have to see if peach works with that…K
Since I rarely go to dept. stores to sniff things, the only reason I “discovered” Gucci Pour Homme was due to a scent strip in a magazine!
Kevin, I didn't care for this one. I love M7 with a passion but the frankinsence accord in this (whether real or contrived) seems too sweet and has a sort of pineapple edge to it…(think pineapple the next time you apply this and see if I am right). I just couldn't get past it so I gave my bottle away. I also found that it didn't last on my skin but for an hour or two even with a generous application. It, as you said, remained very close to the skin. It also seemed like a very simple fragrance with almost no development. I will take M7 over this any day.
Somewhat controversially, I find both Gucci pour Homme and M7 a tad tedious after a while. I did love them at first, but they're scents I tire of quickly – that medicinal blast of M7 followed by a powdery, somewhat feminine accord, the one-note wonder of Gucci… And pour Homme is VERY dry on me, as I tend to absorb sweetness a little troo quickly. I'd prefer it as incense than perfume…
However, I can't disagree with the fact that they're both beautifully executed. I'm intrigued by the campy references, and so now I'm imagining a pantomime quality to them both, based on crude stereotypes of my own making – is Gucci pour homme like an old-fashioned clone, posturing masculinity in his moustache and tight jeans (butch on the streets, femme between the sheets…), and M7 a little old lady dressed up as a virlie young (male) doctor?
I'll look for that pineapple the next time I wear it…thankfully I LIKE pineapple, k!
GPH/M7 are very linear so to avoid getting bored I usually wear them for only a few hours…when I'm going out for the night, etc. HA! I'm still trying to wrap my 'morning' mind around the “little old lady” as studly doctor, who no doubt has a big bouquet of pink roses in the waiting room and is wearing lacy drawers. (Can I ever wear M7 again?)
Love GPH. Thanks to you and Robin, Kevin, for steering me towards this one. Would never have discovered it otherwise. I think it's great on a woman, and I love your idea of layering it with stone fruit notes. I almost spent $225 on Bois d'Encens, but I like this even better — at nearly 1/10th the cost online.
P.S I DID try He Wood. You, I think, might like it very much.
I have a confession to make on this one (it must be the incense smell in the GPH that's making me think of church, lol), but I actually hated this first time I tried it.
Thing is though, the dry down on this is extraordinary and addictive. I don't really get the pencil shavings thing, but I do smell the incense bit time. I think this is a wonderful fragrance and have finally ordered a bottle – only the 30ml though, because you don't need to overspray this one, and it'll last me ages in rotation with other frags.
i love this Gucci pour homme on a guy’s skin….sexy. one of the perfumes i think sexy..
I Love Gucci Rush 2 of Michel Almairac. It is The Best smell…..