Stronger With You vs. Freeze

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Stronger With You is one of the more popular series of fragrances, out on the market now. The original EDT set the tone over a handful of years ago now, with others following almost every year.

Now, one of the flanker fragrances is, Stronger With You Freeze. Having recently reviewed it, I wanted to create a comparison page between it and the EDT. Which smells better? Lasts longer?

Tale of the Tape: Stronger With You vs. Freeze

Stronger With You

Notes include: vanilla, mint, cardamom, chesnut, amber, pink pepper, sage, violet leaf

Click here to try: Emporio Armani Stronger With You for Men Eau de Toilette Spray, 1.7 oz

My Full Review: Stronger With You

Stronger With You Freeze

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

Click here to try: Freeze

My Full Review: SWY Freeze

Opening

Stronger With You opens up fresh and with its spicier notes out front. To me, the cardamom really stands apart from the other notes, it really has a significant weighting in the mix

Beyond that, it’s: pink pepper, mint, sage. The vanilla and chestnut notes are there also, but will gain strength a bit further in. Early on, it’s cardamom and the others.

Freeze lives up to its name and hits you with that chilly lime note. There’s some orange to bolster the citrus accord. plus, a crisp apple note to further that cooling sensation.

This version also brings out spicy notes. Instead of cardamom, you get sage and ginger. Ginger is the leading spice and really works nicely. with the fruity top.

Which do I prefer? At the start, I’ll go with Stronger With You Freeze. It’s a nice and refreshing aroma, that gives you something a bit different from the others in the series.

Also, the opening of SWY isn’t my favorite part of that scent, and isn’t too difficult to overcome in my mind.

Edge: Freeze

Projection

The sillage and projection of each is good. But, the original EDT just has a better ability to project and leave a scent trail. It’s a thicker and heavier scent, on the whole.

That being said, Freeze is actually above average and creates a very nice scent bubble off of the skin. It just doesn’t have the same level of power as the others in the series.

Edge: Stronger

Longevity

The original SWY takes the win in this category as well. On my skin, it lasted at least 9 hours and most of the time, will go more than 10. It’s a long-lasting fragrance for sure.

Freeze, on the other hand, went 7-8.5 hours.

It’s a pretty easy win for the EDT. But, keep in mind, that Freeze is a lighter scent that’s better in the spring and summer. So, not needing to be nearly as dense as its predecessor.

Edge: Stronger

Versatility

Here’s where I think that Freeze has another edge. Freeze is better in the spring and summer months, but can venture into autumn too. While the EDT, is much more limited to the colder months, and doesn’t have as much range outside of those temperatures.

Both are about the same, otherwise. Being casual to semi-formal scents, aimed at younger men. Likeable, mass appealing, and can be worn in the nightlife.

Edge: Freeze

Overall Scent

Overall, which of these fragrances do I prefer? It was a close contest between them, but, one of them ultimately won out.

With Freeze, I really liked the opening act. For a while, I thought that it was going to be among my favorites from this series. However, the dry down is something that I’m less enthusiastic about, and it actually ranks as my least favorite.

It actually starts having more similarities with Stronger EDT, but just never as good. It gets nuttier and has more vanilla. Just falls short of what I get with the original.

So, the original wins this race. It’s better dry down and overall performance set it apart from Freeze. The vanilla and chestnut notes really bring the EDT to another level for me and Freeze’s dry down is a pale comparison.

Update: Freeze has now been discontinued for a long while. Not that it particularly matters, since it was one of the lesser releases in this series. But, the EDT is readily available and worthwhile in comparison. You don’t need to spend around $200 on an old bottle of SWY Freeze, it’s not worth it.

Winner: Stronger With You EDT

Stronger With You Intensely by Emporio Armani

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Stronger With You continues to roll along as a fragrance series for the Emporio Armani label. I’ve been going through the releases over the past little while, in order to give each of them full reviews. Today, I finish up my thoughts on Stronger With You Intensely. How does it smell? How long does it last? Is it worth a try?

What does Stronger With You Intensely Smell Like?

Notes include: pink pepper, cinnamon, toffee, lavender, sage, suede, amber, violet, vetiver

Click here to try: Stronger With You Intensely

My Full Review

Here’s how Armani describes it: This addictive fougere scent features notes of pink pepper, vanilla and an ambery wood accord. It reflects the personality of today’s young man in search of an intense fragrance that lights up his profound love story!

Intensely really kicks off with its spicy notes blazing. That pink pepper really commands attention, a dash of sage, and even a little bit of the cinnamon, as a part of that toffee accord, and that’s found in other fragrances from this series.

