Gucci Guilty vs. Guilty Black Cologne Comparison

I’ve been going through and updating a lot of older posts for the past week or so, on this site. So, I thought it was time that I post something new, and why not start with a head to head cologne comparison? In today’s match up, we have two entries from Gucci: Guilty Pour Homme vs. Guilty Black. Which one of these fragrances from the Guilty line, smells the best? Which has better performance? Which is the better buy?

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Tale of the Tape: Gucci Guilty vs. Black

Gucci Guilty

Notes include: lemon, orange blossom, lavender, patchouli, cedar, pink pepper, neroli

Click here to try: Guilty By Gucci EDT spray for Men, 3 Ounce

Read my original review: Gucci Guilty

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Guilty Black

Guilty Black Notes: green coriander, lavender, orange flower, neroli, patchouli, and cedar wood

Click here to try: Gucci Guilty Black Pour Homme Fragrance Collection 3.0-oz. Eau de Toilette

Read my full review: Guilty Black

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Opening

Gucci Guilty starts off with lemon, pink pepper, and lavender. It’s light with a slight spice, plenty of warmth, and a smooth freshness. This is bolstered by the inclusion of a solid outdoorsy base provided by cedar wood and patchouli. Quite citrusy and clean.

The lemon is joined by the lavender and orange flower up top. But, the citrus has the edge over the floral notes in the composition.

Guilty Black, meanwhile, opens up without the same lemony-citrus aroma that the original has. Guilty Black is really well blended and it can be hard to pick out notes.

However, what I do mostly notice is coriander, lavender, and orange flower. It’s got a green masculine freshness with plenty of spicy/woody energy coursing through the heart of the fragrance.

Which do I like better? I actually like Guilty Black’s opening more than the original. Yes, I enjoy the lemon, lavender, and pink pepper aroma, in that one. Though, I don’t think it is as interesting or appealing as Black.

They do share an overlap, of course. Guilty Black just goes a little bit deeper with it and the coriander smells better in the composition.

Edge: Black

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Projection

For the first few hours after application, Gucci Guilty has a fairly moderate sillage. Thereafter, it becomes more of a light and airy cologne. Not a beast at all. In fact, it’s kind of disappointing how much it lack that steady power.

Guilty Black doesn’t have huge sillage either, but it is stronger and more consistent during the wear. I always experienced very solid projection with Guilty Black.

Nonetheless, don’t expect to leave behind a huge scent trail, with either of these fragrances. Though, I do notice that one is slightly superior to the other.

Edge: Black

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Longevity

Guilty only lasts 5-6 hours on my skin. With Guilty Black, I could get over 10 hours of good wear from it, on my skin.

Those were the older bottles, from around the time of its release, and I don’t know if it was reformulated. But, from my experience with each, Guilty Black lasts way longer.

The original Guilty just never had great performance for me. It would be noticeable for a while and then gone within that six hour span.

Even, if Black has undergone a reformulation, it’s probably still at the very least on equal footing…but probably better.

Edge: Black

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Versatility

These scents pretty much cover the same territory, as to when they can and should be worn. Both are pretty much year round wears, that can go casual or more dressed up. Both are quite attractive colognes.

They are going to be mostly worn by men in their 20s through early 30s. No real edge here. There’s too much overlap.

Edge: Push

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Overall Scent

I have always found the original Gucci Guilty to be a nice fragrance, but one that is pretty simple, and never wowed me. The main trio of lavender, lemon, and pink pepper are pleasant to smell, and I like the undertones of woody and floral notes.

It’s not a terrible scent, just doesn’t strike me as amazing. I think that the concept was a solid one to build off of and there have been some better flankers, like Black.

Guilty Black, on the other hand, was always super enjoyable for me to wear from the start. To me, it’s not even a contest between these two colognes, and the real tough decision would be between Guilty Black and Guilty Intense. I’m pretty sure I’d go with Intense, in most cases.

But, since that has been discontinued as of this update, Black is a great choice.

Gucci Guilty Black is great to wear and has a certain sexiness to it. It outperforms the original and really just is a better scent all around. This is one of those cases in which the flanker fragrance outdoes the first of the series.

Winner: Gucci Guilty Black