Fragrances

Mont Blanc Legend vs. Emblem

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For this head to head match up, I want to take a look at two different offerings from the Mont Blanc lineup. First, is the ever popular Legend versus it challenger, Emblem. Which of these colognes smells the best? Which has better performance? Which is the better buy overall for most men? I will break down each in a variety of categories before declaring an ultimate winner.

Tale of the Tape

Mont Blanc Legend

Notes include: Bergamot, Pineapple Leaf, Sandalwood, Apple, rose, oak moss, lemon verbena, geranium, lavender,  And Tonka Bean

Click here to try: MONTBLANC Legend Eau de Toilette 3.3 fl.oz.

Read my review: Mont Blanc Legend

Emblem

Notes include: cinnamon, violet, tonka bean, sage, cardamom, grapefruit, wood, pepper, ambroxan

Click here to try: MONTBLANC Emblem Eau de Toilette Spray, 3.3 fl. oz.

Read my review: Mont Blanc Emblem

Opening

Emblem opens up with a grapefruit note that is joined by spicier notes of pepper and cardamom. There is also a violet lead note, and it is interesting, how Emblem has a cool spice considering these notes.

A few minutes in, the cinnamon brings some warmth to it, and it eventually moves away from the citrus top and into something that is more herbal.

Legend has a fruity opening of apple, bergamot, and pineapple. It has a very citrus beginning, but it features a dry scent, with creamy tonka bean and lavender coming through. Along with, the underlying woodsy notes.

The pineapple and apple notes are a nice contrast versus the inherent woodsy style of the fragrance, sitting underneath.

Which is better? I don’t love either of these, but I think that I prefer how Legend opens up. It’s fresh and clean. Emblem is nice, has an interesting composition, but the cardamom and cinnamon just isn’t as good.

Edge: Legend

Projection

Legend is a fairly moderate sillage, but never ventures into beast territory. Emblem is light to moderate. It starts out about the same level as Legend, but moves much more into a lighter and airy cologne.

I would’ve thought something with cinnamon and cardamom, would’ve brought the power…but apparently not.

Legend isn’t even a heavy fragrance, but it pretty much blows Emblem right off the map, in comparison.

Edge: Legend

Longevity

I have gotten about 5-6 hours of wear, out of both of these scent. Neither one, really has an amazing staying power, and are fairly average.

That seems to be an issue with a lot of the Mont Blanc lineup. Some like Legend Night, can go longer. Between these two, no discernable difference.

Maybe older formulations of Legend had better longevity, but this is what I have consistently gotten with the latest batches over the past few years.

Edge: Push

Versatility

Legend is the type of scent that you can wear year round and for seemingly any occasion. It is a simple and no-brainer kind of cologne. Emblem is more suited for the colder weather and is a business casual to formal sort of smell. Legend is the more versatile.

Legend has served as a single go to cologne for many guys, over the years. It’s versatility is among its absolutely greatest strengths.

Edge: Legend

Overall Scent

Mont Blanc Emblem actually has a pretty interesting wear. It starts off spicy, then moves into something that is creamier, and sweeter than it had started. It’s a low key scent that smells quite pleasant, but doesn’t have much power or longevity.

Between the two, I think that the original Legend is better than Emblem. It is a blend of citrus, lavender, and sandalwood for the most part. However, it is a very nice smelling fragrance, that is a solid starter cologne for guys.

Emblem is a decent wear, but feels like it could’ve been much better than it ended up being. It might not be a bad buy, if you can get a big discount.

It’s one that you can just spray on, anytime, without having to think about it. It’s also got more versatility, sillage, and about equal performance to Emblem.

I’m not a that enthralled with either of these scents, but this is a fairly easy win for the popular Mont Blanc scent. If you want other options that smell like Legend, I wrote a post on that.

Winner: Legend

Polo Ultra Blue by Ralph Lauren

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So, I’m back again with another review of one of the newer Ralph Lauren releases, this one a flanker from the Polo Blue line of scents: Ultra Blue. This one came out in 2018, but how does it stack up? Is this flanker a worthy release? What does it smell like? How long does it last?

