Best Men's Colognes

Best Men's Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with the different fragrances that I've owned, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, that new hobby grew into a consistent passion, helping millions of readers along the way. I have personally written reviews for well over 800 perfumes and colognes for both men and women. This is along with writing hundreds of other in-depth fragrance guides. You can also follow me on: YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok!

Crystal Noir EDT by Versace

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Taking a break from the Tom Ford reviews for a second, to bring you a new ladies fragrance review from a popular Versace: Crystal Noir EDT. IN this post, I am going to share my experiences with this scent, describe its smell, how it develops, performs, when it should be worn, and if it is actually worth a try.

What does Crystal Noir by Versace Smell Like?

Notes include: black currant, fig, violet, tuberose, frangipani, jasmine, sandalwood, cashmeran, vanilla, heliotrope

Click here to try: Versace Crystal Noir by Versace for Women – 3 Ounce EDT Spray

My Full Review

Crystal Noir opens with a fairly sharp black currant leading the way. It is juicy and joined by a distinct fig note, the smell of tuberose and violet. This perfume has apparently been reformulated from what it was originally and now includes a whole host of new notes.

So, keep in mind that I am reviewing this newer eau de toilette version of Crystal Noir.

The fig and black currant are on top of this composition for quite a while and sitting on a bed of flowers, with some creamy undertones, and a woody base. It all strikes me as very fresh with slight oriental vibes coming through during different times of the wear.

There is some spiciness in the heart of the perfume, not sure what it is from the new notes listed, but the older edition had ginger and cardamom. So, maybe those are unlisted but still within the EDT.

As it dries down further, the black currant sharpness subsides quite a lot and the floral notes fully emerge. Plenty of jasmine and heliotrope to join up with the tuberose and violet.

Although, this Versace has plenty of flowers, it doesn’t hit me like a ‘greenish’ bouquet or like walking through some kind of garden.

From this point, pretty much what you’re going to get is established. A whole lot of florals, especially the white floral notes: tuberose, jasmine, and frangipani.

These are on top of a woody base of smooth sandalwood, fig, and cashmeran. Add in a dash of vanilla, purple flowers, and what’s left of the opening combo.

Sillage, How Long it Lasts, and Versatility

Projection wise, the EDT is a fairly light to moderate fragrance. The sillage on this one isn’t huge and is going to stay pretty close to the body. I wouldn’t call it weak, by any means, but Crystal Noir isn’t going to fill a room unless you go crazy with the sprays.

The longevity is solid but not amazing, seems to stick around for 6-8 hours, on my skin. That’s good enough for most purposes. Indoors, in air conditioning, it seems to track closer to that 8 hour wear mark.

Seasonally, this EDT reformulation, is pretty versatile. It’s floral component screams springtime, but it wouldn’t feel out of place at all, in the winter or fall. Maybe not the best for the height of summer, but very good for the rest of the year.

Crystal Noir has an air of maturity about it, but not stuffy or uptight. It can be worn to the office, dressed up, or for an evening out. I especially think the evening wear, is probably its best use. It is attractive and has some sexiness to it, but not a super seductive fragrance by any means.

Mostly, this will be a versatile daily wear for most women. Not too intense or bold, but pretty enough to gather some attention and complements.

Overall Impressions of Crystal Noir

Overall, do I like Crystal Noir EDT? I do. I think that it’s a very good choice for a versatile floral that isn’t too girly or flowery. It’s woodiness and slight spice/sweetness keep it from becoming some overwhelming bouquet.

It has solid performance and a grown up disposition. The original EDP had coconut and gardenia in it, I’m not sure which I prefer, but that is the main difference between them.

This is a great Versace option for those who want something rather simple and clean, without being a complete bomb.

Dot Eau de Parfum by Marc Jacobs

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In today’s review, we have an entry from Marc Jacob’s line of women’s perfumes, Dot EDP. This one was released back in 2012 and quickly became a popular fragrance and well-known for its lady bug shaped bottle. In this post, I’m going to explore it ingredients, how it smells, develops, when it can be worn, and if it is actually worth trying out.

What does Dot by Marc Jacobs Smell Like?