But, it’s not a complete spicy takeover, since the sweetness it there early on too. It’s got more of a caramel aroma early on, that will shift more towards the vanilla end of things by the end of the wear.

That initial spiciness isn’t a long lasting affair. Stronger With You Intensely shifts to a warmer and sweeter overall aroma. But, the lavender note becomes more noticeable to me after the opening is done.

In Absolutely, the lavender comes on strong in the end.

The good news for me, is that lavender will get weaker in favor of the amber note. Toffee and vanilla. Plus, a bit of suede giving it a smooth leathery finish.

The pink pepper and other spices are basically gone for the back half of this one, on me at least.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Sillage wise, this one is well above average, and will leave a scent trail behind in one’s wake for a few hours at least.

The projection is really good, able to reach pretty far across a room. Then, it’ll become a 4-5 foot scent bubble, and finally a skin scent. Not the heaviest or most beast mode projection out there, but I wasn’t disappointed.

On my skin, Intensely lasts up to 11 or 12 hours. It’s really got fantastic performance for a designer mass market fragrance. Now, those last few hours aren’t really that strong, but the cologne is still there.

Seasonally, this one has autumn and winter written all over it. You can probably venture into the spring, since this is a great choice for the nightlife, but I’d stay out of the heat with Intensely.

It’s a sweeter fragrance, a nice one for romantic wear, nightlife, and such. Probably not what most will want to go with to the office.

It probably does skew younger in its appeal. But, it doesn’t strike me as being completely immature or only a teenager’s fragrance.

Overall Impressions of Stronger With You Intensely

Overall, do I like Stronger With You Intensely? I do and it might be my favorite from the whole series. Though, I like Leather, also. Kind of a toss up with those.

Just on performance alone, you already get the awesome longevity and sillage of the original EDT, but amped up and with a better smelling formula.

While the spices don’t last that long on my skin, I do like that bold kick to start off. Then, with the toffee/caramel aroma comes in with the suede and vanilla, that’s when Intensely is really a joy to wear around.

This one is sweet. Which, I get can be too much for some people. I find this to be more tolerable to wear than the original, which I found much more cloying.

So, if you don’t want the sweetness to the same extent, maybe try out Absolutely. That Stronger With You fragrance is almost as good to me, but I like Intensely slightly more.

But, I do think that I prefer The Most Wanted by Azzaro to this one, which often gets compared to Intensely. That has a simpler aroma, more cardamom, but really works on my skin.

Chelsea Flowers by Bond No. 9

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Bond No. 9 is an American niche brand that has released a ton of very successful fragrances for men and women over the years. One of the early ones, is Chelsea Flowers. I rediscovered a sample vial of this perfume, that I got back in who knows when. So, it was time to test it again and give this a proper review on the site. How does it smell? How long does it last? Is is worth a try?

What does Chelsea Flowers Smell Like?

Notes include: musk, peony, hyacinth, rose, tulip, sandalwood, magnolia

Click here to try: Bond No. 9 Chelsea Flowers Eau De Parfums Spray, 3.4 Ounce

chelsea flowers review

My Full Review

Before getting into my review, let’s see how Bond No. 9 describes it: The Scent of the Ingenue: dewy, freshly-picked blossoms, gathered in a paper wrapper, worn to perfection at New York’s newest art gallery-club-restaurant scene. An exuberant but slightly insolent all-day floral bouquet.

True to its name, Chelsea Flowers, is all about those floral notes. Early on, this one is dewy and has greenish qualities. Later, it is more like flower petals in a shampoo-like composition.

Opening up, I get a pretty big dose of magnolia. That along with a tulip note. It is pretty aquatic smelling, not completely watery, but more than a sprinkling of dew.

I’m concluding that this early dew/green aroma is coming from the hyacinth and tulip. It never takes a pole position, but sits underneath the top two throughout this opening act. Pretty distinct.

The next phase sees the rose and peony notes emerge. On my skin, the rose really isn’t all that heavy. I get a lot more peony, than I ever do from rose, which might be the fourth or fifth strongest of the floral notes.

Chelsea Flowers becomes much more appealing to me, once the hyacinth has calmed down. It becomes a fresher and muskier floral, that’s actually very pretty with its soapy vibe.

The final dry down is an amalgamation of the floral notes, on my skin. None of them feel all that separate from one another. Maybe still some magnolia and tulip I can pick out…sometimes.