What does Polo Ultra Blue Smell Like?

Notes include: lemon, salt, amber, bergamot, basil, verbena, sage, juniper

Click here to try: Ralph Lauren Polo Ultra Blue 2.5 Fluid ounce Eau De Toilette

My Full Wear Review

Ultra Blue opens up with a mix of citrus and salt. There are two types of lemon in this one and a salty note that reminds one of an ocean breeze. Yes, this one is an aquatic, but not overly marine in nature, but quite fresh.

It’s actually pretty close to Polo Blue EDP, while maintaining its own character. This is lighter, less spicy, and more citrus/salty.

The melon and cucumber of the original EDT are absent here, which is a nice change of pace if you’re coming off of wearing that one a lot. The opening act of the citrus is really nice. Pretty familiar with other non-Polo fragrances, which do the same thing.

However, for what this is, I find it enjoyable enough. The light marine/aquatic elements are a nice tough, without going overboard into the realm of the oceanic.

Ultra Blue is much lighter than either of the other three Polo Blue colognes. It also strikes me as having a pretty simple and linear aroma. There is some change after the opening, but it’s not a big one, in my opinion.

I pick up on some spicy herbal notes like the sage and basil, which tones down the saltiness of the composition. Even then, nothing that is so powerful to be readily noticeable, unless you’re paying attention.

For the dry down, I get lots of citrus, a mix of salt and amber (sort of like a Creed fragrance would, but more on par with Tommy Bahama), and then the herbal undertones. It’s a nice citrusy clean with limited aquatic elements and a nice spice.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Projection wise, the sillage of Ultra Blue is weak. I mean, it’s decent for about an hour or so, and then it sticks close to the skin…really close. You’ll have to go heavier with the sprays, to get good use out of it.

While I’m not in love with the scent itself, if it had a bit more power, Ultra Blue would be something that I really wouldn’t mind wearing fairly often during the summer months.

However, the longevity actually isn’t bad. Not great, but not as bad as the sillage. I get about 6 or so hours with it on my skin, in that very light state. With double sprays, you might be able to pull off longer.

I thought that it might quit really early, after I tested it out for the first time. But, it did keep chugging along in that airy/skin scent form.

Seasonally, an obvious candidate for spring/summer, with a nod to summertime in particular. The citrus, the salty ‘sea air’ quality at the start, just screams warm weather. Though, it’s so light, that it could be worn at other times without issue.

Ultra Blue is a casual fragrance or a light office scent for the daytime. I don’t think that it is loud enough or really ‘sexy’ enough to be a club cologne.

Overall Impressions of Ultra Blue

Overall, do I like Ultra Blue? I do enjoy the smell, it’s not amazing, but the aroma is good. It is similar to Polo Blue EDP, but has enough differences to set it apart.

What I don’t like, is the very weak sillage, but that can be somewhat overcome with a greater number of sprays. It turns into a skin scent much to quickly. Though, it hangs around for a decent amount of time.

It’s a nice freshy cologne for the summer months and wouldn’t be a bad buy, at the right price. I definitely wouldn’t pay retail for Ultra, if I could help it. But, for under $40 for a full size…it could be worth it, depending on your situation.

A decent effort from Ralph Lauren, but far from perfect. Edit: Now that they’ve released Polo Deep Blue, I’d go with that or EDP. Ultra Blue seems pretty pointless to have, unless its super cheap

Allure Homme Sport by Chanel

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Chanel’s men’s lineup of fragrances has a lot of great selections. One of the main titles, other than the popular Bleu line, is Allure. Particularly, the Allure Homme Sport releases. The first of which was released back in 2004.

I grabbed samples of this one last year to give an updated review of how things currently stand with Allure Homme Sport. How does it smell? Does it have good performance? Is it worth a buy?

What does Allure Homme Sport Smell Like?

Notes include: mandarin, musk, tonka bean, cedar, sea notes, aldehydes, vanilla, pepper

Click here to try: Chanel Allure Homme Sport Eau de Toilette Spray for Men, 5 oz

My Full Review

Allure Homme Sport starts off with a very nice and rather unique blend of freshness and sweetness. At one end, you have the citrus of the mandarin orange and infused sea notes. On the other end, is the vanilla and tonka bean providing a sweet creaminess.