Notes include: jasmine, red berries, honeysuckle, coconut, musk, orange blossom, dragon fruit, vanilla, driftwood 

Click here to try: Marc Jacobs Dot Eau De Parfum Spray for Women, 3.4 Ounce

My Full Wear Review

Before I get into my review of Dot, let’s see what Marc Jacobs has to say about it: Chic and charming, a lush floral bouquet of beautiful jasmine and juicy red berries.

Dot opens with a blast of the juicy red berries and the tropical sensation of dragon fruit. There is also the coconut water, which isn’t too heavy, but it is definitely present throughout the wear. Dot is much more fruity than it is floral and the berries are the main attraction here.

As it moves along, I do start to get the floral bouquet in a more pronounced aroma. It never takes over the fruits but I get jasmine, honeysuckle, and orange blossom in descending order of strength. It’s all very light, pretty, and low key.

These florals are joined by just a hint of vanilla which brings a sweet creaminess to the composition. It’s not super noticeable all of the time, as it kind of blends with the coconut.

Finally, during the dry down, a bit of musk and a woody undertone help Dot to have more substance and a solid foundation. It is ultimately a fresh fragrance with red berries, jasmine, dragon fruit, woody, and hints of coconut/vanilla sweetness. Clean, juicy, with a tropical vibe.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Projection wise, the sillage of Dot isn’t very strong. This is a very light perfume that is going to hang close to the skin, throughout the wear.

It isn’t weak or a super under performer, as the scent will get about 6-7 hours of solid staying power. For an EDP, that’s not amazing, but it’s usually good enough for most purposes.

Seasonally, it feels more spring/summer, but is kind of a year round perfume. It’s not going to be horrible in any particular climate, which gives it a bit more versatility versus other fragrances.

It is good for casual or office wear or other functions. It’s not really sexy, just pretty and pleasant. Since it is not really ‘loud’, it isn’t going to overpower or choke out a room. It smells youthful, but not like a teenager’s scent, it just doesn’t give off that ‘mature’ vibe.

 

 

Overall Impressions of Dot

Overall, do I like Dot by Marc Jacobs? Yes, I think that it is a very nice smelling perfume. It isn’t a bomb, by any means, but it gives a solid performance and has an interesting aroma.

The red berries and dragon fruit pair, really sets it apart from so many of the other fruity scents out there. Then the added layer of a floral bouquet, gives the perfume an added depth. It’s versatile and a really good choice for an everyday wear.

8 Perfumes that Smell Like the Beach

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The beach is a place that most of us have fond memories of, and is a place, we dream about being while stuck in offices, classrooms, etc. While we can’t always be where we want, we can try to replicate some of the sensory experience, through smell. In this post, I want to present some of the best smelling ladies’ fragrances which evoke the image of the beach. From the sea itself to the sand to the fruits and flowers native to islands, let’s see if we can’t find a great beachy perfume.

What are the Best Ladies Perfumes that Smell Like the Beach or Ocean?

Oceanic Hermes

Eau des Merveilles Bleue– A flanker fragrance to the popular Eau des Merveilles line by Hermes. This one is pretty different from the other options from the brand. Very aquatic and oceanic, with a cool airy quality, of water and ambergris.

The top gives you a citrus brightness, while later on, you’ll get more patchouli with the aquatic smell. However, the patchouli is not overbearing at all. Relatively simple perfume, but an underappreciated aquatic.

Tom Ford Seaweed

Costa Azzurra by Tom Ford– I had to thrown in at least one scent on the list with a seaweed note. It’s not one, which everyone will like, but some percentage of you will completely dig it. I’m fairly indifferent to it, but in Costa Azzurra, I think it is well done.

Also, while this Tom Ford fragrance is unisex, it does lean a bit more masculine. Yet, it is still perfectly wearable for women. Azzurra is a woody aquatic, a beach laden with driftwood, breeze, and a dose of seaweed. Very interesting and gives a great, complex performance.

Tropical Fruit and Beachy

St. Kitts for Women by Tommy Bahama– This has plenty of similarities with the men’s version of St. Kitts, except that it features more floral notes. Yet, both have that great tropical beachy vibe, when you spray it on.

