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When looking for a nightlife fragrance, something that you can wear out to the bars and stand out, the same names seem to come up. 1 Million by Paco Rabanne is one of those. Another, is the 212 VIP line, especially the original. However, that line has also spawned another nightlife wear, 212 Black. In this post, I want to compare 212 Black vs 1 Million. Which lasts longer? Which has better sillage? Which smells better?
Tale of the Tape: 212 VIP Black vs.1 Million
1 Million
Notes include: grapefruit, blood orange, rose, mint, cinnamon, amber, leather, patchouli, and more
Click here to try: Paco Rabanne 1 Million Eau de Toilette Spray for Men, 3.4 Fluid Ounce
Read my original review: 1 Million Cologne Review
212 VIP Black
Notes include: absinthe, leather, lavender, musk, vanilla, amber, anise
Click here to try: Carolina Herrera 212 VIP Black Men Eau de Parfum 3.4oz / 100ml – Launched in 2017
Read my review: 212 VIP Black
Opening
1 Million has a well-known, sort of grape bubblegum opening, which is actually bold and intoxicating. Some folks, don’t like it, but I think it’s great and gets better thereafter.
1 Million opens up with leather, citrus, and rose. This combined creates that bubblegum sort of smell. It’s actually a really smooth leather, juicy orange and grapefruit. This is surrounded by a warm and bold amber, with hints of cooling mint. All of these notes, I happen to love, except rose…which is fine here.
VIP Black, on the other hand, has a boozy start with a hefty dose of absinthe. I really like the absinthe here, as it’s a different alcoholic note, from most compositions.
Like it’s predecessor, Black has a warm amber note and spice, but it’s a weaker anise . Add to this, lavender and a quite faint leather note.
Which is better? I like the smooth, warm, and slightly spicy profile of 212 VIP Black. However, I still prefer the interesting and classic start to 1 Million. It’s not that much better, but enough to have the edge here.
Edge: 1 Million
Projection
For me, VIP Black has a fairly light to moderate sillage on my skin. I’m not sure, if it’s just me or what, because others have said it’s a strong fragrance. To me, it didn’t come close to the original 212 VIP.
1 Million has a great ability to project itself. Seriously, the sillage here is absolutely huge. So, whatever the actual story with VIP Black is, it would still fall short of the Paco Rabanne. Update: 1 Million isn’t as strong as it once was, but still superior to its competitor.
Edge: 1 Million
Longevity
With VIP Black, I could only muster 5-6 hours of wear, and most of that it had fairly weak sillage. The first 2 hours or so, it has a nice and full performance, but it drops of rather precipitously.
On the other end of things, 1 Million just seems to thrive, on my skin. I can get 12 hours of wear, from the formulations that I’ve had in the past. So, unless they’ve tampered with new batches and made them weaker, this stuff is a star performer. Update: Yeah, it’s like 8 or 9 now.
Edge: 1 Million
Versatility
Both of these are pretty limited colognes and are designed specifically for nightlife wear. They both are great in cold weather, but not when it gets too warm. Neither is very casual or an office safe type of scent. They pretty much fit the same bill.
Edge: Push
Overall Scent
I really wanted to love 212 VIP Black, as I have a full bottle of 212 VIP, which can be great on the right evening. If it could have been another monster performer, with a different take on the booze soaked cologne genre, I would have been quite happy.
It just doesn’t perform up to the standards, that I want from a nightlife fragrance. Nor does it smell as good, as 212 VIP. VIP Black has that nice boozy opening and then settles into something that is sweet with a bit of musk.
Vanilla, amber, and musk are pretty much the dry down and the absinthe and spice is hardly noticeable.
1 Million just smells and performs, at higher level than 212 VIP Black. I love the depth and development of this scent. Super sweet, leather, spice, and fruity juiciness. A bold performer, that has been a staple in the nightlife for the past decade plus.
Winner: 1 Million
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Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with different fragrances, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, I have written hundreds of reviews and other pages about perfumes and colognes.