The mandarin is really great here. Not super heavy, but it gives you that nice juiciness out of the gate.

All of that is tied together by the inclusion of aldehydes which gives Allure Sport a cold air quality to it. That really helps to give Sport that distinct Chanel style. However, the vanilla and tonka bean will play a larger role later on. At first, it’s more of a supporting role and other notes play their part.

That freshness is enhanced by the cedar and pepper note. The pepper is pretty noticeable early on, but it is probably the first note that fades away in the composition.

As it moves along, the marine notes will recede also. Vanilla, cedar, musk, tonka bean, and some mandarin/neroli will pretty much jockey for control throughout the rest of the way. Musk becomes stronger as the aldehydes weaken.

The floral neroli note will take over for the juicier mandarin citrus aroma, that is found at the top. Allure Homme Sport takes on a creamier/muskier finish towards the end. The vanilla and tonka bean really stand out on my skin.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Sillage wise, it is a pretty light to moderate fragrance throughout the wear. You do get a nice initial ability to project itself fairly far. However, that will change into a more personal scent bubble, and ultimately sitting close to the skin.

Not terrible, but not exactly a powerhouse.

With this batch from 2020, I get about 5-6 hours of wear from Allure Homme Sport. With older bottles, it was probably closer to 7-8, at least for me. Never was one that would be going on and on, but it used to bring more to the table.

Update: Here years later, I’ve tried this one once again, and I’m still getting the same five or six hours of wear. So, it hasn’t completely fallen off of a cliff since 2020.

Seasonally, I’ve worn this one year round without much issue. Though, it’s best in moderate to warmer temperatures. It can come across as a bit too fresh in the depths of winter. But, I like it in autumn and late spring.

A great feature of Allure Homme Sport is just how versatile it really is. It isn’t just a ‘sporty’ cologne. In fact, it might not even conjure up that kind of imagery for people. It can be worn as a daily wear, in semi-formal scenarios, just around town, and even venture into the nightlife if necessary.

Now, I’d probably wear something else as a nighttime cologne, but this one is up for the job.

It can also be worn by men of all ages. It’s well put together, but not stuffy. Dynamic, but not too youthful. Great balance.

Overall Impressions of Allure Homme Sport

Overall, do I like Allure Homme Sport? Yes, I really love the way that this Chanel smells still. The play between the citrus, aldehydes, vanilla, and marine notes is fantastic. It’s a bit simpler than Eau Extreme, but it works and the dry down is awesome.

From a smell and versatility perspective, Allure Sport can have a place in almost any man’s rotation. The problem comes with the merely okay performance nowadays. It isn’t entirely worthless, but Eau Extreme exists, and gives you a bit more power and longevity.

As such, I’d go with that version if I wanted to buy from the Allure line. Update: Coming back to both of them, I did go with Eau Extreme, when I bought a full bottle. I came close to going with Allure Sport, but the performance just doesn’t do it for me. Still a very likeable fragrance with some really great moments.

This is still nice and sometimes I actually prefer the smell to Allure Sport of its flanker.

Allure Homme Sport is a classic. It’s a solid buy, but not a necessary one, when you can get Extreme instead.

L’Homme Le Parfum by YSL

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L’Homme has become a long running and popular series of men’s fragrances for Yves Saint Laurent. In 2020, they released a Le Parfum version of this scent, and I’ve been recently testing it out to give it a full review on here. What does it smell like? Does it have good performance? Is L’Homme Le Parfum worth a buy?

What does L’Homme Le Parfum Smell Like?

Notes include: lemon, cardamom, cedar, vetiver, amberwood, basil, violet leaf

Click here to try: L’homme Le Parfum by Yves Saint Laurent Eau De Parfum Spray 2 oz Men

My Full Review

The opening of L’Homme Le Parfum really matches the color of the juice. This is a very modern blue-ish fragrance. You can tell the original L’Homme’s DNA is here. But, it is infused with elements of other YSL colognes.

