Cologne Reviews

Stronger With You Freeze by Emporio Armani

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Stronger With You is a very popular series from Emporio Armani, that has taken things in some interesting directions, while still retaining that core fragrance DNA. 2020’s Freeze version is one of the more unique editions from the line, but is it actually any good?

How long does it last? I’ve been testing it out and this page is dedicated to my thoughts on Stronger With You Freeze.

Stronger With You Freeze Overview

Notes include: ginger, apple, vanilla, lime, sage, lavender, cardamom, amberwood

Click here to try: Freeze

My Full Review

Here’s how Armani describes it: Stronger With You Freeze, the seductive, crisp and fresh fragrance for men by Emporio Armani, captures the seductive energy of the man who lives in the present with distinct and elegant freshness. Urban, dynamic and contemporary.

So, opening up you immediately get hit with the strength of that frozen lime note. I almost always love a cold citrus start and this is no exception. Lime is the major citrus player here, with a bit of orange playing the background.

The other noticeable fruit note is apple. Actually the opening of Freeze has more than a passing resemblance to Y EDP. The weighting of the notes is different, but the overlap includes: apple, sage, citrus, ginger, geranium, and the amberwood.

The apple isn’t as strong in here, but it is more powerful than the orange note. Ginger and sage are pretty heavy hitters that will sit up top, as the lime note begins to weaken somewhat. But, it does stick around.

So, early on we have a cold citrus and apple fragrance with fresh sage and ginger (geranium, too for a bit).

As it shifts, the lavender note really comes out. The sage, apple, and much of the citrus punch will fade a whole lot. Ginger, lavender with the amberwood note coming from the base. In comparison to Y EDP, this has much less of the blue-ish amberwood influence.

Also, making an appearance is cardamom. Very greenish, with some light spice. It’s noticeable once the sage has moved on. The lavender, cardamom, and ginger note are leaders for a time. The background is vanilla, amberwood, and the remaining lime.

Then, the vanilla and some of the glazed chestnut aroma from the original Stronger With You comes to the forefront.

It becomes more like the original, as it dries down. Lighter, still some lime and the ginger…but vanilla, woody, and nutty.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

So, the Stronger With You fragrances all have great sillage and projection off of the skin. Not the elite of the elite, but for popular designer colognes, they do an awesome job.

Does Freeze stack up? Not to the same degree, it isn’t a heavy beast of a scent. But, it is above average and will create a nice scent bubble for much of the duration and a trail for an hour or two.

Really, this one holds up with its strength fairly well.

The longevity here is pretty good for this style, but definitely below the others in the series, since this is a lighter formulation. I get somewhere in the 7-8.5 hour range of wear, when I spray this on skin.

Very much a scent that isn’t just going to quit on you, shortly after applying.

Seasonally, Freeze allows you to wear the formulation for the spring and summer months. Sure, go with your other favorite SWY scents when it gets cold, but this is a nice options for the warmer weather.

But, it really wouldn’t be bad if it’s not super chilly out there. Temperate to warm is when Freeze is at its best.

This is sort of a casual to maybe semi-formal fragrance. Not too serious, but likeable and still has that mass appeal of the others. This can easily been worn in the day and venture into the nightlife as well.

Not offensive and has an energetic vibe. Freeze is a cologne that you can get a lot of use out of, if you like the smell.

Overall Impressions of Freeze

Overall, do I like Stronger With You Freeze? I do, but it’s probably my least favorite of the series. Which many of them score about the same to me, this one is just lower than the rest.

The other SWY Scents like Intensely, Absolutely, Leather, Oud, and the EDT are much more enjoyable to me overall.

I thought during the opening phase, that this would surpass the original EDT, at least. But, as it wore on, I started to like this one less. Never hated it, just that opening is my favorite part of Freeze.

Lime, ginger, sage, and that bit of apple are really nice. Again, it gives off a similar albeit different aroma than Y EDP from YSL. I like it and it’s got a cold and refreshing aroma that’s quite wonderful.

As it dries down, the lavender and amberwood come in more, and I start to enjoy Freeze less. It’s still fine, just not amazing.

The performance here delivers most of what you’d want with a fragrance. So, if you like Freeze, it gives you a good deal. This Stronger With You is definitely worth a try, but may not be for everyone to buy.