St. Kitts for women features star fruit and mango, as its main fruity notes, with frangipani and freesia holding down the floral side of things. This all sits in an aquatic base, that has driftwood-like highlights. St. Kitts is beautiful and relaxing, a clean mix of fruits/floral ingredients.

Clean Citrus Tea & Aquatic

Elizabeth Arden White Tea Eau De Toilette Spray, 1 oz.– A newer take on the green tea concept this time using, you guessed it, white tea. White Tea actually takes a different tact, than does the original Arden Green Tea.

It is a stronger scent, with more depth. However, it does share that super fresh vibe, like its fore barer.

It features an aquatic note, behind the white tea, and a powdery iris which is not overpowering. The top is clean with a light citrus note, and it dries down, into something with an amber embrace. The result, is a lighter aquatic influence, but one that still seems completely fitting for the shore.

Woody Sea Salt

Jo Malone ‘Wood Sage & Sea Salt Colonge 30ml/1fl oz’– A coastal aroma that will transport the wearer to the shore. Sea salt is infused with wood sage and a bit of citrus to create a unique fragrance, that you can’t quite put your finger on, at times.

The opening is quite oceanic with the sea salt, but is given a typical aquatic partner, with the grapefruit.

It is so fresh and aquatic, but dries down with a bit of sweetness, and light woody undertones. Let’s not forget the sage, which is a part of the opening, but comes into its own later.

Tropical Floral Perfume

JUDITH LEIBER Exotic Coral Eau de Parfum Spray, 2.5 fl. Oz.-This is a wonderful summertime scent from Judith Leiber. Exotic Coral is an island flower scent with heliotrope and tiare soaked in coconut with a touch of sea air.

It’s sweet in the floral sense, with some coconut and lime to give it that bit of island edge. Exotic Coral has an opening of a boozy coconut, with its sea water influence.

Much like sitting on a tropical island. From there, you get the floral notes, with the remaining coconut sweetness.

Celebrity Beachscape

Beachscape by Jennifer Aniston– This is a nice and fairly inexpensive option for a beachy perfume, with notes including the sand itself. It’s crisp blend of floral notes and oceanic ones.

The sea water isn’t super heavy in this, but it does provide a great cooling background to the composition.

Beachscape is fresh and clean with a light breezy citrus feeling, at the top, with its floral side coming through more so in the latter stages of the wear. I’m pretty sure it’s been discontinued, but I’m seeing cheap bottles still available online.

The Name Fits

Bobbi Brown Beach Rollerball Fragrance– A beautiful summertime fragrance with notes that transport your mind to the shore. The notes are mostly oceanic in their origin but are paired with jasmine and mandarin to smooth out and sweeten the perfume.

Notes also include: sand, driftwood, sea water, neroli. Yeah, sand and sea water. So, if you want to smell of the beach, with some extra floral notes to make it tolerable…this is a good one to try out.

L’Homme Absolu by Prada

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The Prada L’Homme line has a host of varieties available, working around the same basic theme. Each cologne has its own slightly different take to capture another side, of the iris based aroma. L’Homme Absolu, was released as a limited edition perfume for him, back in 2018. How does this one stack up? What does it smell like? How long does Absolu last? Is it worth a try? The following is my review after testing this Prada cologne out.

What does L’Homme Absolu Smell Like?

Notes include: iris, black pepper, cedar, bergamot, cardamom, mandarin orange, neroli, amber, labdanum, geranium

Click here to try: Prada L’Homme Absolu

My Full Review

The opening act of Absolu is a warmer and spicier affair, than the other editions in this series. I do get the ever-present iris note, but initially it gets overshadowed by black pepper and cardamom.

Those two ingredients are sitting in a coating of citrus. Mandarin and bergamot. The composition doesn’t feel juicy to my nose, but just a lighter zest, baked into a slightly burnt aroma.

What’s interesting, is that, after that initial wave of spice you do get a more citrus feeling thereafter. The floral notes emerge more, particularly neroli, and amp up the fruity quality. Add to that, an amber and resinous quality coming up from the base, and L’Homme Absolu becomes very enjoyable.

The further it moves along, the closer it starts to get to the other L’Homme colognes. In fact, the last bit is definitely a lot more of the iris note, than anything else.