L’Homme Ultime and Libre, come to mind. Those aren’t made anymore, but when it is all blended together, the opening gives off strong Y EDP vibes also. So, it becomes the original L’Homme blended with Y EDP.

The opening act features a strong blend of citrus and the basil. That basil note is what L’Homme Libre was built around and along with the violet leaf brings me flashes of that scent, within Le Parfum.

The basil, lemony spicy cardamom, and actual lemon are all sitting on top of the fresh and dry cedar wood and that synthetic amberwood aroma. The amberwood really steers the blue-ish feeling of this fragrance, like other modern colognes which pair that with citrus.

Unlike Libre, Le Parfum’s basil freshness is tampered down by the sweet spiciness of the cardamom note. Which gives it those L’Homme Ultime vibes, with the geranium. Strip out the sage and apple of Y EDP and Le Parfum is a good approximation, in its early stages.

This fragrance starts out leaning more towards the fresh end of the spectrum, with a solid amount of sweetness. However, in the dry down that flips and Le Parfum becomes sweeter than the other releases that I’ve mentioned.

It’s a woody sweetness with that fresh and hefty dose of geranium in the middle. It ends up being smoother and sweeter in the end, versus the somewhat sharp and synthetic opening act.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

I really appreciate the performance of Le Parfum. I have a recent bottle of L’homme and the sillage and longevity are terrible. With Le Parfum, YSL changes course and delivers something much more substantial.

Early on the sillage is strong. Not a bomb, but one that could easily be over-sprayed. That phase will last 30 minutes or so. After that, Le Parfum fall much more in the moderate camp with its projection. It’s a good deal.

The performance here is also solid. It isn’t elite in regards to how long it lasts, either. But, I’ve been getting around 8 hours of wear on my skin.

So, it will deliver what you will need for most purposes and circumstances. Better than almost any other release in this series (it might actually be, but I can’t think of any which exceed it, off of the top of my head).

Seasonally, I’d wear this in the moderate to warmer temperatures of early autumn, the whole of spring, and much of the summer months. It’s a bit too sharp for the cold and probably wouldn’t hold up all that well in the extreme heat and humidity.

Plenty of use, though.

I don’t consider this to be a formal wear. It’s office safe, if you don’t overdo it. However, I’d prefer to wear this out on the town or casually day to day. Think more of evenings in the spring and summer months.

Can easily be worn be any age group. It might be too sweet for some guys, however. That blue-ish ambroxan mix can be a turn off for some and you get plenty of it with Le Parfum.

Overall Impressions of L’Homme Le Parfum

I like it. It has enough of the DNA of the original and blends it with other releases. Not my favorite by any means, but it can do a nice job of replacing L’Homme, which now has atrocious performance.

I like the basil touches, cardamom, and the cedar freshness. Very easy to wear and versatile. A true ‘blue’ cologne with plenty of ambroxan in the base. It is very much an amalgam of other fragrances from this brand, so if you’ve tried any of the one’s that I’ve mentioned, you basically know what this one is like.

I enjoyed wearing it during testing, but it still wasn’t something that I’d personally want a full bottle of. L’Homme Le Parfum does everything well enough and be a solid addition to someone’s rotation.

L’Homme EDT by YSL

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I am a longtime fan of YSL fragrances. In fact, two of the first three bottles of cologne that I ever bought were Opium and Kouros Body.  Needless to say, there is something about this design house’s scents that really speak to me.

Today, my review is going to focus on another entry from Yves Saint Laurent, L’Homme. Introduced in 2006, this has been a fairly big hit in terms of its popularity. Is it worth buying? Read on to find out.

What does L’Homme by YSL Smell Like?

l'homme

Notes include: Virginia Cedar, Ginger, Violet, Citron, White Pepper, Basil Flower, Ozone, Tonka Bean, Sandalwood, Vetiver

Click here to try: L’homme By Yves Saint Laurent Eau De Toilette Spray For Men 3.3 oz

My Take on L’Homme by YSL

The first batch of L’Homme that I reviewed years ago had really poor longevity. I loved the smell, but I couldn’t get it to last on my skin, it was a similar situation with The One by D&G.