But, the rest of the notes really bring home the dry freshness and shampoo aroma. Musk, vetiver, and moss. A greater dose of the moss and musk. The watery side of the perfume is basically gone.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Sillage wise, this will leave a scent trail for the first couple hours especially. It’s not a massive cloud of scent, but Chelsea Flowers, is above average and projects itself very well. 

At it’s peak, it’ll project itself to around seven feet or so. That’s about where I could pick it up from, after spraying the fragrance on a shirt.

The longevity is good, not elite. Somewhere in the 8.5-9 hours of wear range, on my skin. Is that amazing? No, but really no reason to complain for most purposes.

Seasonally, it would best be served in the spring and summer. Though, it can be used during the more temperate days of autumn, as well. Keep to wearing it above a certain temperature, since this doesn’t fit in for winter.

Chelsea Flowers isn’t a sexy scent, nor is it a nighttime party animal. However, within the daytime, it is very versatile.

It can be worn by girls or older women, without issue. It’s fine for office wear, casual, or pretty much wherever else one might need it. Not the most formal scent, but it’s clean aroma wouldn’t be out of place.

 

 

Overall Impressions of Chelsea Flowers

Do I like this fragrance? It’s pretty good, but nothing all that unique or special. It’s not among my favorite from the Bond No. 9 line, though, you could do worse.

The opening act isn’t all that great, the hyacinth is somewhat bothersome here. I like the dewy and aquatic aspects of this scent. But, this really comes alive when the rose, peony, and musk have their turn taking the reins. 

The latter stages are like a dry floral shampoo. Fresh and very presentable, just nothing super memorable or groundbreaking. It’s not bad, just know what you’re getting here.

The performance is solid, on the whole. It lasts a good amount of time and really doesn’t need to be super powerful.

I don’t really want to recommend this to everybody, since it might not have the most exciting scent out there. But, if this sounds like your type of perfume, Chelsea Flowers is a good example, and worth trying. Buying? Maybe not.

L’Immensité by Louis Vuitton

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I’ve been gradually making my way through the Louis Vuitton line for review purposes, with most of them that have been released in the books. L’Immensité is one that I’ve already tried before, but I grabbed a sample of more recently, do give it a full testing. How does it smell? How long does it last? Is it worth a try?

What does L’Immensité Smell Like?

Notes include: ginger, bergamot, grapefruit, sage, rosemary, geranium, watery notes, amber, labdanum

My Full Review

Here’s how Louis Vuitton describes it: A whisper of fresh ginger speaks of an infinite inner journey. To open your arms so wide it’s as if they were wings deployed to take flight. Like a response to a vast, beckoning sea that nourishes fantasies of total freedom. Sometimes, finding yourself before a limitless horizon that stretches to the sky is all it takes to make your heart beat faster.

L’Immensité opens up with its potent ginger note being joined by the bergamot and grapefruit. Initially, that sharp and juicy bergamot is stronger on my skin than is the grapefruit, but that will flip as it moves along.

Underneath all of that is an aquatic accord, which helps adds to that summertime vibe, but this one never completely veers oceanic. A bit salty, that’s about it.

The ginger is the star of the spiciness within this mix. Sage and rosemary might make up around 30% of the rest, at their peak. Sage sticks around for a while, though, neither is too big of a player.

Most of this one is about the amber note coming in. The ginger and grapefruit sit on top of all of that amber, which gives it a warmer vibe. The style is similar to Bleu de Chanel EDP, but ultimately fairly different fragrances.

The drydown is a fresh and slightly citrus amber. Very little of that aquatic accord is still present.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Sillage is actually pretty strong for this type of fragrance, for the first few hours. It gets softer, thereafter, but that amber note really sticks out to me when wearing it during those late stages.

It does have a nice 6-7 foot projection or so, at its peak. It will leave a scent trail for like an hour to and hour and a half. After that, this one moves in much closer to the wearer, but isn’t as soft as you might think. Seems like it has a tendency to sort of make you nose blind to it, at times.

On my skin, I can get up to 8 hours from this Louis Vuitton scent. It actually fluctuates between 6.5 and that 8 hour mark, so, expect about 7 a good portion of the time.

Seasonally, it’s mainly going to be a spring and summer play. But really, any time the climate is pretty moderate, it’d be fine too. Great in the warmer temperatures, but probably not my go to in the wintertime.

L’Immensité isn’t an offensive or super loud fragrance. It’s well put together, so it has enough style to fit into a pretty wide variety of situations. The versatility of this cologne, is probably its greatest strength.

Overall Impressions of L’Immensité

Overall, do I like L’Immensité? I do like it, but there are better options from Louis Vuitton or just in general with this sort of fragrance. It was formerly a part of my best LV men’s fragrance list, but just barely, and got pushed aside by Imagination.