Update: This one has been discontinued, since this initial review. I wouldn’t overpay to get ahold of a bottle, but if you want to try Freeze, you shouldn’t wait around long.

Bad Boy Cobalt by Carolina Herrera

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Bad Boy is a series that Carolina Herrera seems to be staying with, though without the million flankers its Bad Girl line seems to get. Nonetheless, we do have another flanker scent on the men’s line this year (2022), Bad Boy Cobalt EDP Electrique.

How does this one smell? How long does it last? Is Bad Boy Cobalt actually worth a try?

Bad Boy Cobalt Overview

Notes include: pink pepper, geranium, lavender, black plum, truffle accord, vetiver

Click here to try: Bad Boy Cobalt

bad cobalt review

My Full Review

Here’s how Carolina Herrera describes it: Bad Boy Cobalt Eau de Parfum Électrique puts a bold new spin on the duality of modern masculinity – the concept that defines every Bad Boy fragrance. A fusion of mineral sexiness and wild freshness, this energizing and complex fragrance shows us Bad Boy at his most elegant, inspired to be himself and confident that anything is possible alongside his trusted friends.

I’m not a huge fan of either Bad Boy or Le Parfum. They’re both fine, but never blew me away. So, I really had no expectations of Cobalt. However, I saw plum and truffle listed as notes, which did intrigue me.

Cobalt starts off with a fresh spicy punch, that is boosted by the tart sweetness of the plum note. Pink pepper and geranium, really start this one off with a bang. Can kind of be too much, but this Bad Boy flanker will settle.

Geranium has an edge on my skin, early. But, that flips with the pink pepper and it will begin to diminish. Nice cool freshness.

The next phase sees the plum note really come into its own. It’s less tart in this stage, sweeter, and I do get the comparisons with 1 Million Lucky. These aren’t the same however, the plum is much more tolerable in Cobalt, also.

For me, the truffle here is much earthy and dirty versus having a sweeter or chocolate-like finish to it. I like it, gives the aroma a more naturalistic feel than it otherwise would.

This and the vetiver really help to temper the blend and keep it from going completely in that 1 Million Lucky direction.

At some point, about an hour in, the lavender takes over as the lead note for the plum. This is about what I get for the rest of the wear.

It’s an sweet, woody, earthy lavender led mix. The plum doesn’t stay too powerful, but it is there.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Sillage wise, Cobalt is pretty moderate. On me, it’s never entirely weak, either. I get a nice trail and scent bubble out of this one.

The projection is decent, but this one doesn’t seem as strong as the other Bad Boy colognes. Testing it a few more times after this initial review, and yeah, it’s pretty mid-tier with its performance.

I get about 6-7 hours of wear. With, Le Parfum, that number hit the 8-9 hour mark. Again, a slight step back from the others, but still pretty solid.

Seasonally, this is a versatile fragrance. Outside of the extremes of hot and cold, Cobalt would work just fine. Not going to melt when it is warm and can stand out on chilly outings.

It’s more of a casual, daily wear, nightlife, semi-formal fragrance for men. Not a super formal fragrance, but it can fit in for most other uses.

It’s attractive and mass pleasing. Leans more towards being for younger guys, but not totally limited to that demographic by any means. Date night? Yes. Maybe not the sexiest cologne out there, but it’ll do the job in most instances.

Overall Impressions of Cobalt

Overall, do I like Bad Boy Cobalt? It certainly has aspects of it that I enjoy. On the whole, it’s something that I like around the same extent as the others in the series. Fine, but not a cologne that I’m personally going to buy.

The plum and truffle combination is nice. Cobalt has its time as a sweeter type of fragrance, while also going pretty hard with the lavender and earthiness, later on in the wear.

With my nose pressed up against the skin, Cobalt does seem all that great. However, when it hits the air, I do find myself liking it much more. It seems to have periods of being very good, then maybe above average with how it smells.

The performance is run of the mill for a scent of this type. You do get a pretty unique aroma, it doesn’t smell exactly quite like anything, but just don’t expect Cobalt to be completely beast mode.

This should be a good option for younger guys and fans of the other Bad Boy colognes. I’m not sure that I prefer this to either of the two, but it’d probably fluctuate between that first and third spot depending on the day.

In the end, Bad Boy Cobalt is worth trying out to see if you like it. Not a bad fragrance and one that certainly already has its fanbase.

