During the last decade, Dolce & Gabbana launched their Anthology collection of scents, which were a series of short-run special fragrances. I recently procured a few more samples of these fragrances, as I did with 21 Le Fou, which I reviewed here. For this post, I am going to share my experience with wearing La Force 11 and see how it stacks up against other fragrances.
Notes include: vanilla, cinnamon, sandalwood, pimento, cypress, heliotrope
Upon the first sprays of this cologne, I was struck by its light and almost candy-like sweetness. To me, the interplay between the vanilla and cinnamon notes, brings back memories of Bubble Yum chewing gum. Only, La Force 11, has that extra layer of spice provided by the cinnamon. This fragrance is soft and pleasant in its presentation, a sort of powdery air about it, which makes me think that it is like a Joop!…if Joop! were toned way down and stripped of some of its component parts.
The sweetness later fades a bit and it becomes much more of a spicy and powdery fragrance. Honestly, I like the scent but it all seems pretty basic and lacks any real distinction. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however, if dropping money on a designer fragrance, I want something with a little more nuance and which stands out from the pack.
The projection on La Force is fairly weak as well. With more sprays, you might rate it as moderate but that’s as far as I’d say it goes. It is also lacking in terms of longevity. 2-4 hours depending on the day and the weather is all I could get out of it. I think that this is a fine smelling fragrance but nothing that outstanding. It seems to be missing something that would allow it to be a distinct cologne. La Force 11 is both sweet and spicy to a point and could be classified as oriental but there are much better options in that sort of fragrance anyways, such as, Opium Pour Homme. I cannot really recommend this cologne, as I don’t really see the point of owning a bottle. It doesn’t last, it’s projection is poor, and though pleasant it is ultimately bland.
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.