Before that, I mostly get the iris, cardamom, neroli, bergamot, labdanum, amber, and some hint of cedar. That will all thin out until it is mostly just iris, along with some lingering neroli and amber.

Sillage, How Long Absolu Lasts, and Versatility

The sillage of Absolu is good, but it isn’t an absolute monster, in terms of its strength or ability to project. I’d say for the first hour or two, it is fairly strong, and moderate thereafter. I had no issues with the performance, it’s just not the strongest scent around.

The longevity seems to gravitate around 7 hours of wear. Sometimes, however, it will be closer to 5 hours. Though, the former is usually the standard.

Seasonally, this is actually great in the springtime. I sprayed some on before going on a long walk, in fairly temperate weather, and the scent really came alive. I kept catching lovely whiffs of the floral notes, amber, and cardamom.

Outside of that, I think that it would work well pretty much whenever outside of the hottest days of the year. Very good in colder to moderate climates.

L’Homme Absolu is also a very versatile fragrance. You can wear it pretty much anytime, in the right climate, without issue. It can be worn by younger or older men. Fits in at the office, casually, or during a night out. Has a formal appeal, without ever being uptight.

Overall Impressions of L’Homme Absolu

Do I like L’Homme Absolu? Yes, I do. I think that it’s a very attractive perfume and a great addition to the Prada line. Is it my favorite of the bunch? It’s one of the top picks, but I think that I still prefer L’Homme Intense.

The opening pepper and cardamom aroma, isn’t my favorite, but I do enjoy the floral and citrus notes more so. When they come in, along with the resinous amber, that’s when this stuff is really great.

The performance is solid, but not amazing. If you already have a bottle from the L’Homme line, you won’t really need this at all. It is somewhere between the other colognes, in terms of its smell, but still has a unique enough flair.

Update: Looks like this one got discontinued from the lineup.

Love is On by Revlon

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n today’s review, I have another ladies’ perfume from my batch of sample fragrances. This time, it is a fragrance from Revlon called: Love is On EDT. This scent was released back in 2015 and generally didn’t get much notice.

In fact, I’m pretty certain it has been discontinued. However, it is still available out there on the secondary market. Is it actually any good though? How does it smell? How does it perform?

What does Love is On Smell Like?

Notes include: Italian lemon, passionflower, red berries, orange, cocoa bean, vetiver, sugarcane

Click here to try: Revlon Love is On Eau De Toilette

My Full Review

The opening of Love is On is led by the citrus ingredients (lemon and orange) and a tart note, which is cranberry. The cranberry note reminds me a lot of Polo Red for Men, but it is nicely paired with the lemon note here.

It is light and sweet, with that added sugarcane note, adding a candy-like sweetness.

Then, the fragrance moves into a smoother and drier phase. The cocoa bean note is somewhat creamy and furthers the sweetness. There is a bit of vetiver that lurks in the background also. It’s such a pleasant mix of sweet, citrus, and tart cranberry.

Very attractive and delicious smelling. The sugarcane and cocoa bean almost present themselves as vanilla in this mix, that’s just the way it smells.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Now, here’s the issue with Revlon’s Love is On, it doesn’t last. It’s a light fragrance from the start. It was even light when I liberally applied the sample to both my skin and on an old t-shirt.

So, even though the sillage is very light, it could’ve still lasted a long time at least? It doesn’t. A couple of hours at the most, even when pouring it on the skin. Shame.

Seasonally, this could’ve worked in a lot of situations if it had better performance. It has the citrus notes which work in warm weather and the more creamy/sugary notes that can be nice in winter.

It has such a nice smell that could have of course been used for romantic wear, as the name suggests, but also casually or just to freshen up.

Overall Impressions of Love is On

Overall, though, this one just never realizes its potential. I like the notes and how they’re arranged within the composition a lot. The play between the lemon and cranberry at the top, is quite good, and then the cocoa bean in the dry down, makes for a sweet scent.

It just doesn’t perform well at all. On my skin, it’s weak and reading reviews of this scent, I’m not the only one who experienced this.

I mean, as of writing it is only $12.50 on Amazon, so if you want to try it out…it won’t break the bank. However, I can’t really recommend this Revlon perfume.