The Bad Boy line really isn’t that great, despite its popularity. They keep churning out new flankers, so, maybe one that I haven’t tried is elite.

All of the fragrances that I have tried are wearable, but none of them seem to deliver anything all that special. Cobalt certainly doesn’t despite having flashes of attractiveness.

Allure Homme Sport Cologne by Chanel

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Chanel has a long list of flankers in the Allure series. The Allure Homme Sport series even has multiple versions of its own. One, that I have yet to review on the site is the Cologne version, which was released in 2007.

So, I recently grabbed some samples to go ahead and give it the full review. How does it smell? Is Allure Sport Cologne worth a try?

Allure Homme Sport Cologne Overview

Notes include: elemi, cedar, lovage, lemon, grapefruit, vetiver, neroli, and more

Click here to try: Allure Homme Sport Cologne from Chanel

allure sport review

My Full Review

Before we get into my review, let’s see how Chanel describes it: Allure in motion. More than a fragrance, ALLURE HOMME SPORT Cologne is a boost of well-being for the active man — a fresh, invigorating composition like a breath of energy. A generous citrus freshness is subtly heightened by spicy Lovage and Elemi notes and set against a backdrop of Cedar and White Musk.

This one often gets compared to Dior Homme Cologne. That’s a pretty accurate assessment of this version of Allure. I currently have both of these fragrances and that opening act is close to being the same.

The main differences are going to be that Dior Cologne has much more of a cold lemonade sort of aroma. Whereas, Chanel’s Cologne, is a bit warmer.

Secondly, this one has more of a neroli and lovage influence, with a tad less juiciness from the citrus top notes.

Thirdly, the usual Chanel aldehydes are in play, and you do get a resinous spice lingering in the background.

Allure Homme Sport Cologne opens with these juicy citrus notes, neroli, and lovage. Lovage apparently has a floral and slight greenish/celery sort of aroma. Which, when I press my nose to the skin, I can pick up on.

The background does have a bit of a resinous quality from both the lovage and elemi notes. It’s nothing too noticeable, and I’d guess, that most people wouldn’t even gather that unless the were super focused.

So, yeah, like 85-90% the same in the opening as the Dior.

The dry down does begin to separate these two somewhat. Cologne becomes a woodsier and more floral scent, than just the citrus top would suggest.

Cedar starts to play a greater role in the composition. I also get the same vetiver that’s found in Allure Homme Blanche, which also has some similarities to this.

That’s basically it, until the end. Neroli, cedar, vetiver, and the remnants of the other notes.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

The sillage on this one starts out pretty well. In the first fifteen to thirty minutes it will leave a decent scent trail and projects itself well off of the skin. You’ll notice it without question.

But, that is a rather short-lived experience. After an hour or so, this is pretty much a skin scent. Even when I spray the heck out of it, Allure Sport Cologne isn’t going to really go beast mode or stay around strong for too long.

The longevity here is also pretty meh. I get 3-4 hours, which is a shorter duration than Dior Cologne, which isn’t great if that’s your closest comp. Especially, once you start comparing pricing, Dior is usually available from online sellers for more of a discount.

The performance with this one really holds it back. That being said, it does have a spring and summer use case and isn’t super versatile, so spraying a lot won’t really matter. It’d probably still take a while to work through a bottle.

Seasonally, this one is spring and summer. This is of course a more casual or sporty wear for those months. One to wear during the daytime. Not a formal fragrance, but one could get a decent use case out of Cologne, when it gets warm enough.

Overall Impressions of Allure Homme Sport Cologne

Overall, do I like Cologne? I do enjoy the scent itself. Not my favorite thing ever, but I do like a good summer citrus, and this is a fine example.

But, I also don’t like it quite as much as Dior Cologne. With that one, I like the simple lemon and grapefruit blossom aroma, it’s colder and slightly more refreshing to me.

With the Chanel, I also get a pretty weak 3-4 hours of wear. I don’t really expect that much from this type of sporty summer fragrance, but I do want more than that at Chanel prices.

Also, I don’t know that I prefer it to any of the other Allure scents. It’s in the same ballpark, but I’d prefer wearing the others, even Blanche which occupies the same niche. It’s sort of the odd fragrance out from this line.