That’s got some similarities to this one, but Imagination is ultimately better.

The opening act is where this one shines. That fresh citrus, ginger, other spices, and the aquatic-like feel of it…is all something that I enjoy.

Later, the amber and citrus just kind of gets on my nerves. It’s fine, nothing too exciting, but it does get old for me while wearing it.

The performance is good. Not amazing, but not terrible either, on my skin. Still, I do want a bit more from the fragrance, if I’m paying Louis Vuitton prices.

L’Immensité is worth trying out. You may indeed like it and want a full bottle. Personally, the brand has better options to sort through during the warmer months of the year.

Fahrenheit Parfum by Dior

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Fahrenheit was a late 1980s hit for Dior and has been a part of their lineup ever since. Naturally, they have come out with waves of flankers and special editions. In 2014, the design house released, Fahrenheit Parfum. I got a hold of a decant of this fragrance a while ago and have been testing it out, taking notes. How does it smell? How long does it last? Is it worth a try?

What does Fahrenheit Parfum Smell Like?

Notes include: violet leaf, rum, suede, vanilla, cumin, orange, licorice, and more

My Full Review

Parfum opens up sweet, smooth, and fresh. It’s strange how you get the booziness of the rum, but the spice doesn’t hit you like it does in something like Bvlgari’s Man in Black.

Instead, you get a light orange and licorice sweetness combining with the warmth of the rum note. Yet, it isn’t at all cloying. Suede and violet leaf keep things light and with a leather like refinement.

The violet leaf compared to the original Fahrenheit is toned down. You do still get some greenish qualities early, no gasoline smell, but a light aquatic feel to Fahrenheit Parfum.

This is a fairly big departure from the original Dior release, so, don’t expect to smell something similar in this flanker. There is some overlap, but a lot of that will be in the background.

On me, that sweetness subsides in about 10 minutes. The top citrus note does have a bit of a sparkle to it. The style of this fragrance actually reminds me of Armani Code Absolu, just not nearly as thick, and with a fresher aroma.

The next phase is a rummy vanilla scent with the suede and violet leaf sitting underneath that. I do get some licorice and very light spice, but a lot of the top is basically gone. At this stage, it also seems to acquire a bit of a fizziness.

The final dry down is a dark vanilla suede and violet leaf blend. Those are the notes that I can still pick up. It’s very smooth, not really all that sweet, and well-balanced.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

The sillage here is above average, on the whole, and starts off fairly strong. Though, Fahrenheit Parfum doesn’t project all that hugely, especially after the first wave begins to wear off.

The opening act? Sure, it’ll give you 5-7 feet worth of projection or thereabouts. But, it moves in much closer.

On my skin, it lasts somewhere in the 8.5-9.5 hour range. Kind of depended, when I was testing it out. Not really something that hits double digits for me, but came as close as you can get.

Still, the performance really isn’t disappointing and quite good, if you’re into how this one smells.

Seasonally, obviously with the notes, this is best in autumn and winter. The thing is, Parfum isn’t all that heavy or super cloying. It can venture into the springtime (early part), since it does have the freshness from the violet leaf and citrus.

I wouldn’t go too hot with the temperatures while wearing this, but it’d be fine for a good chunk of the year.

This is a well put together scent that has a maturity about it, is attractive, and is very wearable. I like it more for nighttime engagements, but it wouldn’t be out of place to wear during the day. Maybe go easy at work or something like that, since it does have a rum note prominently featured.

Overall Impressions of Fahrenheit Parfum

Overall, do I like Fahrenheit Parfum? I do. It’s more enjoyable for me, than is the original Fahrenheit.

However, it’s still not a complete love for me. I almost blind bought a full bottle, but I’m kind of glad I didn’t and got a decant first. I like it, while not being super enthusiastic about wearing it.

The opening is interesting and that’s when I feel Parfum is at its peak. The blend of rum, citrus, suede, spice, and violet leaf is very well done. It’s such a great mix of different notes and is stitched together beautifully.

After that? Fahrenheit Parfum smells good, it’s just not all that exciting. It feels much flatter than how it started out and I’m not too into any longer. I said that I was reminded of Code Absolu and I’d rather have a bottle of that versus Fahrenheit Parfum.

The performance and everything is solid. No worries there. Fahrenheit Parfum is a scent that is well worth a try from Dior, but with the price and limited availability, may not be worth a blind buy.

Very good, but doesn’t cross the great barrier.