Having essentially forgotten about that experience, I picked up a small sprayer of this cologne to test it out, and see if things would be different this time. Thankfully, it was a much better batch of fragrance this time or my skin is finally adept at taking this.

Note: This has been a continuing review since around 2014, documenting changes as I come back to newer bottles of L’Homme.

YSL L’Homme is super clean and has a soft yet utterly fantastic aroma. I completely dig the way this one opens up. The bergamot and citron is light yet retains their juiciness, but never feel like they ever stand out on their own within the composition.

As such, you don’t get the usual sharpness that you would from these notes in higher concentration.

This citrus aroma is light and joined by a warm and slightly spiced accord of ginger and basil. All of this comes together with the inclusion of a creamy tonka bean, for a very-well blended and balanced fragrance.

Ginger is the standout of the spices. Basil played a greater role in the flanker, L’Homme Libre, but isn’t too much of a factor here.

One further addition at the top is the violet which brings a simple floral touch to L’Homme. The spice on this one is not heavy in the slightest, very herbal/green with enough pepper to make it interesting.

Violet is one of my least favorite notes and I don’t particularly like it here, but it isn’t all that bothersome. To me, that’s the weakness in the mix. In the very brief dry down period, expect some cedar wood and vetiver, with most of the top notes having faded away entirely.

This cologne is a blend of sweet and spicy but under the umbrella of being completely fresh. It is all tied together with a cedar wood base, as the last element to a fairly simple presentation.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Projection wise, this stuff is still very light, quite airy. I really wish they beefed up the sillage. Yes, there is an Intense version, but it really doesn’t smell the same at all.

It’s not going to project much. Potentially, if you spray the hell out of it, you may get some good sillage. It’s a skin scent, in reality. The performance really is my biggest problem with this scent, very frustrating.

Update: 2021 bottles have roughly the same sillage. That actually hasn’t diminished.

The longevity is maybe 4-5 hours on my skin, from this use. Again, I absolutely hate the performance, but love this aroma. I’ve never been able to get more time than this.

Update: I bought a new bottle here in 2021 since it was buy one, get one free with La Nuit. The performance is now 2-3.5 hours with massive amounts of spraying (for both fragrances). For $50 I can afford to overspray this, but just be ready to have extra ready, if you decide to buy.

Also, my skin isn’t the type to ‘eat’ up a fragrance, as I get great performance from many other colognes.

Seasonally, it makes me think of warm weather, not necessarily the heat of summer. However, I do think it can be worn year round without much issue. I’d like it best in early spring or late autumn.

That being said, it works well in the colder months too. Personally, I’d use something else for the winter, but L’Homme is fine there.

It is a casual or dressed up office wear scent. Very pleasant but not really sexy, when people can actually smell it on you, they find it enjoyable. It’s the type of fragrance that you can wear, pretty much whenever, without it feeling out of place. That’s one of its main strengths.

Overall Impressions of L’Homme by YSL

Overall, do I like L’Homme by YSL? I really really like the way that it smells, but still cannot for the life of me, get it to perform up to par. I hate that aspect. Just make it a beast and I would have a bottle pretty much at all times.

Unfortunately, it’s probably a wrap after I finish this newer bottle. At least there are a lot of decent flankers that have stemmed from this name, many of which have been discontinued though.

The original is a great cologne with extremely mediocre performance. L’Homme Eau de Parfum was something that I liked, but the performance wasn’t great with that either.

Performance doesn’t tend to get better, as fragrances have been on the market for longer periods of time. Some batches, may be better than others, but none are super powerful. This has been especially true of this one.

I still enjoy the scent, not as keen on it as when I first started getting into fragrances, but L’Homme does smell very nice. Though, there really isn’t much of a point in owning this cologne anymore.

Maybe the only case is getting a bottle for insanely cheap and not minding re-applying it every 3 hours.

I’ll use my remaining bottle for the gym or just as a quick freshie. As for anyone else, it might be a better idea to look elsewhere, either with YSL or another brand.