I know it’s the easy to wear summer version, but Blanche is better than this, and Dior Cologne is cheaper at the very least (and again better, in my opinion).

So, I smell alone, I can recommend this one. On all of the other intangibles? Probably not for most people. Just understand what sort of scent you’re buying with Allure Sport Cologne and don’t expect it to be your main wear for much of the year.

Hero EDP by Burberry

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Hero is the newer series of fragrances from Burberry, who finally seem to be moving on from the Mr. Burberry line. Hero Eau de Parfum is the 2022 release, which continues with Adam Driver as the face of the campaign.

I recently picked up a sample of this fragrance to test it out for the site. How does it smell? Does it last long? Is Hero EDP worth a try?

Burberry Hero EDP Overview

Notes include: pine needles, cedar, incense, benzoin, amber, olibanum

Click here to try: Burberry Hero EDP from Macy’s

My Full Review

Here’s how Burberry describes it: Burberry Hero Eau de Parfum explores an enticing new side of heroism: the courage to embrace who you truly are. It presents a man on a journey to self-discovery. An explorative spirit with a centred sensibility. His energy exudes tender soulfulness, expressed by the presence of the horse, a powerful creature that represents our hero’s strength.

The opening of Hero EDP is fresh, a bit smoky, and surprisingly has a sweetness to it. It stems from the olibanum, which can give off a level of fruitiness to the aroma.

It’s not clearly fruity, but the opening reminds me of being related to both 1 Million and Ultra Male. Different from each, but I get a similar vibe, as it is a sweet/spicy start.

The benzoin gives Hero EDP a fuzzy kind of resinous aroma, but the cologne will transition into being more of a straightforward amber, as the benzoin and olibanum fade. Particularly, the latter, and with it that fruity-like scent. The benzoin does stick around, just not as pronounced.

Ultimately, this is a woody amber fragrance. Pine needless are the dominant woody note, during the opening and into the heart. But, there is heavy cedar that will take control for the rest of the wear.

It will finish as a blend of different cedar types, amber, with some remaining smokiness and touch of spice. It’s dark, warm, outdoorsy, but not all that complicated.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

The sillage here, starts off towards the upper end of what could be consider moderate, but relatively quickly becomes a lighter scent. You’ll get maybe an hour or so of solid, scent trail generating projection, but it’ll come in much closer to the skin.

The longevity here, is probably its greatest positive. This one goes for at least 8 hours on my skin and can get up to around 9.5.

Is that insane longevity? No, but still great for a mainstream designer release. The Hero line has done a great job with creating long-lasting scents.

Seasonally, it’s an autumn and winter release. It can be somewhat cloying and would probably turn pretty bad in the high heat and humidity. But, in the cold air, Hero EDP is likeable.

Hero EDP skews towards being more of a nightlife or casual type of scent. It might be a good option for younger guys in their 20s. Not a formal or super serious cologne. Very much a modern mainstream release, with a bumped up dose of wood.

It’s attractive and not grating, some might consider this to have a sexy quality. Like Hero EDT, this edition is a crowd pleaser and easy to wear.

Overall Impressions of Hero EDP

Overall, do I like this scent? It’s okay. It has a somewhat different style from many other scents on the market, which I appreciate. But, it’s still nothing special.

I do prefer the EDT release to this, even if I’ve only encountered that once thus far. It was just better and they’re actually different from one another.

Update: EDT and Parfum are both more enjoyable than this, in my opinion. EDT if you want more of a crowd pleaser. I’ve worn that some more and confirmed that I do like it more than this one. Parfum, if you want something earthy with a big dose of cedar. More unique.

This one doesn’t jump out to me all that much. I like the dry down, with the cedar woods and the amber. It’s not as sweet, at that point, but I kind of prefer that with the particular formula. Yet, there’s nothing here that makes me want to run out and buy a bottle.

The performance is quite good. Not overpowering with the strength or the scent trail that it leaves behind you, but the time you get to spend with it does lend this Burberry fragrance further value, than it otherwise might.

Personally, I have no intentions of getting a full size bottle. It might be worth waiting for, once it hits the discounters, instead of paying retail price. All in all, this is an above average release, just never hits the level of greatness.

L’homme Ideal Extreme by Guerlain

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L’Homme Ideal is a wildly popular line from Guerlain. Ideal Extreme is a scent that has really gotten talked about as one of the greats of recent history and as being a must have for anyone’s collection. It was released back in 2020.

