Stronger With You by Emporio Armani

Continuing on, with the site’s fragrance reviews, I wanted to post up my thoughts about a more recent edition to the Armani line: Stronger With You. While I completely dislike the name, I still was looking forward to giving this a try. I was supposed to get a sample of it, back in 2018, but it was left out of my order. So, I instead, gave it a try recently. How does it smell? Does Stronger with You, last a long time? Is it worth a try?

What Does Stronger With You Smell Like?

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

I tested out Stronger With You after getting off of a plane and walking into a duty free shop. So, this is going to be a one wear review, but I did get to spend plenty of time with it to collect my thoughts.

Update: I’ve since come back to this cologne, adding additional thoughts.

Stronger With You, opens up, and really reminds me of Azzaro Wanted. They aren’t exactly the same, Stronger is much better in my mind, and doesn’t have that same lemon note sitting there.

The cardamom, however, really hits the same chord in the beginning. Again, the Armani smells better, it’s got a fresher vibe with mint and pink pepper, and the oncoming warmth of the rest of the notes.

A few minutes into the wear, the sage note, struck my nose. I like it, helps to add a layer of freshness, in a warmer and sweeter type of cologne.

The next phase of this Armani, the vanilla, really begins to come through. The cardamom, is stronger at first, but thereafter it’s the vanilla’s fragrance. First thing to notice here, is how well the vanilla and cardamom pairs together.

Next, is that delicious nutty note running through the middle of Stronger with You. It’s a great addition, and helps to bring this quite a far way, from that Wanted-like opening act.

When the vanilla comes in, it is a sweet/spicy blend, with a solid amount of wood at the base. Cedar with a slight amber added. The pink pepper, sage, and cardamom bring a warm spice which livens up that already wonderful vanilla/chesnut combination.

So, it goes from cardamom sweet, to vanilla/sweet/herbal, to vanilla with drier herbal/woody notes. Honestly, it gets better as it moves along. Not the biggest fan of the start, but it began to win me over.

Longevity and Sillage

Projection wise, the sillage of Stronger With You, is pretty darn strong. It’s not the loudest bomb of a fragrance ever, but it’s not going to require very much. I used about three sprays, during my test run, and that got me a noticeable scent bubble around me.

You don’t have to worry about weakness with this particular fragrance, so, don’t be afraid to go lighter with the sprays.

This cologne hits at least 9 hours of wear. I sort of lost track of it, during this wear, but it was there throughout the day. It’s not weak and it performs very well. You’re not going to get ripped off by the performance.

Update: Trying this again, I once again got past 9 hours, with three or four sprays. I’d say on my skin, it’ll hit just above ten hours in total. The last bit, is pretty much some latent vanilla and maybe a touch of amber.

But, it’s indeed still there.

Versatility

Seasonally, this one is for the colder months. Its too sweet and has a certain thickness to it, that’s not going to be great, in the high heat. Outside of that though, this one can hang beautifully in the air.

Stronger with You can serve as a nightlife fragrance or one to wear out on dates. If you go light with it, this one wouldn’t be too out of place, in a more casual or office situation.

The sweetness and the power, does require some type of moderation to wear it in these scenarios, however.

While I wore it once and didn’t get any complements, I would expect this to pretty popular, amongst the public. Stronger with You has enough of those familiar, popular elements, to get noticed by plenty of folks.

Overall Scent

Overall, do I like Stronger with You? I do. The start had me worried, that this was going to be an Azzaro Wanted redux, but it surprised me with its development. I like the opening here better, and the fact that it doesn’t have that lemon note, is awesome.

However, it gets better to my nose, as it dries down and the vanilla takes the lead.

The spices, the woody freshness, and that sweetness really come through. The nutty note holds it all together at times, and is one of my favorite aspects, of this fragrance.

Coming back to this, years later, it does resemble The Most Wanted by Azzaro, which came out a long time after this initial review. That one is great, this one has more complexity, but I enjoy them both.

I’d say that this is worth a try. Particularly, this is a really great option for younger guys, who want to attract attention during the autumn/winter months.

I’m not in love with this fragrance, but I ultimately enjoyed my experience. It got better over time, it lasts long, and will get positive feedback. I can’t knock any of that.

Best Men's Colognes

Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with different fragrances, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, I have written hundreds of reviews and other pages about perfumes and colognes.