For me, the Ideal line has been one that I enjoy, but it’s not something I absolutely have to keep around. Does Ideal Extreme change that? How does it smell? Does it last long? Is it worth a buy?

Guerlain L’Homme Ideal Extreme Overview

Notes include: plum, almond, tobacco, heliotrope, leather, cinnamon, bergamot, pink pepper, patchouli, cedar

Click here to try: Ideal Extreme

My Full Wear Review

Here’s how Guerlain describes it: L’eau de parfum extrême? A woody ambery fragrance that will allow you to remain a man who is talented to the extreme, for everything. For this all-new interpretation of L’Homme Idéal, Thierry Wasser, Guerlain’s Perfumer, chose to explore new facets of almond, L’Homme Idéal’s original olfactory signature. At the heart of the composition lies powerful ambery and woody notes which are bolstered by daring hints of spice and warm, charismatic notes of tobacco.

Outside of Ideal L’Intense, I actually get a lot of the leather note with Extreme versus others in the series. Even, early on in the wear.

But, Extreme doesn’t start off things as a pure leather, by any means. Pink pepper spice, sweet plum with a touch of citrus, a cinnamon kick, and the almond note that comes standard in the Ideal lineup.

The spice sort of just sits in the background once you past about five minutes, it’s not a massive factor on my skin, at least.

The plum isn’t particularly juicy, it’s tartness is subdued by the surrounding ingredients making it sweeter as you move along. Yet, early on that tart quality definitely has a bit of an upper hand when compared to the sweetness.

Ideal Extreme comes across as having a dried fruitiness versus something juicy. So, at this stage this Guerlain cologne is a nutty leather livened up by cinnamon/pepper/plum.

The next phase is when the tobacco note, comes into play. The spice and plum will recede, giving lots of ground up to the tobacco, leather, and almond notes. Those notes do hang around, but they’re not front and center.

Heliotrope is the floral note in this one. Not massive, gets somewhat obscured by that almond note, but you do get some sweetness/powdery touches out of that note. There’s also some patchouli, just not much at all for me.

Basically, the end is a general sweetness of plum, the tobacco becomes stronger than the leather, and then the almond note at a much diminished state.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

With a name like Extreme, you might expect a complete sillage beast. It’s not. Certainly above average, has a strong opening, but pretty moderate on the whole. It’s about what I get with the Eau de Parfum version.

I’ve seen some people say that Extreme lasts all day on skin. For me, I get in the 8-9 hour range. That’s still really good and meets the standard of what most folks will need on a regular basis. Yet, it’s not entirely elite, in that sense.

The last few hours, it’s a skin scent. Still, no issues with performance to worry about.

Seasonally, this is autumn and winter all the way. I really wouldn’t want to wear this in the heat, it’s decent in moderate temperatures, but lovely when it is actually cold outside.

Ideal Extreme gives you plenty of versatility within that time frame, however. You can wear it to the office in the daytime and to the bar at night. It’s got enough class to be professional, but it isn’t stuffy or boring.

Plus, it’s pretty mass appealing. The sweetness, tobacco, leather, and almond are all accords that most people are going to enjoy smelling.

Overall Impressions of Ideal Extreme

Overall, do I like Ideal Extreme? Yes, I think it’s a very very good fragrance. It’s not my personal favorite, but there’s nothing that below average here. I still think that I like Ideal EDP a tiny bit more.

Also, I personally was into the old Ideal Cologne, but that’s disappeared. Along with its, Platine Prive replacement.

The opening with the fruitiness, the cinnamon and pink pepper spice is really great. It doesn’t let me down, further on in the wear, staying pleasant throughout. With Ideal L’Intense, that dry down doesn’t match my enthusiasm for the start. So, I’m glad that this one holds up.

The almond, leather, and tobacco trio are easy to enjoy. Nothing too harsh here, you get a nice performance, and it’s a scent that will draw complements.

If you’re in the US, you will have to track this one down. Either off of eBay or at a place like Selfridges in the UK, which I’ve linked to.

Update: They’ve made this much more widely available since the initial review years ago. In fact, the whole Ideal line is easier to find in the US nowadays.

But, even with some international shipping costs, the price is still low enough to make it worth getting a hold of, if it sounds interesting.